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I Get Off | What Were You Expecting | Sonata often found herself annoyed by Aria's choice of apartment.
Sure, it was the only one available at the time. Sure, it was affordable and quite nice for the price. Sure, it was close to Aria's work and, as Sonata mostly worked from home, it was only fair to make things easier for the one who actually had to commute. Even still, it was on the 10th floor, and the elevator had a nasty habit of being out of service often, seemingly whenever Sonata had to go on a run to get groceries.
"Stupid elevator..." Sonata sighed as she conquered the last flight of stairs, arms laden with things they'd need for the rest of the week. She was glad that she had opted to save the heavy shopping for the weekend, or else this trip upstairs was quite likely to be her last. "Where the heck is Ari when you..."
She trailed off as she cleared the landing to her floor, her gaze falling on what stood at her doorstep. A rather tall woman, at least a head taller than Sonata herself, and stunningly beautiful. Despite her simple attire, just a deep orange blouse and snug skinny jeans (Sonata couldn't help but notice that the pants made the woman's ass look fantastic), she was more stylish and eye-catching than just about anyone Sonata had ever seen.
"Hey there," said Sonata as she approached. The woman turned, staring Sonata down with her piercing magenta eyes. "May I help you?"
"I'm waiting for someone," said the woman, uncrossing her arms as she turned to face Sonata. "Although... If you're who I think you are..."
"I'm Sonata, I live here. And you are...?"
"Adagio. I assume Aria told you about me?"
"Oh! You're the stripper!" One unfortunate quirk of Sonata's that Aria had learned to live with over the years was her unfortunate habit of speaking before thinking. She recoiled as her mind processed what she said, and she quickly corrected herself. "Sorry, I didn't mean..."
"You're fine, sugar. I am, indeed, the stripper." Adagio smirked. "And you must be the ATM."
"Huh?"
"A bit of an inside joke. Once Aria gets in, we'll tell you all about it."
"Well, I don't know where Ari is or when she'll get back, and I'd feel awful if I left you here all that time, so..." Sonata shimmied and dug for her keys, clumsily slipping it into her lock. "You wanna come in? It's kinda chilly out, and I was gonna make some hot cocoa..."
"I wouldn't want to intrude," said Adagio. "Don't know if Aria would mind me coming in without her."
"Pfft, don't be silly. The apartment is half mine, anyway! Come on, I insist." Sonata swung her hips into the door, knocking it open and gesturing for Adagio to enter. "We have a tradition, where I meet Aria's girlfriends and embarrass her before she can stop me. Lemme tell you, sister, I have got some stories."
"Well, you drive a hard bargain." Adagio smiled and strode forward, stepping into the apartment before Sonata. "Hot cocoa, you say?"
"Only the best for my best friend's girlfriend."
Adagio looked around the quaint, perhaps a bit cramped, little apartment with a watchful eye. The place was rather sparsely decorated, which Adagio presumed had to be Aria's doing; in the four months since the pair met, Adagio had learned that Aria tended to value practicality over flair, for the most part, although she did tend to make exceptions in regards to melodramatic strippers.
Sonata led Adagio to the kitchen, directing her to have a seat at their tiny table while she prepared their drinks. It was quiet as she did, save for Sonata's somewhat off-key humming, but Sonata could feel the weight of Adagio's glare. She immediately understood why Aria was so interested in the dancer, now that the two had met. Her presence was unmistakable, and it made her incredibly intriguing.
"Here you go." Sonata slid a steaming mug to Adagio. "Aria was supposed to be here by now, but she probably got hung up at work."
"It happens," hummed Adagio. She sipped her drink, letting out a surprised little chuckle. "Ooh, that's good. I don't get to have this sort of treat very often."
"Gotta keep in shape for dancing, right?" asked Sonata. Adagio nodded, and Sonata cracked a grin. "Say, got any tips? Guys love a girl who can do a good striptease."
"Hm..." Adagio tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Well, confidence, for one. Never second guess yourself. For as long as you're dancing, you have control of the situation. Take it slow, but not too slow. Think 7 Rings, not Purple Rain. Find your best assets, or whatever it is your guy likes best, and build your routine around that part of your body." Adagio gave Sonata a once-over with a watchful eye. "I'd go with your chest. Your tits are incredibly perky and really symmetrical. Very nice."
"Oh wow, you think?" Sonata very rarely gave her sex appeal much thought, believing (perhaps a bit naively) that her success on Tinder was due entirely to her winning personality, and so she was almost surprised when she looked down at her breasts. "Thanks!"
"If you like, I can show you some moves," offered Adagio. "Nothing too crazy, just a bit of choreography."
"That'd be great! But, uh... We're not actually gonna take off our clothes, right?"
"Oh, no, not at all." Adagio pulled out her phone and began playing a slow, sultry R&B track from her playlist. "That costs extra."
Adagio led the dance, directing Sonata on how to move her hips and shoulders, things she had picked up over the years. Sonata showed a natural propensity for dancing, an intrinsic sense of rhythm that Adagio wouldn't expect from a novice. She hummed thoughtfully, deciding that the reason for Sonata's apparent skill was likely because she wasn't dealing with a novice at all.
"You've done this before," noted Adagio.
"Kinda sorta. I was big into ballet when I was a kid, thought I was gonna be some big shot prima ballerina," said Sonata with a chuckle. "I had this big show in high school, and I took a nasty fall. Totally blew out my ACL, haven't danced seriously ever since."
"Damn. Sorry to hear that. I did ballet, too, and if it makes you feel better, it's not all it's cracked up to be." It got quiet for a while, the only sound coming from the sound of the music. "Is that how you met Aria? She mentioned being involved in music in high school."
"Nah, me and Ari go waaaaay back. Must've been like 5 or 6? Some of the older kids were pushing me around on the playground, sticking gum in my hair, you know how it is, and Aria just wam, bam!" Sonata punched the air for emphasis, bringing a small smirk to Adagio's face. "Fought off like four kids, all like twice our size, by herself. Said she didn't like bullies. We've been besties ever since!"
"That's really sweet. Aria talks about you a lot, about what a good friend you are. It's nice to hear about friends who just have each other's back like you two," said Adagio.
"You know, Adagio, you're a lot nicer than I thought you'd be."
"Oh? What were you expecting?" chuckled Adagio. "Horns? Pointy tail? Pitchfork?"
"Well, when Aria told me she was dating a stripper, I thought..." Sonata sheepishly scratched the back of her head, smiling a bit awkwardly. "Let's just say I was expecting the worst."
"Can't fault you for that. There's a certain stigma to my profession, and a lot of it is justified. Still, though, the pole doesn't discriminate," said Adagio. "All sorts of people like to show strangers their tits. In fact, looking at you now, you'd probably be really good at it. I'd offer you a tryout, but I don't know if I want you cutting into my tips."
"Heh. Maybe after a few more dance lessons," laughed Sonata. "But yeah. I like you, Adagio. You're cool!"
"You're not too bad yourself, ATM."
"Okay, seriously, what's--" Sonata surely had more to say, if not for being distracted by the sound of the door unlocking. Through the entrance came Aria, arms laden with grocery bags of her own. She cocked a brow at the scene before her, surprised by the events unfolding. "Hey, Aria, guess who I found?"
"Hey. Sorry I'm late," said Aria slowly. She kicked the door closed behind her, carrying her bags to the counter for unpacking. "Got held up at work, then I swung by the store to get stuff for dinner. It's, uh, Taco Tuesday."
"It's Wednesday," noted Adagio.
"Sonata wanted Mexican tonight and we couldn't find a word that started with W."
"Uh-huh. Well, nice to finally see you, sugar."
"Daaamn, you weren't kidding, Aria," said Sonata. "That is sexy. I don't even swing that way, but for that voice..."
"I swear to God, I will slip cyanide into your guac," snarled Aria. She blushed brightly, avoiding Adagio's gaze. "Sorry about... Her."
"Don't be. I happen to like her, actually." Adagio stood up and crossed the kitchen, planting a kiss on Aria's cheek. "Glad to know that there's someone taking care of my favorite toy." She flashed Sonata a grin and a wink. "Nice meeting you, Sonata. If you ever need more dance tips, just come find me at work."
"That sounds like you're leaving," said Sonata with a frown.
"I didn't realize you and Aria had plans tonight, or else I would've come around another time. I wouldn't want to intrude."
"Again with the intruding! Come on, ya gotta stay! Aria makes the best salsa."
"I've told you a thousand times, it's store-bought," said Aria, rolling her eyes. Sonata shot her friend a look, leering at Aria suspiciously.
"There's something you're doing to it that makes it extra delicious and I will learn your secrets!"
"You are something else..." Aria paused her unpacking, looking back at Adagio. "She's right, though. We'd love for you to stay for tacos."
"Well..." Adagio's eyes flicked from Aria to Sonata and back, before, finally, she sighed. "I guess I'll just have to text Mr. Tie and tell him something's come up." That brief bit of concern, or perhaps even anxiety, vanished from Adagio's face. "Dinner it is, then. Thanks for having me."
"Woo! That's awesome!" Sonata shot out of her seat, clearly excited as she ran for the hall. "I'll get the good plates!"
"Since when did we have 'good plates'?" snorted Aria.
"I bought some but then I hid them cause I didn't want you to see that we weren't using them and then get bummed out cause we have no friends!"
"The hell are you... And she's gone." Aria palmed her forehead, groaning in annoyance. "Sorry. She can be a bit much to take in all at once. She's like a golden retriever on a triple shot of espresso. You get used to her, though." Aria glanced back at Adagio, frowning slightly at her expression. "Everything okay? You look... Off."
"Sonata called me your girlfriend earlier," said Adagio slowly. Aria nodded. "Hm."
"Hm? What does, uh, what does that mean?" Aria stopped in her dinner preparations, now completely absorbed by what Adagio had to say. "Is that a good hm or a bad hm?"
"Just... hm. I don't like labels very much, and I didn't realize you felt like we were at that level already."
"We've been seeing each other for four months now. Is there a six-month wait on us being exclusive, too?"
"Who said I wanted to be exclusive?" asked Adagio. Aria visibly stiffened, and so Adagio amended her tone. "I don't like being tied down, is all. I've always been this way. I never was the kind of girl that's good at playing house."
"So what, I'm just keeping you busy until someone more your taste shows up?" Despite her best efforts, Aria could feel her cheeks tinge red. "Is that why you didn't wanna stay? You're expecting something better to come around?"
"Please don't put words in my mouth, sugar. Relax. There's not someone else, and if there was, I'd tell you."
"So you'd cheat on me, but you'll at least give me a heads up."
"I didn't say that. But I'm nothing if not honest, and going behind anyone's back just isn't my style." Adagio put her hand on Aria's shoulder, who jerked away slightly. "Don't be like that, sugar. I didn't mean anything by it. I just don't feel comfortable with the idea of being tied down. I didn't know it would bother you this much."
"You ever been cheated on?" asked Aria. After a short pause, Adagio shook her head. "Well, it's the fucking worst. Imagine giving someone your all, dedicating all of your love and energy to them. You show them sides of yourself you don't show anyone else, they know you better than you know yourself, and you have this unspoken agreement that nothing will come between you two..." Aria clenched her fist, almost wincing at the memory. "Just to find out that you're not good enough. For whatever reason, no matter how hard you tried, no matter what you gave, you weren't good-looking enough, or you were too boring. Too much of a basket case. It fucks with you, and it never really goes away.
"I'm guessing that's what happened with you and your ex?" Adagio questioned. "She cheated on you?"
"She says she didn't, but I know she did. She got bored with me and my problems. She wouldn't touch me, because I wasn't good enough. I was hoping to be good enough for you, and you're telling me right now that I'm not."
"Sugar... it's not like that," said Adagio gently.
"Then why don't you want to be my girlfriend?"
"I don't want to be anyone's girlfriend, Aria. Calling ahead, remembering anniversaries, quiet weeknight dinners in, it's not me. I can't do that sort of thing. A girlfriend doesn't wait until two minutes before the date to let you know that the date is even happening. A girlfriend doesn't show up, get you flustered, and leave you alone with something to think about. A girlfriend definitely doesn't swing around a pole and grind on strangers' crotches for money."
"I wouldn't ever ask you to change any of that. That's who you are, and that's what I like about you," said Aria. "I just don't understand why you don't want our relationship to have our name. Doesn't it matter to you?"
"Of course it matters to me, and that's precisely why I don't want to name it." Adagio watched Aria prepare dinner, chopping onions in silence for a few moments, before the dancer continued. "My parents met in college. Friends for years. Then, more than friends. They got together, one thing led to another, and, nine months later, out comes me. We were happy. They were happy. They spent some time apart, my mother going on tour, my father working across the country, and they don't get married until I was five years old, because I wanted them to. Then, after something close to two decades together, after they got married... They imploded. They fought like cats and dogs, tossing insults and slurs and things a little girl had no business hearing anyone say to another being, let alone her parents."
"I don't..."
"My point is, Aria, that my parents loved each other, had a perfect relationship. Everything was perfect. Then, they gave their relationship a name and forced themselves into this... Construct," explained Adagio. "Within two years of their wedding, they're divorced, on opposite ends of the country because they hate each other that much, and I'm being tossed back and forth between the two while they fight like fucking children to get me to pick their side. Their careers were doing well, they were making more money than ever. The only change was when they got married. They took their relationship and strangled it. They squeezed it to fit a mold that didn't need fitting, all because I was some stupid little girl who thought Mommy and Daddy needed to walk down the aisle in order to be happy."
Adagio grabbed Aria by the shoulder again, this time with better results. Aria turned to face her, looking up at those piercing magenta eyes and feeling her cold exterior melt. Adagio pulled her in, perhaps a bit roughly, and, when it was clear that Aria wasn't going to fight it, she brought their lips together for a brief, tender kiss.
"Whatever we are and whatever we have is something special, and I don't want to fuck that up just so we can change our relationship status on Facebook," said Adagio. "If you want to label us that way, then I understand. But my parents had 20 years of preparation and still fucked everything up. I don't want to take that risk."
"What if I don't want to risk being with someone who might go behind my back and hook up with someone else?"
"Then that says a lot about how you see me."
"No. It's not you, it's..." Aria sighed, setting down her knife for a moment to think. "I'm not the best at trusting people. Bad experiences."
"I understand that, sugar. But if you want us to be... Whatever it is we are, then trust is a necessity. I have no intentions of hurting you, okay?" Adagio grabbed Aria's hands gently, giving them a tiny squeeze. "Maybe we have different ideas on what a relationship is. That's fine. But of all the strip joints in all the towns in all the world, you shake your boney sss into mine." She smirked and, after just a second, Aria matched it. "That has to count for something. That's something worth trusting in, right?"
"Yeah. You're worth it, for sure." Aria maintained much of her stony facade until Adagio leaned in and gave her another soft, gentle peck on the lips. "I should probably get back to cooking or else it'll--"
Adagio grabbed Aria by the collar and pulled her in close, until the two were chest-to-chest, and kissed her deeply. She didn't use words, because they were ultimately unnecessary; Adagio said everything she needed to with that kiss, the way she moved her tongue against Aria's and damn near brought her to her knees. Not with force, but with finesse, tenderness. That kiss told Aria that, no matter what they opted to call themselves, what she had with Adagio was special. Much like Adagio herself, it was unique, intoxicating, a bit scary. Aria was naturally afraid of another heartbreak, but if there was anyone worth putting herself in the line of fire for, it was Adagio.
"Good news, I found the good plates!" Sonata hurried back into the kitchen, arms full of dishes. "Bad news, I dropped one so now there's broken glass on the..." She only just then seemed to notice the two fused at the lip, and she quickly averted her eyes. "Whoops, didn't mean to interrupt! I'll just... Come back later..."
"No need." As usual, it was Adagio who pulled away first, and, as usual, it was clear that they were both left wanting more. She gave Aria a little wink and a smirk. "Just wrapping up a little girlfriend talk. Right, sugar?"
"Yeah. Right." Another common occurrence, Aria found herself blushing and grinning like a fool at Adagio's words. "I should get back to cooking. Shouldn't be long."
"Mh-hm. In the meantime..." Adagio grinned sinisterly. "I was promised embarrassing stories of Aria?"
"Oh, son of a bitch..." groaned Aria. Sonata matched Adagio's grin, taking a seat at the table and leaning in to look Adagio in the eye.
"Where do I start with this one?" |
I Get Off | Do Not Disturb | "Date tonight?"
Aria looked up from her phone, meeting eyes with Sonata for the first time in several minutes. Due to Aria having that Friday off, and Sonata having a very flexible schedule anyway, the two had been lounging around the living room all day. Just a quiet afternoon of relaxation.
"Yeah, Adagio wanted to take me somewhere," said Aria. "How'd you know?"
"I can smell your perfume, you only ever wear it when you're trying to be extra smexy for Adagio," said Sonata with a grin. "Whatever gets her going, but you might wanna go a little lighter next time."
"As if you know what girls are into."
"Fair enough. Hey, since you're gonna be out, maybe I should see someone, too." Sonata pulled out her phone, flipping through her contacts. "Hm... I wonder if Devin is free..."
"Isn't Devin the one with the shrimp dick?" asked Aria.
"Nah, that was Derek. Devin is the one I showed you that video of."
"Oh yeah. How did you find his old sex tape with his ex, anyway?"
"He sent it to me, said it's still up on her OnlyFans, so he gets a cut." Sonata shrugged. "He wanted to give me a preview before I tried it myself."
"And?"
"Videos don't do it justice. You know how they say the camera adds five pounds?" Sonata fanned herself with her hand, nearly fainting dramatically from the simply scandalous memories. "Well, it also takes off like six inches, 'cause when I say it's bigger in person... I thought he was gonna kill me with that thing. What a way to go, right?"
"Yeah..." As a devout lesbian from the very beginning, Aria couldn't totally relate to Sonata's experiences. Things were different with the same sex. Even still, Aria was perfectly fine talking to Sonata about such intimate affairs. "Well, let me know if you're planning on chasing down a boy-toy so I know if I need to order dinner."
"Yeah, I think that's what I'll do. If Devin isn't free, I'll just hit up a bar and..." Sonata peered at her phone, smacking her forehead at what she saw. "Oh yeah! I totally forgot. Devin got engaged! No wonder we stopped fooling around... He just invited me to his wedding, think I should go?"
"I wouldn't. Probably not a good look for you to show up at your fuck-buddy's wedding," said Aria. Sonata nodded along, typing out what was undoubtedly a proposition for a one-off with yet another contact of hers, when Aria's phone rang. Aria glanced at the phone and smirked at Adagio's name before answering the call. "Hey, babe. Ready to go?"
"Actually, Ms. Aria, I'm calling on behalf of Ms. Adagio."
"Oh. Hey, Mr. Tie." Aria stood up and paced along the length of the living room. "Is, uh, is everything alright?"
"Yes, ma'am. I am simply calling to deliver a message on behalf of Ms. Adagio. She wants you to know that something has come up. She would like you to meet her at the Six Seasons Hotel at seven, as opposed to your original agreed upon date plans."
"A... hotel? Okay..." said Aria slowly. "Where exactly should I be looking for her?"
"The very top floor, room 1334. There will be a keycard waiting for you at the front desk. If you like, I can arrange for your pick-up and transportation."
"No, that's okay. Six Seasons is actually, like, down the block from my place. I'll just walk."
"Of course, ma'am. Ms. Adagio wanted me to remind you not to be late."
"Got it. Uh... You have any idea what this is about?" Aria had been seeing Adagio for some time and, as a result, had spent a bit of time around the professional driver. Even still, along all these months, Aria had yet to hear Mr. Tie laugh until this moment.
"Trust me, ma'am. You'll want to be on time."
The line disconnected, leaving Aria just as confused as ever before. She checked the time, 6:24 PM, which meant Aria should be getting ready soon. Even still, she hesitated, concerned by the change of plans. This wasn't Adagio's usual antics, pulling the rug out from under Aria to keep her guessing. Adagio would've told her straight up if that was the case, she would have wanted to hear Aria's voice as she teased her. To go through Tie was strange.
"I'm gonna go get ready," said Aria, sliding her phone into her pocket. "See you when I see you."
"Me too. Devin just texted me to say his fiance gave him the ok for one last hurrah," said Sonata with a grin. "You better have a story for me in the morning, cause I'm gonna tell you every little bit of what goes down tonight! I know you like to keep your sex life private, but come on, I'm curious!"
"For the last time, Sonata, me and Adagio aren't there yet." Aria groaned and rolled her eyes. "Trust me, if I could brag about getting laid, you'd never hear the end of it."
"Uh-huh. Well, whenever you feel like telling me, I'm all ears." Sonata clearly didn't buy Aria's story, made evident by her smug, knowing grin. Aria just rolled her eyes again, throwing a wave over her shoulder as she made her way for the door. "You kids stay safe, don't do anything I wouldn't do! Use protection! Don't want any Aria Jr's running around just yet."
"We're lesbians, idiot!"
The Six Seasons was a rather expensive hotel, not the sort of place Aria had spent an overwhelming amount of time in. Judging by the glittering lobby, with its marble columns and crystal chandeliers, it seemed like somewhere Adagio would be very comfortable in. Elegant, classy, sophisticated, it fit the dancer's tastes to a T. Aria wasn't sure why exactly Adagio had called her to a hotel, but she could tell quite easily why Adagio had called her to this hotel.
The concierge was waiting with a keycard for Aria when she arrived, and he directed her to the same floor Tie had told her, room 1334. When asked for Adagio's whereabouts, the hotel staff had nothing of note to give Aria. All they could say was that the room had been paid for. Her curiosity mounting, Aria made her way to the elevator, the slow rise to the hotel's top floor soundtracked by the dull, steady tune of elevator music.
Ironically, Aria was feeling a great many things, but "steady" wasn't one of them.
The room in question was at the end of the hall, but it may as well have been on Mars with the way Aria felt. She had to drag herself down the corridor, her heart beating like a drum with each and every step. Her hands shook as she brought the keycard to the door and, after taking a moment to collect herself, she unlocked the door and stepped into the master suite. It was a beautiful room, with a king-sized bed, a fully stocked minibar, and a large TV that was currently switched off. Aside from an armchair near the window, there was a plain, sturdy wooden chair in the middle of the room, which seemed to be a bit out of place. Aria arched her brow as she entered, swinging the door shut as she walked towards the mismatched furniture.
"Hands where I can see 'em, sugar."
Aria froze, her heart going still at the sudden voice. From the back of the room, through a door Aria assumed must lead to the bathroom, came Adagio. The sound of her knee-high heels against the floor filled the silence as Aria took a moment to absorb what she saw. Fishnet leggings clung to her thick, sexy thighs, held in place by black garters. A navy blue skirt covered her bottom, if just barely, and her flat, toned, smooth stomach was left exposed by the crop of her blue button-down top. She wore a tie loosely around her neck, coming together with her dark shades, hat, and off-center police badge to create a look that gave the term "dirty cop" a whole new meaning. Her scarlet-painted lips spread into a sinister smirk as she took in Aria's expression, tapping her open palm with her baton in an almost taunting manner.
"I hear you've been up to no good," purred the officer. Adagio smirked wider as Aria failed to respond. "They called me to take you in."
"What's this all about?" A simple, four-word sentence and Aria could barely choke it out. She always was a sucker for a lady in uniform.
"Word on the street is you've been a bad girl, sugar." Adagio crossed the room, swinging her baton as she did, until she was looking down on Aria's smaller, more wiry frame. "It's my job to deal with bad girls like you."
"Right..." Aria gulped as Adagio gently placed the baton under her chin, tilting her face up and forcing their gazes to meet. She felt so small next to Adagio, so weak, defenseless. Adagio was in total control, and that was exactly what she wanted. "What does that mean?"
"It means..." Adagio's voice dropped to a low, breathy whisper, and she leaned in to kiss Aria on the neck. Aria could feel the warmth of Adagio's breath on her ear, the quiet whisper making her hair stand on end. "That you're under arrest."
Before Aria could formulate a response, she felt something cold and hard click around her wrist. She looked down, understandably concerned, her eyes going wide at the sight of a pair of handcuffs around her right arm. Adagio giggled at her confusion, twirling around her "suspect" and locking the other cuff into Aria's wrist. Now, with her arms bound behind her back, Aria was even more defenseless, something she hadn't previously thought to be possible.
"Take a seat while I work out your sentence." Adagio gently shoved Aria, sending her stumbling back into the seat. When she tried to move, Adagio kept her in place with her foot, gently pushing her back down with her shoe. With her leg raised, and the short nature of her skirt, Aria naturally felt her eyes drift downward, her perverted peeping halted by Adagio and her baton tilting her face back up. "Tsk. This is just the sort of naughty behavior that got you in trouble to start with."
"You said something about my 'sentence', right?" Aria squirmed, the idea of Adagio standing before her with her legs spread and her skirt up, yet being unable to sneak a peek, being akin to torture. "Isn't that usually the judge's job?"
"Oh, I see we have a smart-mouth here. But that's okay, sugar." Adagio climbed into Aria, straddling her lap, grabbing her blushing face under the chin and holding her in place. "I think we can find something better for that mouth of yours to do."
"Yeah? Like what?"
"Pleading guilty."
"I don't even know what I'm in for." Aria couldn't help but smirk at the admittedly silly situation. It made sense that Adagio would be interested in roleplay, even if Aria herself hadn't been expecting it. "Hard to feel bad for a crime I don't even know I committed."
"Your crime is simple, sugar." Adagio kissed Aria's collar, leaving faint lipstick marks up her neck as trailed up to her lips. "You're under arrest for forgetting the date..."
"The... date?"
"It's the third of March, sugar." Adagio began unbuttoning her top, slowly, sensually revealing more of her cleavage. "Six months since our first date."
"Oh." Aria swallowed her heart back down as it threatened to leap free. "Oh, shit..."
"'Oh, shit' is right. I promised to blow your mind, and that's what I'm going to do." Adagio pulled her top open completely, the only thing keeping her contained being a scanty black bra that was trying its best but fighting a losing battle. "So now, I'm going to strip you down and--"
The door swung open, bringing with it the bustle and noise of what appeared to be three electricians. They were so busy chatting to themselves, dragging in their equipment, that they didn't even see the couple in the middle of the room. Aria could feel Adagio's grip tighten on her shoulders, and she fought back a laugh.
For the first time, it looked like Adagio was the flustered one.
"Get that TV out of the way, we need to bust into that wall," said the lead electrician. He turned to direct his partners, jumping at the sight of the two women before him. "Uh...?"
"I love being watched as much as the next girl, but a bit of warning would be nice," growled Adagio. She whipped her head back, lowering her shades to glare at the workers. "I'm not sure if you realized, but we're in the middle of some very intricate foreplay."
"So sorry, ma'am. We didn't mean to bother you and your lady," said the electrician, still not entirely sure where to look. "Thing is, there's a wiring problem here, we have to deal with it before it becomes an even bigger issue."
"Could it perhaps wait until we've gone a few rounds?"
"You guys have no clue how long I've been waiting for this," sighed Aria. "Just give us like a half-hour?" Adagio snorted, looking down at Aria and arching her brow.
"You think I'm letting you go after only a half-hour?"
"Sorry, no can do. It's a fire hazard thing, you two shouldn't even be here," said the worker. "They said the room was empty."
"You have got to be fucking with me..." sighed Adagio. She very quickly buttoned her top and climbed off of Aria, turning to face the workers. "Fine. We'll be on our way. Come on, sugar."
"Right. Uh..." Aria pulled herself awkwardly to her feet, her arms still bound behind her. "You got a key for these or...?"
Adagio frowned as she produced a key from her belt and used it to free Aria from her bindings. After giving her a playful swat on the bottom, Adagio begrudgingly led the way out of the room, keeping Aria close behind her. They were quiet as they entered the hall, and as they filed into the elevator.
For several seconds, it was silent, save for the sound of the cheesy, generic pop elevator tune.
"Alright, so, obviously," sighed Adagio, burying her face in her palm. "That went much better in my head."
"You don't say?" snickered Aria. Adagio gave her a gentle shove, much to Aria's own amusement. "What's with the cop get-up?"
"Got hired for a birthday party. I don't normally do the costume thing, but they paid well and they paid upfront. Idiots got too drunk and stoned the night before, so no one actually showed up." Adagio adjusted her tie, straightening her outfit and making herself a bit more presentable. "Already paid for the costume, and I thought we could have some fun with it."
"Trust me, I was having fun." Aria scratched the back of her neck sheepishly. "I, uh, didn't realize we've been together for six whole months already."
"Time flies when you're having fun."
"So... that means you have been having fun?"
"Oh, sugar, I've been having a ball." Adagio leaned against the wall, frowning as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Not as much fun as I'm going to have dragging this second-rate hotel for this disaster..."
"I wouldn't say 'disaster', y'know?" snickered Aria. Adagio pouted like a little girl on the verge of a tantrum, her frustration at their sexy time being interrupted very much so amusing Aria. "Like I said, I had fun."
"I didn't even get to do my 'cavity search' bit..."
"Your what now?"
Before Adagio had a chance to elaborate, unlikely as that was, the elevator reached the bottom floor, at which point the couple stepped out into the lobby. After a few choice words with the concierge, who apologized profusely both for the mix-up and the lack of available rooms, Adagio grabbed Aria by the wrist and led her out of the hotel. Mr. Tie was waiting for them, holding the door open for the pair before claiming the driver's seat and starting up the car.
"Where to, Ms. Adagio?" he asked. Adagio pouted and frowned for a second before, quite strangely, she broke into a grin.
"Can you park us out back, Mr. Tie?" she asked. Aria caught a glimpse of Tie's arched brow in the rearview mirror, and it seemed the driver was just as confused as she was. Even still, Tie did as he was told, driving the car to a quiet corner of the hotel's parking lot. "Thank you, Mr. Tie."
"May I ask what this is about, ma'am?"
"Just me thinking. I realized I've had you running me around all day, getting things for this costume. It occurred to me that you didn't get a break today." Adagio grabbed her purse from her seat, digging through it and emerging with a sleek, black credit card, which she offered to her driver. "So why don't you go and have yourself a nice, long break. Get yourself something nice. My treat."
"Ma'am, I shouldn't just leave--"
"Mr. Tie, I insist," Adagio spoke a bit more firmly, pressing the card into Tie's hand. "Aria and I are perfectly fine here while you enjoy yourself. I'll call when we need you."
"Right... I see." Tie took the card and, with a tiny nod, stepped out of the car. "You two have a wonderful night."
"Oh, we will," said Adagio, waving as Tie departed. She glanced at Aria, licking her lips as she did. "We absolutely will. Thank you, Mr. Tie."
"Uh.... Aria watched the driver walk away, feeling the atmosphere change on a dime. It suddenly got hotter, more dangerous, more intimate. "So. What's next--?"
At perhaps the most inopportune of times, Aria's phone rang. Aria pulled it out, looking at who was calling. To her surprise, it wasn't Sonata, but an unknown number, which should have been a no-brainer. Just decline it. Yet, for some reason, Aria felt compelled to answer. It seemed familiar. Or maybe she was just afraid of what was coming next, once she was free of this distraction.
"It's an unknown call." Aria showed Adagio her screen. "Think I should answer it or...?"
"You want to know what I think?" Adagio grabbed the phone and swiped her thumb against the screen, setting it to Do Not Disturb before tossing it to the passenger seat. "I think we should make out."
"Oh. Okay, I--"
Adagio jumped into Aria's lap, grabbing her around the back of the head and pulling their lips together. Aria was more than happy to let Adagio take the driver's seat in the situation, melting into the seat as Adagio kissed her. She could feel Adagio on top of her, weighing her down, her hands wandering across Aria's slender frame. Aria gasped for air, each breath stolen away by Adagio's tongue.
"Take off your top," breathed Adagio, breaking away from Aria for just a moment. Aria hummed in compliance, pulling her shirt over her head with Adagio's assistance. Aria shuddered at the sensation of Adagio's nails against her skin, running up her back to unbuckle her simple black bra. The garment fell from Aria's body, freeing her pert, frankly tiny breasts from their confines. Adagio was on her immediately, squeezing Aria's chest, brushing her nipples with her fingers.
Aria moaned, just a brief, breathy, quiet moan, but that was all Adagio needed for a target; She pulled away and dove her head down a bit, taking Aria's nipple into her mouth and giving her a firm, yet gentle, suckle. She nipped Aria's tender flesh ever so gently with her teeth, the sensation shooting through Aria like a bolt of lightning through her core. She jerked away from Adagio, panting and choking down air while Adagio just laughed.
"Too much for you, sugar?" giggled Adagio. "We can go back to just kissing if you want."
"You're just a little... intense," breathed Aria. "And, y'know..."
"Been a while?"
"Yeah... There's no toy that sucks your tit for you." Aria chuckled sheepishly, unable to stop herself from blushing at the way Adagio was looking at her. Like she was a hunk of meat. "Or if there is, I don't have one."
"Mh-hm. Well, don't worry, sugar," purred Adagio. She reached down and slowly unbuckled Aria's jeans, creeping her hand into her pants. "A little bit of rust is no issue. Just let me handle it..."
Adagio's sleek fingers slipped past Aria's panties, brushing her clit as she rubbed Aria's slit. Another moan from Aria seemed to motivate Adagio, who rubbed faster, keeping in time with Aria's breathing. With her other hand, Adagio pinched and teased at Aria's nipples, relishing in the way Aria squirmed and moaned at her hand. The heat was building between the two, the close, intimate, if a bit cramped nature of their backseat rendezvous elevating it to a level that Aria was unlikely to forget.
"You don't have to worry about any toys either. You don't have to worry about touching yourself with my panties under your nose, or to half-nude pictures of me." Adagio slid her middle finger into Aria's twat, rolling her clit with her thumb and sending quakes through her body. "In fact, you don't have to worry about touching yourself at all, sugar. You know why?"
"W-why?" panted Aria. She gasped as Adagio slipped another finger inside her, slowly pumping deeper and deeper. "Oh, fuck..."
"Because you have me now. And that means I have you. And that means that I have... this." Adagio flexed her fingers, giggling sinisterly at the way Aria tensed and twitched around her fingers. "This pussy is mine. Do you understand me? All mine."
"Yes..."
"Say it. I want to hear you say it." Adagio's voice was low, husky, almost a growl. She pumped her fingers faster, squeezing another moan out of Aria. "Say it, sugar."
"It's yours..." Aria's ears burned, more than a bit embarrassed, but she didn't care just then. All she wanted right then was Adagio to take her, claim her for her own. "It's your pussy..."
"Damn right, it is. It's mine to play with, just like you," cooed Adagio. She worked her fingers faster, drilling Aria to her very core. "Your pussy, your every moan, your every twitch. All of it, mine." She kissed Aria on the neck, nipping at her collar in between sentences. "I'm going to make you cum right here, and I want to hear you say my name when it happens. Got it?"
"Yes..."
"Yes, what?"
"Yes, ma'am," moaned Aria. Adagio stopped her hand completely, leaving Aria gasping for more than just air. "W-what...?"
"Close, but not quite. Come on, sugar, you should be able to figure it out." Adagio kissed Aria, invading her mouth with her tongue before pulling away, nibbling on Aria's bottom lip as she did. "What do you think I want to hear?"
"I... Oh." Aria blushed as the realization dawned on her, which seemed to be enough for Adagio to continue pumping her fingers in and out of Aria's pussy. Aria bit her lip as Adagio fingered her closer and closer to the edge, taking in a shuddering breath before finally letting it out. "Yes, Mommy..."
"There's a good girl."
Adagio sent her hand into overtime, schlicking Aria so deep and fast that she felt as though her brain was melting. Aria's hips jerked of their own volition, her body twitching and jumping and humping Adagio's hand. There was no hiding it, both girls could see it as clear as day: Aria was close.
"F-fuck..." moaned Aria. She slammed her thighs together around Adagio's hand, gripping the leather seat tightly as her orgasm descended upon her. "Adagio! God, yes, Adagio..."
Even as Adagio felt Aria tense, she didn't stop. She kept her hand moving just as fast, perhaps even faster, carrying Aria throughout her climax. The pleasure came in waves, crashing down onto Aria one after the other. Aria felt her body quiver, her trembling increasing in conjunction with Adagio's fingers. Aria grabbed Adagio by the arm, fruitlessly trying to slow her down.
"W-wait... I'm gonna cum again..." Even as Aria spoke, Adagio kept her fingers going, kissing and sucking at the tender flesh of Aria's neck. "Adagio, please..."
"Sing for me, sugar."
With that, Aria gave up on trying to slow Adagio down, deciding it was pointless. She gave herself up to Adagio, letting the dancer bring her to another climax. It felt like being hit by a ton of bricks, stars dancing in Aria's eyes, her mind going blank. She couldn't think, couldn't speak, couldn't do anything more than twitch and tense and moan around her girlfriend's fingers. Then, another freight train of an orgasm smashed into Aria, just as intense as the first two.
"Let's get one more out of you," purred Adagio. She returned her attention to Aria's breasts, being much gentler to her nipples than before. Instead of biting and sucking, Adagio licked and kissed Aria's tender nipple, keeping the electric sensation going throughout Aria's entire body.
"I... I don't know if... I can take... One more..." Aria was exhausted, just barely choking down her breaths. Her mouth had gone dry, and she was in desperate need of a drink of water. Even still, she couldn't deny how much she wanted this, how much she wanted more. She felt like she was dying, but she loved every single second.
Besides, everybody dies, and Aria figured there are worse ways to go out than in the backseat of an expensive car getting finger-blasted by her sexy stripper girlfriend.
"Well, we're about to find out, aren't we?" Adagio gave Aria a wink, finally sliding in a third finger and pistoning Aria's pussy without an ounce of remorse. Aria thought her body was done before, but now, every flick and tense of Adagio's hand felt magnified by ten. No matter how tired and spent she thought she was, Adagio was determined to get one last climax out of Aria, and that's precisely what she did.
Aria gripped Adagio tightly, holding her close as she came for the fourth time. Adagio finally stopped her hand, letting Aria ride out the rest of her orgasm. When Aria was done with the bulk of her quivering, Adagio pulled her hand up and licked her fingers clean, smirking at the exhaustion in Aria's eyes.
"Worth the wait?" asked Adagio. Aria nodded slowly, slumping in her seat.
"I'm just gonna... catch my breath..." Aria panted heavily, barely able to keep her eyes open. "That was... awesome."
"Glad to hear it, sugar." Adagio slid off of Aria's lap, reaching to the front seat to grab Aria's phone. By the time she returned to deliver it, Aria was already asleep. Adagio smirked to herself, producing her own phone from her pocket and sending out a quick call before putting it to her ear.
"Is everything alright, ma'am?"
"Absolutely. We're ready to go home now, if you don't mind." Adagio spared Aria one last look, snickering to herself. "Oh, and could you grab a towel on your way back? We may have made a bit of a mess back here." |
I Get Off | Mz. Hyde | Aria slowly turned over in bed, pulling the luxurious silk sheets to her chest and letting the comfort wrap her up. Just five more minutes, she swore, then she would get out of bed. Something about her sheets and her bed felt especially comfortable, and she didn't particularly want to leave its confines. The silk and satin, the calming music from the next room, the scent of lavender and lilac, it was all so luxurious. Too luxurious.
Her eyes went open, and she shot upright in a bed that she suddenly realized was not hers. If the expensive nature of the bedding wasn't a dead giveaway, the floor length windows that made up the wall opposite of the bed was. Aria rolled out of bed, topless save for her bra yet still in her jeans from the night before, and approached the windows. A beautiful view, looking down at the entire city and watching the sun slowly rise over the concrete jungle.
"The fuck?" Aria scratched her head at the situation, trying to piece things together. She didn't think she'd ever see a penthouse apartment like this from the inside unless she decided to pick up a celebrity magazine, yet, here she was. She had her suspicions as to how she had got there, and so she followed the sound of music out of the room and down the hall to the kitchen and living area.
The living room split into a small kitchenette, where a coffee machine was running, had everything from a large fridge to a fully stocked bar. The living room housed a luxurious couch that Aria wagered cost as much as three months of her rent, a massive flatscreen television and entertainment system, the stereos of which were playing the music Aria had been hearing.
Most interestingly was the small stage area in the corner, where a sleek metal pole ran from the ceiling to the floor. The curvy, sensual, nude form of Adagio was slowly swinging around that pole, sashaying her hips and showing off her tattoos and the small beauty mark under her breast. The most of the dancer's body Aria had ever seen. It was then, as Aria stared at Adagio's perfect body swaying around the pole for her own private striptease, did she remember exactly what went down the previous night.
"Nice place," noted Aria, hoping to get Adagio's attention. While it was obvious that Adagio heard her, she kept dancing as if she had not. "How'd we end up here?"
"You were so out of it last night, I had Mr. Tie carry you up here for me," said Adagio, not pausing her routine for even a second. "Didn't want to drop you on your doorstep for Sonata to find, and it would be terribly rude to leave you in the backseat of my car, so... Welcome to my little bachelorette pad."
"Thanks for having me." Aria crossed her arms over her chest, unable to tear her eyes from Adagio for even a second. "Do you always poledance to start your day or is this a treat for me?"
"Bit of both. I have to stay in practice somehow, and it's great exercise." Adagio held onto the pole for support, bringing her right leg straight up into a vertical split against the pole and leaning back to smirk at Aria. "I normally wear clothes though."
"Heh. Listen, about last night..."
"Hm? What happened last night?"
"You, uh... Rocked my world, a little bit," said Aria with a blush. Adagio turned herself upside down, holding onto the pole with a leg and gesturing for more. "You... Geez, are you really gonna make me go into detail?"
"You mean when I owned your pussy and made you mine?" said Adagio with a grin.
"Y-yeah... What I was trying to get at is... Sorry."
"Hm?" Adagio paused, mid-spin, and flipped upright and to the floor. In a rare twist of fate, now she was the one confused and concerned. "What do you have to be sorry for?"
"I passed out before I could, y'know. Reciprocate." Aria blushed at the way Adagio giggled at her. "I just... I'm not normally like that. If I'm getting off, I feel like whoever I'm with should get off too."
"Just because you didn't finger-fuck my soul from my body like I did to you doesn't mean I didn't 'get off', sugar," laughed Adagio. "If I wanted you to make me cum last night, I would have let you know, but that's not what that was about. That was about finally breaking that dry spell of yours."
"Consider it broken. Still... I wanna make you feel good, too."
"Oh, aren't you just precious? Trust and believe, sugar, hearing you moan my name last night definitely made me feel good. Better than you can imagine." Adagio stepped down from the stage, wrapping her arms around Aria's waist and pulling her in for a kiss. "But, if you're hellbent on paying me back... Well, I have some shopping planned today that I think will help us out there."
"We talking shoes or like...?"
"Sugar, we both know I'm too much of a perv to be talking about shoes right now." Adagio gave Aria a gentle swat to the ass, smirking at the tiny moan that escaped her. "Mr. Tie will be here in an hour, coffee is almost ready, and I have a fresh outfit for you in the bathroom. So why don't you hit the shower, we get some breakfast, and then we find some fun little toys for us to play with?"
"Right... Where's your bathroom, exactly?"
"Back in the bedroom, door on the right."
"Alright, then. Thanks," said Aria. She turned to go back the way she came, pausing after a few steps. She turned back to face Adagio, nervously chuckling as she did. "You wanna maybe, I dunno... Join me?"
"I've already showered, sugar," said Adagio, giving the most innocent, and blatantly fabricated, smile Aria had ever seen. The smile slipped into something a touch more sinister. "Oh, and don't do something silly like try to rub one out in the shower. You save that for me." She blew Aria a kiss, stopping her heart in her chest. "I'll know if you did..."
Aria really, truly, genuinely believed that, by this point in their relationship, she would have discovered some sort of defense against Adagio's sensual charm. Yet, somehow, a few choice words still managed to make Aria's knees weak.
"Yes, ma'am."
Even after a hot shower and some coffee to wake her up, Aria still found it incredibly difficult to focus on breakfast with Adagio across the table from her.
To her credit, Adagio was mostly innocent, sipping her coffee and munching on her avocado toast without much fanfare. The fact that her blouse was so incredibly low-cut that she threatened to pop out of it if she sneezed too hard was entirely coincidental. Even if Adagio was covered from head to toe like a nun (the very thought of which, in and of itself, was giving Aria some incredibly vivid fantasies and flashbacks to Catholic school), Aria would be hard-pressed to think about anything except the coming shopping spree.
"Siren's Call, hm?" hummed Adagio, looking out at the sex shop as Mr. Tie parked them before it. "Any particular reason you chose this place?"
"I, uh... I already have a membership here," admitted Aria. "They've got a good selection."
"I hope so. Let's go, sugar."
Aria and Adagio slid out of the car, approaching the vibrant pink shop. A bit embarrassingly, the cashier called out to Aria by name, displaying just how well-known she was at this shop. Adagio just chuckled, nudging Aria as they strolled past row after row of various dildos, vibrators, pocket pussies, and more.
"So, what kind of toys do you like?" asked Aria. Adagio shrugged. "Okay... So how did you get off with your last... partner?"
"His dick," said Adagio with a snicker. "And I put his tongue to work, too."
"Wait... Am I the first chick you've ever been with?"
"Yep."
"How is that possible? How did you..." Aria paused, lowering her voice to a whisper. "Do that last night?"
"I'm a natural," laughed Adagio. "Mainly did what I would like. Aside from that... I googled some tips on my phone before my cop routine."
"Shit, that reminds me..." Aria pulled out her phone, turning it off of Do Not Disturb. Over a dozen missed calls and texts from the night before came cascading in. "Yeah, figured... Sonata called a bunch, she's probably worried. I better call back." After a nod from Adagio, Aria dialed the number and put the phone to her ear once the line connected. "Hey, don't freak out."
"Too late!" said Sonata. "You just totally vanished last night, you said you'd be back before me, but after my 'date' with Devin, you weren't home and..." Sonata gasped in surprise, some pieces falling into place all of a sudden. "Oh my God!"
"Oh no..."
"You totally fucked Adagio last night, didn't you?!"
"I can hear her," noted Adagio. She grinned. "Tell her it was me who fucked you."
"Nata, I'm in public, I'm not gonna talk about this right now," said Aria firmly. Naturally, Sonata proceeded to ignore this declaration.
"You gotta tell me everything! How was it? What did you guys do? Where? What did she say, what did you say, what--"
"Sonata, I promise I'll tell you all about it in graphic detail when I get home, but right now I'm not--"
"I thought I heard someone familiar!"
A chill ran down Aria's spine, her heart stopping in her chest in a way very different than how Adagio could make her feel. This was dread, true fear and disbelief and a million other things that Aria couldn't quite place. She slowly turned in the direction of the voice, her eyes falling on its source. Some part of Aria prayed beyond reason that she was wrong, but there was no mistaking it once she saw her.
She seemed taller than Aria remembered, almost matching Adagio's height. Her hair was shorter than before, only about ear-length, the fiery red and yellow locks shaved down at the back and sides in a sort of pixie cut. Her lip was pierced by a single, small, silver ring, a remnant of the punk rock style that she had poorly attempted to rid herself of as she got older. She smiled at Aria, oozing confidence, as she approached, stopping a few paces from the couple. Aria swallowed in an attempt to keep her heart in her body, while Adagio simply watched with an arched brow.
"Wait..." Aria had temporarily forgotten that she was on the phone until Sonata piped up. "That sounds like..."
"I'll call you back, Nata," said Aria, nervously ending her call. She took in a breath and waited a beat before continuing. "Hey, Sunset. Been a while."
"Ages, it feels like. What are the odds that I come here and bump into you, of all people?" Sunset Shimmer laughed and, as if under some form of duress, Aria soon joined her. After a spell, Sunset's eyes met those of Adagio's, and her grin only grew. "Who's this hottie?"
"Oh, this is my, uh... My friend. Adagio." Aria flashed a look to Adagio that was equal parts apologetic and screaming for help. "Adagio, this is Sunset. We used to date."
"Used to do a lot more than that."
"Nice to meet you, Sunset." Adagio offered her hand with a polite smile, and Sunset shook it just as politely. "Aria's told me all about you."
"Damn, I sure hope not," said Sunset. Aria chuckled nervously, clearing her throat in an attempt to steady herself.
"Uh... What are you doing here?" asked Aria.
"Buying a new vibrator, what's it look like?"
"I meant in this country. Weren't you supposed to be moving to Sweden?" Aria blushed, sweating profusely and averting her eyes. "With, uh... Twilight?"
"Oh, yeah, things didn't work out with me and her. Ironic, huh?" Sunset laughed, but the frown on Aria's face made it very clear that she was not in on the joke. "We split a few months back, I decided to come back here to look for work, maybe reconnect with some old friends. I called you last night, by the way, but you didn't pick up."
"Oh. Yeah, well... I lost your number after we split up, and I didn't recognize it when--"
As casually as can be, Sunset swiped Aria's phone from her hand. She maneuvered through her call log, whistling as Aria was powerless to stop her. After a minute, she passed the phone back to Aria, who fought to hide her frown. Now, she had a new contact. "Sunny <3" was now saved to her phone, making it impossible to miss when she was calling.
"There, now you'll remember. We gotta get together sometime, catch up on old times," said Sunset. She looked back at Adagio, as if only then remembering she was there. "Maybe the three of us can grab dinner? Aria doesn't make friends with just anybody, so you're bound to be interesting. As for me, well, I can be a little all over the place." She nudged Aria playfully. "What was it you said to me when we broke up? There's two Sunsets?"
"Yep. Two Sunsets," sighed Aria. "And no way to be sure which girl you'll get tonight."
"Well, trust me. I'm the good one, I swear," laughed Sunset. She glanced down at her watch, whistling at the time. "Shit, I gotta go. I'll call you later to make dinner plans! Maybe get Sony over, too. Just like old times."
Sunset leaned in and kissed Aria on the forehead before waving goodbye and going on her merry way. For a few moments, Aria didn't move, afraid to see what Adagio thought of things. When she finally did turn to see her, she was thoroughly surprised that Adagio was smiling.
"So that was Sunset?" asked Adagio, a light bit of laughter in her voice.
"Y-yeah. Don't stress over the kiss thing, she does that to everyone," said Aria, wiping any potential lipstick from her forehead. She waited nervously, getting herself in order before continuing. "What do you think of her?"
"I've known her for approximately 90 seconds and yet there is no combination of 26 letters to come together to make a word that accurately captures how much I hate this bitch."
"Oh. Well..." Aria was now even more concerned than before. "Then why are you smiling?"
"Because she doesn't get to have you anymore. I do." Adagio pulled Aria in close, grabbing her crotch through her jeans. "And seeing my competition got me fired up. So let's grab some stuff and get out of here before I drop your jeans and fuck you right in the middle of this aisle."
Aria gulped, her mind currently distracted from Sunset entirely.
"Do you have any idea how hot you are?"
"Why don't we sneak off to a dressing room so you can show me?"
"Um... Maybe some other time." Aria pulled away from Adagio, which clearly wasn't what the dancer had expected. "Seeing Sunny again is bringing back some memories."
"Memories about fucking in a dressing room?" asked Adagio.
"Yeah, actually. Like I said, can we talk more about it another time?" Aria went stiff, turning away from Adagio to hide her face. "It's still tough. You know?"
"You don't have to tell me anything before you're ready." Adagio grabbed her gently by the hand, pulling Aria close. "You still up for dildo shopping? Because if you'd rather go home, we can do this another time."
"You sure? You sounded excited to get new toys."
"I've got the only toy I'm worried about right here, sugar." She pinched Aria's cheek, successfully earning her a smirk. "Call Sonata, we can all meet up at your place. I'm hindsight, I didn't give you a whole lot of time to recover from last night. Maybe a day in with friends is what we need."
"Yeah, that makes sense." Aria stood a little more confidently, pulling her phone out to redial Sonata's number. "Thanks, babe."
"Don't mention it, sugar," said Adagio. She pulled Aria forward, leading her confidently to the front of the store. "Tell Sonata to make more of that hot cocoa. Something tells me we're going to want to get cozy for storytime."
"So she's just back now?" asked Sonata.
Aria sighed, throwing her head back against the couch. Her hot cocoa sat on the coffee table, mostly untouched, while Sonata sat across from her with a mug in her hand and a concerned frown on her face. It wasn't until Adagio returned from the kitchen with a fresh mug of cocoa, sliding into the couch and curling up against Aria, did the latter look forward at her long-time friend.
"It's like she never left," sighed Aria. "She's not bitter or spiteful or anything. She even laughed at an old fight we had. If you didn't know the story, you'd think the two of us were just old friends."
"That's totally nuts." Sonata glanced to Adagio, who maintained a cool, controlled aura to her. "And what do you think of her, Ada?"
"I don't like to make a habit of flexing my wealth, but I would happily pay a large sum of money to make her disappear." Adagio sipped her cocoa, not realizing the concern on the others' faces until the silence hung in the air for a few beats. "What?"
"Are you saying you're gonna put a hit out on her?" asked Sonata.
"Of course not. I'm saying I could, and it's very, very tempting," said Adagio. Again, there were a few awkward beats of silence before she rolled her eyes. "I'm joking. About the hit, not about disliking Sunset. I can't stand her."
"Just cause she's my ex?" asked Aria.
"Have you ever grabbed a Coke from the fridge and realize after you take a sip that you grabbed a Diet Coke by mistake?" Adagio watched the two nod. "It's like that. That girl is phony, and she's not here to just be friends."
"You think she might be trying to get back with me?" snorted Aria. Adagio just shrugged. "Yeah, not a chance. You clearly don't know how we split."
"Only because you haven't told me."
"You never asked."
"My mistake, should I have asked about your messy breakup after your second or third orgasm?"
"Damn, three times?" laughed Sonata from the loveseat. "Looks like you've got a girl who knows what she's doing!"
"Once you get Aria around your finger like I do, she melts like ice cream on the sidewalk," said Adagio, grinning devilishly. "I would've gotten more than just three if she hadn't passed out."
"Can we not do this?" Aria's face was simply radiating heat, enough to cook an egg by this point. "It was the outfit, I--"
"Outfit?" asked Sonata. Adagio pulled out her phone and flipped through a few screens.
"Sexy cop." Adagio turned her phone to Sonata, showing off one of the selfies she took before Aria arrived at the hotel.
"Wow, you look good!" Sonata leaned forward a bit. "Uh... I can see your booby. Left nipple is showing."
"Hm?" After glancing back at the screen, Adagio shrugged and put the phone in her pocket. "Oh well. Nothing you two haven't seen before. I showed Aria my tits before I knew her name."
There was the ringing of a phone, but it wasn't Adagio's. It was Aria's, and everyone in the room was fairly sure they knew who it was on the other end. After a second, Aria pulled out the phone just to confirm what they all knew; Sunset. She looked first to Sonata, then to Adagio, before finally answering the phone.
"Hey, Sunny. Uh, you're on speaker." Thinking quickly, Aria put the phone on speaker, so as to ensure she had backup if she needed it. "Adagio and Sonata are here."
"Hey, girls! Look, can't talk much, in the middle of an errand," said Sunset. "But we were talking about lunch earlier, and I wanted to know if you guys would be down for tomorrow? Just passed Romeo's on my way to my apartment, got hit with this wave of nostalgia. Their eggplant parm was to die for."
"Uh... I don't know, Sunset. Adagio?" Aria glanced to Adagio, begging and pleading with her to help. "What do you think? Are you, uh, free?"
"How does 1 PM sound?" said Adagio suddenly. Both Sonata and Aria's eyes went wide in shock, so surprised that they couldn't even argue. "I'd love to get to know you better."
"Sounds perfect. Meet you there?"
"It's a date."
"Okay, awesome. I gotta let you go now. Bye Nata, Ada. And Aria?" Sunset paused for a half beat before quite audibly blowing a kiss through the phone. "That's for you. For old time's sake."
Just as quickly as it started, it was over. Aria turned to Adagio, tilting her head and examining the dancer as if she had suddenly sprouted a second head.
"I thought you hated her," said Aria.
"Oh, I do, sugar. But I'm also not stupid. I know how to play this game," said Adagio with a snort. "She doesn't want to have lunch with us. She wants to know if we're an item, by seeing if I'd let you go."
"So... you're letting me go to do what exactly?"
"To see why she wants to know so badly. And, once I do, I'll know what she's playing at. Then, she'll know not to touch what's mine." Adagio coiled up against Aria, nuzzling against her chest. "You have to wake up pretty early in the morning if you're going to pull one over on me. I'm not letting her fuck with either of us, and that's a promise."
"I guess you thought it out more than me. I'm still kinda shook that she's even here. After she left, I thought I'd never see her again." Aria sighed, tossing her phone into the coffee table. "Before I met you, I hoped I would, and now that she's back... my brain just freezes."
"I'm going to ask you a question, and it's very important that you understand that this isn't a trap. It's not a trick or a test. I want you to be honest." Adagio sat up and turned to face Aria, looking her straight in the eyes not with any of her usual teasing or pageantry or sultry allure. This look was nothing but compassion, connection, and understanding, and it made Aria's knees go weak all the same. "Be honest. Do you still have feelings for Sunset?"
Aria opened her mouth to say the obvious answer, but she stopped. She stopped because, the longer she thought about it, the less obvious the answer appeared. After lying to herself for so long, convincing herself that she was over it when she wasn't, Aria wasn't entirely sure what she felt. What was real, and what was just a manner of coping with the heartbreak? She couldn't say no, give the answer she desperately wanted to give, because the simple fact was that Aria didn't know.
"I was going to marry her. I had a ring, I had the date all planned out, everything," said Aria, a slight tinge of pain in her voice. It was like she had stubbed her toe, but rather than treat it, she just walked through the pain. "Even when our relationship was melting, I thought it would all be fixed when I asked her to marry me. We were gonna buy a house, and adopt a kid, and get old together and... in a ten minute argument, that all went up in smoke."
"I know you said you don't want to talk about it, but I want to know how I can help you," said Adagio. "Please. Tell me what happened."
"Not even I really know," admitted Sonata. Aria glanced up at her, as if surprised to know she was still there. "You two need some alone time to talk? Cause I can go."
"No. You kept me together this whole time, you deserve to hear it too," said Aria. She almost begrudgingly grabbed her cocoa and took a healthy sip. "So, uh... I guess this is kinda important to mention. I didn't lose my virginity until I hooked up with Sunset."
"Why would that be important?" asked Adagio.
"Cause I was still figuring myself out, and Sunset was, like... Experienced, I guess."
"She was a slut. Since, like, high school," said Sonata, rolling her eyes. Now, it was her attracting stares. "What? She ran through the entire basketball team and half the cheerleaders before prom. And I know, glass house or whatever, but it takes one to know one!"
"The point is, she knew what she liked and I had no fucking clue. So, she 'helped' me. Or, I guess, she helped herself. She had a dominant personality, is a way to say it. She wanted to be able to have her way with me?"
"Like me?" asked Adagio with a frown. Aria shook her head.
"She would call me names and stuff. Slut, bitch, whatever." Aria blushed a bit at the memories, still finding herself embarrassed by how much a bit of name-calling had bothered her. "I wasn't really into it, but I never said anything, because I just thought that was what you did. Relationships are about compromise, right?"
"That's not compromise."
"Well, I was dumb and in love, so I just went with it. When the name-calling wasn't enough, she started trying to get me off in public. First it was the bathroom, then a dressing room. One time, even at dinner." Aria shrunk down, shaking her head at Sunset, at herself, and at her past. "With my parents... Well, I really didn't like that. I wasn't ready, I was scared, and uncomfortable, but Sunset didn't care. She got her rocks off from watching me squirm in public, and I always got to cum at the end, so what do I have to complain about?"
"That sounds... Wrong," noted Sonata.
"Understatement of the year," agreed Adagio. She patted Aria gently, urging her to continue. "Go on, sugar."
"Eventually, I just couldn't keep going. So I told her. We argued about it for a while. She said I was being judgmental and kinkshaming her." Though long ago, Aria could still remember how she felt when Sunset had finally pushed her to a point where she couldn't keep going. It was this queasy, greasy feeling, deep in her gut. "And I guess I was, in hindsight. But after that, we made up, and we came to a deal, this unspoken agreement. Since I wasn't willing to humor her anymore, then that meant I should have to focus extra hard on... pleasing her... in bed. It sounded reasonable at the time, but... Dumb and in love, I guess.
"She wouldn't touch me for the longest time at that point. And I don't just mean sexually. She stopped kissing me, stopped holding my hand, stopped cuddling. Whenever we had sex, which wasn't super often anymore, it was always me getting her off. And I'll be honest, I started to get a little bitter. It felt so shitty, to have a long day at work, come back home to the woman that's supposed to be my soulmate, and she just rides my face and goes to bed after. I felt kinda... Entitled, I guess. Like she owed me, somehow."
"I don't think it's unreasonable to expect human contact and compassion in a relationship, sugar." Adagio tried to hide her frown, but she was quite unsuccessful in that regard. "I think you're allowed to feel entitled to the sensation that your girlfriend loves you."
"Sunset didn't see it like that. The way she saw it, I had belittled her sexuality, and this is what happens after. I tried to tell her that I just couldn't take another night of being called a useless bitch while I damn near worshipped her, and she told me to learn the difference between reality and fantasy. Said I was making a big deal out of nothing. We fought about that a lot. Coincidentally, around this time, a chick named Twilight showed up. An old friend, she told me. Best friend. So close that, whenever me and Sunny got into it with each other, it was Twilight who came to calm Sunny down. She'd sometimes sleep at Twilight's when we had a really bad fight. And, you know, funnily enough, she ended up asking me to go down on her a lot less after they reconnected."
"Ah. I think I see where this is going..." sighed Adagio. "You poor thing..."
"Here's what an idiot I am, though. I'm so head over heels that I still think us getting married would fix it. And our anniversary was coming up, so I said 'yeah, this is it. This is how I solve all of our problems'. I make dinner, her favorites, get some champagne, and..." Aria looked as if she was tearing up at this point. "Nothing. Skips the whole thing. She shows up at like midnight, smelling like weed, cheap whiskey and perfume that definitely isn't hers. So I snapped. I called her out for the way she treated me, how she tried to guilt trip me, and finally I said what I had been thinking for months but just didn't have the balls to say. I accused her of cheating on me."
"And?" Aria rubbed her eyes, at which point Adagio pulled her closer, patting her shoulder and embracing her. "It's okay, sugar. Take your time."
"Nothing wrong with crying, if that's what you want to do," said Sonata. "You've always been such a certified tough guy, but no one is gonna think less of you if you just need to let it out."
"She said she never slept with Twilight while we were together. She said I was petty, jealous, pathetic. And she said..." Aria's voice cracked a bit and, despite the encouragement, she still found herself fighting back tears. "She said she never cheated on me, but she wished she did. She said she wished she would've fucked Twilight right in our bed, and she wished I would've caught them. Just so she could see my face. Then she slammed the door in my face and ran off to Twilight." Finally, Aria felt the tears go free as she tried to combat the memories. She could still feel the venom in Sunset's words, stabbing her through the heart and bringing her to her knees. "So yeah. That was the last time I saw Sunset before today. I drove her off, right into another girl's arms. And it was all my fault."
"No way!"
"Bullshit."
"It's true. If I would've just grit my teeth and dealt with her better, or if I had just had an open mind, maybe things would've been different."
"What you just described to us is called gaslighting, sugar. There is no possible way anyone could look at this and say it was 'all your fault'," said Adagio. She grabbed Aria's phone and quickly found Sunset's number, putting it into her own phone. "I'm cancelling lunch. If I see her the way I'm feeling right now, I'll end up arrested."
"What happened to wanting to figure out what she wanted?"
"That was before I realized how she treated you. This whole time, I thought it was as simple as a horny pig juggling two girls."
"Seriously, Ari, that is majorly messed up," said Sonata. "I had no idea it was that serious back then."
"I never said anything. If I said it out loud, then it became real, you know?" Aria let out a sigh, pushing herself to her feet. "I'm gonna get a drink. A stiff one. Anyone want anything?"
"Well, I suppose that depends," said Adagio. "Will you be sending me home tonight?"
"Huh?"
"Mr. Tie doesn't like to see me drunk, so if we're doing heavy drinking, I'd rather not call for a ride." It went quiet for a spell, with Aria clearly trying to figure Adagio out. "I'm asking if I could stay the night, sugar."
"Oh. Oh! Yeah, totally! That sounds really cool," said Aria. "Uh... You mean, like... With me?"
"Well, I'll take the couch, but what you said seems more romantic."
"Right. Duh. Why would you be asking to sleep... on my couch..." Aria felt like the world's biggest idiot, a common sensation when around Adagio. "You know what, I'm gonna go get the tequila before I put my mouth in my foot again." Aria slapped her forehead as she heard the words she had just said. "Son of a bitch... I'm going."
"How in the world did a dork like Aria manage to lock down a hottie like you?" giggled Sonata, watching as a blushing Aria essentially ran to the kitchen. Adagio cracked a grin, shaking her head.
"Aria doesn't act like some big tough guy. She doesn't try to make me think that she's above being interested in me," said Adagio. "She's quite open about how I make her feel like an absolute idiot, and I think there's a certain strength to that honesty. She's always just Aria, flaws and all, and I respect that." Adagio thought about it and then laughed. "Her moans are adorable, too, which definitely helps."
"Almost forgot! You have to tell me everything!"
"Don't worry, sugar. Mama remembers every last detail..." |
I Get Off | What Sober Couldn't Say | Strictly speaking, Adagio wasn't lying.
She didn't lie often, never having much need to do so. She had the smarts, charm, and most importantly, money to get herself out of almost any unsavory situation. More than just that, Adagio was a big enough woman to admit if she had done wrong, and to accept the consequences of that. So, while she would oftentimes be coy and elusive in the hopes of making Aria flustered, Adagio didn't want to ever lie directly to Aria.
Sometimes, however, dishonesty was a necessity.
"You really think she'll be okay with this?" asked Sonata. Adagio hummed to herself, phone to her ear as she waited at the bistro that Sunset had invited her to. Still, Sunset herself was nowhere to be seen, which gave Adagio a bit of time to make a few calls, namely to Sonata.
"Eventually. I'll make it up to her somehow," said Adagio. "But I need to do this. And I need you not to tell Aria until after the fact."
"Come on, I don't wanna lie to Aria. She's my best friend."
"You don't have to lie. Just keep her occupied." Adagio looked up, her eyes falling on her lunch guest. "I have to go. Thanks for doing a girl a favor, sugar. I'll make it up to you, to both of you."
"Alright... Just be careful. Don't do anything crazy," said Sonata.
"I'll be fine."
"It's not you that I'm worried about."
Adagio chuckled to herself, hanging up her phone and slipping it into her purse, folding her hands in front of her as Sunset made her approach. She was dressed casually, too casually. Yoga pants and a t-shirt, contrasting starkly with Adagio's designer blouse and skirt. That wasn't to say Sunset Shimmer was hurting for confidence, far from it. She carried herself with an aura that spoke to Adagio, as if to say Sunset only showed up because she had nothing better to do.
"Hey, Ada, glad you could make it." Sunset flashed Adagio a grin, throwing up two fingers in greeting. "Is it okay if I call you that? I'm a nickname-y kinda person."
"Trust me, I've been called worse," said Adagio dismissively. She crossed her legs, trying to maintain a cordial, pleasant, friendly demeanor. She wasn't sure if she succeeded. "I'm surprised that you still agreed to meet me, even after Aria canceled."
"It's a bummer Aria and Nata couldn't make it, but what can you do? Either way, I like meeting new people," said Sunset. "So, why don't we get to know each other?"
"That's a dangerous game, but I'm in for it if you are."
"Good, good. So, how long have you and Aria been dating?"
For the briefest of moments, Adagio froze, unable to pull together a response. Luckily, the waiter chose that time to arrive, giving Adagio a moment to collect herself. The two ordered, though Adagio was hardly concerned about what she'd be eating just then, and, once the waiter departed, Adagio finally got her head back into the game.
"What makes you think we're dating?" she countered. To her mild annoyance, Sunset laughed at her, as if Adagio herself was the joke.
"Come on, sweetheart, I'm not stupid," chuckled Sunset. "You've got a decent poker face, but Aria's an open book once you know how to push her buttons, and no one knows Aria's buttons better than me."
"I don't know. I'm pretty good at pushing buttons, myself."
"I bet. So, how long? A month? Two?"
"Six, actually. Almost to the day," said Adagio. She studied Sunset carefully, trying to glean as much as she could from the casual, nonchalant, confident, and ever-present smirk on Sunset's face. "We're taking it slow." Again, Sunset laughed, and again, it annoyed Adagio greatly. "Oh no, I missed the joke."
"No, no, it's nothing. Just, ya know, you think you're taking it slow," chuckled Sunset. "And hey, maybe you are, but not Aria. She doesn't know how to take it slow, she's probably already picking out names for the kids you have together."
"You sound confident."
"You know, she said she was in love with me on our first date. That probably should've been a red flag, but I guess I didn't know any better. So, quick word to the wise." Sunset sipped her water, either unbothered by Adagio's barely-hidden glare or otherwise blissfully unaware of it. "Either get ready to speed up or cut her loose now. If you think you're one thing and Aria thinks you're another... Well, I'm sure you know how she can get."
"Don't you think it's a bit of a conflict of interests for the ex to be giving relationship advice?"
"Ooh, Ada, didn't peg you as the jealous type," laughed Sunset. "You seem more confident than that, but I guess looks can be deceiving."
"Not jealous, no." Adagio's voice slipped from her previous strained politeness, suddenly becoming as serious as a heart attack. "More like... Territorial. Mama Bear doesn't like when someone tries fucking with her cub."
"Trust me, I've had enough of your cub for one lifetime. Don't know if she told you, but I'm the one who broke up with her. I'm not looking to get her back. But, you know, I wanted to talk more about you." Sunset changed the subject effortlessly, trying (and mostly succeeding) to wrest control of the situation from Adagio, a sensation that she found as unfamiliar as it was unpleasant. "Tell me about Adagio. What're you like? What do you do? Who are you?"
"Oh, you know. Just your average, run-of-the-mill exotic dancer turned business owner," remarked Adagio. "I suppose I lean towards the finer things in life, but don't we all?"
"A dancer, huh? Where do you dance?" asked Sunset. "I've been to a lot of strip clubs, and if you've been doing this a while I might actually know you. Or your tits, at least."
"Strip joint called The Calypso."
"Oof, that place? Last I saw it, it was a dump. The type of place to give you an STI just for walking in."
"I happen to own that dump," said Adagio, crossing her arms. "We've fixed it up since you were last there."
"Oh. Whoops! My bad." Despite her apology, Sunset didn't seem especially sorry. She didn't seem to take any of this especially seriously, least of all Adagio herself. "Sorry, didn't mean anything by it. I just have a habit of running my mouth, you should--"
"How's about we cut the shit?" Adagio hadn't meant to lose her temper. She had always intended to maintain calm during this meeting, but it was becoming increasingly clear that she wouldn't be capable of that, not with Sunset. The simple truth was Adagio didn't like to be toyed with, something Sunset was doing in spades. "Let's be honest with each other, yeah? Why did you want to have lunch with me, really?"
"So fiery. I see why Aria likes you. And that's actually why I wanted to talk to you. Aria."
"I thought you said you were done with her."
"I am, and I'm here to let you know that maybe you should be too." Sunset let the silence hang over them for a bit, some of her former good nature melting away into something more serious, more sinister. "Since you like to be so direct, let's call a spade a spade here, Ada. Aria's with you because she misses me. She sees another strong, tough, self-sufficient redhead hottie, her brain shuts off and she starts thinking with her pussy."
"And that makes me what?" asked Adagio, cocking a brow. "Sunset Shimmer Lite?"
"It's not me who's thinking that, Ada. It's your girl, even if she doesn't realize it. She's picking up right where she and I left off, and that doesn't bode well for a girl like you who's trying to take it slow." Sunset leaned in, resting her head in her hand as she lectured Adagio. "I've been there, with Aria. I know her better than you, better than anyone. You're waiting around, enjoying yourself, waiting to see what happens, when I already know what's gonna happen."
"Enlighten me."
"Aria is gonna base her entire self-worth around you, build herself so precariously that one little push sends her tumbling. She's going to attach herself to you like she's some leech. A cute leech, for sure, but she's going to drain you if you can't give her what she wants. Lemme ask you something, Ada. Have you said 'I love you' yet?" Sunset paused for just a beat, Adagio's silence speaking volumes. "Exactly, and it's totally fine if you're not there yet. I know that, you know that, but Aria... She doesn't get it. She's going to need you to say it, those three little words, I love you, and you're not going to be able to say them. Not honestly. And when you get to that point, and she realizes you can't say it, she's going to self-destruct. Whether intentional or not, she's going to take you down with her."
"So perceptive. I appreciate the advice, Sunset." Adagio leaned forward, officially giving up on her friendly facade. "But I didn't fucking ask for it."
"No, 'course not. You wouldn't, because you think I'm just being a petty ex. I get it, I'd feel the same way, Ada. But I'm on your side," promised Sunset. "One day, when Aria does what Aria does, you'll see that. " Adagio's phone rattled against the table, vibrating from a new notification. "You gonna take that?"
"I suppose I should." Adagio stared Sunset down even as she grabbed her phone, only breaking eye contact to read Aria's message.
Hey babe. Been thinking about you.
There was her chance, her opportunity to shut Sunset up for good. Three words, she was more than capable of those three words. And yet, for some reason, they felt so difficult, so ridiculous.
I love you.
Adagio's thumb paused over the "send" button, a strange sense of doubt washing over her. She couldn't stand the sensation. There was hardly a time that Adagio could recall where she wasn't supremely confident and sure of herself. She thrived on confidence, on control, but these three simple words shook her very foundation to pieces. She deleted her message and tried again.
Can't get me out of your head, can you?
Adagio couldn't help but smirk at the speed at which Aria responded.
Never could. When can I see you?
"Oh, that's too bad," sighed Adagio. "Work stuff is happening. I'm afraid I'm going to have to bail on lunch."
On my way to get you.
"I get it. Sucks that we have to call it quits," said Sunset with a cocky little smirk. "I was having a blast."
"Well, business comes first. Here, lunch is on me." Adagio reached into her purse and came back with a crisp $50 bill, tossing it on the table as she rose from her seat. "We'll have to do this again sometime."
"For sure. Text me what time to come see you dance, I'd love to see what you've done with that place. Maybe you could even give me a few tips, huh? I bet lessons from a stripper will make it even easier to pick up chicks."
Adagio stopped, genuinely considering things for a moment. After a while, she let out a chuckle, turning away to leave the restaurant.
"Afraid I'd have to charge you for that."
"I don't know about you, but I could go for a drink, sugar."
Aria smiled, barely able to contain herself as she followed Adagio into her lavish apartment. After a whole morning of Sonata dragging her around from store to store, trying on somewhere north of a billion blouses, bikinis, and pairs of heels in search of the perfect outfit for the coming summer, Aria was more than a little burned out. She didn't really understand why Sonata chose her, someone who knew about as much about fashion as she did about theoretical astrophysics, to help her expand on her wardrobe. In fact, considering Sonata's job as a social media manager often put her in close quarters with fashion designers from all over the country, it was odd that Sonata was even questioning her own style at all.
Of course, considering Adagio was swinging her shapely hips as she bounced into the apartment, Aria was more focused on Adagio's butt than anything regarding Sonata.
"I'll drink," said Aria, her eyes so glued to her girlfriend's backside that she nearly walked into the coffee table. "What do you got?"
"A whole liquor store, sugar. Lemme guess." Adagio slid behind the bar, grabbing up glasses, shakers, and bottles of liquor. "Gin and juice, easy on the juice?"
"You're never gonna let me live that down, huh?"
"I bet it sounded so cool in your head. What, did you think you were James Bond or something?" The two shared a laugh as Adagio mixed up Aria's drink, sliding it across the bar before mixing up an old fashioned for herself. "So, what've you been up to all day, sugar?"
"Just shopping with Sonata. I was gonna invite you, but she was acting kinda weird about it," said Aria, sipping her drink. "She said she didn't wanna try out bikinis and stuff with too many people around, but like, the point of the bikini is to wear it at the beach, so..." Adagio skipped right past sipping and just downed her cocktail, immediately preparing herself another. "Whoa. Rough day?"
"You could say that. Just some... Things I need to deal with." Adagio brought her glass to her lips, but paused for a moment, a sort of hesitation in her movements that Aria couldn't recall ever seeing in her. It looked as if she was going to say something, but thought better of it in favor of draining her second drink. "I had a meeting earlier, it wasn't exactly what I'd call a good time."
"Something wrong with the club?" Aria leaned in, concerned when Adagio skipped all pretenses of cocktails and simply poured herself a neat whiskey. "Seriously, you're headed for a blackout at this rate."
"You know, my dear old dad used to call liquor a 'truth serum'. Whenever he had something to say that he couldn't get out... He reached for a bottle," said Adagio, taking a more careful sip of her whiskey. "And, in the interest of the truth, I should tell you..."
"Is something up? This isn't like you, to be so... coy about it," said Aria, her concern, her fear, her anxiety slowly simmering up. "What's going on?"
"I... I had lunch with Sunset today." Adagio paused, to give Aria a chance to respond, but she didn't. The silence just hung for a bit until Adagio continued on. "After what you told us... I had to see for myself."
"What, you thought I was lying?"
"If I thought you were lying, I wouldn't have wasted the time making sure this bitch wasn't trying to hurt you again," said Adagio. Her blunt, direct honesty beat back the wild and uneasy nature of Aria's insecurity. Slowly, Aria nodded, waiting for Adagio to tell her story before she jumped to the worst-case scenario. "I just had to see what her deal was with my own eyes, and she didn't disappoint."
"What'd she say?"
"Basically that you're only with me because you're still not over her. That you think I'm just a knock-off of her." Adagio snorted, rolling her eyes in disgust. "And here I thought I had an ego..."
"Yeah. Sounds like her," sighed Aria. "She's got her claws sunk in me so deep... But it's bullshit, really. You're not my second choice or anything like that."
"She said... Well, she said a lot of things. But the point that she was getting at was that we're not compatible. Because you want something I can't give you," said Adagio. She polished off her drink and set her glass down, burying her face in her palms. "And I just want you to know... Fuck. I'm losing it, give me a sec..."
"Hey. You don't have to 'give' me anything, okay? Not if you're not ready for it." Aria rounded the bar, wrapping her arm around Adagio and giving her a gentle squeeze. "I get that you're not really used to this whole girlfriend thing, and to be honest, neither am I. But I'm here for you like you're here for me. Wherever you're trying to get, I'm here to make sure you get there."
"Well, I'm almost there. One step closer with every swallow." Adagio unscrewed her bottle of whiskey and took a healthy swing before setting it down with authority. "Okay. Listen, sugar, I know how I seem. I can come off as cold, like I don't care about anything except fucking with your head, but it's not like that. I do care. I care so much, and it really pisses me off that I can't seem to make that clear. Even Shimmer thinks I'm just here to play with you. She said I couldn't say it, and you know what? Fuck her. She doesn't know me, and she doesn't know us."
"Adagio... Are you okay right now?" asked Aria. Her heart was pounding like a drum in her chest, her mind racing a million miles per hour as she fit pieces of this puzzle together. "What are you--"
"I love you, Aria."
Aria's heart just about stopped in her chest. It seemed so surreal to hear Adagio say those words, a sentence Aria had secretly feared she would never hear again. It felt so out of nowhere, for Adagio to put herself out there like that. No matter how much Adagio cared for Aria, no matter how much chemistry, no matter how much mutual attraction, the idea of Adagio opening herself up this much felt so foreign. She had been very clear before, she wasn't good at playing house, so what changed? The only thing Aria could think of, the dark idea gnawing at the back of her mind, was that it was just to prove Sunset wrong. It wouldn't be the first time Aria had been a pawn to someone's ego.
But, as the words resonated through her head, Aria realized that Adagio wasn't like Sunset. And, just as importantly, it didn't matter why Adagio had said it, because Adagio wasn't a liar.
"I love you too." Aria felt her body move on its own, grabbing Adagio and bringing their lips together. The taste of whiskey subtly perfumed their kiss, Adagio's slight inebriation making for a bit sloppier of a meeting than the two were typically accustomed to. Aria didn't mind that, though. It made things feel more spontaneous, and even more interestingly, it put her and Adagio on even grounds.
Aria snaked her hand up Adagio's blouse, gently squeezing a handful of her soft breast and earning her a small moan from the dancer. With Adagio's boob in her hand, Aria lowered her attack, slowly kissing Adagio down the neck and collar. Every moan from Adagio sent a thrilling shock through Aria's core; She was the reason Adagio was making these noises. Aria was finally making Adagio feel the way she always felt whenever the two were together.
"This might be a silly question," breathed Adagio, leaning her head back to allow Aria to continue peppering her collar with kisses. "But do girls get whiskey dick? I don't drink and fuck much, but right now..."
"Wanna take this to the bed?" suggested Aria.
"What for, sugar? I've got a perfectly comfortable couch right there."
Neither woman wanted to pull away from the other, and they essentially dragged each other from behind the bar, stumbling over one another on the way to the sofa. They fell back onto the cushions, Aria landing on top and not slowing her advances in the slightest. Her hands wandered up and down Adagio's divine figure, her soft skin so enticing that Aria couldn't imagine being apart from it for even a second. While Aria was busy groping and kissing, Adagio took the time to reach behind her back and undo her bra strap, pulling both the brassiere and her top off in one smooth motion. Almost immediately, Aria froze, transfixed and hypnotized by Adagio's bouncing girls.
"You're staring, sugar," noted Adagio. Aria blinked slowly, nodding to herself.
"Yeah. Sorry. It's just..." Aria rose up, gently cupping Adagio's breasts in her hands. "You're so beautiful... I can't get over it."
"You're gonna make me blush." Adagio let out a chuckle as Aria eagerly dove forward, burying her face in the stripper's cleavage. The warmth, the softness, the floral notes of Adagio's perfume, it all blended together to create a space Aria couldn't imagine ever wanting to be away from. She never stopped kissing Adagio's silken skin, not even when she was essentially motorboating her, and she could feel the steady pounding of Adagio's heart quicken with each passing moment. "Do you wanna play with my tits all night or are you ready to sing for me again?"
"Actually..." Even as she spoke, it was a war for Aria to pull herself away from Adagio's chest, but she did eventually manage to look up into Adagio's bold garnet eyes. "I kinda wanna try something."
"What do you have in mind, sugar?"
"Could you maybe... Sit on my face a little?" Aria blushed, almost incapable of meeting Adagio's gaze. Her embarrassment bloomed when Adagio chuckled, that same melodic, floating laughter that made Aria fall for her in the first place. "What's funny?"
"Okay, sugar, I don't know if you've somehow managed to miss it, but... My ass is huge," laughed Adagio. "One cheek is the size of your whole head. If I sit on your face, I will crush your skull."
"Why do you think I asked?"
"I'm serious. I'm quite a bit bigger than you, and as much as I would love to feel you underneath me, eating my pussy like manna from heaven..." Adagio stroked a hand through Aria's hair, gently patting her head. "I don't want to hurt you."
"It's a risk I'm willing to take. Come on, you made me cum so hard the other day, let me repay the favor." Aria could tell Adagio was still on the fence, so she quickly amended. "How about, like, a safe word or something? So you know if I need to take a breather."
"Yes, because I'm sure I'll be able to clearly hear your safeword while your mouth is busy eating my ass."
"A safe... Gesture then. Something. I'll, uh... I'll tap on your right thigh three times, alright? Does that work?"
"You really want this, huh?" said Adagio with a smirk. Aria nodded eagerly, and with determination, such a genuine, earnest attraction that Adagio couldn't help but smile. "Alright, then. Fine. Just know that we're switching positions tomorrow."
"Done. God, you don't have to talk me into letting you go down on me," promised Aria. "If you managed to do that to me with one hand, I think your tongue might actually kill me."
"Well, you're the pussy eating professional here. Give me a demonstration." Adagio boosted her hips up, sliding out of her skirt to reveal that she had skipped out on panties today; Aria all but drooled at the sight of Adagio's fat, meaty pussy, the darkly orange hair neatly and delicately trimmed. Simply perfect. Like a moth to the flame, Aria was drawn forward and planted a kiss on Adagio's lower lips. She brought her tongue out and finally did what she had been dreaming of since that first lap dance; Aria licked a slow, teasing line up Adagio's slit, savoring the taste, an earthy tang that came together with the lavender scent of the soap Adagio tended to favor to create an experience Aria didn't just want more of, but needed. "Don't tease me too much, sugar. That's Mama's job."
Aria nodded, attacking Adagio's muff with a bit more conviction. She wriggled her tongue into Adagio's hole, slurping and lapping at her juices, diving in deep enough for Adagio's well-kempt bush to tickle her nose. Adagio let out a moan, her powerful legs coming to grip Aria's head and a hand pulling her by the hair and forcing her deeper.
"Good girl," purred Adagio. "You like eating Mommy's pussy, don't you?"
It was more than like, Aria loved it, she lived for it. Every tiny twitch of Adagio's body brought with it a wave of satisfaction that warmed Aria in a way she couldn't quite put into words. The simple fact was that making Adagio feel good made her feel even better, and so Aria set out to give Adagio her all.
With a swift jerk left, Adagio turned Aria over onto the couch, putting the smaller girl's back to the cushions and standing over her loomingly. Though there had always been a notable height difference between the two, Aria couldn't recall a time when she felt as tiny as she did with Adagio above her. Her sensual curves, her powerful thighs, her juicy twat, and Aria had only a second to take in a deep breath before she was smothered by all of it.
Adagio moaned as she lowered herself onto Aria's face, the smaller girl immediately going to work. Her tongue licked at every bit of Adagio it could get to, working in tandem with her lips to send arcs up Adagio's spine. Aria's hands wandered up to grab Adagio by the ass, her fingers all but melting into the soft, cushy flesh, and held her in place as she ate her out. A river of juices trickled slowly down Aria's chin, each lash of the tongue and smack of the lips bringing another moan from the formerly stoic and restrained dancer.
"Fuck, that's good, sugar," moaned Adagio. She let more of her weight come down on Aria's head when she leaned in to grab her hair for support, both moves Aria was more than okay with. "Good girl... Just like that, don't you dare fucking stop..."
The moans from above sent Aria quaking beneath Adagio's body, her head going light from the combination of her own heightened nerves and a lack of air in her lungs. All she had been breathing for the past few minutes was the powerful, intoxicating essence of Adagio, the same addicting lavender scent that Aria had grown to associate with her girlfriend, and yet, beneath that, was more. A tangy, earthy scent and flavor, blinding Aria as she licked and kissed and worshipped Adagio above her. Even still, Aria was starting to feel dizzy, and no matter how badly Aria wanted to taste more of Adagio, she regretfully had to tap out, her hand coming up to tap Adagio's strong thigh three times.
"Fuck..." Immediately, Adagio pushed herself up, freeing Aria from her "prison". Aria looked up as she caught her breath, staring up at Adagio's pussy for a moment before she wiggled out of the way to allow Adagio to take a seat on the couch. "Mmm... What happened to being rusty?"
"It's like riding a bike..." painted Aria. "You never really... Fuck, man... You taste so good..."
"You really know how to make a girl feel special, don't you, sugar?"
"Only the really special girls like you."
"Alright, you've officially sweet-talked me," said Adagio, pulling her hair back. "Get out of those clothes, sugar."
"But... What about you?" asked Aria. "I really want to make you... Y'know."
"Hm... How much do you weigh? Just roughly?"
"Uh... like a buck fifteen. What are you thinking?"
Adagio grabbed Aria by the collar, pulling her in close and yanking Aria's top off. Aria would've had no problem getting naked for Adagio (especially considering their entire relationship was based on Adagio getting naked for her), so this aggression was unnecessary, but not unwanted. The way Adagio grabbed her, pulled her along to be right where she wanted, made Aria's heart thump in her chest. Her jeans went next, similarly pulled off by the larger woman, and finally, Aria's purple boyshorts, until she was naked as the day she was born.
"I'm going to turn you upside down for a bit," said Adagio. She grabbed Aria's chest, teasing a moan from her when she brushed a thumb against her sensitive nipples. "That way, we both get to put our mouths to work."
"Couldn't we just--"
"Yes, but isn't this more interesting?" Adagio waited for an argument to the contrary and, when she received none, she grinned. "What, you afraid I'll drop you?"
"Uh... maybe a little?"
"Don't be. Mommy's not going to let you get hurt," purred Adagio. She noticed the way her tone made Aria stiffen, any disagreement she had swiftly melting away. "Worst case scenario... Well, we're on a couch. I'm sure you'll be fine."
"Yeah, you're right. Okay. Ready when you are," breathed Aria. "Just give me a wa--"
Adagio was already moving, grabbing Aria by the legs and using some deceptive strength to hoist her up off of her feet. Once Aria was up, she was carefully turned over, head facing down as Adagio leaned back against the couch. Now, Aria found herself upside-down, nose brushing Adagio's neatly-trimmed bush as she wiggled down to go right back to eating her out. At the same time, Adagio leaned herself forward to tongue Aria's tight, snug little pussy.
Despite being upside down, despite being at the mercy of a woman self-described as a lioness, Aria couldn't remember feeling more secure, more safe. Being with Adagio just felt right, a feeling she just couldn't put into words. Adagio's arm around her middle, her soft skin, the gentle squeeze of her legs around Aria's head, it was as soothing an encounter as Aria could remember having.
Adagio tipped them over onto her side, knocking the pair to the couch with many a breathy laugh. Now that they were grounded, they could better focus on pleasing the other; they licked and kissed, introducing their fingers into the mix to aid them in their efforts. The feel of Adagio's tongue on her flesh, her fingers wriggling into her, and the gentle squeeze of Adagio's thick thighs around her head, it was almost too much for Aria.
Her hips jerked towards Adagio's face, turning them over until Adagio was facing skyward. A shiver and shudder ran through Aria's thin, slender body, which told Adagio everything she needed to know; She worked her tongue faster, holding Aria in place by her pelvis, keeping her thrashing body from escaping this pleasure. Even when somewhat tipsy, Adagio had Aria in the palm of her hand, just like she always did. It wasn't long before Adagio was greeted by the sweet, sweet music of Aria moaning around her tongue. To Adagio's surprise, Aria showed no signs of slowing down; In fact, she did the exact opposite, catching Adagio off guard with the ferocity, the dedication, the almost desperation in which she worked her tongue. Adagio tensed, closing her legs tightly around Aria's head, and let out a low, breathless, quivering moan.
Finally, Aria had done it. She finally managed to show Adagio how much she wanted her, what she really meant to her, and the sound of Adagio cumming was worth every second of the wait. Somehow, Adagio even felt powerful in her climax, clenching around Aria and holding her there until she was good and ready to let go, at which point she finally relaxed, her body going limp and allowing Aria to roll off of her. Aria went all the way to the floor, sitting with her back to the couch and laying her head back onto Adagio's middle, feeling the rise and fall of the dancer's chest as she drew in her labored breaths.
"Fuck me..." laughed Adagio, bringing an arm to her forehead and covering her eyes. "Forget what I said earlier, sugar. That right there is what really made me feel special."
"You did good. Seeing as this was your first time and all," panted Aria. She glanced up at Adagio, almost expectantly. "Did I, uh... Do a good job?"
"Hm? I thought that much was pretty obvious..." Adagio paused, laughing to herself as she realized what it was that Aria was getting at. With her other hand, she petted Aria's head, stroking her fingers through her long purple locks lovingly. "Yes, sugar. You were such a good girl for Mommy."
"Woo-hoo... I, heh... I really like when you say... stuff like that..."
"Duly noted, sugar. I'll keep that in mind the next time I have your head between my legs. Speaking of..." Adagio propped herself up on her elbows, grinning down at Aria. "Does Mommy's good girl have plans tomorrow?"
"Uh... just have to go to the office for like an hour to turn something in to the boss," said Aria. "So, aside from that, I'm all yours."
"Good. Then why don't you text Sonata and let her know not to wait up?" said Adagio, leaning in to kiss Aria on the forehead. "I've almost got the hang of this pussy eating thing. Maybe if you give me another demonstration or two."
Aria felt her legs go even weaker, trying to remember what she had done to end up with someone like Adagio.
"My pleasure." |
I Get Off | Back From The Dead | Aria had never considered herself to be particularly optimistic.
Even as far back as when they were kids, Sonata would often complain that Aria always expected the worst of a situation. Never half-full, never on the bright side. Just ceaseless, slightly depressing pessimism. Of course, Aria countered this argument by saying she was normally right to never count on catching a break, but it didn't change the fact that Aria was rarely prepared for good things to happen to her. Therefore, when they did, she didn't know exactly how to react.
Nowadays, Aria was routinely exposed to the best thing to ever happen to her, and that best thing was just finishing her set when Aria returned from the bar.
"There's my girl," purred Adagio as she hopped off of the stage. She cut a swath through the crowd of heart-eyed gentlemen, who showered her with praise, flirtations, and, in more than a few cases, tips that went directly into her waistband. She smiled as she neared Aria, eyes locked on either of the two glasses she held. "One of those wouldn't happen to be for me, would they?"
"You think I'm bold enough to come to your work and buy another girl a drink?" Aria handed off the old-fashioned she got from the bar and leaned in to give Adagio a kiss on the cheek. "Nice routine, by the way. Crowd ate you up tonight."
"Thanks, sugar. Really means a lot to me that you're here." She clinked her glass against Aria's before taking a sip. "I hope you're not uncomfortable seeing me like this."
"You think that seeing you, my incredibly attractive girlfriend, taking her clothes off, would make me uncomfortable?"
"I meant the 'in front of strangers' part, sugar."
"Right. Well, they can look, but can they do this?" Before Adagio had a chance to ask what "this" was, Aria brought their lips together and kissed her deeply and passionately. There were a few drunken stares from horny passers-by, but Aria ignored them in favor of Adagio. When they broke apart, they both had that familiar, punch-drunk grin that normally preceded some messy alone time. "And I didn't even have to tip you for that."
"My, someone's bold today," snickered Adagio. "You've been so tired from work lately, but now? Looks like you're back from the dead."
"What can I say? Had a good day." Aria pulled Adagio close, one arm wrapped around her wide, sensual hips. "Hoping for a good night, too. Think you could help me out?"
"Hm... I think I might be able to do that for you."
"Sweet. Your place or mine?"
"Actually, sugar... was wondering if you had it in you to hit up one more spot," said Adagio. Though Aria took point with the kiss, Adagio very quickly and easily regained control of the situation by grabbing Aria's hand and gently leading her towards the door. "A business partner of mine is holding a rave at a place called The Steeple, not too far from here. She asked me to swing by to give the party a little boost."
"You performing?"
"Please, sugar. Me being there is enough to turn a party from a 7 to a 10, no problem. I'm just there for some eye candy, maybe some cross-promotion." Adagio leaned in close and whispered into Aria's ear. "And for Mommy to show off her good girl to her friends..."
"Y-you really know how to sell it, huh?" chuckled Aria nervously, that familiarly intoxicating chill running down her spine. "Alright, I'm down. Let's go."
Adagio chuckled airily, beckoning Aria to follow her out of the club. Of course, Aria needed very little convincing to follow Adagio anywhere, though she did trail just a few paces behind her girlfriend for a rather obvious reason. Adagio noticed, and laughed at Aria's somewhat thirsty display; All this time and performances and lap dances later, and Aria still couldn't help but ogle at the dancer's ass. It was cute, in a way.
"So, a rave, huh?" mused Aria as they piled into the back of Adagio's car. After a quiet greeting to Mr. Tie, the vehicle took off with the two lovebirds comfortably in the back seat. "You always surprise me when you say you're into stuff like that."
"Oh? Why's that?" asked Adagio.
"I dunno, it just does. I guess it's your, uh... what's the word? Aesthetic?" Aria shrugged. "Your style is more Jessica Rabbit than P!nk, y'know?"
"I've got some depth to me, sugar. You know that." Adagio leaned her head against Aria's shoulder, smirking at the way she stiffened up. "But you're right, I suppose. This is more your thing, isn't it?"
"Maybe back in the day. Not so much of a party girl these days." Adagio chuckled, her laughter floating through the air like music to Aria's ears. "Nata likes to give me shit for acting like an old man just because I like being home at a reasonable hour."
"Well, don't you worry, Gramps. We'll get you tucked in before you know it."
As usual, Adagio knew exactly what she was doing.
As soon as they arrived at The Steeple, which from the looks of things was at some point an actual, functioning church before being repurposed into a nightclub, Aria could feel her little goth-tinged heart flutter. It was brooding, it was harsh, it was perhaps even a little edgy; If Aria had to build the coolest-looking club from the ground up, her club would probably look a lot like The Steeple. As Mr. Tie stopped outside of the entrance, Aria could feel the thumping bass in her narrow chest, and as she stepped out with Adagio on her arm, all eyes were on them. Though not usually one for being in the spotlight, there was something electric about the sensation of going up to the front door of a crowded club with a beautiful woman beside her. Adagio barely had to flash the bouncer a glance before he stepped aside to let them in. The party was well underway by the time they arrived, and all the two had left to do was hit up the bar, dance to a few songs, and enjoy their night out.
"Ha! Ain't no way!"
Rather, that's what Aria thought, until she locked eyes with Sunset from across the dance floor.
"Oh fuck." Aria made to turn away, but Adagio tightened her grip on her arm, keeping her in place, even as Sunset started making her way through the crowd of dancing ravers, in their direction. "Babe, Sunset--"
"Oh, I see her, sugar. But I'm not about to let some messy bitch dictate where we get to hang out," said Adagio firmly. "As far as I'm concerned, this is our party. She's gatecrashing."
"But--"
"Hey, have I ever let you get hurt before?"
"N-no."
"Damn right, no." Though her words were stern, there was a powerful warmth behind them, and every syllable made Aria weaker in the knees than the last. "And that's not going to change now. Do you trust me?"
"Of course, I trust you," said Aria. There was no question in her mind that Adagio meant what she said, and by some reflex, Aria found herself squeezing her arm a bit tighter. "I trust you."
"Good girl. So let Mama Bear worry about Shimmer. You just worry about being cute for me." Adagio switched up her vibe in a snap as Sunset swayed into earshot. "Hey, Sunny, fancy seeing you here!"
"I was thinking the same thing. What, you two following me or something?" It was immediately clear from the way she spoke (to someone who knew her as well as Aria did, anyway) that Sunset was more than just a bit drunk. Her smudged lipstick, and the kiss mark on her neck, gave more indicators that she wasn't as far removed from her party-girl lifestyle as Aria was. "This big ass city and I keep bumping into you."
"It was only the toy shop before here, right?" mused Adagio. "What's the saying? Twice is a coincidence, three times is enemy action?"
"Ouch. Come on, I'm not that bad, am I?" said Sunset with a drunken, off-kilter little smirk. "Hm... Yeah, guess I am, ha!"
"Been having fun tonight?" said Aria, a bit dryly. If Sunset noticed Aria's tone, she sure didn't act like it, instead just bouncing to the music with her drink in hand. "Hope you have a driver set up."
"Pssh, lighten up, will ya? I'm not even that drunk," snorted Sunset. "Could probably drive myself home if I really needed to... But nah, I've got a ride. Thanks for the concern, babe."
"Easy there, Shimmer. I told you, I get very possessive." As if to prove the point, Adagio slipped her arm around Aria's narrow waist and pulled her in closer. "Now, if you'll excuse us, we can't really stay long. Just a quick fly-by to say hello to some old friends of mine."
"Oh, cool, I'll tag along! I know pretty much everyone here, feels like, might be able to introduce you to some new potential clients," said Sunset. "They might want a quick demo, but you probably don't have a problem throwing it back real quick, right?"
"Pardon?"
"Actually, Ada, I've been dying to hit the restroom," said Aria, quite suddenly. "You coming with?"
"Sure thing, sugar. Sunny, we'll be right back."
Aria grabbed Adagio by the hand and, with a level of control and intensity that Adagio didn't always associate with her girlfriend, led the way to the restrooms. She didn't get much of a chance to question it as Aria all but kicked in the door, and dragged them both into the dimly lit bathroom. They were alone, thankfully, but Aria didn't seem to care; She was on Adagio before even checking for other occupants, kissing her girlfriend deeply as she pinned the dancer to the wall. Adagio was taken aback, but she liked the energy she was getting from Aria and returned it in kind.
With equal parts of power and care, Adagio rolled with Aria, pressing Aria's back to the wall in a reversal of their previous position. Back in the driver's seat--the way the both of them liked it--Adagio planted a trail of kisses along Aria's body; Her lips, her neck, her chest. There was scarcely an inch of Aria's body that Adagio ignored, all the way down to her waist, her pelvis, a few between the legs, before Aria pulled her back up for another passionate exchange of lip on lip, tongue against tongue. It couldn't have been more than a few minutes, but to Adagio, it was hours of endless bliss, so intoxicating that the dancer needed a moment to catch her breath when they broke apart.
"This isn't a complaint, mind you, I just need to ask," breathed Adagio. "But where the hell did that come from?"
"Was feeling a little jumpy," said Aria with a shrug. "Needed a little something to calm my nerves."
"You call that calming? Fired me up, personally." Despite ostensibly being on the receiving end for a change, Adagio matched Aria's intensity with her own, firmly but lovingly gripping the smaller woman by the side of the face. "Let's hurry up and get this fly-by over with, sugar, because now all I want to do is drag you home and make you sing."
Aria grinned, offering her arm to her beloved, and the two set off from their brief rendezvous to rejoin the party. It was a strange role reversal, with Aria leading the charge back onto the packed club dance floor. Strange, but welcome, in Adagio's eyes. Finally, some confidence and self-assurance from the woman she adored so much. Her only hope now was that it would last.
As the two made their way deeper into the party, eyes began to linger on the pair, in a way that Adagio wasn't expecting. Given her profession, she was used to stares, and swaths of men comically trying to sneak a peek with all the subtlety and discretions as a brick through a window. This was different. The energy was off, and Adagio wasn't quite sure why. No matter. What was important was saying hi to her contacts, promoting her brand, and getting the hell out of there in favor of a few hours of passion with the woman she loved.
"That's my girl, Valerie," said Adagio, pointing forward through the crowd to a curvy woman sitting in a booth, in what appeared to be the club's VIP section. Almost expected at this point, sitting just next to her was Sunset, chatting up the woman as if they'd been friends for years. "And she accused us of following her..."
"Come on, let's just get it over with." Despite the situation, Aria didn't seem too rattled to see Sunset there. Maybe that little encounter in the restroom was what Aria needed, after all. Adagio decided to keep that in mind as they approached. "Hey, Sunset, we're back."
Sunset looked up from her conversation, and a flash of emotions ran across her features. Surprise at first, then annoyance, then finally landing on just barely restrained disdain. She managed a smile, but just barely, and she didn't have the same confidence and control that Adagio had experienced the last time they had spoken. Someway, somehow, it was her who seemed rattled. "Sorry we're late, Val," said Adagio, giving a wave to her friend. Valerie just shook her head, and buried her face in her palm. "What's that about?"
"Jesus, Adagio..." groaned Val.
"You two have fun in there?" droned Sunset. "Gotta say, you're bolder than I thought, Ada." By this point. Adagio was highly confused, and looked to Aria for answers.
Smattered across Aria's face were numerous glowing, turquoise kiss marks, glowing luminously beneath the club's blacklights. The fluorescent blue glow was almost impossible to miss, and Adagio was certain she would've noticed had she not been so distracted by Aria's bold display. The horror began to gnaw at Adagio as she realized just why so many people were staring at her, why Valerie seemed so embarrassed for her, and why Sunset was clearly miffed. Every single kiss that the two had shared in that bathroom had been advertised to the whole club, with bright teal signs showing exactly where lips met skin.
And, were the lightning conditions better, Aria would have been able to see her girlfriend blush for the very first time.
"I know you like to be flirty," said Val. "But please don't make a habit of getting down and dirty in my bathrooms. Didn't think I had to say that, but..."
"Now Val, I know what this looks like, but I swear it's not what you think," sighed Adagio. She glanced over to Aria, who, for some infuriating reason, still wore that confident smirk she had when she led the way to the restroom. It was at that point did Adagio realize that, at least on Aria's part, this was no accident. "Just a heavy make-out session, nothing wild."
"Looks like you were 'making out' with her pussy," noted Sunset. She stood up and stretched, slowly making her way past the couple. "Listen, Aria, if you're trying to make me jealous, I'm flattered, but it's not gonna work."
"Who said this has anything to do with you?" snorted Aria. Sunset stopped, just a few paces past Aria, and turned on the spot.
"Oh, so you're saying you're not following me around to show off your hot slut stripper girlfriend?" Both women turned to face Sunset, and almost as an afterthought, she added. "No offense, Ada."
"Watch the way you talk about my girl." Before Adagio could remark "none taken", Aria was already firing back. "We're not following you, I'm not showing off anything, and she is not a slut."
"Aria, relax," said Adagio. "I've heard worse, I don't care."
"There's the Aria I know. You've been keeping a cool head, but you're still the same old hothead I dumped ages ago," said Sunset. "Always ready to start an argument. Besides, I didn't even say anything negative. I love a good slut, who doesn't? Back me up here, Val."
"Staying out of this," said Valerie. "This isn't my business, unless you guys think I need to make it my business. And I don't think that's necessary, right?"
"Right," said Adagio, grabbing her significant other firmly by the arm. "Aria, honestly, it makes literally no difference to me what she says. I don't care. Let it go."
"I'd listen to her if I was you, Aria. You've always had bad judgment." Despite her insistence that she was innocent, Sunset just kept fueling the fire. "Always thinking with your pussy instead of your head. Whatever makes you happy, right? And hey, I guess if acting slutty and embarrassing yourselves in public is what makes you two happy, then--"
Somehow, despite the loud thudding beats of the club's music, Adagio would have sworn that every single person in The Steeple heard Aria's hand meet Sunset's cheek. Time went still for a moment as all present parties absorbed what had just happened. Sunset looked up, fire in her eyes, and clutched her stinging, angry red cheek with a snarl. Despite her intensity, and Adagio's obvious horror beside her, Aria stood her ground and leered right back at her ex.
"Not gonna tell you again," said Aria. She clenched her fists, and every bad habit she managed to get rid of after high school started to boil back up to the front of her brain. "Don't talk about my girl like that."
For a second, it was pure silence between them. Then, all at once, Sunset erupted with a terrifying fury.
"What the fuck is wrong with you?! You think you can just go around assaulting people you don't like?" Sunset's voice was naturally loud, and her angry shouts carried even stronger through the club. It wasn't long before heads were turning to see the commotion, and Aria began to fear she may have made a mistake. "I tried to be nice! I tried to be friendly and cordial--which you don't even fucking deserve after what you did to me, by the way--and what do I get for it? I get burned just like always! Whenever things don't go Aria's way, you just have to find a way to make it someone else's problem, huh? Jesus, I am so fucking finished with you, you fucking psycho!"
"Alright, alright, now it is my business." Valerie stood up, beckoning to a pair of bouncers standing near the bar. "Adagio, baby, I'll always be cool with you, but you've got about 30 seconds to get your girlfriend out of my club before my boys kick you out the hard way."
"Don't worry, Valerie." Adagio's lip curled, and she firmly grabbed Aria by the arm, dragging her away. "We're leaving now."
"Yeah, get the fuck outta here!" came Sunset's drunken shouts, only serving to intensify the situation, and garner more attention. "Better keep a tight hold of her, Ada, before she swings on someone else!"
"Yeah, Shimmer, quit while you're behind," said Valerie with a venomous glare. "Your drunk ass is going out through the back door. Boys, make sure she gets out safe."
Aria didn't even get to enjoy the sight of seeing Sunset kicked out, because Adagio was dragging her through the crowd with a previously unknown focus and determination. Not a word was shared between them, even as they spilled out into the chilly streets. Aria was going to speak, but before she could, Adagio pulled out her phone and dialed out a number.
"Mr. Tie, if you would be so kind, Aria and I just left the club." The way that Adagio said Aria's name was not the way that Aria had come to enjoy in the past. No, this carried a barely restrained annoyance that very quickly set Aria on edge. "Yes, we're right outside. Thank you kindly." Adagio then pocketed her cell phone and, without a word, leered at Aria, evidently waiting for some sort of acknowledgment. And so, perhaps unfortunately, Aria tried her best.
"So..." said Aria awkwardly. "That went a lot better in my head."
"You know, I had next to no expectations for your response, Aria, but you managed to miss even the lowest possible bar with that." Adagio's voice quivered, and even though she never, ever liked to shout outside of the bedroom, it was clear that she was nearly at that point right then. "So I'll just go ahead and ask the stupid question. What the hell were you thinking in there?"
"I... Look, she was pissing me off. I'm not gonna sit there and let anyone talk to you like that," said Aria. "And if you want me to apologize for standing up for you, sorry, it ain't happening."
"Oh my God, with every passing second, I find myself more pissed off than the last."
"Look, I'm sorry I caused a stink and ruined your promo thing, but--"
"If you think I'm mad about getting kicked out of a party I didn't particularly want to go to in the first place, then you're an even bigger idiot than I thought!" Adagio threw her hands up, turning away so that she didn't even have to look at Aria. "You know damn well I'm not hurting for business, I didn't need this advertisement. That's not the point!"
"Then... I'm lost," admitted Aria. She tried to look Adagio in the eye, but once again, the dancer turned away. "If you didn't need this, then what? Cause I got us kicked out? I didn't mean to embarrass you, I just--"
"You didn't embarrass me, Aria. You fucking used me. You used me to try and stick it to your toxic ex, and let me just tell you this." When Adagio finally turned back to face Aria, she did so with tears in her eyes, and Aria immediately understood that she had made a terrible mistake. "I take my clothes off in front of strangers for a living, I hear the most disgusting, perverted things said about my body regularly. The looks I get in that club from some of those pigs, they stare at me like a slab of meat, and somehow, I've never felt more objectified in my entire life than I do right now."
"Oh... Oh, fuck... Ada, I--"
"No! Don't you fucking dare 'Ada' me! You used me as a prop to piss off Shimmer! And for what? Why do you care so damn much about what she thinks of you?" Adagio nearly choked on her words, just barely resisting the urge to outright bawl right there in the middle of the sidewalk. "Am I not enough for you?"
"Adagio, don't even say that. You know that's not it," swore Aria. "I just... You have to understand, me and her, it's complicated."
"In what way? What can be so damn complicated about the fact that you do not need her approval or validation? Unless..." Adagio took in a deep breath, in a failing attempt to calm her nerves. She pulled her hair from her face with trembling hands, breathing slowly as she swallowed down her heart before it leaped from her chest. "I asked you a while ago, and you didn't give me a straight answer then. I thought I was okay with that, but maybe I was wrong. So I'm asking you again now. Do you still have feelings for Sunset?"
The answer was simple, obvious. It shouldn't have required any thought at all. And yet, as Aria went forth to say, no, of course not, she paused. She wanted to say the words, but they got caught on her tongue, and she froze. It was only a second's hesitation, but Adagio was a keen woman, and she noticed that hesitation immediately. Her face fell, and just when her heart split in two, her familiar black luxury car pulled up to the curb. Mr. Tie stepped out and, though he maintained his usual professional demeanor, it was clear that he noticed that something was amiss.
"Ma'am?" Mr. Tie cleared his throat, earning a glance from his mistress. "Is everything okay?"
"Mr. Tie, please take Aria home." Adagio's voice was low, heavy with a million things she wanted to say, but for one reason or the other, kept to herself. "Make sure she gets home safely."
"And you, ma'am?"
"It's not far. I'll walk."
"What? No, Adagio, don't do that," said Aria. "Let's just talk--"
"The very last thing I want to do right now, Aria, is talk to you. And your best chance of me wanting to talk to you is to give me some space."
"But... Fine, but still, don't walk. I'll take a cab, you don't have to do that."
"I know. I wasn't asking." She glanced at Mr. Tie, who looked on with concern, but did not argue. "Please walk her to her front door when you arrive, and make sure she gets inside safely."
"Yes, ma'am, of course," said Mr. Tie. "Though, if you'd prefer to wait for a bit, I can of course come back to pick you up?"
"Thank you, but I don't want to talk to anyone today. I need to get my head on straight, before I say something I regret."
"Adagio. Adagio!" Despite Aria's calls and shouts, Adagio did not respond. She just kept on going forward, down the street in the direction of home. Part of Aria wanted to follow her, but she thankfully thought better of it. No need to make things worse. "Adagio! I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry!"
"Come along, ma'am." Mr. Tie opened the door for Aria and gestured inside. "I've known Ms. Adagio long enough to know that now it's best to leave her be. Let's get you home, hm?"
Again, Aria considered ignoring Mr. Tie, ignoring common sense, and running after the woman she loved, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. Deep in her heart, she knew she'd just ruin things further, if that was even possible. So, without much in the way of options, Aria slowly trudged over to the car and slid into the backseat. Mr. Tie closed the door behind her and took the driver's seat, sparing Aria a glance in the rear-view mirror before taking off.
It was quiet for a while, neither Aria nor Mr. Tie acknowledging each other. Aria just stared out the window, at the sight of Adagio growing smaller and smaller as they drove in the opposite direction, until she couldn't see her at all anymore. What a mess, and worst of all, Aria had no one to blame but herself. While she could certainly say that Sunset didn't help matters, at the end of the day, it was her own actions that had upset Adagio.
"God, I'm such a fuck up..." groaned Aria, slumping her head against the glass. She looked up, and just as she did, Mr. Tie darted his eyes back to the road, to make it seem as though he hadn't been looking. "Sorry. I know this is probably a pain, taking me all the way home just cause I'm an idiot."
"Ms. Aria, with your permission, I'd like to offer you a bit of advice," said Mr. Tie, much to Aria's surprise. Mr. Tie was a friendly enough man, but he took his job quite seriously, and so he very rarely spoke this candidly to Aria. Usually just a polite greeting and farewell whenever he took the two around for their dates and such. "You don't have to take it, of course, but I think it might do you some good."
"Sure, why not?" sighed Aria with a shrug. "Can't hurt, right?"
"Hm. Once, a long time ago, there was a woman that I knew well, and there was something she'd often say. She'd say that everyone on Earth has exactly two things in common; We all fuck up, and we all die." Aria's eyebrows went up at that, having never heard Mr. Tie utter even a darn or a heck in all the time she'd known him. "And by the time the second thing happens, the first one doesn't matter anymore."
"Huh. She sounds like a hell of a woman."
"Oh, she was. Like you would not believe. Not unlike Ms. Adagio." It went quiet for a spell, before Mr. Tie continued. "We all make mistakes, Ms. Aria. I've made more than my fair share of them, and I still, to this day, do not believe I've done nearly enough to earn Ms. Adagio's forgiveness for it." Another few beats of quiet, and it sounded like Mr. Tie was composing himself. "I don't know if she's told you, but Ms. Adagio is my goddaughter."
"Oh, wow. She's never said that before," said Aria. "You're her godfather..."
"It's in her nature to keep that to herself. She's trying to protect my privacy. And I promised her, as well as her parents, that I would take care of Ms. Adagio as if she were my own child. For the most part, I believe I have. I've never had children of my own, but Ms. Adagio... For all intents and purposes, Ms. Adagio is my daughter."
"And I just royally pissed her off..." Aria rested her face in her palms, groaning to herself once again. "If you wanna just dump me on the side of the road, I totally get it..."
"My point, Ms. Aria, is that I care about her, and I want her to be happy. Regardless of what you've done or said tonight, you make her very happy," explained the driver. "I think you're very good for her, and you're both made better by having each other. So I urge you... Do not give up. Do not call it quits just because you 'fucked up'. Because if Ms. Adagio can find it in her heart to forgive me, after all the trouble I've caused her with my own fuck up, then surely she can forgive you. You just have to get off your ass and show her that you are willing to put in the effort to make things right between you two." Mr. Tie blinked, as if he had only just then heard the words coming out of his mouth. "Erm... Forgive my language, Ms. Aria. It's just, as I said, I want you both to be happy. When things are this important, I don't want to tiptoe around the point politely. I'm rooting for you. I always have."
Aria took in a deep breath, absorbing the surprising advice from its equally surprising source. She was a bit skeptical at first, but the longer she thought about what Mr. Tie said, the more sense it made to her. Adagio wasn't vindictive, wasn't particularly petty. But Aria had hurt her, and just yelling sorry down the street wasn't what Adagio wanted to hear. Action, and honest effort, were what Adagio would need to heal. Aria felt as though she owed Adagio a lot over the past year or so. A bit of effort to make up for her mistake was the least she owed.
"Okay. Stop moping around and do something about it, yeah?" said Aria. Mr. Tie nodded, and smiled ever-so-slightly at the new look in Aria's eyes. Now, it wasn't regret or self-pity behind those eyes. It was determination, the desire to remedy her mistakes. "Mr. Tie, next time you have a day off, remind me that I owe you a beer."
Now, Mr. Tie's little smirk turned into a full-on cheeky grin.
"Respectfully, Ms. Aria, after some of the things you and Ms. Adagio have gotten up to in the backseat of my car, you owe me a lot more than one." |
I Get Off | Familiar Taste Of Poison | "Okay, so just run this by me one more time. I feel like I'm missing something."
Aria rolled her eyes, turning away from the bathroom mirror to face Sonata. Despite Aria insisting that this was a serious situation, Sonata decided that now was the time to paint her nails, and so she was in the bathroom with Aria while her friend got ready for the night. Even still, with Sonata sitting on the toilet tank to let her toenails dry and occasionally heckling her, Aria was focused on the task at hand.
"I can explain it to you, but I can't understand it for you," sighed Aria. "Look, it's like this: Adagio is mad at me because I did something dumb, and she thinks I did that dumb thing because I might still have feelings for Sunset."
"You do," noted Sonata. Despite the interruption, Aria continued on.
"So to prove to Adagio--and myself--that I don't still have feelings for Sunset, I'm gonna go talk to her. Wallflower is throwing a party, Sunset already posted about being there. All I have to do is go to the party, meet up with Sunset, talk things out, and everything will fix itself. I get over my issues with Sunset, she butts out of my life, and Adagio sees that I'm willing to work to fix our relationship. Win-win-win."
"So you pissed off your smoking hot girlfriend in an attempt to show off to your toxic ex, and your plan to fix things is to go to a party that you know said ex is going to be at, alone, without your girlfriend, despite proving on multiple occasions that your ex clouds your judgment and forces you to make bad decisions?" asked Sonata. Slowly, almost as if stunned by the extremely accurate breakdown of events, Aria nodded. "Right. And somehow, I'm the dumb one in our relationship."
"It's a good plan!"
"Ari, beb, it's a terrible plan. It's, like, the worst idea you have ever had."
"Why? Why is it such a bad idea?" demanded Aria. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't go to this party."
"It makes you look desperate. It's going to put you in an emotional spot, and you make bad decisions when you're emotional. It gives Sunset tons of opportunity to take advantage of you, which is basically all she ever does nowadays." Sonata counted off the many flaws in Aria's "genius" plan, shaking her head in disbelief. "You just had a fight with Ada a week ago, and now you're about to be sneaking out behind her back to go to a party that you know your ex is at. It's a terrible look. You're already on thin ice, and now you're risking what little trust Adagio has in you, all to prove a point that, deep down, you don't even truly believe yourself."
It went quiet for a bit, and Aria found herself seriously rethinking her life's choices.
"I only asked for one..." murmured Aria.
"Aria, you were given God's gift to lesbians on a silver platter, and I swear if you fumble this bag--for the girl who left you--I will never forgive you."
"I won't! Besides, you got it all wrong. It's not like I'm not sneaking around behind Adagio's back or whatever. I want to tell her what I'm up to. It's just, y'know... She doesn't want to talk to me right now..."
"Gee, I wonder why."
"Look, if you're so concerned about me, you could always come with," said Aria, with an air of finality in her voice. It was obvious that, no matter what the facts said, Aria was going along with her plan. "You could be my safety rope, pull me out of hot water. Not that I'm gonna get in any hot water, because my plan is good and it's gonna work."
"Can't. I've got my own plans," said Sonata. "What, you think I'm doing my toes for fun?"
"I assumed your date had a kink."
"You should talk. But no, it's not a date. If you must know, it's a dinner party, for work." Seemingly content with the state of her polish, Sonata jumped up from the toilet and bumped Aria aside with her hip so that she could have a turn at the mirror to style her hair. "One of the companies I promote for invited me, there's gonna be like magazine editors and stuff. Super bougie, but it could be good for my career."
"Fine. I don't need you anyway, I'll be fine," lied Aria, so convincingly that she very nearly believed herself. "Good luck with your party thing."
"Thanks, beb. And, like, you're sure I can't talk you out of this? Maybe we can go outside of her window and hold up a boombox like in those cheesy rom-coms?" suggested Sonata. Firmly, unflinchingly, irritatingly stubbornly, Aria shook her head. "Lord have mercy... Well, if I can't make you see sense, then good luck. Hope you know what you're doing."
Sonata set off to finish preparing, leaving Aria alone with her thoughts. She wasn't used to Sonata serving as the voice of reason, so she didn't really know how to react when she raised some compelling points. Even still, despite all of Sonata's well-constructed arguments, Aria was determined. She had made this mess for herself, and she was going to clean it up.
"Yeah, yeah," sighed Aria. "Me too..."
The thumping sound of party music guided Aria's path up the winding staircase, up to the topmost floor of the complex. As she made her way up, it dawned on her that she'd actually been there before. She helped Wallflower move into the place seemingly lifetimes ago. Despite that, she had next to no recollection of seeing the place until she made her way to apartment 546, and felt her hand tapping on the door. A short second later, the door swung open, and the host was there to greet her.
"Hey, Aria, welcome!" Wallflower was always awkward, a bit uncomfortable around others, and never was that trait more obvious than when she was attempting to hide it. Her forced smile was almost painful to look at, but it quickly faded into sheer, unadulterated panic. "Oh no, you came!"
"Uh... nice to see you, too?" Aria cocked a brow but didn't take it to heart. An old friend from high school, it was almost nice to see that Wallflower still had that unfortunate habit of eating her own foot whenever she was nervous. "Don't know if you remember, but you, like, invited me?"
"I know, but I didn't think you'd actually come! You never come to any of these parties! I was just trying to be nice..."
"So... am I uninvited or...?"
"No, it's not like that! It's just..." Wallflower looked left, then right, as if afraid of being caught, and whispered. "She's already here!"
"What, Sunset?" Aria rolled her eyes. "Good, I came here to see her."
"Oh. You did? Why would you...? Oh. Oh, no. No!" Wallflower was clearly frazzled, but she soon stood up a bit straighter, adopting a confidence as flimsy as it was inauthentic. "Look, I know you used to call me a doormat, and I know we haven't been close like we used to be, but I still consider you my friend, and I would be a very, very bad friend if I let you go in there and try to get back with your ex, so I'm sorry, but I can't--"
"I'm not trying to get back with her. Jesus, Wally, you're being even more of a spaz than I remember." Aria stepped forward and essentially elbowed past Wallflower, who meekly stepped out of the way. "Look, I did something bad, and I just wanted to apologize and clear the air, then I'm out of here. I promise, no drama or anything like that at your super cool party."
"Oh, ok." Again, Wallflower paused, the gears grinding in her frazzled brain. "W-wait, you think my party is cool?"
Again, Aria rolled her eyes. She didn't have time for this.
"Yeah, sure, why not? Will you tell me where Sunny is now?"
"Hm... last I saw, she was doing shots in the kitchen."
"Sounds about right," sighed Aria. She strode down the short hallway, following the sounds of music into the party proper. It wasn't a huge gathering, only twenty or so people dancing and drinking. For Wallflower, though, it might as well be Coachella, and Aria was impressed with her old friend for not having a panic attack. People can grow after all, it appeared. "Alright, thanks for the invite, Wally. Catch you later."
"Oh, ok, no prob. Have fun, and good luck!" called Wallflower to Aria, as she disappeared into the small swarm of partygoers. "And text me sometime! Don't forget about me!"
"Yeah, yeah, I won't!"
Unfortunately, being a better friend to Wallflower would have to wait a bit longer. For now, Aria was focused on maneuvering through the crowd, in search for the difficult figure from her past. Luckily, by the time she arrived in the kitchen, it had almost entirely emptied out, save for the one person she was looking for. Sunset had her back to her, boosting up to her tiptoes to grab a hidden bottle of tequila from the top of Wallflower's fridge. When she reached, her crimson tanktop rode up a bit, giving Aria a glimpse of the pink, six-pointed star she had tattooed just above her hip.
"The star's new, right?" It felt strange, for Aria to get the jump on Sunset for a change, but Sunset held her ground a lot better in these situations; she froze for just a second, before regaining her composure and pouring herself another drink. "It's cute. Ink suits you."
"Thanks. I've got more, but they're in places I don't think Adagio would want you to see." There was an all-too-familiar slurring at the end of every word, but it seemed to Aria that Sunset still had most of her faculties about her. Slowly, Sunset turned to face her ex, brow cocked at Aria. "Okay, now there's no convincing me otherwise. You're definitely following me."
"This time, yeah. I wanted to see you."
"Come to finish me off? Don't forget, I took judo in high school."
"I just wanna talk." Aria waited a beat for Sunset to respond, and when she didn't, struggled to find the words. "And maybe, y'know. Apologize."
"You could've texted me," remarked Sunset. "Unless you deleted my number again."
"I figured a face-to-face situation was the right way to go." Sunset rolled her eyes at that, and slowly began to walk away with her drink (and the rest of Wallflower's liquor) in tow. "Come on, man, I'm really trying here. I know things haven't exactly been smooth sailing between us, but don't walk away from me when all I want--"
"Listen, if you want to air all our dirty laundry in the middle of whatsherface's kitchen, then I'm down too," said Sunset. "But given our history, I just assumed you'd want some privacy."
"Oh. What do you have in mind?"
"Follow me."
Without any further explanation, Sunset led the way through the party, with Aria following closely behind. Sunset, ever-confident in her presence, parted the crowd with each step, all the way to the living room window, outside of which was a sturdy iron fire escape. At Sunset's behest, the two climbed through the window and onto those metal stairs, and up the last few steps to the roof itself. Contrasting starkly with the party below, this rooftop was deserted, serene, private. The only structures on the roof itself were the building's exhaust system, a power transformer, and a few electrical boxes. Sunset crossed the roof, kicking up gravel as she came to a stop beside the transformer.
"You said you wanted to talk," said Sunset, leaning against the big metal box. "So go on. Talk."
"Okay, so, let's just get this out of the way really quickly," said Aria. "What went down at the club was fucked up. I shouldn't have hit you, no matter how upset I was. There's no excuse for what I did, and I just wanted to say... Sorry."
"Apology accepted," said Sunset. Aria's face twisted somewhat, earning a bemused snort from Sunset. "What's with that face?"
"I mean... I was kinda expecting it to be more work than that."
"I've been hit before, by girls who hit a lot harder than you. That wasn't really what made me mad, anyway."
"Man, I suck at this..." mumbled Aria. A bit louder, she continued on. "Okay, so it wasn't the slap that set you off. What was it, then?"
"You're joking, right? You show up at a party I'm having fun at just to flex your new hot sl--" Sunset seemed to catch herself before she let the word slip. "Sorry. I really don't mean anything by it when I use that word, but... The point is, you throwing your happiness in my face like that... it hurts."
"But why? I feel like you made it pretty obvious where we stood," said Aria. "Besides, you seem like you're doing pretty well for yourself."
"It's... complicated. You got a light?" Despite having mostly quit smoking, on Adagio's request, Aria still tended to keep a lighter on hand, and she casually tossed it to Sunset. Her brows went up a bit when, instead of a cigarette, Sunset pulled a joint from her bra and lit up. "Wanna hit?"
"Nah, I think I'm good."
"What, too goody-goody to partake in The Devil's Lettuce now?" snickered Sunset. She took a pull on her joint, offering it to Aria with a wave and a song. "Drink the wine, my darling, you said."
"Cute. Fine, whatever." Of course, Aria recognized the song, and of course, it hit her deep in the heart, in places she'd never been hit before. Even still, she took the joint from Sunset and hit it quickly before passing it back. Sunset grinned before sliding down to the floor, where Aria soon met her. "So... you said it's complicated?"
"Duh. What about an ex is ever simple?" sighed Sunset. "If only it was as easy as us hating each other, then this would've blown over by now."
"Seemed like you hated me plenty, going by our break-up," noted Aria. Sunset shrugged, puffing her blunt idly as she collected her thoughts. "I still think about that night. I didn't think I'd ever come back from that."
"Yeah, me neither."
"You broke up with me, remember?"
"And what, that means it was easy for me? Breaking up with you was the toughest thing I've ever done in my life, Aria." Sunset brought her knees up to her chest, her eyes darting away from Aria's as she spoke. Almost as if she couldn't bring herself to look at her. "I still wish we could've done things differently."
"Wait, what? What do you mean?" Aria's heart skipped a beat, but she tried her best to keep her head on straight. "Do you... regret it?"
"We were both idiots. Just two dumb kids trying to make it through life together. I think us splitting up was the best move for us both, at the end of the day, but still," sighed Sunset. "You were my best friend for the longest time. And the fact that when we broke up, you didn't once reach out to me... it kinda stung."
"Well, you did sorta fingerfuck me in front of my parents and completely destroy my self-esteem, so that might've had something to do with it."
"And there's my point. We both made bad decisions based on what we thought real life was at the time. Do you know why I flipped out on you that night?" It took a second, and a swig of liquor, for Sunset to compose herself, but she kept on going, despite the awkward tension of the moment. "It's because I'm bad at relationships. I always have been. I ran away from home, because I didn't like living with my parents. I poisoned pretty much every friendship I've had, because I just do stuff sometimes. I fucked things up with Twilight, and she left me for it. And I ran from you because, at the time, I thought you were trying to make me into something I wasn't."
"I wasn't trying to make you anything." Aria frowned, confused, but didn't address what was bothering her yet. Truth be told, she was very surprised to hear that it was Twilight who had left Sunset, rather the other way around. The idea of anyone dumping someone like Sunset, it just didn't fit into Aria's head, and that wasn't even addressing the idea that she had been trying to change Sunset. "I wasn't trying to 'fix' you or anything like that. I just wanted--"
"What you wanted, I wasn't able to give you at the time. And I should've just said that, but I didn't. Instead, I just wanted to hurt you, because I felt like you were hurting me. Once I cooled down, I wanted to reach out to you, maybe at least be friends, but I was too proud and stubborn." With her joint mostly smoked and her cup empty save for a few chips of ice, Sunset resorted to taking a swig straight from the bottle--Daddy's Cup, Aria remembered she would call it--to gain the necessary confidence. It made her a bit clumsy and unsteady in her speech, but it knocked the words free when it was clear that all she wanted was to hold onto them. "I wanted... No. I needed you to take the first step, because it'd be easier for me. And when you didn't, I guess I got a little bitter about it. Didn't help when I saw you moved on so easily. When I saw you and Ada in the club, and you basically fucked her in the bathroom just to piss me off... Well, mission accomplished, because it pissed me off."
"Well, if it makes you feel any better, Adagio was pissed about it too," admitted Aria. "So you two have that much in common, you both know I'm a moron." Sunset chuckled at that, but then let the silence descend onto them. After a moment, Aria took the reins of the conversation once more. "Lemme just ask you this, Sunny. I asked it when we broke up, but, like you said, we were both pretty heated at the time. So lemme ask now... Did you ever cheat on me? Or was I just being paranoid?"
Sunset took in a deep pull from her smoldering joint, flicking the roach aside to let it burn out on the gravel. The seconds ticked on to a minute, and Sunset finally let out her smoke to answer.
"I'd go to Twilight's place whenever we fought, and we got pretty close. Sometimes, I'd smoke a bowl at her place, and you know I get kinda horny when I'm high," said Sunset. She avoided Aria's gaze, but even from the side Aria could see what appeared to be remorse, shame. Drunken embarrassment ringing her cheeks. "We made out a few times, maybe I touched a boob. But... No. I never fucked her. Even back then, even as mad as I was, I knew I wanted to at least break things off with you first. If anything. You deserved that much at least." It went quiet again, and Sunset sighed wistfully. "Does that change anything for you?"
"Guess not. Just kinda nice to know definitively, you know?" Aria paused, feeling a strange sense of calm descend into her. This was the Sunset she knew, the girl she loved all those years ago. Strong, bold, unabashedly herself. "And just for the record, I didn't move on easily. It was really hard for me. Matter of fact... some people say I haven't moved on at all."
"Yeah, well, you made that pretty obvious. No offense, Ari, but you have the worst poker face I've ever seen," snickered Sunset. After the two shared a laugh, Sunset lowered her head slightly to lean against Aria's shoulder. "That's honestly one of the things I liked most about you. You're so honest. So true to yourself, you can't hide it no matter how hard you try."
"Do you think... Do you think we could maybe try this again?" asked Aria slowly. Sunset tensed slightly, but didn't respond, so Aria continued. "You said you wanted to at least try to be friends. I'd like that, a lot. I missed you, Sunset."
"I missed you too. But with you and Adagio..."
"She'll understand. Just let me talk to her, she'll get it." The tension from Sunset didn't waver, and Aria was beginning to worry she may have made a mistake. She hadn't exactly planned out the conversation, and it would be terribly in character for her to let her emotions steer her off of a cliff. "Are you okay? If I'm going too fast, then maybe not?"
"It's... It's nothing. You're right," said Sunset after a second of thought. "Being friends, that sounds good. Really good, actually."
Finally, Sunset smiled, and Aria let out the breath that she'd been holding in. For a moment of serenity, the two just sat there, enjoying the calm and the quiet. No fighting, no messy past, no conflict. Though this wasn't what Aria had intended for the night, she'd be lying if she said she wasn't satisfied with the outcome. The two enjoyed their moment together before a buzz from Sunset's pocket stole the moment. She checked her phone and groaned, much to Aria's concern.
"You good?" she asked.
"Son of a bitch!" groaned Sunset. "My fucking ride just flaked on me. Getting a cab this late is gonna be so fucking lame..."
"Hey, don't sweat it. I'll ask Wally to borrow her car, I can drop you off." Aria nudged Sunset up, pulling her from her frustrated little tantrum. "I'd probably want to drop you off anyway, since you've been drinking and all."
"That's really sweet of you, Aria. Thanks." On shaky, unsteady legs, Sunset stood up, and very nearly came tumbling down if not for Aria leaping up to catch her and hold her upright. "Shit, maybe that's my cue to bounce. Unless you wanted to hang around a little longer? I don't mind crashing in, like, a closet or something until you're ready."
"Nah, I got what I came for. Let's split."
It was a bit perilous, guiding a drunk Sunset safely down the fire escape, but Aria managed to do so with only a few heart-stopping incidents. Luckily, the trip down was a swift one, and Aria got Sunset back into the apartment with relative ease. The booze and weed seemed to be catching up to Sunset, and each step through the living room was more precarious than the last. By the time they made it back to the front door, Sunset was leaning most of her body weight onto Aria, who tried to keep the two on course. Luckily, Wallflower wasn't far from the door, her hands filled with pizza she had just had delivered.
"Yo, Wally, lemme borrow your car," said Aria, doing her best not to be annoyed by Wallflower's wide-eyed and aghast expression. "I need to get Sunny home, I'll be right back."
"Um... You sure that's a good idea?" asked Wallflower. "I could call her a--"
"Relax, it's not what it looks like. I'm just being a good friend. Gimme your keys."
"Well, if you're sure... Here, my hands are full, they're in my back pocket."
Aria reached forward and pulled the keys from Wallflower's pocket, and, with a promise to top off the fuel tank when she was done, made her way to the elevator. A quick trip down, and a few minutes to locate Wallflower's car, and the two were off. It was a quiet ride, for the most part, and Aria sought to break the tension with some music; After flipping through the stations, she landed on her go-to destination for rock and roll. Almost too good to be true, she flipped to the station just in time to begin Halestorm's Familiar Taste of Poison.
The two shared a look and rolled their eyes at the ludicrous coincidence, but they let the song play out nevertheless.
"Yeah, it's right here," mumbled Sunset, pointing at the complex as the two pulled up. "3rd floor, Apartment 32A."
"Alright, cool. Let's get you home," said Aria.
Aria had to basically pull Sunset up and out of the car, once again letting the notably taller woman rest most of her weight on her shoulder as she led the way. Each step was tougher than the last, and Aria had to hurry to get Sunset in the elevator before she collapsed on top of her. The ride up was short, and the trek to the apartment, even shorter. Sunset had to fumble in her jeans for keys for a bit (even dropping her phone, which Aria grabbed up and slipped into her own pocket for safekeeping) but she managed to unlock the door nonetheless.
"Yeah, just toss me on the couch I guess," slurred Sunset, pointing in the vague direction of the couch in the middle of her living room. Aria nodded and carefully maneuvered Sunset around the coffee table and to the sofa, where she gently set her down onto the cushions. "Thanks. You really didn't have to do all this for me..."
"Nah, it was nothing. Just making sure you got home safe," said Aria. Sunset hummed in agreement as she swung her legs up onto her couch and reclined peacefully. "Well, it's been nice, but I better get Wally her car back. It's been nice, talking things out like that. Do you need anything before I go or...?"
"Just... I feel like I owe you. Not just for tonight, but for everything," said Sunset. She sat up slightly, smirking at Aria as she did so. The energy in the room changed subtly, just enough to put Aria on edge. "Let me repay you for all the trouble."
"You don't owe me anything. You don't have to--"
"I could maybe show you those tattoos I was talking about."
It took a few moments for Aria to truly process what Sunset was getting at, and when she did, she let out a dry, tired little chuckle.
"You mean the ones that Adagio wouldn't want me to see?" asked Aria. Sunset nodded, and Aria just chuckled again. "That would be probably the biggest mistake of my life."
"We've both made mistakes. What's one more gonna do, huh?" Sunset reached for Aria, who stood right where she was, arms crossed over her chest and brow cocked at the display. "C'mon, just one more time. For old time's sake."
"You're drunk," noted Aria.
"Sure. And don't forget, you smoked my weed. Maybe that's our excuse. Just one night, we're not in our right minds." Sunset's voice was low and heavy, ladened with desire, almost desperation. Not at all what Aria had come to expect from her. "Come on, just once. I've been so lonely since Twi left me, and now you're back in my life...What Ada doesn't know won't hurt her."
"Goodnight, Sunny. Just text me in the morning, okay?"
Aria made a few steps to the door, pausing when she felt a buzz in her pocket. A text, probably Wallflower panicking about the car, or maybe Sonata butting in to make sure Aria wasn't making any poor decisions. Ordinarily, she'd leave it be, but considering the situation, Aria thought it prudent to respond. She grabbed the phone from her pocket, perplexed by the unfamiliar device she held. In the commotion, she had forgotten that she had picked up Sunset's phone. She went to set it down, when her eye caught the name on the text. Aria didn't like to intrude, but the name was impossible to ignore.
Twi <3
Unable to contain herself, Aria powered on Sunset's phone and tried her old password; Unsurprisingly, it worked, and allowed Aria in to read the message. She looked it over once, twice, three times, feeling a mess of emotions wash over her. She was confused, she was betrayed, she was pissed off. And, when it was all said and done, Aria felt something new. An overwhelming sense of clarity.
It was complicated, she said before. Now, not so much.
"Sunset, I--" Aria turned, looking to Sunset for answers, and was met only with snores. Sunset had fallen asleep at some point, which suited Aria just fine. She set Sunset's phone down on the coffee table, shaking her head as she made her way out. "Later, I guess."
As she left, Aria grabbed her phone, actually her phone this time, and quickly dialed Wallflower's number. She originally had every intention of returning the car straight away but, given how she felt now, she had one more stop that she wanted to make.
Adagio twirled slowly, gracefully around her pole, the pop-rock sounds of Lissie's Shameless floating through her apartment as she rehearsed her next set, dressed comfily in her pajamas. She knew the song well, knew every step and bounce and spin like the back of her hand. It wasn't so much a need for practice that motivated this, more so the desire for inner peace, stillness of heart, and most importantly, clarity. She phoned in for a replacement dancer for the night's marquee, she had canceled her plans for tomorrow, and now all she wanted to do was relax, and to feel herself in the only way she knew how.
There was a knock at the door, and Adagio decided she'd ignore it. She didn't give much thought as to who would be there at this hour, though as the knocking continued, an idea began to gnaw in the back of her mind. Finally, as the song petered out into silence, Adagio descended from her stage and slowly strolled to the door. She paused, hand on the doorknob, and took in a deep breath before pulling it open.
"Hey." Adagio knew that it was likely Aria standing on the other side of her door, and yet she was still somewhat surprised to see her standing there. It was awkward, at least at first, but Adagio noticed that something was different about Aria, though she couldn't quite put her finger on it. "Can we talk now?"
"You can talk, if you like," said Adagio. "I think I'll just listen for now."
"Okay, fair. Well, let me just start out by saying that I'm sorry for what I did last week, at the club. It was stupid of me, it was unfair to put you in that position, and I'm so sorry I made you feel like I was using you." Aria spoke with a steady assuredness in her voice that she didn't typically possess, and it deeply intrigued a somewhat skeptical Adagio. "I betrayed your trust and your love, just to prove a bogus point. You deserve better than that."
"You're right," said Adagio slowly. "I do. But we established that the last time we spoke. What changed since then?"
"I grew a pair and I went to talk to Sunset. Clear the air, settle some differences, and maybe work out the mess between us."
"And?"
"We talked. We got to the root of our break-up, figured out what went wrong. We apologized to each other, kinda," explained Aria. "We decided we'd try being friends. She had a lot to drink, so I took her home. Just to make sure she got there safely. And... She came onto me. She said what you didn't know wouldn't hurt you." Adagio snorted at that.
"Right. Friends," said Adagio, with a roll of the eyes. "And I assume if you're telling me about it, it's because you told her no."
"Listen, I might be dumb, but I'm not fucking stupid." Aria brightened a bit at the way Adagio snickered. "Point is, when I was leaving, I saw a text on Sunset's phone. A text from Twilight."
"Her ex?"
"See, that's the thing. Sunset told me tonight that Twilight left her, but the text? If Twilight dumped Sunset, then somebody better tell Twilight that, because she doesn't seem to know. Their conversation, it was the usual check-in stuff. Kissy faces and everything. How much Twi misses her, and can't wait for her to get back."
"So Sunset was lying."
"Yeah, sounds like I wasn't the last girl she played. And that's when it hit me. It hit me that if she lied about that, then who's to say what else she lied about? Was she lying about being sorry? About wanting to be friends? And if she is, then why would she do that?" said Aria. "I realized that she doesn't want me back. She just doesn't want anyone else to have me, and she doesn't want me to have anyone else. So I decided that, if that's the type of person she is, then I don't give a shit what she thinks anymore. I miss what we had, and how she made me feel, but that person isn't who she is anymore. If she ever was."
"I see. Sounds like it was quite an enlightening conversation you had." Adagio crossed her arms over her ample chest, arching her brow at the transformed woman before her. "And what? You think just because you hashed things out with her that this makes up for that stunt you pulled?"
"No. No, of course not. But Sunset has been this... thing, standing over me. Poisoning me. Poisoning us. Now? Now, I say in no uncertain terms, fuck her. Talking to Sunset, and getting her claws out of me, it's the hardest thing I've ever done, and I'm doing it to be the best me I can be, for you. I love you, Ada. I'm not letting this messy bitch fuck this up for me."
Adagio didn't speak for a while, keeping her thoughts to herself for the time being. She looked Aria up one way and down the other, appraising her with just her gaze. She kept her thoughts to herself as she watched Aria's unwavering expression. Never one to give too much away for free, it was quiet for nearly a full minute before she spoke.
"What you did at the club," said Adagio carefully. "That really hurt my feelings. Not an easy thing to do."
"I know, and I'm sorry. I'd never do anything to intentionally hurt you."
"I know, sugar. Truth be told, I didn't exactly enjoy this time apart. I don't like being upset with you. But... I'm proud of you for facing your demons and putting them to rest." Just when Aria began to smile, Adagio narrowed her gaze. "But if you think that's enough to get you out of the doghouse, you've got another thing coming."
"Whatever I have to do to make things right, I'll do it."
"Good. Because if you want to fix things between us, then you're going to have to do more than apologize. You're going to have to cook me dinner, too." Despite herself, a grin broke out on Adagio's face, that grin growing as Aria nodded eagerly. "Hm... I think I have a craving for tacos. With that delicious salsa you make."
Aria blinked, tilting her head at Adagio. A few beats passed and, with a slowly growing realization, Aria found herself smiling, perhaps a bit nervously. She wasn't sure exactly what she was expecting from Adagio. More shouts? The cold shoulder? A break-up speech? All felt like very real possibilities, but that's not what she received at all. Quite the contrary, it was understanding. Patience. Humor. Love.
"I... That salsa, I told you." Aria scratched her neck sheepishly. "It's, uh, store-bought."
"Then I suggest you take your cute little ass to the store and buy some." Finally, Adagio offered her arm and, like a starving man lunging for food, Aria took it in her own. "Come on, sugar, let's go shopping. And maybe then you can explain to me why you smell like pot."
"Oh, that... Sunset--"
"You know what, put a pin in that, something just dawned on me. That Twilight girl, you wouldn't happen to know her number, would you?"
"Uh... No, but I think I can find her on Facebook," said Aria nervously. "Why?"
"Hm. Just a bit unfortunate, you know? She's innocent here," said Adagio, baring her fangs and flashing a devilish grin. "I just think she deserves to know just what her girlfriend has been up to, don't you think?"
"Just for clarity, sugar, Sonata was absolutely correct."
Aria rolled her eyes, but didn't argue as she approached the couch. Hands full with hot chocolate, she needed a bit of assistance from Adagio, who grabbed one mug and guided Aria to a seated position without spilling any. Across from the couch was Sonata, chuckling at the pair from her loveseat. Though she admitted she may have been a little hard on Aria regarding her argument with Adagio, it came from a loving place. And now, with tensions tempered and the lovely couple having mended fences, things were back to normal. That meant she could get away with teasing Aria a bit about the whole ordeal.
"See?! I told you!" said Sonata. "I told you the party was a bad idea!"
"Hey, it worked out, didn't it?" said Aria. Adagio hummed, sipping her drink beside her girlfriend.
"Hm... Yes, I suppose it did work," agreed Adagio. Aria perked up a bit, just for Adagio to send her tumbling with a little smirk. "It was still incredibly stupid to chase down your ex at a party while you're arguing with your girlfriend. That could have blown up in your face."
"But it didn't." Aria felt compelled to remind the court of this fact, despite her agreement with the assertion that the plan was flawed. She was just lacking alternatives at that point in time. "I took a risk, but I, like, grew and stuff. That's what matters."
"Hm... Well, all's well that ends well, right?" said Sonata. "I'm glad to see you two back together. I missed you over here, Ada. This place has felt so empty without you."
"We were only fighting for, like, a week..."
"I missed you too, Sonata. Thanks for trying to keep Aria in trouble, even if she's too stubborn to listen," said Adagio. She and Sonata shared a snicker at Aria's expense, though the dancer did quickly amend herself. "I'm only teasing, sugar. I swear, I've nearly got it out of my system."
"Well, can't say I don't deserve a little teasing," admitted Aria. "You know what just kinda hit me? Twilight, she didn't really deserve any of this. Feel bad for her."
"I spoke to her after you tracked her down." Adagio nodded her agreement. "She seems like a sweetheart. I gave her my number, and I'll be putting together a little gift basket for her this weekend, if you'd like to help."
"Sounds good. Well, look at that. Maybe we'll end up with a friend at the end of this whole thing, after all." Aria smiled, and cuddled a little closer to Adagio. Despite what she said to Sonata, she certainly agreed with her assessment; It was very nice to have the whole gang together again, even after a relatively brief hiatus. "Man, I'm getting kinda hungry. You guys down for some takeout? I've been craving Thai, and there's a good spot just up the--"
Aria stopped, the ringing of her phone distracting her from the point she was trying to make. She had a sneaking suspicion she knew who was calling her, and a quick glance confirmed her fears. Sunny <3. It was inevitable, and yet, now that the moment was here, Aria wasn't sure what to make of it. The call was sure to be intense, a very angry Sunset coming for blood. Maybe, if she endured enough shouting and abuse, she could calm the situation, and the two could someday be friends, after all.
"You need to take that?" asked Adagio. Aria smirked, swiping down on her phone's screen. She shuffled over to her contacts, down the list, and to that name. Sunny <3.
Delete Contact.
"Nah. It was nobody." |
Another human in Equestria fic | pre | "I can lock him in his Dreamscape for a short time."
"Okay then I best go collect the emissaries expect a visit tonight Ryan."
With that said Celestia was gone. Twilight soon returned and I decided to eat my dinner and call it a night.
"Well well well." Oh crap why does he have to be here. "Do you always forget that I can read most of your thoughts idiot." Orion spat that last word at me. "Anyway you've had quite the day eh? Making friends with Trixie and getting the death stare from dear old Celestia." At that Orion paused looking up at the sky of my dreamscape. "We have visitors Ryan. It seems Celestia has joined her sister in coming here."
I then looked to the place in the sky where the two Alicorns were descending. They landed a few feet away from me and Orion, with a simple thought the tendrils returned and pulled Orion into his dreamscape. As he was pulled away he let out a scream. "You spoil sport Ryan!" Hopefully he would be locked in his dreamscape for the rest of the night.
I then turned to the two Alicorns who had witnessed the whole scene occur. "Welcome to my dreamscape. If I may ask what are you doing here Princess Celestia."
"Well Ryan I am here to confirm what you had said to me; it seems what you said is correct." She then gave a slight nudge to Luna with her wing.
"Ryan I wish to apologize."
"Can you hold that thought for a second." With that I turned on the spot a thought coming to my mind as I closed my eyes and let my mind change the dreamscape. When I opened my eyes we were standing on top of a hill under a large oak tree, a few feet away a picnic was set up with a small tea set as well, above us hung the full moon surrounded by a star filled sky. "Would you two care to join me?" I said as I walked over to the picnic set up.
As the two sisters joined me Luna continued her thought. "Ryan as we were saying before we are sorry how we acted last night and wish to apologize to you." A look of regret passed over her face.
"Oh well no problem Princess Luna. Hmm how about we start over?" At this I offered her a handshake. "Hello there my name's Ryan, I have an annoying voice in my head that won't go away."
She put her right fore-hoof into my hand and shook it. "Well my name is Princess Luna, but you can call me Luna, and 1000 years ago I tried to overthrow my sister in a fit of jealous rage." At this she removed her hoof from my hand and gave me a small smile.
"Well then Luna it's a pleasure to meet you, and if I may ask you something?" This caused a look of curiosity to splay across the lunar Princess' face, she then gestured for me to go on. "Would you like to be my friend?"
This caught her by surprise. "Why do you want to be my friend Ryan? After what happened last night with me going to my sister about that."
At this I shrugged and decided to tell her why. "Luna I'm guessing what I've read in history books being on the moon for 1000 years didn't help with your social life?"
"No it did not I don't really have any friends Ryan."
"Well neither did I back on Earth, and honestly I want to make as many friends as possible."
A look of slight shock crossed her face she then spoke up once more. "Well then Ryan, we accept your offer of friendship."
After a few short moments Celestia spoke up. "Well then I shall leave you two to bond then. Farewell Luna, Ryan." With a flash of yellow light, she was gone from the dreamscape.
I then turned to the blue Alicorn. "Well, want to tell me a bit about yourself?"
"Only if you tell me why you have set your dreamscape's clock to midnight?"
"Simple really, I've always appreciated the moon's calming light. Also it's easier on the eyes than the sun." This got a laugh from Luna, when she settled down I decided to tell her a bit about earth. The only topic she wanted to talk about was astronomy luckily for her astronomy was my favorite subject in science during school. |
Another human in Equestria fic | Saying goodbyes and meeting a human enthusiast. | After talking with Luna the whole night I woke up feeling relaxed and happy as Pinkie Pie. When I got out of bed the smell of pancakes hit my nose, without thinking I ran downstairs towards the kitchen where one Twilight was making pancakes, well Spike was Twilight was keeping an eye on him.
Twilight turned around to see me standing in the doorway. "Oh good morning Ryan, did you have a good sleep." I cut her off as I lifted into a hug.
"Saying that I had a good night's sleep is an understatement." I then realized that the unicorn needed air so I put her back on the kitchen floor. "Oh sorry about that Twi."
"No problem when you hang around Pinkie long enough you get used to surprise hugs. So what's got you so happy?"
"I finally did it."
"Did what?" Spike asked.
"Simple my reptilian friend I made friends with the one and only Princess Luna!"
This got a gasp of excitement from Twilight. "So good to hear that she's making friends Ryan." We then decided that it was time to have breakfast. During breakfast Twilight told me that Trixie wanted to see me when I was done with breakfast.
"So where do I have to go Twilight?" I asked as I stood near the front door.
"Well Trixie said to meet her in her carriage, which should be on the edge of Ponyville behind the library." With that information I set out to find Trixie. Luckily as Twilight had said her carriage was just down the road from the library. As I approached I saw that Trixie was already hitching herself to her carriage, she noticed me approach when I was a few feet away.
"Ah Ryan can you please help me with this, it seems one of the straps has twisted, and my magic can't help me as it seems to make it worse."
As I saw the problem I decided to fix it, but when I did that I undid the straps on her harness.
"Ryan why did you do that?" I then walked around her so I was standing in front of her.
"Hey Trixie do you have tea inside your carriage?"
"Yes I do. Why do you ask?"
"Because I want to have tea with my favorite magician." I beamed a smile at her, she paused for a second before leading me into her carriage for tea.
"Why do you want to have tea with me Ryan?" Trixie said as she prepared the tea.
"Well Trixie I wanted to know why your leaving Ponyville?"
This caused Trixie to pause for a second as she thought. "Well Ryan, I am leaving to go spread my entertainment around Equestria. Applejack has said she will tell her family that I am a changed mare." At this she realized the tea was ready and floated me a cup of tea.
"Thank you Trixie." I then took a sip of the tea letting out a small moan of gratitude. "Anyway if you want to leave Trixie that's fine with me. But I have condition on you leaving."
She gave me a look of confusion and raised her eyebrow at me. "Oh and what would that be?"
"Well Trixie maybe visit us on Nightmare Night, maybe Hearths Warming Eve."
"Well then if that is your only condition then I will accept Ryan." After finishing our tea Trixie led me outside and asked for me to help her with the harness which didn't really take that long, (Hooray for opposable thumbs) I then decided to pull the unicorn mare into a hug before she went on her way.
"Oh and Trixie before you go good luck, and write to me if something exciting happens. Just write to Twilight and she'll make sure I get the message okay."
"Okay then Ryan, and thank you for everything Ryan."
"No problem Trixie." After a goodbye she trotted off into the distance with what I thought was a slight spring in her step.
When I returned to the library I found that Rarity was standing in the library asking Twilight where I was.
"Simple Rarity I'm right behind you." This provoked Rarity to jump into the air in shock, after a few seconds she managed to calm down.
She shot me a glare which in a rights should have killed me. When she was done glaring at me she spoke. "Ryan never do that again okay."
"Got it Rarity, so why are you looking for me?" I gave her a quizzical look she then decided to answer me.
"Well Ryan first of all I have a few spare clothes for you," It was then I noticed the clothes placed on a nearby table. "I have also made you a tuxedo should the occasion arise where you need to wear something fancy." At this she gestured to the suit on the table.
"Thanks for that Rarity." A thought then crossed my mind, as it was getting close to Nightmare Night I didn't have a costume thankfully I had Rarity. "Hey Rarity, you wouldn't mind making me a Nightmare Night costume?"
"Of course not darling. Do you have a design?" This got me to pause in thought before I realized what my costume should be.
"Hey Twilight do have a quill some ink and a piece of parchment?" At this she levitated the items to me. I then presented the sketch to Rarity. She gave the parchment a once over then gave me a look of confusion.
"Darling what is this?"
She then gestured to the image, wanting me to explain what it was. "Well Rarity, that is the one and only king of the pumpkin patch." She then gave me a look of confusion, Spike and Twilight decided to join Rarity in giving me looks of confusion. "Oh sorry on Earth we have a holiday similar to Nightmare Night, humans call it Halloween. That is the suit of one Jack Skellington, the king of Halloween."
"So this is what a human's skeleton looks like." Twilight asked as she looked at the sketch.
"Um no it isn't, well not exactly. A few of the bones look the same but human skeletons are all different in some way."
"So you want me to design Mr. Skellington's suit to fit you Ryan?"
"Oh yes please Rarity."
"Well then I best get started. Goodbye Twilight, Ryan, oh and Spike would you be a dear and come help me."
"Sure thing Rarity." With that Rarity left with Spike in tow.
After a while of sitting around in the library, reading about the history of Nightmare Night. When a mint green unicorn walked into the library, she then stopped asking Twilight for a particular book and stared at me.
"Um Lyra are you okay?" Twilight asked, she then finally looked to where Lyra was staring. "Oh Lyra, this is Ryan he won't hurt you." Twilight must of thought Lyra was looking at me in fear, if she had added that last part.
The next thing I knew my vision was filled up with Lyra's face, her muzzle was mere centimeters from my nose. "Ohmygoshyourahuman." She spoke at a rate that Pinkie would be jealous of.
Luckily Orion had managed to understand what Lyra had said and repeated it to me at a pace I could understand. "Um hi Lyra and yes I am a human." I then felt her grab my hands with her hooves, examining my fingers.
"So these are what fingers feel like." Twilight was standing in the background giving us a look of confusion.
"Um Lyra can you please let go of my hands." At this Lyra looked at me with a slight amount of worry. Before hopping of off me and speaking up.
"Oh so sorry Ryan just excited is all, I'm an Anthropologist." This piqued my curiosity I already knew what an Anthropologist was, (Someone or in this case some-pony that studied humans) but what really caught my inquisitive side was how had she become an Anthropologist. "Hey Ryan if you wouldn't mind me asking, but would you like to come over to my house for tea so I can ask you a few questions?"
This caught me surprise, after a moments thought I decided what to do. "Sure thing Lyra. Oh and Twilight it seems I found some-pony to rival your inquisitiveness."
After that Lyra led me to her house, fortunately it wasn't too far away from the library. The inside of the house was very similar to a small cottage. She led me to a small couch and offered me a seat, I happily obliged as she left into what I guessed was the kitchen to probably get the tea. I decided to have a look around the lounge room, noticing a small cabinet with a few knick knacks on it. A picture caught my eye it was a picture of Lyra and as the label said Bon-Bon.
I then turned around to take my seat back on the couch, when I saw Lyra standing in the doorway to the kitchen. "Um tea's ready." At this she levitated out a tray of tea onto the coffee table in front of the couch.
I then took my seat and grabbed my cup of tea. "Thanks Lyra. Oh and that's a nice photo. Whose Bon-Bon a friend I'm guessing?" At this she looked up to me from where she was sitting across from me on a little seat. For some reason I started to feel a bit tired.
"Oh yea, Bon Bon's my room mate." At this I nodded before I realized my eyes were starting to get heavy.
"Lyra answer me a question honestly will you please." At this she nodded when I looked up at her. "Did you roofie my tea?" She then nodded slowly a small amount of guilt spread across her muzzle. "Okay then. First of all, goodnight. Second of all, please don't do anything illegal to me while I'm asleep." With that my head hit the sofa as I drifted off into unconsciousness.
I woke up to find myself tied to a chair, my hands were bound and so were my feet. The next thing I realized was that I was in a bedroom, I then had Orion screaming in my ear.
"You idiot. You just had to go and have tea with Lyra didn't you. You couldn't just listen to me once, just had to have tea with a psychopathic Anthropologist didn't you!"
"Okay mom calm down. We at least know one thing for certain."
"And that would be what Einstein."
"Simple Orion, we've found out that for some reason ponies have roofies. Also another thing she didn't do anything to my body whilst I was k.o did she?"
"No she didn't so be grateful for that." The door to the bedroom then opened and in walked in Lyra. She immediately took notice that I was awake. Then for some reason she walked towards me with a sway in her hips, as she gave me a seductive look. Orion decided to voice his opinion.
"Nope looks like the crazy mare was waiting for you to awaken to begin having fun." I could feel him grinning his stupid face off. It was then I realized something about Lyra, she was terrible at tying knots. All I had to do was distract her for the time being.
"Good to see you're awake human." Well if I was going to distract her now was the time.
"Hi Lyra, oh and please call me Ryan, okay. We're friends got it." This sparked a look of confusion across her face but it was gone as quickly as it arrived.
"Oh yes how could I forget how good of friends we are Ryan." She whispered my name in a seductive tone into my ear. Well that definitely got shivers down my spine, luckily I had managed to get my binds undone.
Before I enacted my plan I had to ask her one thing. "Lyra why are you doing this? If you don't want to tell me that's fine." This caught her by surprise for a second before she told me her answer.
"You really wan to know?" I gave her a nod. "Well then I can't really tell you that would take to long but I can show you. That didn't sound good to me, but before I could say anything she pushed muzzle onto my lips and kissed me. I had to play the part so I went with the kiss, as she was kissing me I grabbed her with my now free hands.
That caught her by surprise and the kiss ended. "Wow you're one heck of a kisser Lyra."
"Wait how did you get out of your bindings?"
"You're one heck of a kisser but you can't tie any knots." This made her blush a bit in embarrassment.
"So Ryan, you have a mare in your grasp, what are you going to do to me now." Man that tone she was using, was seductive as hell.
"Nothing Lyra, nothing at all." Orion then decided to speak up.
"C'mon man what are you doing, you got a mare in your arms just give her what she wants."
"Lyra, I'm not doing anything to you okay. How about we talk about this." That was meant for both Lyra and Orion, luckily for me the latter managed to get my hint and shut up.
"NO I'M SICK OF TALKING RYAN, THAT'S ALL I DO WITH BON BON. I don't want to talk anymore." Wow angry Lyra took me by surprise. But that last part was said with a sob as she started to cry slightly. So I did what I thought was best.
I pulled Lyra into a hug and stroked her mane, and started to whisper into her ear. "Shhh Lyra, please stop crying okay." That managed to get her to stop crying. "You want to talk now, because if you do we can talk over hopefully un-roofied tea." She let out a slight chuckle.
"Ryan can you carry me down to the couch then." I gave her answer by picking her up, surprisingly ponies are quite light well Lyra was anyway. When we reached the couch she used her magic to remove a sleeping spell she had put on my tea.
"Lyra I can't believe you put a sleeping spell on my tea, that's quite impressive." This caused a slight blush to cross her muzzle.
"Thanks Ryan well it's the best I could do as I couldn't find anyone who sold roofies in Ponyville." She looked down at her tea and then looked back up to me. "Ryan I'm so sorry about what I did, I wasn't thinking and I..."
I cut her off by putting my index finger over her muzzle silencing her. "Look Lyra, it's fine you're an Anthropologist, I honestly didn't expect you to put me to sleep and tie me to a chair though. Lyra why did you do it?"
"Well Ryan, every so often pony mare's get into heat. Basically what heat is, is that our sexual desires go through the roof, and some mares can't control themselves and they pounce on anything that has legs." I then gave her a nod of understanding.
"So I'm guessing you saw the opportunity to have sex with me and you took it." I looked back up to he she gave me a nod that said I had guessed right Lyra then spoke up.
"Ryan I'm so sorry honestly I am, usually Bon Bon would take care of me and usually she would calm me down by talking to me or with other means."
"So that explains why you got mad at me when I said do you want to talk about it before. I'm also guessing that your dating Bon Bon."
"Yes I am, she's gonna chew my ear off when she finds out about this." Hmm so Bon Bon was her girlfriend or in a pony's case 'marefriend'.
"Okay then well how about I stay here until she shows up so I can explain it to her." At this said mare burst through the door, for some reason she had opened the front door slightly before kicking it open.
"Lyra where are you!? Oh there you are with Ryan." She then gave me a look of worry.
"I'm guessing you're Bon Bon, Lyra's marefriend?"
"Yes I am and I am very sorry about anything that Lyra has done..."
I cut her off with what I said next. "Bon Bon thank you for your concern but I'm fine okay. Lyra and I have talked about what happened, and I understand fully, the same thing sometimes happens to humans as well."
That managed to calm her down a bit I then spoke up again. "Well I'm going to go now leave you two alone. Also two things, one: Bon Bon how did you know I was here with Lyra?"
"Oh Twilight told me."
"Okay then. Two: Lyra if you didn't have a wonderful marefriend and if I was okay with engaging a relationship beyond friendship with a pony, and you seem like quite the mare to hang out with. Hope your little problem resolves itself because I'd love to answer any questions you have about humans, maybe when your heat cycle has ended. Goodbye you two." I then left the humble abode of the two ponies.
When I had closed the door I swear I heard Bon Bon say something to Lyra. "So Lyra you have a problem controlling your urges I guess I could help you with that." |
Another human in Equestria fic | Nightmare Night, Nightmare Night, Humans give us such a fright. | Three weeks after the whole Lyra incident, the night I had been waiting for had finally arrived, Nightmare Night. Finally, a chance to stuff my face full of candy and not catch weird looks from anyone. Another great perk about tonight was that Trixie was coming to celebrate with us. Twilight and I received a letter a few days ago saying that she was quite a success in Appaloosa, unfortunately she didn't say what she was coming dressed up as, all we knew is she would arrive tonight.
Most of mind was ecstatic about tonight, heck even Orion was celebrating. But there was one part of my mind that was filled with worry. Worrying about what would happen, how would Ponyville react to Trixie arriving. My thoughts were cut off thanks to the voice of Twilight from downstairs.
"C'mon you two we're gonna miss the start of the festival!" Twilight yelled to me and Spike from the main section of the library. Like good children me and Spike quickly made our way downstairs wanting to avoid Twilight's wrath.
Then Spike did something stupid. "Hey Twilight nice old man costume." Spike pointed to Twilight's costume, this got him a glare that could make Fluttershy's stare look like, a look of kindness.
"Spike this isn't an old man costume this is meant to be..." I then proceeded to doing something dumb as well I cut Twilight off.
"Yeah Spike, she's dressed up as Gandalf." This got confused looks from both the baby dragon (Who for those of you wondering was wearing a dragon costume.) and the lavender Unicorn. The silence and looks of confusion was cut short by a knocking coming from the door.
"I'll get that." Spike said as he walked over to the door. A scream then filled the doorway as Spike collapsed clutching his chest. Twilight and I decided to see what the commotion was. On the other side of the door was three trick or treaters, alongside them was Granny Smith.
The three costumed foals then began to sing a small jingle. "Nightmare Night, Nightmare Night, give us something sweet to bite." When their little chant was done a small colt wearing a pirate costume squeezed out from the back of the group giving his small foam sword a swing.
"Hello there little one who would you be?" Twilight asked the colt.
"Hello there Miss. My name is Pipsqueak, I just moved here from Trottingham, this is my first Nightmare Night. May we please have some candy." With that I decided to go get the bowl of candy Twilight had placed next to the door. Unfortunately, Twilight beat me to the punch, and floated the bowl out the front door and gave each of the foals some candy.
Before she could levitate the bowl back inside a pony wearing a chicken costume appeared out of nowhere and ate the rest of the candy. The culprit decided to speak up when the last of the candy was gone. "Hi Twilight that's a pretty cool clown costume."
This got some steam to come out of Twilight's ears. "It's not a clown costume Pinkie, it's a Star Swirl The Bearded costume. By the way aren't you too old to be going around asking for candy."
This got a gasp of shock from Pinkie and I, as we looked at her like she had just murdered a box full of puppies. I was the first to speak up. "Twilight take back what you said right now."
"You can't be serious Twily, your never to old for candy." She then looked between me and the chicken before sighing coming to the conclusion that if she argued with Pinkie it would be enough of an uphill battle but with me as well, she had the same chance of winning as an ice cube surviving a boat ride along the river Styx.
"Anyway now that that's out of the way foals let's go get some more candy!" With that she dashed off into town followed by Pipsqueak and his friends.
"C'mon you two let's go enjoy the festivities." After giving Spike a hand to get back on his feet we followed Twilight. As we made to leave though a familiar pony approached us out of the corner of my vision.
I turned to see Trixie galloping towards us, Twilight and Spike took notice as well. I was then glomped by the unicorn.
"Ryan it's so good to see you again." She then nuzzled my chest before speaking again. "Oh are you okay I didn't mean to tackle you to the ground." She then moved herself off my chest.
As soon as I was back on my feet, I grabbed the Unicorn and pulled her into a hug of my own. "No you didn't hurt me Trixie. It's great to see you again." It was then I took notice of her attire, in place of her magician's hat she was wearing a ten-gallon hat. "So what are you dressed up as Trixie?" I asked the mare as I placed her back on all four of her hooves.
"Well Ryan, I got inspiration from a cousin of Applejack's, Braeburn, I think his name was. He said that I should go as a cow-pony." She then gave a twirl to show of her costume. When she had finished her spin she noticed my costume. "And what would you be going as tonight Ryan?"
"Well Trixie, on Earth we celebrate something called Halloween, it's very similar to Nightmare Night. Anyway I'm going as the fictional king of Halloween, Jack Skellington." I then decided to give Trixie a little spin to show off Rarity's handy/hoof work.
"Well it's good to see you bringing a bit of Human culture to Equestria." Trixie then turned to see Twilight and Spike standing to the side. "Ah Twilight Sparkle, it is good to see you again and also your faithful companion Spike as well."
"It's great to see you Trixie."
"Yeah it is." Both Twilight and Spike then beamed grins at Trixie.
The magician turned cow-pony then spoke up once more. "Well thank you, also that is quite an impressive Star Swirl the Bearded costume, and an impressive Dragon costume."
"Thanks Trixie." Spike said, then Twilight walked up to Trixie and draped a hoof over her shoulders.
"Finally some-pony realizes that this is only the greatest mage in Equestrian history. Wait how do you about Star Swirl, Trixie?"
"Well Twilight, you're not the only pony in Equestria with knowledge of powerful mages in Equestria's history."
"Well then mares," I decided to step in. "Shall we be heading off to enjoy the festivities." I received a set of nods from the ponies and Spike, we then decided to head off Twilight leading the way.
We shortly arrived on the outskirts of the Town Square where most of the festivities were being held. As we got closer to the apple bobbing stand, Pinkie appeared once more.
"Oh hi Trixie! I didn't know you were coming to celebrate tonight with us. That's a very nice cow-pony costume you got there Trixie." Before Trixie could respond to Pinkie a storm cloud appeared a few feet behind Pinkie. The next thing we knew was lightning struck the ground behind Pinkie, causing the pony/chicken hybrid to sprint off screaming. The lightning strike also caused Spike and I to have heart attacks. Before I passed out I saw a certain cyan Pegasus sitting atop the storm cloud.
Before drifting off into the darkness I let out one final sentence. "Damn you Dash." And I was out like a light.
So far in Equestria I haven't been on the receiving end of a bad awakening. I woke up to having a small bucket of water dumped on my face. I then did what any normal being would do. "AHHHHH what the heck!?!" I opened my eyes to see Trixie standing over me, a bucket floating above me dripping some water. "Ughhh what happened?" I asked Trixie.
"Thank Celestia your alright Ryan. As for what happened well you and Spike passed out when Rainbow Dash, set a lightning cloud off a few meters away from us. Luckily Applejack here was generous enough to lend a bucket of water to wake you and Spike up." Trixie then gestured to the farm pony who was standing behind three wooden bathtubs.
"Well good ta see you're awake now Ryan. Would ya like ta have a go at Apple Bobbing?"
This got me to think whether this was a regular occurrence of ponies fainting on Nightmare Night for her to be so calm. My thoughts were interrupted by Orion.
"So how are we getting revenge on Dashie, hmm?"
I decided to do what I did best when he talked ignore him. "Well AJ thanks but no thanks. Don't wanna ruin my face paint..." I then realized that Trixie probably ruined it with the bucket of water. Before I could give Applejack a new answer Twilight interrupted.
"C'mon every-pony, we're gonna be late for the ceremony." This caught me and Trixie's attention as Twilight led us to a stage that was joining off of the Town Hall.
"Welcome Fillies and Gentlecolts to this year's Nightmare Night." The Mayor announced. (First time I met her it took me half an hour to figure out her name was Mayor Mare; it wasn't at all confusing time whenever I had to talk to her or address her.) A few cheers from the crowd of foals and their parents had risen up. "Now now before we continue this year, our new friend Zecora will tell you all about what we do each Nightmare Night for those of you who don't already know."
At this Zecora walked out onto the stage, she was wearing a very impressive witch costume. "Now little foals," The Mayor spoke up. "Off we must go and Zecora, here will tell us why we celebrate Nightmare Night." At this the Mayor and Zecora, led the foals off into the woods, Twilight decided that we should follow them. Applejack gave us a farewell, saying that she had to go attend the apple bobbing baths. With that I was led into the woods by two unicorn mares, and a baby dragon.
"We're definitely not gonna be heard from again." Orion said. I just gave him a nod and decided to catch up with my friends as I definitely didn't want to get lost.
After a few minutes of walking we arrived on one side of a clearing on the other side was a statue to Nightmare Moon, at the sight I paused in my tracks, wondering if that thing was going to spring to life like Discord would. Before I could catch up with my friends, I was stopped by a fore-hoof blocking my path. When I looked to see who the hoof was connected to I was greeted with the Mayor looking at me. I nearly collapsed in a fit of laughter. (Don't get me wrong she couldn't look more like a clown even if she tried, it was a great costume but the grin she gave me nearly had me on the ground clutching my stomach laughing.) "Hey Mayor what's up?" I asked the Mayor.
"Well Ryan on the walk over here, Twilight told me that you have a similar holiday to Nightmare Night where you come from. If it wouldn't be too much to ask, can you please tell me about it?" The Mayor gave me a look of inquiry and hope.
"Well sure thing Mayor. But before we do that may I please call you by another name?"
"Oh a problem with my name Ryan?"
When she said this I swear I could feel my embarrassment flood my brain. "Sorry but unfortunately Mayor that's the problem."
"Okay then Ryan what would you suggest my new name be then?" She gave me a look of inquiry, probably wondering what I could come up with.
"Well how about Mary?" I suggested to the Mayor.
After a few moments probably of careful consideration she spoke. "Sure thing Ryan, now can you please tell me about this festivity that Twilight called Hallow-een."
"Okay sure thing Mary. First things first Halloween is one word." She then nodded in understanding. Out of the corner of my eye I could see green smoke gather around our feet, putting it out of my mind I continued on. "Now Halloween is definitely very similar to Nightmare Night in quite a few ways. The first is the festivities such as apple bobbing, also the selling of caramel apples as well. The second is human children and some human teenagers and adults who are young at heart, dress up and go around asking for candy." Mary gave me a few nods of understanding.
"So if I may ask Ryan what are you dressed up as?" Mary asked me.
"Twilight didn't tell you Mary?"
"She told me but she didn't give me an explanation. Because I'm guessing there is a story behind Jack Skellington."
"Well there is. Back on Earth there is a film called The Nightmare Before Christmas, Christmas being another holiday that we humans celebrate anyway. Jack Skellington is the king of Halloween in that film. So I figured who better to dress up as than the king of Halloween."
"Well then that sounds pretty interesting Ryan thanks for telling me this." She then looked back over to the group of ponies stand in front of the statue.
Then in an instant a bolt of lightning careened across the sky illuminating a chariot being pulled by bat-ponies in the night, the next thing that happened was Pinkie screaming out loud. "AHHH IT'S NIGHTMARE MOON EVERY-PONY RUN!!!" At this the foals started running Pinkie, Zecora and Mary running with them, Mary and Zecora probably trying to calm them down and make sure they don't get lost.
I ran up to Twilight and Trixie, finding that Spike was currently grasping his chest on Twilight's back. "Twilight is that who I think it is?"
She then turned to look at me and spoke up. "Who do you think it is Ryan?"
Trixie decided to join in on the conversation as the chariot took off towards Ponyville. "Yes Ryan who in Equestria could that be?"
"Simple you two," I then started to run off in the direction of the chariot, the two mares catching up quite easily. "That my dear mares would be the one and only Princess Luna. We need to get to Ponyville quickly." With a quick nod the two mares sped a few meters ahead of me. "Hey wait up you two."
We arrived in the Town Square to find Princess Luna talking to the townsfolk. "Well more like she's yelling at them that might be why all the ponies are bowing/cowering in fear." Orion spoke up, if he wanted to say anything else the Royal Canterlot Voice soon drowned him out.
"Citizens of Ponyville! We have graced your tiny village with our presence, so that you might behold the real princess of the night! A creature of nightmare is no longer, but instead a pony who desires your love and admiration! Together we shall change this dreadful celebration into a bright and glorious feast!" After checking to see if my ears were building the voice of a Cream colored Earth pony screamed out.
"RUN EVERY-PONY NIGHTMARE MOON SAID SHE'S GOING TO FEAST ON US!" I recognized the pony who was dressed up as a devil, Golden Harvest. As soon as she yelled that out ponies all around the square started running off in random directions.
"Wait don't go!" Luna tried to tell the ponies unfortunately only Twilight, Trixie, Spike, AJ and I were left. With a flutter of her wings she flew off towards the clearing in the forest.
"Okay," I started turning to the ponies and Spike, who Twilight had managed to convince that Luna, wasn't Nightmare moon. "Here's the plan, Spike, Twilight you two go help out Luna, get her up to speed on things and maybe try to get her to drop the RCV." That got a confused look from the ponies and dragon. "You know RCV, Royal Canterlot Voice." This got the ponies to understand what I meant. "Got that so you two get going and AJ, Trixie and I will gather the ponies up and try to convince them that Luna isn't Nightmare Moon got it."
With that out of the way and Twilight running off after Luna, we started to gather up the townsfolk.
After a while we managed to gather up the townsfolk. All I can say is thank goodness that Mary managed to help out with clearing things up as the townsfolk didn't listen to me or Trixie. After the whole fiasco the town managed to right itself and everything went back to normal.
"Trixie can I tell you something?" I asked Trixie as we stood next to the apple bobbing baths with AJ.
"Sure thing Ryan, what is it."
"Well these townsfolk are a bit annoying to tell you the truth." I looked over to AJ to see if she heard what I said it seems she did with the glare she was giving me.
"What do you mean by that Ryan?" The now slightly miffed AJ asked.
"AJ don't get me wrong you ponies are great kind and hospitable. It's just that I find it annoying that they still don't trust Trixie. I mean she cleaned up her mess single hoofed."
This got AJ to drop the look of annoyance plastered on her face. "I see what you mean Ryan, thanks for clarifying I was thinking I was gonna have to buck ya if you started insultin the town I grew up in."
Before I could respond to that Trixie spoke up. "Twilight's back you two, with Princess Luna." AJ and I looked to see Twilight talking with Luna as she approached the apple bobbing baths.
"Hey AJ I was just talking to Princess Luna, about having fun think you could help?" Twilight asked AJ.
"Well sure thing Twilight," AJ then held a hoof out to Luna. "Pleasure to meet ya Princess Luna, Applejack's the name apple bucking's the game."
Luna returned the hoof shake. "Tis a pleasure we hast to meet thou Applejack."
"Ya'll can call me AJ Princess Luna seeing as how my friends call me that."
"Thou consider us thou friend Applejack? Even after what we did before using the Royal Canterlot Voice."
"Why shoot course I do Princess I try to make as many friends as possible."
A look of happiness spread across Luna's face. "Well then AJ, what would thou suggest we do for fun?"
"Well how about a bit of apple bobbin."
"Apple bobbing what is that AJ?"
"Well Ryan would you mind showing the Princess here a demonstration?" She then looked over to me Luna followed her gaze.
"Hey Luna how's it going." I asked the Princess of the night.
"Tis going well Ryan. That is quite a nice costume you have there."
"Why thank you Princess Luna. Although I have to say your Princess Luna costume needs a bit of work I can see a few problems with the straps on your armor, they look worn something that a Princess would be able to pick up on."
A silence filled the crowd that had gathered around us. Most of the ponies thinking I just openly insulted Luna.
She then did something that broke the silence in an instant. She laughed. "Hahahaha. It seems thou is correct Ryan, thank you for that observation. Spending a millennium on the moon must have worn the straps I will have to get them replaced."
As soon as she said that everypony that had gathered around let out the breaths that they had been holding. "Well anyway Princess Luna, I'll get one of my friends to demonstrate how to bob for apples as I believe the rules may be different here than back on earth." I then paused and scanned the crowd looking for somepony to assist me and then I saw her. "I would like my dear friend Trixie to help me with this task. You wouldn't mind showing the Princess how to bob for apples Trixie?"
Luna then looked to the magician who was currently frozen from shock. "Would thou please care to help us Trixie?"
When Luna spoke to her that managed to snap her out of her trance. "Why sure thing Princess Luna." Trixie then walked up to the closest bobbing bath and demonstrated how to bob for the apples. When she was done she levitated the apple out of her mouth so she could talk. "That's how you bob for apples Princess Luna."
"You have our thanks Trixie Lulamoon. Now Twilight would you please show us the next source of fun." Twilight then led the Princess to the spider-pults as I liked to call them. I then felt a tugging on my jacket and turned around to see Trixie.
"Hey Trixie what's on your mind?"
"Ryan I want you to answer a couple of questions if you wouldn't mind."
Off in the distance I heard Luna yell out in a toned down RCV "The fun hast been doubled."
"So Trixie what are your questions then?"
"Well why did you talk so calmly to Princess Luna? Also outright saying that her armor wasn't in top condition."
"Well firstly as far as I know most members of royalty just want to be treated like regular people or rather ponies in this case. Besides me and her are friends."
"Okay then how did she know my name Celestia I would expect to know my name but her."
"Well Trixie her royal duties are to make sure ponies dreams aren't filled with nightmares, so she's probably visited you in the past and knows your name." At this I turned back to the bobbing baths to see Luna, holding Pipsqueak above the bath by his costume and then I heard a certain pink pony yell out words which I was dreading all night.
"AHHH PRINCESS LUNA IS EATING PIPSQUEAK." Yelled Pinkie.
I was woken up yet again by a bucket of water being poured on my face. "Ahhh what the..." I looked up to see Trixie standing next to me a bucket hovering a few centimeters away from my face.
"Oh Ryan thank Celestia you're okay." Trixie pulled my left arm into a hug. This gave me a chance to look around. We were in an alleyway, nobody else was with us. Strange. Trixie decided to let go of my arm.
"Hey Trix, where are we?" I asked Trixie.
"Well we're in an alleyway leading off of the square. Me and AJ pulled you here after you passed out. Twilight and Princess Luna were here a few minutes ago, Twilight told me to wake you up because she has a plan."
"A plan eh? Sounds fun. But before you tell me what exactly happened whilst I was passed out?"
"Well other than the Princess declaring Nightmare Night banned, you passed out when she made the plush spiders on the Spider-pults come to life."
"Okay then well that's a good enough reason. Seeing as how I do have arachnophobia. (For those of you that don't know a fear of spiders.) So what's this plan Trixie."
"Well Twilight told me that we have to get the foals to deliver their candy in front of the statue like they usually would. Then the Princess will scare them, although she'll scare them in the name of fun."
"I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that Twilight got that idea from Pinkie." I said my mind already going to work on how we could convince the foals.
It was then I heard something from the square a certain Zebra and Mayor were talking to a group of nearby foals. It was what Zecora said to a foal that looked a lot like Pipsqueak said. "Come, little Pip. Now don't you fret. Nightmare Night's not over yet. We still have candy left to give, so Nightmare Moon might let us live."
"Hey Trixie it seems that things are going according to plan, Zecora and the Mayor are getting the foals together. Let's go tell Twilight and Luna."
We arrived to see Luna appear as Nightmare Moon and scare the foals. Although they were barreling right towards us, if Twilight's plan was to work they needed to see Luna revert back to her usual self.
"Trixie I need you to cast a spell that makes it look like my head's on fire."
"What why Ryan?"
"Because if the foals don't see Luna then they'll still think she's Nightmare Moon."
She gave me nod of understanding and then fired up her horn, and by the look on her face it was requiring a lot of concentration and effort. But the result was immediate as my head caught alight.
I then jumped in front of the foals, and did what anyone in my position would do. "You all run from a mere nightmare to a demon you all best turn back. Unless you want to wake up in Tartarus!" This managed to get them frozen in fear as they turned heel and ran, back to Luna.
"Can I cut the spell now?!" Trixie yelled to me.
"Oh yeah Trixie cut it." I ran back into the bush to see a panting and sweat covered Trixie gasping for breath.
"Wow aren't they meant to act like that in bed Ryan?" Orion said, I could fell the smirk he was wearing.
I decided to ignore him and scoop up Trixie and carry her back to Ponyville.
Somehow Luna and Twilight managed to get back to town before we did, and by the looks of it she had managed to become friends with the ponies. Twilight managed to take notice of us as we approached the apple bobbing baths.
"Here you go Trixie some nice cold water." She then proceeded to do what any magically drained unicorn would do. Dunk her head in the bath and drink about a third of the water. "I can see your pretty thirsty Trixie, but try not to drain the whole tub."
"If you did what I did Ryan, you would be doing the same thing."
"Well consider me owing you one Trix." I then took notice of Twilight watching the conversation unfold Luna also arrived on scene. "Oh hey you two what's happening?"
Twilight decided to speak up first. "Oh nothing much. Although we could have sworn that the foals were going to get away, and not see Luna transform back. Until we took notice of a creature with a flaming head scaring the colts back into the clearing." She then shifted her gaze to Trixie, a look of worry came onto her face. "Trixie what happened to you?"
"Yes Trixie what hast happened to you?" Luna chimed in.
Before Trixie could answer I spoke for her. "Well that creature with the flaming head was me. Trixie here cast an illusion spell that made it seem like my head was on fire. So that we could scare the foals back so that they could see Luna revert back to normal."
Luna decided to speak up at this. "Thank you Trixie Lulamoon. Now I have something to ask of you."
This managed to get Trixie to finally stop drinking water. "Your welcome Princess Luna. What would it be that I can do for you."
"I simply wish to make a simple request. Trixie do you know that Twilight here, is the student of my sister." This got Trixie to give Luna a nod. "Well then my sister suggested that maybe I take in a student so that not only could I teach them, but they could teach about modern Equestria. So Trixie Lulamoon I would like to extend to you the proposition of being our student."
This managed to quite everyone down as Trixie was left in a state of shock. She finally managed to compose herself and give a reply to Luna. "Your serious Princess Luna?"
"Why yes we are, and please call us Luna. So what is thou's answer?"
"Can I take the night to think about it Luna. It's just that this is so sudden."
"Of course you can Trixie. I will wait for your response. Alas I must be off back to Canterlot." With that she gave a flutter of her wings and took off.
I was the first to talk after Luna was gone. "So Trixie you going to take the job?" I asked the mare who was still looking to where Luna had flown off.
She turned her gaze back to me. "Of course I will Ryan, I won't deny Princess Luna the honor of teaching The Great and Powerful Trixie."
"Your old self is showing again Trixie." She then realized what she had said before continuing on with her thought.
"Ah yes sorry old habits die hard. Anyway I'm now thinking on taking a trip to Canterlot tomorrow. If it isn't too much to ask would you and Twilight care to accompany me on the train ride, Ryan?"
Me and Twilight shared a look between each other before giving her an answer. "Sure thing Trixie Twilight and I would love to go with you. Always wondered if what Luna said to me the other night is true."
Twilight then gave me a look of confusion. "What did Princess Luna tell you Ryan?"
"Nothing that you have to worry your cutie mark about." This managed to get a small look of frustration and annoyance to cross her face. "Anyway how about we go celebrate Nightmare Night you two. I still need to get my fill of candy." With that said we headed off to enjoy the festivities. |
Another human in Equestria fic | Tea with a princess. With questions to come. | I woke up the next morning to find my bed filled with candy wrappers and sticks from lollipops. "Urgh what happened last night?" I asked no one in particular, I then decided to get out of my bed.
"Simple you moron. You, Twilight, Trixie and Spike, went trick or treating, got a heap of candy then came back to the library to eat it all. If I remember correctly, you then passed out from a giant sugar crash."
"Thanks for that Orion, glad to know you have a use."
"Yeah yeah whatever. Still can't believe you passed out from a sugar crash."
I decided to ignore Orion as he laughed at my expense, what made it even horrible was that his laughter sounded like it was right in my ear. As I proceeded to wake my self up by having a hot shower.
After I was done I decided to head downstairs to find that the lower level of the library was empty, remembering that Twilight and Spike weren't in their beds I decided to get something to eat from the kitchen. As I walked into the kitchen I noticed a note on the counter top, it was addressed to me I decided to read it out.
"Dear Ryan. If you are reading this, then you're probably wondering where Spike and I are. Spike is helping me research Pinkie's so called 'Pinkie Sense', as we are doing this Spike and I are unable to got to Canterlot with you and Trixie. Wish Trixie good luck from me and Spike. Sincerely Twilight. P.S I left some pancakes in the fried for you to have as breakfast or lunch depending on whenever you wake up."
"Well she's screwed."
"How exactly is she screwed Orion?" I asked him as I retrieved the pancakes from the fridge also looking to the kitchen's clock to see that it was 9:30.
"Simple Ryan, she's going to go and try to understand Pinkie and her reality breaking antics." My brain then put two and two together finally seeing Orion's point.
"Well then all the more reason for us to go get Trixie and go to Canterlot. Luckily the Cake's payed me a few days ago."
"Still wondering why they hired you to help them out at the shop whenever they need a helping hand." Orion said with small tone of disgust in his voice. The disgust probably coming from me actually helping someone.
I decided to not give him an answer and decided to eat my breakfast.
After finishing my food, I decided to head out into Ponyville and grab Trixie. When I left the library I saw that Trixie's carriage was parked next to the library, instead of being parked down the street where it was last night.
"If your wondering how it got there you helped Trixie move it there, before you and your pony pals started eating you own weight in candy." Said Orion. At that the memory came flooding back to me. "Geez how strong is pony candy if you couldn't remember helping the wannabe magician." That was when I decided to stop listening to him after that.
I decided to see if Trixie was in her carriage. After walking up closer to the carriage I gave a few quick knocks to the door. "Yes who is it?" Trixie called out from within the carriage.
"It's me Trixie." I called out to her. After a few moments the carriage's door knob was wrapped in the pink aura that was Trixie's magic.
When the door opened Trixie was standing in the door way. "Good morning Ryan. Good to see you're alright after you passed out from eating too much candy." After she said that last part she erupted in a fit of giggles.
"Okay are you done laughing at my expense." That managed to get her to stop.
"Sorry Ryan, it's just a bit funny that's all." She said after composing herself. "So I'm guessing we're heading to the train station. Um where's Twilight?"
"Oh Twilight can't come with us she said that she had an important task to do. But she did say that she wishes you good luck." I then looked into her carriage to see a brief case floating behind her. "I see you got your stuff already packed. Although what about your carriage?" I then gestured to said carriage.
"Oh yes my carriage well Ryan, this isn't actually a carriage." This managed to get a look of confusion to arise on my face.
"How isn't it a carriage Trixie?" I asked her as we took a few steps back from the carriage.
"Well Ryan when I was in possession of The Alicorn Amulet I cat a spell on my carriage that can make it compact into a small model." With that her horn glowed, and a small beam of magic shot from her horn and wrapped itself around the carriage. In a flash of light, the carriage shrunk down to the size of a small model.
"Wow that is one heck of a trick Trixie. Wait a sec doesn't that drain most of your magical energy?" When I looked to the mare for an answer I could see her panting a small amount of sweat dripping off her brow.
"It does drain my reserves quite a bit but casting the enchantment for the first time is more draining." I then decided to grab Trixie's suitcase for her after I picked up her model carriage. "Ryan you don't need to do that I can carry my stuff."
"Well to bad Trixie, you need to catch your breath and regain your magic."
"Okay then well Ryan, you best lead the way to the train station we don't want to keep the princesses waiting."
"Okay then," I started as we walked in the direction of the train station. "But first Trixie, the station is at the end of this street, can you please go get our train tickets I gotta make a quick stop somewhere first." I then handed her a small bag of bits, as she grasped her suitcase in her magic.
"Are you sure Ryan I could simply buy us both tickets I have the bits to buy them."
"Yes I'm sure Trixie okay, don't worry I won't be long." I then headed off towards my destination, Sugarcube Corner.
I pushed open the door to Sugarcube Corner the small bell above the door telling either the Cakes or Pinkie that a someone had entered. "I'll be with you in a moment dear!" I heard Mrs. Cake call from the kitchen.
After a few moments Mrs. Cake emerged from the kitchen with a bit of flour in her mane. "Good Morning Mrs. Cake. How's the shop going?" I greeted the shop owner.
"Good Morning to you too Ryan, and it's been a good day so far. Carrot's just out grabbing a few things from the market. Anyway what can I do for you Ryan?"
This got me to stop and think what I was going to get. "I think I'll go for a chocolate cake, please."
"Sure thing dear." With that said Mrs. Cake pulled out a medium sized box, with the label chocolate on top of it. "Here you go dear. That'll be 10 bits." I handed over the required amount of bits and picked up the box and headed for the door. Before I could get out Mrs. Cake stopped me. "Hey Ryan, can I tell you something?"
"Sure thing, Mrs. Cake."
"Please call me Cup, dear. Anyway me and Carrot have been wondering, why did you help Trixie."
"Why do you want to know Cup?" I may have added a bit too much aggression seep into that remark.
"Oh I didn't mean anything by it dearie. It's just Carrot and I are actually some of the ponies who are glad to see her. So we were wondering what compelled you to help her."
Well that made me feel like a complete and utter bastard with the tone I used on her. "Oh well sorry about my tone Cup. As for why I helped her well I didn't want her to be hated by every-pony, I wanted to help her make friends that's all." I explained to Cup.
"Very well dear. If you see her, please tell her Carrot and I wish her good luck with being Princess Luna's student."
"I'll let her know Cup." We then exchanged goodbyes and I headed for the station.
After a few minutes I arrived at the station to find that Trixie was sitting on a bench with her stuff.
"Hey Trixie you got our tickets?" I asked the mare.
"Yep her you are." She levitated me my ticket out from under her hat. "Oh I almost forgot," She then floated me a few bits from under her hat. "Here's your change from the tickets."
"Wow thanks Trixie." At that the train whistle blew signaling that it was leaving soon. "Hey c'mon we best get some good seats before the train leaves."
With that said I grabbed Trixie's bag for her, I then gestured for the mare to lead the way to our seats. With us being able to find some seats in an empty carriage, Trixie spoke up.
"Ryan what's in the box you have?" She then gestured with one of her fore-hooves towards the box I had sharing my seat with me.
"Well Trixie I thought to myself, 'what's the best way to help your friend socialize with a Princess', do you want to know how I can do that Trixie?" Trixie then gave me a few quick nods wanting to know where I was going with this. "Well it's quite simple I buy a cake and then we have cake with the Princess." This got a gasp of surprise from Trixie.
"You can't be serious Ryan."
"I am."
"Okay then what sort of cake did you get then? It has to be good enough for a Princess you know."
"I know that Trixie. As for the flavor of the cake I went for a flavor no one in their right mind would resist. Chocolate."
"Okay then Ryan, that sounds suitable enough. Now if you don't mind I would like to get some sleep Ryan, so can you please wake me when we get to Canterlot."
"Sure thing Trixie. Although if you wake up first you gotta wake me alright."
"A deal it is then Ryan."
"Cool. Have a good nap Trixie."
"You too Ryan, you too."
Several Hours later
As I woke up from my nap I realized that a rare thing was occurring to me. It was one of the few times since arriving in Equestria I was waking up naturally. I decided to look out the window of the carriage to see how far away we were from Canterlot, when I realized that something was sitting in my lap. I looked down to see Trixie quietly snoring in her sleep as her head rested on my lap. It was freaking adorable.
Orion how ever ruined that moment. "So enjoying having a pony lying in your lap Ryan?"
"Oh shut up Orion. Why do you always have to ruin these little moments?"
Orion gave a small chuckle before answering. "But Ryan, that's what I do best ruin these little moments."
I was about to give Orion a remark, but my thoughts were interrupted as the train blew its whistle. The affect of the whistle was almost immediate.
"Who dares wake The Great and Powerful Trixie?" Trixie slurred still half asleep.
"Easy Trixie, the train woke you up," I said to her running my fingers through her mane hoping to help wake her up. "We're getting close to Canterlot. How about we look out the window to see how fare away we are."
With that said Trixie got up and looked out the window, I decided to follow her over to the window. All I can say is that the view of Canterlot was breathtaking to say the least. By my guess we were a few minutes away from arriving in Canterlot.
"It's beautiful isn't it?" Trixie asked me.
"Yeah it is." I said to her as I grabbed her bag. We headed for the door to the platform as the train arrived in the station. As it turned out not many ponies were using the train to get to Canterlot, as when Trixie and I hopped off it I looked around to see only a dozen ponies hopping off the train.
When I stopped looking at the ponies that were departing other carriages, I noticed that a bat-pony clad in dark armor had approached Trixie and I.
"Hello there." The bat-pony greeted us. "I am captain Moonlight of the lunar guard."
"Hello there, Captain. If you were wondering my name is Ryan, my friend here's name is Trixie. A pleasure to finally meet and talk with a bat-pony." I said to her. She froze for a moment when I called her a bat-pony. Before I could ask her if she was okay she spoke up.
"Please Ryan, try to refrain from calling me and my kind bat-ponies. My species go by the name of Thestral."
"Oh sorry about that Captain."
"It's alright Ryan, most ponies and other species usually get that confused the first time around. Anyway Mother Sol has sent me to lead you and Lady Noctis' new student to the castle." Those name that she said didn't sound familiar at all.
Trixie had caught on this as well, as she asked the question which was on the tip of my tongue. "Sorry captain."
Before Trixie could continue Moonlight interrupted her. "Please call me Moonlight, Miss Lulamoon."
"Okay then Moonlight and please call me Trixie." At this Moonlight gave Trixie a nod of understanding. "Anyway as I was saying who is this Mother Sol and Lady Noctis you speak of?"
"Ah yes those are the names that we Thestrals have given to the royal sisters. Mother Sol being, Princess Celestia and Lady Noctis being Princess Luna. Anyway we must be off Mother Sol is expecting you two, she wishes to meet her sister's apprentice over afternoon tea. She has also asked that you come along as well Ryan." With that little explanation done Moonlight lead us into Canterlot, towards the main castle where the Princesses lived.
As it turned out the Canterlot train station was only a five-minute walk away from the Castle. When we passed through the gate of Canterlot Castle I was glad we were there. As it turned out Canterlot was divided into three districts, each district containing a separate social class. Lower class lived in the lower district, Middle class in the middle district and then the snooty nobles in the upper district.
What made me glad to be passing into the castle most of all was that the train had dropped me and Trixie off in the upper district's station. So the whole time we were walking to the castle the nobles who were walking around gave me looks of disgust. It was a fun walk to say the least especially seeing as how I could hear their whispers of disgust.
I was pulled from my thoughts by Moonlight. "Here we are Mother Sol is over there." She then used one of her leathery wings towards a table in the middle of what I was guessing the Canterlot Castle gardens.
It was then I noticed what exactly Moonlight looked like. She had a grey coat her mane and tail was a darker tone of Azure blue, with a thin strip of light purple running down the center. Her eyes were a light shade of amber, it was then I noticed her eyes were slitted, her cutie mark was a small purple flame set against a full moon.
"Any reason why you're staring at my flank Ryan?" Moonlight said my eyes widened as she said this and I could then feel a blush covering my face.
"Oh sorry Moonlight, just looking at your cutie mark it's a very intricate design." I said to her.
"It's no problem Ryan just merely teasing you." A question then crossed my mind that I had to ask the captain.
"I'm guessing your part of Luna's personal guard?"
"Why yes I am Ryan. What made you guess that?"
"Oh just that Luna usually jested me and teased me a few times whenever she would visit me in my dreamscape. Also that's the same line she used when I first saw her cutie mark."
Moonlight gave a hum of thought before speaking again. "Well then I must be off I have duties to attend to. I will notify Lady Noctis that you have arrived Trixie." With that she flew off towards the castle.
When she was gone I walked over too the table that Celestia was sitting at Trixie was hesitant to follow probably waiting for Celestia to call her over. I took notice that Trixie was still standing a few feet away but she quickly came over when I waved her over.
Taking our seats after I set the cake box on the table I decided to start up conversation. "So how's it going Celestia. Nobles still annoying you in day court?"
That managed to get a small chuckle from the princess and also a small gasp of shock from Trixie. "Their getting more manageable Ryan. Anyway back to current events," She then turned to look at Trixie. "It is good to see you again Trixie, how are things going for you?"
Trixie froze in shock as she was addressed by Celestia. She managed to compose herself but I could see a small amount of sweat dripping down her brow. "W-well P-princess Celestia life's been quite good for me."
That stutter at the start of her sentence caused Celestia to raise an eyebrow. "Trixie please call me Celestia. So how do you feel about my sister taking you under her wing as her student. Also Ryan what is in this box you have here.
With that question I opened the box to reveal the chocolate cake. "Well it's a cake I bought from Sugarcube Corner." With that said Celestia made 3 small plates appear in a flash of light she then served me and Trixie slices of the cake, after we received our slices Celestia cut off a slice for herself, I noticed how it was the size of Trixie and I's slices of cakes combined. Seems the rumor of Celestia loving cake that Luna told me was true.
"Um, well Celestia I feel like one of the luckiest unicorns in Equestria." Trixie said with a smile crossing her muzzle.
Celestia then turned to me. "How do you feel about this Ryan?"
Well that question caught me a bit off guard, after a few seconds of thought I managed to get my answer ready. "Well Celestia, I'm sort of feeling a mix of emotions." Celestia then gestured for me to continue, as she sliced off another slice of cake for herself. "Well Celestia the main emotion I'm feeling is happiness for Trixie. The next is a small amount of sadness if I'm to be perfectly honest."
"How are you feeling sad Ryan?" Trixie asked, a look of concern on her face.
"Well Trixie, it's only a small amount of sadness really, it's just you won't be visiting Ponyville anymore that's all." I said to her. This managed to remove the look of concern on her face to a degree.
I saw that I ate the last of my slice of cake. I then grabbed the knife Celestia used to cut us all slices of cake, but as I turned to cut myself a slice of cake I found it was gone. I then turned to see an unusual amount of chocolate crumbs around Celestia's muzzle. "Really Celestia?" I deadpanned to her.
The Princess decided to pull out her award winning poker face. With a flash of her horn the crumbs were gone, before Trixie could notice them. "Whatever do you mean Ryan?"
"You know exactly what I mean Celestia. Where's the cake?" Out of the corner of my eye I could see Trixie looking between us wondering what we were talking about.
"What cake Ryan?" Celestia asked innocently.
"You want to play that gam eh Celestia?" I then turned to Trixie. "Trixie I brought a chocolate her with us didn't I?" Trixie then looked between me and Celestia, probably wondering what to do next.
"Yes we did bring a cake Ryan." Trixie said reluctantly.
I turned back to the Princess with a smug look on my face. "Well Celestia any comments on that?" I asked her.
"Hahahaha." We heard someone laughing from behind us. I turned to see Luna standing a few meters away from the table. She decided to join us at the table making a chair appear from out of nowhere in a flash of light. "Sooooo sister it seems someone has finally bested you." Luna then turned to me. "Congratulations Ryan thou hast bested my sister in a verbal battle. Believe us when we say that is no easy task to accomplish."
"Well thank you for that Luna. I'd offer you a slice of cake but it seems it's gone."
"Yes we see that. But anyway we must get back to the matter at hoof." She then turned to Trixie. "Greetings to you Miss Lulamoon, would you be here to tell us if you wish to be our student?"
Trixie paused for a second a look of deep thought crossed her face, before she responded. "It would be an honor Princess Luna, but may I ask you one thing?"
"Of course you can Trixie, and please call us Luna."
"Okay then. As I was saying what exactly will I be learning?" Trixie had a point Luna never really said what she would be teaching Trixie.
"Well Trixie I believe a demonstration would probably be best. But maybe not out here though." Luna then turned to Celestia. "Sister would Twilight's old room be available?"
Celestia pondered that question for a few points whilst tapping one of her fore-hooves against her chin, until she came to a conclusion. "It should be available sister. I was actually thinking of Trixie taking that room." She then turned to Trixie. "If it is alright with you Trixie, you could call that place your room whilst you stay here, unless you wish for another room."
"Of course not Princess Celestia that sounds fine really." A grin showed itself on Trixie's muzzle.
"Well then we best be off." Luna spoke up then turning to Celestia. "If you don't mind me taking Ryan and Trixie with me."
"Not at all sister. I do have to get back to day-court anyway. Hope your lessons go well Trixie." With that said Celestia was gone in a flash of light, probably back to day-court.
"Well Luna you lead the way." I said to Luna who lead us off into the castle.
After a few minutes of walking we arrived at Twilight's old room, as soon as we entered it was obvious how much Twilight loved books as her room was split into two halves. The lower halves walls were lined with shelves that were packed with books. The upper half had most of the walls the same as the lower half although there was a space in the wall that housed a desk and dresser, opposite the desk and dresser was a queen sized bed with light blue sheets.
"How do you like it Trixie." Luna asked Trixie.
Trixie had her back facing the princess whilst she was taking every little detail in. When Trixie turned around the grin she wore told the princess and I how she felt. "It's wonderful thank you Luna." She then turned to the bookshelves. "What exactly are in these books princess?"
"Ah yes. As my sister explained to me when I returned, Twilight wanted to learn about most types of magic. If the labels on the shelves are anything to go by she organized the books by what sort of spells are in them."
I decided to have a look around the room. Luna was correct about the labels on the shelves as it seems each of the different types of magic had their own shelves. What caught my eye was that a few types of magic from video games were evident.
One shelf caught my eye as it was void of any contents except for a single book sitting in the middle of the shelf. As I approached the shelf something was calling me to the book, some sort of ethereal force. When I was close enough I reached my hands out and grasped the book. As soon as I got a good grip on the book it felt like something was surging through me from the book, I could have sworn I felt like Harry Potter when he held his wand for the first time.
As soon as the flow of what I guessed to be magic I read the cover out loud. "Thaumonomicon."
I turned around to see Luna and Trixie looking at me in confusion. "The what Ryan?" Trixie asked.
"The Thaumonomicon, that's what this book is called." I showed them the book. "Funny thing about this is that this book is also back on earth." That piqued their interest, especially Luna's.
"I thought you said there is no magic on earth Ryan. Seeing as how that book is a magical tome that would lead me to believe that there is magic on earth."
"There isn't any magic on earth Luna. This book does exist but it's in a fictional story." That last bit was a lie but they managed to buy it. I didn't want to go explaining to them that this book was from a video game. As they would only ask me what a video game was, and that would probably take forever for me to explain what a video game was.
This managed to get the two mares too pause before Luna spoke up after she looked out the window which I just noticed took up about 75% of the wall that was left to the room's entrance. I followed the princesses gaze noticing that the sun was setting.
"Hmm. May I propose an idea Ryan?" Luna asked me.
"Um sure Luna, what's on your mind." I asked her as I saw Trixie move along the shelves looking from shelf to shelf.
"Well if it couldn't be too much trouble. Seeing as how my sister's sun is setting would you like to spend the night here in Canterlot?"
This question caught me a bit off guard as I hadn't planned to stay over night. After a few seconds I came up with a decision. "Okay Luna but first a few questions. First where in the castle will I be staying?"
Luna thought for a second before turning to address Trixie. "Trixie you don't mind sharing a room with Ryan do you?"
As soon as Trixie had heard this she turned back to the princess. "Of course not princess. But where in here would he be staying there's only one bed?" At this Luna then gestured with her wing towards a set of stairs that Trixie and I had completely missed as we entered.
I approached the stairs and looked down them. On the lower floor it was an exact copy of the sleeping area on the top floor. Except the queen sized bed's sheets were a shade of purple. I also noticed that there was an extra door across the room from the stairs. I decided to go down into the room instead of sitting on the stairs looking into the room. The wall that the massive window was located on also had a small amount of of the window coming through the floor.
Turns out Trixie had appeared on the lower floor and moved to look behind the closed door. As she enveloped the doorknob in her magic as I stood behind her, she then opened the door to reveal a bathroom. There wasn't anything grand in the bathroom except for a medium sized shower which by my guess could hold Luna if she had her wings spread fully. Also in the bathroom were the usual things, a toilet for obvious reasons, as well as a medium sized sink.
I then turned to Trixie. "Um tonight Trixie you can have first dibs on the shower okay. Also you can have the upstairs bed I'll sleep down here okay."
"Why thank you Ryan. I think we should head back upstairs Princess Luna is probably waiting for us."
With that we headed back upstairs. "So how do you like it Ryan?"
"It's a nice little hideout. That also answers my question of where the bathroom would be. As now I don't have to borrow your bathroom Luna."
At this Luna let out a chuckle. "Maybe you would get luck with my sister, but alas you would not get any luck with me."
"Um Princess if I may interject in you and Ryan's banter." Hmm seems Trixie was getting comfortable around the princesses or at least Luna. "If I may ask of you princess to show me exactly what I will be learning under your teachings."
"Ah yes. Well Trixie the sort of magic that I use are a mix of illusionary spells with a small amount of destruction spells woven into them for added affect. As for what I will be mainly teaching you will be illusionary spells, as I have seen your dreams and don't worry I won't tell any-pony of your dreams. I have seen that you are a magician and from what I know magicians like to use illusionary spells to bring joy and excitement to the crowds. That is correct yes?"
Trixie thought for a moment on what Luna had said before responding. "Yes that is what we magicians do so that sounds very nice Luna." Trixie said with a grin.
As soon as Trixie said that my stomach let out a loud growl, catching the eye of Luna and Trixie. "If I'm to guess Ryan your hungry correct?" Luna asked I then gave her a quick nod. "Well before I continue Trixie would you like to have something to eat?" Trixie thought for a moment before giving Luna a nod. "Well then if you will both follow me. We will go to the dining hall for dinner."
With that Luna lead us out of the room luckily I remembered to place the Thaumonomicon back on it's shelf before we left. As I turned back to the door to catch up with Trixie and Luna who were waiting outside the door for me Orion spoke up. "Okay Ryan, what the heck is the Thaumonomicon get here? Especially seeing as how it exists in a mod for Minecraft."
"You're not the only one who's wondering what the heck that book is doing here, maybe God will give us some answers tonight whilst we're asleep." I thought luckily Orion managed to hear me clear as day. I decided to leave the thoughts concerning the Thaumonomicon for later now it was time to follow Luna to dinner. |
Another human in Equestria fic | Dinner with royalty and answers for both ponies and humans. | After few minutes of walking passing by maids, butlers and a few guards. We finally arrived at a large set of double doors, the large doors were made from what I guessed to be either oak or spruce wood. There were two guards posted either side of the doors. Both of the guards were unicorns from my guess they would use their magic to open the doors.
When they saw us approaching they straightened themselves standing to attention. As we got close enough the guards horns lit up enveloping each of the doors with their magic allowing us to enter. As we passed the guards I stopped in front of the open entrance, the guards noticed this each giving me quizzical looks, before the one to my left spoke up.
"Um sir are you okay?" I turned my head to him and gave him a once over. He had orange fur with a light blue mane and tail, his armor was shiny giving the look that he had recently shined it. His cutie mark was a magical wand spitting out a jet of fire. "Sir are you sure you're okay?" He said pulling me out of my trance.
"Um oh yeah I'm fine. By the way what's your name guard?" I asked him surely he had to have something interesting to go with that cutie mark, something fire related.
"My name is Fire Wand sir." Fire Wand eh?
"Well anyway pleasure to meet you." I then extended my hand which Fire looked at in confusion, before adding two and two together and he put his hoof in my hand. "Name's Ryan and please don't call me sir. By the way thanks for opening the door for us. Also nice name." I said after shaking his hoof.
"Ryan are you coming?!" I heard Luna shout from inside the room.
"Heh looks like I got to go see you around Fire." I gave him a wave as I walked into the room.
When I entered I was greeted with two things the first was the doors closing behind me, the second was a great dining room table. The dining room table reminded me of the dining room tables from the Harry Potter movies except for four of them there was only one, it was also raised further up from the ground. The benches that people would sit on were also replaced with small stools that had a red cushion, the stools also had a small back for a pony to relax against. The seat of the stools was big enough to let a fully grown Alicorn sit on by my guess.
I then looked down the table to see where the ponies were sitting. Celestia was sitting at the head of the table, Luna was sitting to the right of her sister and last but not least was Trixie sitting opposite Luna but not to the seat positioned to Celestia's right. 'Must still be nervous around Celestia' I thought to myself, as I decided to sit to the left of Celestia.
"Ah Ryan good to see you have arrived. Now before we begin eating I must ask you a question."
"Um sure thing Celestia what's the question?" I asked wondering what she could want to talk about.
"Well it's about your diet Ryan. Do humans eat meat?"
This managed to get me to pause for a second. "Um yes we do eat meat. Why?"
"Oh no reason it's just that we sometimes have Griffon ambassadors over for dinner to talk about peace and they will generally want something of the meat variety to eat. We have a few things for the ambassadors and were wondering whether you would want something."
With that said a small piece of paper appeared in front of me on the table. On the top of the paper it read meat selection. As my eyes looked over the page I noticed quite a few things that caught my eye. In the end I decided on a minute steak.
As I looked back up I noticed that the others were looking at their own respective menus. Celestia looked up from her's to see me looking away from my menu. "Ah Ryan have you decided what you want to have?"
"Oh yeah I have Celestia, I was wondering though do you have a salad menu, or drinks menu at least." At this, two menus appeared on top of my steak menu. One labeled salad and the other labeled drinks. "Thanks Celestia." I then looked back down to the menus deciding to just have a garden salad and a glass of water.
After a while everyone else had decided what to have and a butler appeared by Celestia's side. "Good evening every-pony how may I serve you today?" He then gave a slight nod with his head, as he did that a note book and quill appeared by his side.
"Hmm well, I think I'll go for the garden salad, Luna?"
"We shall have lily flower sandwich. Trixie what do you wish?"
"Um I think I'll go for a garden salad as well." She then looked to me.
"Oh well. I'll have a minute steak, a garden salad and a water please."
With that said the butler finished writing down our orders before looking to the ponies. "Any drinks for you three?"
Celestia spoke up. "We'll take some water please." She then looked to the others each giving nods. "Thank you for that Silver Platter." With that said Silver gave a small bow before turning towards a door which I guessed led to the kitchen.
"So Ryan, Luna tells me that you found something interesting in Twilight's old room."
"Ah yes. I found a book called the Thaumonomicon, it's a book that exists in a fictional story on earth. In the story the Thaumonomicon is an ancient magical tome. If my memory is correct it contains different types of information about different types of alchemy, wand magic and a bit of forbidden magic or dark magic as you may call it."
The mention of dark magic managed to get a veil of silence to envelop the dining room. "I see." Celestia said in a slightly dark tone.
"Although you and Twilight should already know what's in the book right, seeing as how it's in Twilight's old room, you guys would have read it already." This managed to get Celestia to raise her head.
"We've been unable to open it. Twilight came up with a few ideas on how to open it, but the spells she designed ran the risk of destroying the book."
This came as a giant shock 'They're unable to open the book' I thought to myself, 'Yay even more for God to explain' my thoughts were interrupted when Silver returned with our meals.
"Dinner." Was all that Silver said as he gave a bow and trotted back to the kitchen.
When my plate appeared in front of me I quickly grabbed my knife and fork, which had somehow appeared in my hands. I looked down at my steak taking in the smell of the cooked meat, before giving it no mercy.
When I was done I looked back up to see that Luna was on the verge of falling off her chair from laughter, Celestia was hiding a giggle behind her hoof whilst Trixie looked at me in shock.
"What's so funny Luna?" I asked the princess.
After a minute she finally managed to compose herself and calm down. "Do you know how log it took for you to eat that steak Ryan?"
"Um no. How long did I take then?"
Celestia answered for her sister. "Well it took you about 45 seconds to eat that steak."
That gave me a bit of a shock but didn't come as a big surprise. "Great I broke my record."
"Record?" Trixie asked between bites of her salad.
"Oh yeah. Well back on earth there was a restraint I went to once with a couple of my friends, one of the dared me to take on the restaurant's eat a steak in a minute challenge. I accepted and ate it in 55 seconds." I told them happy to relive a few good memories.
"That sounds like quite an amazing feat Ryan. You could probably make a griffon jealous you know." Luna said.
"Well after sending about a month here living amongst vegetarians you sort of miss the feeling of biting into a steak."
"Well it definitely looks like you missed eating steak." Celestia said. Before looking at me a serious look crossing her muzzle. "Ryan."
I looked up to her a small bit of lettuce hanging from my mouth, after eating what salad was in my mouth I looked to her. "Yes Celestia."
"There is something you must know about the Thaumonomicon you must know." I then gestured with my hands for her to continue with her thoughts. "Well that book appeared in Twilight's room when I was teaching her a few new spells. It appeared in a flash of purple light. This happened about a week before I sent her to Ponyville to learn about the magic of friendship."
"Wait Celestia your saying that the Thaumonomicon, hasn't always been in your possession." She gave me a nod to confirm what I had said. "Wow okay then. That is..."
"Confusing, is that the word you're looking for correct?" Celestia said, a small smile crossing her muzzle.
"Heh yeah I guess it is. But anyway let's try not to dwell on that eh?" That managed to raise her spirits. I then realized something. "Hey Celestia you don't mind passing a message on for me do you?"
"Of course not." Sensing that I may be needing to send a letter she summoned up a scroll and a pot of ink and a quill.
"Thanks Celestia." I then wrote out my message. "You don't mind sending this to Twilight do you? She's probably wondering where I am." With that said the scroll disappeared in a flash of yellow light.
Meanwhile at Golden Oaks Library
"Spike are you sure you checked under his bed?" Twilight said to her faithful assistant.
"I'm sure Twilight, seeing as you've had me look under there 5 times already." Spike replied to Twilight as 5 mares walked in through the door.
Twilight turned to the new arrivals. "Well girls have you found him?"
Rarity spoke up first. "We've looked all over Ponyville dear, we haven't seen him."
AJ then spoke up. "Rares is right Twilight, he isn't even at the acres."
"Oh hopefully he hasn't accidentally walked into the Everfree." Fluttershy said.
"Well maybe he was pony-napped, by Trixie I bet." Rainbow Dash said a look of anger crossing her face.
Before any pony could say anything Spike belched up a letter, and handed it to Twilight. "For you." He said.
"What's it say Twily?" Pinkie said bouncing on the spot.
"Dear Twilight. Hey if you or the others are wondering where I am I'm up at Canterlot. Turns out I'll be spending the night here. I may also be spending the next couple of days here as well. By the way Trixie is now Luna's student." At that Pinkie pulled out her party cannon and blasted it covering Twilight in confetti.
"Heh sorry Twily I couldn't help myself." Pinkie said after pushing her party cannon away.
"Any way as I was saying. Also Twilight I found a book called the Thaumonomicon in your room, that book actually exists on earth but as a magical tome in a fictional book series. Anyway, tell the others that I'm alright. I'll also be trying to open the Thaumonomicon if I do I promise I'll share it with you. Sincerely Ryan."
"So he's up at Canterlot dear?" Rarity asked.
"Seems so Rarity. Well then I guess I better go tell the mayor to call off that search party." Twilight then ran out of the library making a beeline straight for Town Hall.
"Hopefully Twilight hasn't done anything too drastic whilst I've been gone." I said to the others as we made out way out of the dining hall. I noticed as we walked down the hall that Fire Wand and his buddy were gone replaced by a couple of Thestral guards. "Hey Celestia what happened to your day guards that were outside the dinning room?" I asked maybe she'll know where Fire was.
"Well they changed positions with the Lunar guard once the sun went down. They can't be standing around for 24 hours a day can they?" I then noticed that we were outside of Twilight's old room.
'Should I be calling this Trixie's room now?' I thought to myself as we entered. It was then I noticed that the princesses were still with us.
"Um no offense your highnesses but why are you here?" I asked. I may have had an idea on why Luna was here probably to teach Trixie, but Celestia was a mystery.
"Well my sister is going to be beginning her lessons with Trixie." She then looked to the magician. "If that is alright with you Miss Lulamoon?"
"Of course it's no problem princess." I gave a smile noticing how Trixie had calmed down a bit around Celestia.
"Okay then why are you here then Celestia?" I asked hopefully she would tell me.
"Well since you told Luna how earth's sun and moon don't require Alicorn magic to rotate, I've been meaning to ask you to elaborate."
"Um sure thing Celestia. But I may need something to write on." In an instant a black board appeared on the opposite side of the room, with a few cushions sitting in front of it.
"Well then sister whilst thou are learning about Ryan's planet Trixie and I shall begin our lesson." Luna then led Trixie to the center of the room. While Celestia passed them to get to the blackboard I saw Luna lean down and whisper something into Trixie's ear, something that caused a grin to spread across Trixie's muzzle.
When we reached the blackboard Celestia took a seat on one of the cushions. It was then I realized something that lead me to let out a few chuckles. "What's so funny Ryan?"
"Oh it's nothing Celestia, just that the teacher has become the student in this case." Celestia let out a few giggles at that.
"Well then teacher please continue with your lesson."
I turned towards the board and picked up a piece of chalk. "Okay then Celestia will you please explain to me how the sun and moon work in Equestria."
"Well I raise the sun and lower the moon every morning, whereas my sister does the opposite in the evening raising the moon and lowering the sun. When we have raised our respective celestial bodies we then set them on a rotation path across Equestria's sky."
"So you use gravity to keep the sun and moon floating across Equestria's sky?" Celestia then gave a nod. "Okay then. Well earth's moon operates in the same way it does here, but instead of an Alicorn raising it each evening it floats around the earth thanks o the earth's gravitational field." I then drew a sphere on the blackboard labeled earth, then I drew a smaller sphere labeled moon rotating around the earth.
"So the moon is continuously floating around earth?" Celestia asked.
"Yes it does." I then looked pass Celestia, to see Trixie prepping herself to cast a spell.
"Um Ryan you do know your head is on fire." Celestia said pointing a hoof towards my head. After a few seconds the spell cut and Trixie's panting could be heard from the center of the room.
"Sister you saw what that spell did correct." Luna asked Celestia.
"Yes I did Luna." Celestia shifted herself so she could see Trixie properly. "Trixie do you know how powerful that spell was?" Celestia asked Trixie. The only response Celestia got was the sound of her gulping down a jug of water that Luna had summoned. "You are one powerful unicorn Miss Lulamoon." Celestia then looked to Luna. "How about you and Trixie take seat, whilst gets her energy back."
In a moment I had two new students. "As I was saying Celestia, the earth acts like earth's moon around our sun. Rotating around the sun in the sun's gravitational field, along with the rest of the planets in our solar system." After drawing up a rough sketch of the solar system, turning back to the ponies to see that they were studying the board.
Celestia let out a small chuckle as she looked over my work. "I have to admit Ryan this is quite interesting. You could probably rival anything Twilight could come up with."
"No he couldn't sister. Even if he could he doesn't have a big enough blackboard." Luna said whilst she was having small fit of giggles.
"That is a good point Luna." Celestia then looked out the window. "Unfortunately I must be off to bed." With that Celestia walked over to the door. "Thank you for that little feast of information Ryan, I'll be seeing you all tomorrow." With that she left the room.
"Well Trixie we need to continue our lesson. How about we head back to my chambers to continue our lesson so that Ryan can get some sleep." She then went over to the door, and waited for Trixie.
"Well I best be off then, have a good night's sleep Ryan." She then walked over to Luna.
"You too Trixie!" I called out to her as she left.
Before I could make my way towards the stairs downstairs, a knocking could be heard on the other side of the door. When I opened the door I was greeted by Celestia.
"Ryan I forgot to mention I have teleported your spare clothes up here from Ponyville." She then levitated a small briefcase from behind her.
"Oh thanks Celestia." She then left.
I then grabbed the briefcase and headed downstairs. After having a quick shower and getting changed, I decided to lay my head down and fall asleep.
I awoke in my bed for some reason, thinking I had woken up in Equestria I looked around to see where I was only to find a black void. Soon enough Orion appeared.
"Hey Orion where are we?" I asked thinking that he wasn't going to give me a straight answer.
"Well I have no clue to tell you the truth mate. I don't think it's the dreamscape it doesn't feel like it is." That took me by surprise, Orion gave me a straight answer for once.
"Hello Ryan, Orion." The voice of God said from the black void.
"Hey God we need to talk about something." I said to him as I got out of the bed. "What exactly is the Thaumonomicon doing here."
"Hmm I was wondering what you were going to ask about your gift."
"Wait my gift?" I asked. Orion looked into the void in confusion.
"Yes your gift. Although this version of the Thaumonomicon is a tad bit modified, instead of all of the boundless knowledge of flux and thaumaturgy magic. Instead this Thaumonomicon will enable you with the aid of the Equestrians you will be able to make things such as the goggles of revealing, as well as something new something that I like to call the gloves of the arch-mage. You may want to look at those first."
"Okay then so we got some fancy book that will let us do something special. Great that really helps y'know." Orion said pointing a finger to the void. He was then flung into the bed cracking the thing in half. "Ow." Orion said from the other side of the now destroyed bed.
"As I was about to say." God continued. "You can know open the Thaumonomicon. Whether you share the information with the equestrians or not is up to you. You will also not have to worry about there being dark magic or mentions of the flux in the book."
"Okay the cool that helps quite a bit thanks for that God."
"Your welcome."
A thought then crossed my mind. "Hey God where exactly are we. Because Orion said before that this wasn't like the dreamscape so are we somewhere else?"
"Ah yes. Well Ryan we are still in your dreamscape although I have made a few changes to it. The main change I have made is that your dreamscape is more secure as I still do not want the equestrians to know of my presence."
"So Luna isn't going to come knocking anytime soon?"
"No she will not. Now I must be off. When I leave your dreamscape will be returned back to normal. Goodbye." With that the black void was gone leaving Orion and I sitting on a small hill under a night sky with a full moon hanging above.
"Well that's great." Dammit I was hoping that Orion would stay knocked out. "He couldn't even give us a hint what this great evil is." Orion then let out a yawn. "Well I'll leave you to your thoughts, I'm going back to my dreamscape. See ya sucker." And with that he was gone. When he was gone I decided to enjoy my dreams. |
Another human in Equestria fic | Waking up to read a book. | The rest of my sleep was occupied with dreams about what could be in the Thaumonomicon. The next morning, I awoke to find a small amount of light coming through my window. Unfortunately for me the light was coming through my window was shining right in my eyes.
"Urgh." I groaned out it was then I noticed that something was shifting around in the bed with me. I then looked to my left and saw Trixie lying in bed with me.
Orion immediately jumped at this perfect opportunity. "Well well Ryan. I don't remember you taking Trixie to bed. Dammit I missed the good bits." Orion said, immediately giving me a headache.
"Shut up Orion you idiot. Also what do you mean by good bits?" I whispered to him.
"Well you know the good old bow chicka wow wow." As soon as Orion said that I immediately felt my cheeks turn red.
I then decided to get up and take a look at the Thaumonomicon. Before I could even try to slowly get out of the bed Trixie wrapped her fore-hooves around my waist, keeping me from getting up without risk of waking her up.
"Dammit." I muttered under my breath.
"Heh I would have you'd like waking up with a mare in your bed." Orion spoke up.
I looked back down to see that Trixie was quietly snoring. She then shifted herself so she removed her fore-hooves from around my waist. I took my opportunity and rose slowly from the bed, as to not wake her.
After splashing a bit of water in my face from the bathroom's sink I got changed and walked up the stairs into the library. As soon as I got off the stairs I made a beeline straight for the Thaumonomicon.
Picking it up I looked it over. "Scared to read what's inside?" Orion spoke up.
"No I'm not. Just wondering what's going to happen." I said as I opened the book to the first page. The first page had a more elaborate title than what was on the front cover.
It read: The Thaumonomicon A Magical Guide.
I turned to the next page after reading the more elaborate title. The next page read the contents. "Chapter 1: Wielding magic for the uninitiated. Chapter 2: Understanding how your equipment works. Chapter 3: Channeling the more powerful magic. Chapter 4: Combining Equestrian magic and Thaumaturgy." I read noticing that that was all I decided to open the book to the first chapter.
"Wow I thought The Thaumonomicon was meant to have more in it." Orion said curiosity lacing his words.
"It's meant to yes but this is an altered version." I then arrived at a very interesting page. "The Arch Mage's gloves." I read recalling the name from what God old me last night. I read the description of the gloves and found something incredible. "We need to show this to Celestia."
"Why Ryan?"
"Because Orion, if the description of these gloves are accurate they will allow us to wield and control magic." I said my heart racing at the idea of wielding magic.
"Wow. Yeah we need to see Celestia as soon as we can."
I then heard shuffling coming from downstairs. After a few seconds I decided to go check on the now awake Trixie after placing the Thaumonomicon back on it's shelf. "Morning Trixie." I said to the mare as I reached the bottom of the stairs.
"Ryan I am so sorry about last night. I-I asked Luna to teleport me back to my bed and she didn't know which one was mine, and and and." I then ran over to the mare who was sitting in the middle of the bed. She was in the middle of a small panic attack.
"Hey Trixie it's okay." I said to her running my fingers through her mane. 'That managed to calm her down a bit.' I thought to myself.
She then turned her head and looked at me, there were a few tears in her eyes. "You're okay about that?" She then pulled me close with her magic and hugged me.
"Yeah I'm fine Trixie." I then lifted her head so I could look into her eyes. "Trixie what's wrong?" I asked worried for my friend.
"It's just that I thought that could have ruined our friendship. I didn't want that to happen Ryan, because you're the first real friend I've had in a long time." I than pulled the mare into a hug.
"Trixie you'd have to do a lot worse than sleep in the same bed with me to ruin our friendship. Y'know that right?" I told her managing to stop more tears from coming out of her eyes.
"You mean that?" She asked as she looked up at me. I then gave her a nod and a warm smile to give her an answer. She then composed herself before talking again. "Well thank you Ryan. But if I may make one request."
"Sure thing Trixie." I said wondering what she was going to ask.
"Please don't tell any-pony or anybody that this happened."
"Of course not Trixie. I wouldn't even dream of telling anybody about this." I told her as she broke the hug.
"Well then I best go clean myself up." After she entered the bathroom I heard a knocking coming from the door to our room.
As I got up and approached the door I wondered how I was going to go about telling Celestia what I had learnt about the Arch-Mages Gloves. I decided to save these thoughts for later and decided to focus on who was on the other side of the door.
When I opened the door I found Fire Wand standing in the doorway. "Good morning Ryan."
"Ah, and a good morning to you too Fire. Now what would bring you here?" I asked glad to see Fire.
"Well Princess Celestia wonders if you and Miss Trixie would like to join her in the dining hall for breakfast." At this my stomach let out a growl of hunger.
Giving him a sheepish smile I answered his question. "Well my stomach speaks for me, and Trixie would probably love to tag along."
"That's good will you be requiring an escort?"
"No thank you we should be fine." With that Fire gave a small bow before turning down the hallway and leaving. I then turned around to see Trixie coming up the stairs.
"Who was at the door Ryan?" Trixie asked giving me a quizzical look.
"Oh just Fire Wand." She then gave me a look of confusion. "He's one of Celestia's guards. Anyway we've been invited to join Celestia for breakfast."
With that said Trixie was standing in front of me in the blink of an eye. "Why didn't you just say so. Urgh now I need to get ready." I then placed a finger on Trixie's lips silencing her.
"Shhh. Trixie I highly doubt Celestia will care what you look like, as long as you're presentable she won't care." I said to her giving her a reassuring smile whilst taking my finger off her lips.
"Okay then that calms me down a bit. Thanks Ryan."
"You're welcome Trixie."
"Well then how do I look. Seeing as how you're the only one here do I look presentable enough?"
'Why did she have to ask me the hardest question that a man could answer for a woman. Why!?' I thought to myself before giving my answer.
"Well I'd say your lacking clothing. But seeing as how it's normal for ponies to not wear clothes, I say you look fine." This managed to get a smile to cross her muzzle before she trotted over to the door.
"Well then Ryan are we going to be keeping the Princess waiting or not?"
"No we probably shouldn't. But give me a second I gotta grab something." I then rushed over to the bookshelf that was holding the Thaumonomicon and grabbed it.
"Why are you bringing that book to breakfast Ryan?" Trixie asked pointing at the book that was resting under my arm.
"Well I managed to get it open this morning, and it's got a few things in it that I need to show Celestia." I explained to the mare as we headed off towards the dining hall.
We arrived at the dining hall after a few minutes to find Celestia waiting for us.
"Ah Ryan, Trixie glad to see that you both accepted my invitation." She said looking up from her bowl of oats. She then gestured to take a seat. Unlike last night she was sitting on one of the stools alongside the table instead of at the head of the table.
Trixie took her seat opposite the monarch whilst I sat next to Celestia placing the book in front of us. Silver soon joined us taking me and Trixie's order.
"So why did you bring that book to breakfast Ryan?" Celestia asked as my breakfast of bacon and eggs appeared in front of me, and Trixie's bowl of oats appeared.
"Well Celestia this morning I managed to open the book."
"You did?!" Celestia asked a look of excitement on her face.
"Yep and I found something very interesting." I then opened the Thaumonomicon turning the pages to the arch mages gloves. As soon as I had turned to that page Celestia levitated the book in front of her muzzle, giving me a chance to eat my bacon and eggs.
After a few minutes of looking it over she looked to me a look of uncertainty. Trixie then took this as an opportunity to turn the book around so she could read it.
"Well what do you think?" I asked, after finishing my breakfast.
"This seems like a great idea, it really does you being able to wield magic but..." She stopped a look of thought crossing her face as her started to glow.
I then felt another presence in my mind. I decided to go out on a limb. 'I'm guessing the other presence in my head is you Celestia.' I thought.
Soon enough Celestia's voice filled my mind. 'Yes that would be me Ryan. Now are you sure this is a wise idea to make these gloves. Especially with you know who in your head.' She said making a very good point.
'Well I don't have to worry about that Celestia, Orion doesn't have any affect on my physical body, besides he's only a voice in my head an annoying one at that.'
With that said Celestia's horn stopped glowing showing she had pulled herself out of my mind. I then turned back to see Trixie looking over the arch mage's gloves. She then looked up. "So Ryan these gloves could make it so you can wield magic?" She asked a look of excitement adorning her face.
"If the description is anything to go by then yes Trixie." I told her. A grin quickly plastered itself on her muzzle. I then turned back to Celestia. "So Celestia think any-pony could make these gloves for me?" I asked wondering who would make them.
"Yes my sister and I should be able to make these Ryan, although it will take a few days." She then placed one of her hooves on her chin in thought. "Maybe whilst my sister and I work on the gloves you should go back to Ponyville, Twilight and her friends will probably want to know how you're doing." I couldn't help but nod at the idea of heading back to Ponyville.
"Sure thing Celestia, but I ain't leaving until I say my goodbyes." Celestia nodded at this.
"Yes my sister would like to say goodbye to you." She then looked back down at the book. "Unfortunately Ryan, you will be unable to take this book with you to Ponyville as my sister and I will need it for the making of the gloves."
"No problem Celestia, but you're explaining to Twilight why she can't read that book right away." This managed to get a small chuckle from her, she then gave a nod to tell me she would do that. "Also another thing you and Luna can look at as much of the book as you wish. Oh and before you ask you can read it as well Trixie. But you three are the only ones aloud to read it at the current time okay."
This got a few nods from Celestia and Trixie. The next moment the door to the dining room opened up and Luna walked in barley awake. A pot of coffee then appeared before her, after looking at it for a few moments Luna decided to chug the whole pot down in one swig.
She then turned her gaze to us. "Good morning sister, Ryan, Trixie."
"Hey Luna what are you doing up so early?" I asked her.
"Just wanted to say goodbye." That caught me off guard.
"Goodbye? How did you know I was leaving?"
"Well yesterday you did say you were going to be spending the night here so I thought you would be leaving for Ponyville today." She made a good point.
"Okay then well I guess goodbyes are in order." I said as I got up. "Hey Celestia could you teleport me back to Ponyville?"
"I could why though Ryan?" She asked.
"Simple I don't have to walk to the train station past all the snooty nobles." I said she gave me a nod of understanding. I then walked over to Trixie who had stood up.
"So your going Ryan." She said.
"Yeah guess I am Trixie, but hey don't worry about it you can just ask Celestia to send a letter to me if you want to." I then pulled the mare into a hug. "Good luck with your lessons Trixie." I said as I broke the hug.
I then walked over to Luna. Before I could do anything she pulled me into a hug. "Goodbye Ryan, I'll be sure to visit you tonight." She said when she broke the hug.
I then walked over to Celestia. "See ya Celestia." I said as she pulled me into a hug. Damn these ponies really like hugs but I didn't really have a problem with that, as long as none of them were sad.
"Goodbye Ryan. Now you may feel a bit lightheaded after the teleport so try to lie down somewhere." She said as she broke the hug.
Celestia's horn started to glow as I felt my feet lift off the ground. After a few seconds a yellow light surrounded me I then covered my eyes with my arm to make sure I didn't go blind as I was engulfed in a flash of light.
When I opened my eyes I found myself in Golden Oaks Library, as soon as I took in my surroundings I noticed I wasn't alone. "Ryan you're back!" Yelled a blurry purple figure as I was tackled to the ground by the figure. After a few moments my vison stopped being a blur and I found Twilight hugging me, nuzzling my chest.
I ran a few fingers through her mane. "Yeah I'm back. Hey Twilight can you please hop off me?" I asked the mare. After a few more nuzzles she hopped off of my chest.
"Sorry Ryan. I just got so excited to see that you were back." She said. She then gave me an odd look. "Um Ryan don't you want to get up?"
"No I'm fine down here. Celestia said that I might feel a bit lightheaded and that I should lie down for a bit."
"Oh okay then. Well how about I go get the others, they'd probably want to see you." With that Twilight left leaving me lying on my back peacefully.
"When are you going to tell her?" Orion asked, destroying the peace.
"Tell her what?"
"Tell her about the Thaumonomicon." He said I swear I could feel him roll his eyes.
"Oh yeah. Probably going to tell her later." With that said a knocking could be heard from the front door.
I stood up and turned to the door. "Who is it?" I asked.
"It's Twilight. I accidentally locked the door on my way out and I don't have my keys. The others are out here as well."
"Okay sure thing Twilight." I said unlocking the door. Before I knew it I was on my back Pinkie was standing on my chest vibrating with joy and glee.
"Ryan you're back!" Pinkie said as she jumped off of me and ran over to the others who had entered the library. "Guys, guys, Ryan's back!" She told them going from pony to pony.
"Yes yes we know darling." Rarity said calming the bouncing ball of fur down.
"Hey Ryan what are ya doin lyin on the ground." Dash said, whilst floating over me the beats of her wings making the only sound in the room.
"Well Dashie this floor is quite comfortable actually." I then patted the ground next to me. "Wanna join me?"
"Pfft yeah right. Who would want to lie down on a wooden floor." As Dash said this Fluttershy walked up to the spot that I patted my hand and lay down, next to me.
"You were saying Dash?" I said a smug grin on my face, as Dash's jaw dropped to the ground.
"So Ryan what happened?" Twilight asked.
"Yeah how was Canterlot sugarcube?" AJ asked.
"Well it was fun. Also Trixie is now officially Luna's student." That got Pinkie to pull out her party cannon and fire off into the air. "Haha." I laughed at the pink pony's shenanigans. "Also Twilight there was a book in your old room in Canterlot that you couldn't open right?" I asked the lavender unicorn already knowing the answer.
"Yeah there is it's called the Thaumonomicon, what about it?" She held a look of confusion on her face.
"Well I managed to open it." As soon as I said that I found Twilight standing over me her muzzle mere centimeters above my face.
"Really what was in the book then. Did you bring it back?" I then placed a finger over her mouth not wanting to be assaulted by too many questions.
"First of all I didn't bring it back, Celestia and Luna are looking over it." This got a look of sadness to cross the mare's muzzle. "Secondly we can read it when their done with it they said they should have it done in a few days." That managed to get rid of the frown on her face.
"Okay then Ryan." She said hopping off me thankfully giving my chest a break from being stood on by a pony.
I then decided to get up to make sure no other ponies could sit on me.
"Okay then every-pony what's the plan for today?" I asked looking to all the ponies gathered.
"Well sorry sugarcube but I got work to do at the farm." AJ said.
"I got weather duty." Dash said.
"I have to take care of my animals." Fluttershy said.
"I have orders to fill unfortunately darling." Rarity said.
"I have work to do with the cakes." Pinkie said.
"Well then guess it's another day of sitting here with you Twilight." I said looking to the unicorn giving her a smile.
"Sure thing Ryan. That sounds like fun." With that said we gave a farewell to the other ponies as they left the library off to do their own thing. I decided to see if Twilight had any spell books in her library, luckily for me she did. A few spells about shields and a few about lasers. I decided to take a seat and read those.
"Hey Ryan taking an interest in spell casting I see." Twilight said looking at the books I had in my lap.
"Yep just thought it might help me understand magic a bit more."
"Well then if you need any help just ask." With that said Twilight pulled out a book of her own. I then decided to focus back on my own books. |
Another human in Equestria fic | Practising magic | A couple of days passed since I returned to Ponyville. The past few days I studied magical texts and tomes, I even read a few 'how to project and control magic' books for young unicorns. This morning I woke up to find Twilight poking me with a fore-hoof.
"Morning Twilight. Any reason for you to wake me up?" I asked a bit annoyed as I did like to sleep in.
"Oh sorry Ryan. It's just that Princess Celestia sent you a package, as well as a letter for both you and me, and my letter said to give you your package as soon as possible." She explained.
"Okay so it's all Celestia's fault got it."
"What no it isn't, it's my fault you were woken up." Twilight said panicked that I accused her princess of something.
"Don't worry Twilight, I'm only joking okay calm down. So where's this letter and package?" I said managing to calm the unicorn down.
"Oh yeah well here you go." She then levitated the package and letter onto my lap, as I sat up.
"Dear Ryan. I am very sorry if I have disturbed you in anyway, but believe me when I say that you will be quite happy with what I have sent you. Sincerely Princess Celestia." I then decided to open the package.
When I opened it I could have sworn my eyes fell out of my skull. Lying in the package was a scroll from Celestia sitting on top of The Arch Mage's Gloves.
"The princess sent you gloves?" Twilight asked. A look of confusion on her muzzle.
"Twilight these aren't any regular gloves." She gestured for me to go on. "These gloves are called The Arch Mage's Gloves." She still wore the look of confusion. I then grabbed the scroll that was still in the package.
Twilight decided to inspect the gloves covering them in her magic, as I opened the scroll.
"Dear Ryan. Unfortunately, Luna and I are keeping the Thaumonomicon in Canterlot for the time being, as we go over what is in the book. I have also included along with the gloves the Thaumonomicon page for the gloves, do not worry the page that I sent you is only a copy, hopefully that copy will be able to understand a bit more thoroughly how the gloves work. Also please practice low level spells, as I don't want to find out that something terrible has happened. No offense to you as wielding magic for the first time can sometimes be dangerous. Sincerely Celestia."
"Well then." I said as I looked over the Glove's page. In the center of the page was a schematic of the gloves, on the tip of the fingers and thumbs were tiny blue gems, there was also a larger blue gem on the back of the gloves. The page described the larger of the gems being a mana gem. As a note on the page described the main mana gem that was located on the back of the gloves stored a medium supply of mana, it also said that the blue coloration of the gems was the gloves particular sort of mana, and that the more magic I would use the more the blue would disappear from the main gems. The gems would then turn white signifying that I had run out of mana.
Luckily for me as I read on another note said that the mana crystals would regenerate mana over time. It also said that the blue gems on the tips of my gloves were outputs for any magical spells that I would cast. A few of the other notes on the page described how the gloves could not keep up with casting a multitude of spells in a row, or too powerful spells. "Hmm very interesting." I said as I looked up at Twilight. "Hey Twilight want to have a read of this?" I said holding up the glove's page.
"Sure thing Ryan." She said as her lavender aura encased the scroll.
"Well I'm going to go have a shower and get out of my pajamas." I then got out of bed and grabbed myself a change of clothes and headed for the bathroom.
After having my shower, I came back outside to see that Twilight was sitting on top of my bed, She had her back facing me as she levitated books from downstairs and nearby bookshelves when she gave them a look over she then placed them in neat towers around my bed.
"Hey Twilight, what's going on?" I asked a bit scared. She then decided to give the demon from The Exorcist a run for his money by turning her head around nearly 180 degrees, a wide grin on her face, what scared me most about her was the look of craziness in her eyes, if I remembered correctly that was the same look she had when she didn't hand in a friendship report in on time.
I decided to take a few steps away from the probably crazy unicorn. "Oh all this Ryan." She then gestured to stacks of books, as she straightened herself and hopped off my bed. "Well I read the pages that were in the package, and I am going to be teaching you how to use magic." She then let out a squee of excitement.
"Ok that sounds pretty cool Twilight. But before we start how about you calm down a bit." I said while gesturing for her to calm down.
"Oh okay then, that would probably be a good idea." She the gestured for me to come over to the bed. After walking up next to her, she gestured to the books that were around my bed. "So Ryan the books that I have gathered for you are a few starter spells that should get you use to using magic. I have divided them up into three categories: Number 1 is utility spells, for example teleportation, a few illusion spells and some minor healing spells. The next is defense spells for example a few shield spells."
I then decided to move between the stacks of books. "The last group is a few offensive spells, so for example lasers, fire balls and flamethrower, to name a few." She then took a deep breath in. "So anyway what do you want to start with?" She said giving me a look of excitement.
"Hmm well what do you think would be the easiest Twilight, seeing as how I have to get a handle on magic, might as well start with something easy." I said as she placed a hoof to her chin.
"Well how about one of the utility spells that I didn't say." This caught my attention, as I gestured for her to go on. "The spells that you should start on would be levitation spells." With that said Twilight levitated three books in front of us.
"So what would be the best starting point then?" Twilight then placed one of the thinner of the three books in my hands. "Okay then thanks for choosing one of the thinner of the books." I said as she let out a small giggle.
"You're welcome Ryan, I would have thought you would something a bit light."
"Well as I said thanks Twilight." I said opening the book, as I began to read.
After reading through the three books I placed them back on a nearby table. "Okay then I think I have a basic idea of what to do." I said looking over to Twilight, as she stopped reading the diagram of the Arch Mage's Gloves.
"Okay want to try these gloves out then?" She said whilst levitating said gloves over to me.
After putting them on I stretched out my fingers, getting used to the gem stones on the gloves.
"How does it feel?" Twilight asked.
"Feels a bit strange, by the way don't think that I haven't worn gloves before. It's just that I feel like I'm connected to these gloves." I then looked over to Twilight to see that she had set up some fruit on a nearby table.
"I think I understand what you mean Ryan. Before I came to Ponyville, when I still lived in Canterlot, I studied magical amulets and other magical articles of clothing. Princess Celestia thought that it be best that I try on a magical amulet to help further my studies. I tried one on nothing to powerful mind you. But when I put it on it felt like I could feel an additional amount of magic flowing through me from the amulet." She explained. "Is that what that connection feels like to you Ryan?"
"It does feel a bit like that I guess. So then I guess I'm going to be trying to levitate those fruits." With that said Twilight gave a few excited nods. "Okay then." With that said Twilight stood a few feet away from me as I readied myself.
I took a few steps towards the fruit as I remembered what I had to do, the steps were simple: The first being that I had to clear my mind. The second step was waving my hands around like a unicorn would to cast a spell. The third and final step was the most important I had to focus my mind on what I wanted the magic to do.
During this process I had closed my eyes to concentrate properly. I opened my eyes to see that the three apples that Twilight had set up were floating a few centimeters away from the ceiling.
"Ryan that's brilliant!" Twilight said admiring my work. I decided to drop the spell letting the apples fall to the ground.
I then fell onto my rear panting in exhaustion. Twilight ran up to me with a glass of water in her magical aura. I took the glass from her magical grip and drank it down in one gulp. I then looked at the mana gem on the gloves and saw that their colors hadn't changed at all.
"Hey Twilight look at the gloves." I said between ragged breaths. "They look like they've barely been drained of any color."
Twilight looked at the gloves noticing that the color hadn't changed at all. "Well that's quite simple Ryan, these gloves are probably used to spells of a higher level for any noticeable drainage. But what's strange is the drain that your body is experiencing, although that may have something to do with the connection between you and the gloves, either that or your body is still only getting used to the exposure of magic running through your body."
"Okay then that might explain why my body is exhausted like I just ran a marathon. But before I take a break I want to try something, and I need you to stand still and trust me okay." I said standing up and walking a few feet away from her.
"Okay sure thing Ryan." She said a bit of uncertainty in her voice.
I then decided to repeat steps one through three, but instead of wanting my magic to levitate the apples I willed it to levitate Twilight. After a few seconds I opened my eyes to see that Twilight was levitating a couple of meters off the floor.
I then felt a small wave of exhaustion wash over my body, before I dropped the spell I levitated Twilight back down to the ground, after making sure she was back on the ground I then fell back onto my rear glad to cut the spell.
"Ryan that was amazing!" Twilight said wrapping her fore-hooves around me.
"Heh you're welcome Twilight. Anyway how about we have a break for a few minutes."
"Good plan." Twilight said removing herself from around my waist.
A few hours later I had managed to improve my levitation ability from barely being able to levitate three apples, to being able to levitate a large bookshelf for an entire minute.
After taking a break from lifting the bookshelf, the rest of the mane six and Spike entered the library.
"Hello girls, Spike." Twilight said greeting the new arrivals.
"Yo Twilight, what's up with Ryan?" Dash said whilst floating over my head. "You take him on a run around Ponyville or something?"
"I'm fine Dash just exhausted, and before you ask I didn't go for a run." I said looking up at the Pegasus. I then decided to show off what I had learnt. "Hey Twilight stand still will you please." She gave me a nod, understanding what I was getting at.
After standing up I closed my eyes and stretched my hand out towards Twilight, willing my magic to lift her up in the air. After a few seconds I opened my eyes to see that the others were looking between Twilight and I.
"This is why I'm exhausted Dash." I said still keeping Twilight hovering a few feet off the ground. After a few moments I then lowered Twilight back to the ground.
"Darling how did you do that?" Rarity asked.
"Yeah sugar cube how did y'all levitate Twilight?" AJ asked.
"Yeah AJ's got a point cause if I remember correctly you human's don't have magic." Dash said. Floating in front of me.
"Simple Dashie, Ryan's gloves are allowing him to use magic." Pinkie said taking me by surprise how she knew that.
"That's correct Pinkie. But how did you know about the gloves?" I asked wondering how exactly she knew.
"Well silly I found this piece of paper on the ground." She then pulled out the copy of the gloves' Thaumonomicon page.
"Well thanks for explaining how you knew Pinkie." I then gave rustle of her mane before turning to the rest of the mane six. "Well as Pinkie said yes these gloves give me the ability to use magic." I then held up my hands to show the ponies and drake the gloves.
"Interesting, very interesting." I soon found the gloves woven in Rarity's magical aura. The seamstress inspecting the gloves. "A nice combination of blue and red. The gem work is quite exquisite as well dear." Rarity then looked up to see me giving her a quizzical look at what she was doing. She then released the gloves from her magical grasp. "Oh sorry dear, I should have asked if I could inspect your gloves."
"It's no problem Rarity I was actually going to come to you and ask you if you could do something for me." I asked her lifting her spirits.
"Why of course what would you ask of me dear?"
"Well I was wondering if you could make me a suit that goes with these gloves." I asked the seamstress.
"Why of course darling, it would be my utmost pleasure." She then turned to Spike. "Spikey if you wouldn't mind could you please come back to the boutique with me to help work on Ryan's suit. If you don't want to that's absolutely fine."
"Of course I'll give you a helping claw Rarity." Spike replied a grin adorning his face. With that said Spike and Rarity said their goodbyes and headed out.
"So what else can you do eh Ryan?" Dash said.
"Well Dash, levitating objects and ponies is all I can do for now, seeing as how I don't know any other spells." I said. Whilst thinking what sort of spells I would try next.
With that said I then found my vision filled with the color pink, as I realized Pinkie's muzzle was mere centimeters away from my face. I then had my ear drums filled with Pinkie's voice. "Can you levitate me!!" This managed to get me to fall back onto my rear. "Oh sorry about that Ryan." Pinkie said offering me hoof to help me up.
Taking her hoof in my hand I pulled myself up. "No problem Pinkie. Also sure I'll levitate you, but you have to stand still for a few seconds. Think you can do that." She then gave me a very excited nod. "Okay then now stand still."
I then repeated the same actions that I did for levitating Twilight, but I decided to keep my eyes open. I then saw that thin tendrils were snaking out from the gems on my gloves and wrapping around Pinkie lifting her up into the air. I then looked around to see that AJ was looking up at Pinkie in wonder. I then raised my left hand towards AJ seeing the same indigo blue tendrils snake around her lifting her into the air.
"What the hay?" AJ said as she floated up next to Pinkie. The pink mare giving AJ a wave as she floated beside her friend.
"Simple AJ you looked like you wanted to float as well." I said as a bead of sweat dripped down my fore head. After a few seconds I lowered the two to the ground.
"OhmygoshRyanthatwassomuchfun." Pinkie said at a rate where I could barely understand what she was saying.
"Yeah thanks fer that sugar cube, that was quite fun." AJ said patting me on the back.
"You're welcome you too." It was then I noticed the time.
Twilight noticed the time as well. "So girls will you be staying for dinner or not." Twilight asked the other ponies present.
"Sorry Twily but I gotta go help the cakes." Pinkie said making her way towards the door giving Twilight and I a hug.
"Yeah I still got a few chores to do around the farm." AJ then proceeded to give us a tip of her hat before joining Pinkie at the door.
"Yeah sorry Twi but I gotta get up early tomorrow." With that Rainbow joined the expanding party that was gathered around the door.
"I have to go home and feed Angel and the others, maybe some other time Twilight." Fluttershy said before moving to the door.
After a quick exchange of goodbyes, the others were gone heading back to their homes.
I then turned around to Twilight. "So what's for dinner?" |
Another human in Equestria fic | A setup for a wedding. | A couple of days had passed since showing the Elements that I could control magic. To celebrate my (Self Proclaimed) mastery of levitation, Twilight, managed to get one up on Pinkie and invited us all for a picnic on the edge of Ponyville.
"Well every-pony it's glad to see that you could all make it today, to celebrate Ryan's mastery of levitation spells." Twilight said. Pinkie then fired off her party cannon when Twilight had finished speaking.
"Well thanks for that Twilight. Anyway as Twilight said thanks for you guys for showing up, I know it's only for the free food." I said managing to get a few chuckles from the ponies.
The small chuckles were broken up when Spike started coughing. After a few coughs a tongue of flame came out of his mouth, and out of the green fire dropped a scroll. Twilight immediately caught the scroll in her magic.
She then decided to give the scroll a quick read before a look of shock appeared on her muzzle. "Hey Twilight what's on the scroll." I asked wondering what caused her to be shocked. In response she floated the scroll over to me. I then took that as my cue to read it out.
"Dear Twilight Sparkle. I have the utmost pleasure to invite you and your friends to your brother Shining Armor's wedding."
"Wait Twilight you have a brother?!" Dash said interrupting my reading of the letter.
"Yes I do Dash. I'll tell you about him when Ryan's done reading the letter."
I then decided to pick up where I left off. "Fortunately you and your friends will be able to assist in the wedding preparations. For Fluttershy I ask for her to provide music with a bird choir. For Applejack she will help provide catering. For Pinkie Pie she will be planning the reception and after-party. For Rainbow Dash she will be providing a Sonic Rainboom for when the wedding ceremony is complete. For yourself you will be organizing the event. For Rarity she will be making the dresses for the bride and bridesmaids. Unfortunately, Ryan will not be able to help with the wedding, as my sister and I wish to speak to him about how his controlling of magic is going. Please send back a reply as soon as possible. Hope you can attend the wedding of Shining Armor and Princess Mi Amore Cadenza. Sincerely Princess Celestia." I then rolled up the scroll. "So Twilight why haven't you told us about your brother." I asked the unicorn who was wearing a face of shock.
"Okay then. Well the reason I haven't told any of you about Shining, is because I never thought I would need to, seeing as how he still lives in Canterlot as captain of the day guard." She said.
"Really Twilight well that's surprising." I said to her.
"How is that surprising?" She asked. By the looks on the other ponies faces they wanted to know my answer as well.
"Well the whole time I was at Canterlot I didn't run into him. You think he would try to find me." I explained.
"Okay then. Anyway I still mad that he hasn't come to tell me himself, that he's getting married to this Princess Mi Amore Cadenza." Saying Cadenza's name in a harsh sarcastic tone.
"Well anyway aside from your brother not telling you that he's getting married. You can't deny that this is simply romantic." With that said Rarity gave a slight swoon. She then righted herself, as a look of realization dawned on her face. "Well then if we have been invited to this wedding we need to get ready." Rarity then turned to me. "Ryan if I may borrow you for a short while unless you need to grab stuff for the wedding."
That managed to get me to pause for a moment, thinking about whether or not I needed to pack anything. "No I don't think I'll need to pack anything Rarity. What did you have in mind?"
"Well if you don't mind I need you to come with me back to the boutique. As I have finished your suit, and I want to know what you think about it." She said as she turned back towards Ponyville.
AJ decided to speak up. "Well then how about this we all go get ready fer the wedding, and when we're ready we all meet at the train station." This managed to get a round of agreements from the other ponies, as we all walked back to Ponyville.
After a few minutes Rarity and I arrived at her boutique, she then showed me to a changing room.
"Your suit is in there waiting for you dear." Rarity said pointing to the door of the changing room.
After putting my suit on I walked back out into the main room of the boutique where Rarity had set up a mirror.
When I looked at myself in the mirror I saw just how awesome Rarity was at making clothes.
At first glance the suit looked like a regular black jacket with a white under shirt, as well as a pair of black pants and black leather shoes. But upon closer inspection a small blue and red trim could be seen on the edge of the black jacket, the trim was also on the edge of the tie. On the undershirt's front pocket was Rarity's cutie mark.
"Holy crap Rarity." Were the only words I could say at seeing this suit.
"So I'll take that you like it." Rarity said.
I then turned around and pulled the seamstress into a hug. After putting her down I spoke up once again. "Rarity to say that I like this suit is an understatement. I love it."
"Well you're very welcome dear." It was then that Rarity noticed that I had pulled out my bit bag. "Darling you don't have to pay for your suit."
"Rarity just wondering how much would I have to pay for this suit?" I asked hoping she would answer my question.
She then pulled out a calculator and entered some numbers, muttering prices under her breath. "Well darling, I'd say about 100 bits why?"
"Well how about we make a compromise, seeing as how you don't want me to pay and I'm not letting you get away with making me a suit and not accepting my money, I'll give you half of what I would originally have to pay."
"So you would pay me 50 bits, instead of 100." I then gave her a nod in response. She then decided to start packing her things. "Well then dear I guess I could accept that deal, but on one condition."
"What's the condition?" I asked wondering what she could be planning.
"Simple darling the next time I make something for you, you don't ask to pay me." She said. Giving me a smug smile.
"Okay then Rarity I accept your conditions." I said holding my hand out to her, she then placed her hoof in my hand and we then shook on the deal. "Well I best go get changed out of my suit, the others are probably waiting for us."
I then turned back towards the changing room, before I could forget I placed the 50 bits I owed Rarity on the counter next to her cash register.
A few hours had passed since I had received my new suit from Rarity. We had arrived in Canterlot much to my dismay the train dropped us off in the upper district of Canterlot, (Y'know the one with all the snooty nobles.) as we got off the train we noticed all of the extra security.
"What do y'all think's with the extra guards?" AJ asked.
"Well Applejack darling, it is a royal wedding the extra security is probably for the wedding." Rarity said giving AJ an answer.
With that said Twilight started storming off towards the castle.
"Hey where's Twilight storming off to?" Dash said pointing to where Twilight was walking off the platform.
"I'll go grab her." I then turned around to Spike. "Spike you know where you and Twilight's old room at Canterlot is?" Spike then gave me a nod. "Okay cool well I need you to take the others there." I then turned to follow Twilight off the platform before I realized something else I needed to tell Spike. "Oh Spike, don't go into the room until me and Twilight meet you there okay." Spike then gave me a look of confusion before nodding, and with that clarified I then followed Twilight.
Thankfully Twilight had rushed through the upper district, making me rush through it as well to catch up with her. "Twilight wait up!" I said as I managed to catch up with her.
"Shining Armor I need to talk to you!" As soon as Twilight yelled out that singular sentence ten guards appeared on top of a nearby wall, each of them wore the armor of the day guard and they were all pointing spears at us.
As soon as the guards appeared I swear my heart stopped. Luckily for my heart it restarted when an alabaster unicorn appeared on top of the wall. "Twily!" He yelled down to us after a moment of calming the guards down he then jumped down to us.
"Don't you Twily me mister." Twilight said staring down the unicorn.
"Okay then. What did I do wrong?" The unicorn asked. He then gestured for us to follow him.
We then found ourselves on a small stone walkway. "What you did wrong! Well let me tell you. First of all, you get married without even telling me yourself. Secondly your getting married to this Princess Mi Amor Cadenza who exactly is that anyway!" Twilight said whilst steam was pouring out of her ears in anger.
"Twily calm down. Princess Mi Amor Cadena is your old foal-sitter Cadance." At this he gestured to a pink alicorn who was standing on the opposite end of the stone walkway.
"Cadance!" Twilight exclaimed, before doing a dance in front of the princess.
Cadance backed a few steps away from Twilight. "Heh hello there who are you?"
A look of confusion spread across Twilight's face. "Cadance it's me Twilight, your favorite foal to look after."
With that said a look of realization spread across Cadance's face. "Oh yes Twilight, it's good to see you again after so long. Sorry if I forgot you there for a second, it's just been so many years since I last saw you." She then looked over Twilight directly at me. Then glanced at the unicorn who noticed Cadance was looking at me.
"Sorry for my rudeness but who are you?" The unicorn asked me.
"Oh well the name's Ryan, and you would be?" I asked him holding my hand out, after placing his hoof in my hand I proceeded to shake his hoof.
"Shining Armor's my name, and forgive me if I'm wrong but you're the human that Princess Celestia was talking about?"
"Yep that's me." I said flashing him a grin. I then looked over to Cadance and gave her a bow. "Forgive my manners Princess Cadance a pleasure and honor to meet you."
"You're forgiven, but if it isn't too much to ask I need to steal Shining here away from you, wedding plans and such."
I then turned to Twilight as the princess and Shining left. "C'mon Twi let's go catch up with the others."
With that said we headed off. As we entered the castle Orion spoke up.
"So was that the queen bug or the real Cadance?"
'That would be the queen bug, the real Cadance would have shared that dance with Twilight.' I thought, seeing as how he could hear my thoughts and I didn't want to seem like a weirdo talking to myself, and for now I didn't want anyone except the royal sisters knowing about Orion.
"So what are we gonna do to stop her invasion?" Orion asked itching at the idea of getting in a fight.
'We're not doing anything.'
"What?! How come?" He asked a slight amount of irritation in his voice.
'I have a plan okay, just trust me.'
"Well seeing as how you're the one controlling this body, sure I'll trust you." With that said Orion proceeded to quiet down as we arrived outside Twilight's old room.
"Hey girls, what are you all doing out here?" Twilight asked the others.
"Well Ryan told us to wait out here for you guys." Spike said.
"Yeah why did you get Spike to keep us waiting out here Ryan?" Dash asked.
I then proceeded to knock on the door loudly, after a few seconds I walked in side the room. Once I was in the center of the room I was tackled by Trixie.
"Hey Trixie good to see you again." I said as the mare nuzzled my chest.
"Good to see you too Ryan." It was then Trixie looked up to see the other ponies staring at us their jaws agape, all except for Dash who was trying her hardest to try and contain her laughter.
Trixie then hopped off of me and composed herself. "Hey Trixie, it's great to see you again." Twilight said.
"Good to see you as well Twilight Sparkle." Trixie said as Twilight looked around her old room.
"I see you have found me and Spike's old room."
"Yes I have, I hope you don't mind me moving into it." Trixie said with a sheepish smile.
"Not at all Trixie, not at all."
"Well sorry to interrupt you two but I have a question." I said getting the attention of the mares.
"What would that be Ryan?" Trixie asked.
"Well do you know where Celestia is? I need to talk to her."
"I know where she is." This new voice managed to catch us all of guard. We turned our heads to see a unicorn mare standing in the door way. This unicorn seemed familiar to me, her white coat, dark brown mane, black rimmed glasses and an ink pen and inkwell for her cutie mark. It then occurred to me that I had occasionally seen Celestia talking to this pony, from time to time when I was last in Canterlot.
"Hello Raven, it's good to see you again." Twilight said greeting Raven.
"It's good to see you as well Miss Twilight." Raven then turned her gaze to the rest of us. "Forgive me for the lack of introductions. My name is Raven I am Princess Celestia's advisor and assistant."
"Well pleasure to meet you miss Raven. Please forgive my bluntness but you did say you knew where Celestia was right?" I asked wanting to find and talk to Celestia as soon as I could.
"Why yes I can take you to her." She then turned back to Twilight. "I believe that you will be able to show your friends where exactly they will be working to help with the wedding." Twilight then gave a nod to Raven in response. "Well then Ryan if you will follow me please."
Before we left the room I looked over to Twilight and spoke up. "Hey Twilight how about we meet up somewhere and get something to eat tonight."
"Um sure thing Ryan, that would probably help us relax." She then turned to Trixie. "Trixie would you like to join us."
"Um sure thing Twilight. If you guys don't mind I would like to get some sleep, Princess Luna does like to keep me up a bit later than what I'm used to." With that said we left Trixie to get some sleep in her room. Raven then led me away from the others.
After a few minutes of walking Raven and I arrived outside two large oak wood doors, two unicorn day guards were standing on either side of the doors. As we approached the doors swung open inwards. Unfortunately for me I didn't notice this and I ran straight into a male unicorn.
He was a light grey unicorn with a cyan blue mane and tale, as I helped him up off the floor I noticed that he was wearing a monocle and tux with a purple bow tie, his cutie mark was three crowns in a pyramid shape.
"Oh so sorry about that I really should've been watching where I was going." I said as I helped him dust himself off.
"No problem, no problem at all. It happens to the best of us." He then looked up at me a look of shock crossing his face, his shock was as gone as soon as it came. "I'm guessing that you are the visitor from another world that Princess Celestia has told me about." He then held out a hoof. "Name's Fancy Pants, and you are?" He asked as I shook his hoof.
"Name's Ryan, pleasure to meet you Fancy. Unfortunately, I have to see Celestia." I said a sheepish grin on my face as I walked into the throne room.
"Well hopefully we'll meet again Ryan." With that said the doors closed behind me.
I found that Raven hadn't followed me into the throne room. "Good to see you're here Ryan." Celestia said as she hopped off her throne and walked towards me, I decided to save her a bit of trouble and met her in the middle. She then decided to pull me into a hug.
"Good to see you too Celestia." I said as she let go. "So I've met the loving bride and groom. So has Twilight and she wants to know why Shining couldn't tell Twilight about the wedding himself."
"Can you keep a secret Ryan?" That caught me by surprise I gave Celestia a nod in response. "The reason why Shining was unable to tell Twilight about the wedding was because he was too busy."
"Busy with what?" I asked.
"Ryan, a threat has been made against Canterlot."
"What do you mean?" I asked wondering what the threat was.
"A note was sent to me and my sister threatening Canterlot."
"Okay then that would explain the shield that we saw on the train."
"That shield is Shining Armor's work, he recommended we put up a magical barricade in case of something sneaking past the guard."
"So why not cancel the wedding and wait for the threat to pass?"
"Because the populace of Canterlot believes that the added security is for the wedding, the last thing we need is rumors spreading of a threat against Canterlot, the populace would panic and I believe whoever made this threat wanted to sow the seeds of panic and chaos."
"Whoa that is... wow." I said still wrapping my head around what Celestia had just said.
"Quite a lot to take in all at once isn't it?" She then looked towards one of the paned windows. "Anyway, Twilight has written to me saying that you've taken to using magic quite quickly. If I may ask what have you learnt? But before you show me let me say this you are aloud to tell Twilight and her friends about this little conundrum."
It was then I decided to have a bit of mischief. Luckily for me I was wearing my gloves. I then reached out with my magic and lifted Celestia a few feet off the ground.
"So I'm guessing you know a bit about levitation spells." She said looking down at me from her new position floating in the air.
"How could you tell?" I said as I decided to make her do a barrel roll mid air.
"Might have something to do with how I'm spinning mid air."
"Maybe." I then noticed a door open out of the corner of my eye.
"Good morning sister, how has morning court been?" She then looked up to see her sister rotating mid air. "Umm should I ask what is happening in here?"
A wide grin spread across my face as I reached out with my magic and made Luna levitate in the same manner as her sister.
"Nothing much Luna. Just showing your sister what spells I've learnt." I then looked down to see that the main gems on my gloves were slowly losing their blue coloration.
I then decided to stop my fun and lowered the two princesses to the floor. I then fell onto my rear panting from exhaustion at levitating and spinning two fully grown alicorns.
"Ryan art thou alright?" Luna said as she trotted up to me placing a wing around my back.
"Yeah I'm fine, just a bit winded from levitating you and your sister."
I then looked up to see that Celestia had summoned a glass of water, and levitated it over to me, after giving my thanks I drank down the water.
It was then that I noticed that it had started to get late the sun had started to set.
"Wow time sure flies when you're levitating princesses. Look I'm sorry but I gotta get going I told the others that I would meet up with them before the wedding." I then got up and gave the princesses a hug before moving towards the large doors. With a wave goodbye I left the throne room.
After a while and some help from some maids, butlers and a few guards, I managed to figure out where the elements were.
After walking through the upper district of Canterlot I found the store where Twilight and the others were sitting outside of a Donut Joe's.
"Hey guys, how's it going?" I said taking a seat next to Trixie.
"Hey Ryan. Nothing much has been happening really, well except for Twilight getting the crazy idea that Cadance really isn't who she says to be." Dash said.
"But it isn't a crazy idea. That really isn't Cadance, she's an imposter!" Twilight said slamming her head on the table.
"Okay before I ask why you think that she is an imposter, I need to tell you all something, something that you have to promise not to tell any-pony else okay." That managed to get the ponies to say that they won't tell anybody. "Okay then well Twilight the reason that Shining couldn't tell you in person about the wedding is because a threat has been made against Canterlot, and he's been busy." This managed to get a few gasps from the group of ponies. "Okay then Twilight go ahead with what you were saying."
After a few seconds Twilight managed to realize what she wanted to say. "Okay then Ryan, the reasons why I think that Cadance is an imposter are. Number 1: She didn't like Applejack's cooking."
"No that's actually my fault Twi, I didn't make those fritters properly so Cadance saved me the embarrassment of the fritters not being made properly." AJ cut in.
"Okay then reason number 2: She insulted on of your birds Fluttershy."
"Well Fredrick was a bit off key and thanks to her criticism he's gotten better." Fluttershy cut in.
"Well then number 3: She made you re-make her bridesmaid dresses." Twilight said pointing a hoof at Rarity.
"Well the stitching wasn't at it's best and it could've torn on the big day." Rarity said defending Cadance.
"Okay then the fourth reason: Her attitude wasn't like the Cadance I remember, and she didn't even remember me when I met her today."
I decided to cut in at this point. "Look Twilight she's probably stressing over the wedding, which would explain her poor attitude. As for her not remembering you she said it herself it's been quite a few years since she last saw you."
A look of realization dawned on Twilight's face. "Yeah you're all probably right. Maybe I should go apologize to her."
"Probably for the best Twilight." I said.
After giving us a quick goodbye Twilight ran off towards the castle.
"We shouldn't have encouraged her mate." Orion said as Twilight ran off into the distance.
'We need to set things in motion, as much as I don't want to do that.' With that thought delivered I decided to enjoy eating donuts with my friends. |
Another human in Equestria fic | A canterlot wedding and after-party (Sorry couldn't think of an original name.) | I woke up the next morning finding myself in Trixie's room on the lower floor. I still remember Trixie saying that if I ever came to Canterlot I could sleep on the lower floor. I decided to get up and get ready for the wedding.
After having a quick shower, I changed into some regular clothes, seeing as how the wedding wasn't going to start until the afternoon and I still had a few hours to spare. My stomach decided on what I should do next, as it let out a loud growl of hunger.
"Well off to have breakfast I guess. Wonder if Celestia's at the dining hall." I said aloud to myself as I walked quietly upstairs and out front door hoping not to wake Trixie.
After a few minutes I arrived at the dining hall. I entered after giving the guards on duty a greeting I found that Moonlight was sitting at the table.
"Hey Moonlight, how's it going?" I asked the thestral as I took a seat next to her.
"Good morning Ryan. I'm going well, how about you?" She asked turning to look at me.
When I looked into her slitted amber eyes, I could have sworn I lost myself in her eyes. I was quickly torn from my thoughts as I realized that someone was talking to me.
"Sir what would you like for breakfast?" The voice asked. I looked across the table to see Silver Platter standing on the other side of the table looking at me and Moonlight.
"Um, just some bacon and eggs please." With that said Silver gave us a bow and trotted off into the kitchen.
I then turned back to see Moonlight looking at me with interest.
"So Ryan, do you enjoy staring into a mare's eyes." Moonlight said in a slightly sultry tone.
This caused my face to erupt in a blush. "S-sorry Moonlight. I didn't mean to stare."
"It's alright Ryan. Thestrals can have that affect on ponies." She explained as my breakfast appeared on the table in front of me.
Before I could say my thanks Silver was gone.
"So Ryan, are you attending the wedding?" Moonlight asked me as I was eating my breakfast.
After swallowing what bacon and eggs were in my mouth I gave her my answer. "Yeah I am. What about you Moonlight?"
"Unfortunately I cannot, Mother Sol has assigned me and my lieutenant Nightblade will be guarding Lady Noctis whilst she rests." She explained.
"Really well that's a bit disappointing." I said to the thestral as I dived back into my breakfast.
"Well if it makes you feel any better, I will be attending the after party." That managed to get my spirits to rise quite a bit. "I'm sorry to eat and run but I must go Ryan." With that she stood up and moved towards the door. "See you at the after party."
"See you then Moonlight." I said giving her a wave goodbye as she left through the oak doors.
After finishing my breakfast, I then realized I needed to go to the castle's cathedral, for the practice wedding. Celestia thought it would be a good idea to give us a run down on what would happen during the wedding. After leaving the dining room I made my way towards the cathedral, as I turned a corner the cathedral's doors came into view at the end of the hallway.
Orion decided to speak up. "So you're really looking forward to seeing Moonlight at the after party. No doubt your hoping she'll show up in a nice red dress. Then you'll ask her to slow dance with you. Love is a beautiful and horrible thing." Orion said annoying me.
'Oh shut up Orion. I got more important things to worry about, than your stupid ramblings.' I thought to the crazed voice in my head.
"Fine then I'll be quiet but if I start laughing it's probably because of one reason."
'And what would that reason be?' I wondered curious as to what he was going to be laughing at.
"Simple you ignoring Twilight when she looks to you and the others to back up her feeling towards the fake Cadance." He said cackling as my mind took in what he said.
I decided to ignore what he said and entered the cathedral finding that every-pony was here except for Twilight.
"Ah Ryan good to see you're here." Celestia said as she noticed me enter. She then turned back to the bride and groom who were standing at the altar. "Now then where were we. Ah yes. Well I'll ask you to both say your vows and then I will have Spike present the rings." She then gestured to Spike who was standing behind Shining, somehow Spike had managed to get himself a small tuxedo with a matching top hat. He was holding the rings on a small pillow. Celestia then brought everyone's attention back to herself. "Then I will pronounce you, stallion and wife."
It was then I decided to cut in. "Um Princess Cadance, where are your bridesmaids?" I asked the princess.
"Well Ryan. It turns out my old bridesmaids only wanted the position for the fame, so I replaced them with Twilight's friends." She then gestured to the rest of the mane six.
It was at that moment Twilight burst through the cathedral doors. "Shining get away from her!" Twilight yelled gesturing to Cadance and Shining.
"Oh boy." AJ muttered under her breath, as Twilight stormed angrily towards the altar.
"Twilight what do you mean?" Shining said as Twilight stood on the altar next to him.
"This isn't the real Cadance. She's an imposter!" This managed to get looks of shock across the ponies faces.
"Twilight what would make you think that this isn't the real Cadance?" Shining asked his sister as she turned on Cadance.
"Because when I went to go talk to you last night, I saw her zapping you with a green beam of light." She said back Cadance into a corner.
Shining decided to interrupt his sister's accusation. "Twilight, the reason for Cadance zapping me last night was because maintaining the shield around Canterlot causes me to get migraines. The spell Cadance was using on me helps with my migraines."
"Okay then explain why she has been treating my friends so poorly." Twilight then turned back to glare and give a slight growl at Cadance
Cadance then broke into a crying fit, catching us all off guard. "Why are you so mean to me?" Cadance said between sobs as she ran past Twilight and out of the cathedral.
Shining then glared at Twilight. "Great work Twilight. You can't even take into consideration that I'm happy with Cadance, all you care about is the fact that Cadance is acting differently from how she used to act. Now if you'll excuse me I have to go comfort my fiancee." He then started angrily trotting towards the doors, before stopping before the doors. "Oh and Twilight, don't bother showing up to the wedding, you're no longer my best mare." With that said Shining rushed out after Cadance.
Twilight then looked between her friends as they had looks of disappointment on their faces. They then decided to follow Shining out of the cathedral. As Celestia walked past Twilight she said something that made me freeze in shock for a few seconds. "I'm not angry at you Twilight Sparkle, but I am disappointed." With that said Celestia left leaving me and Twilight left in the cathedral she then looked to me a few tears in her eyes. Before she could say anything I turned around and left her.
As I left I could hear her collapse onto the floor and begin crying.
Orion then spoke up. "Wow. It's one thing to see that happen in the show but to see it happen in person. I'm speechless. I can only imagine how you feel." With that I decided to follow Shining and the others, as I walked down the hall I noticed Cadance slip back into the cathedral out of the corner of my eye.
Part of me wanted to go and stop the imposter from sending Twilight into the crystal caves, but I needed to keep walking and follow my plan. No matter how much it made me hate myself.
After a few minutes of walking I found myself in the Canterlot gardens. Shining Armor was alone sitting on a bench in the gardens, his head tilted towards the sky as he watched the clouds drift by.
His ears twitched when I walked over to him, he took notice of me almost immediately. "Oh it's you. What do you want?" He asked a slight amount of harshness lacing his words. I couldn't help but wince at the harshness of his words, something he didn't fail to pick up on. "Oh sorry, I didn't mean to sound angry at you it's just..."
He paused. I decided to change the conversation. "How's your head doing? Y'know with all the migraines and headaches." I asked him as I sat next to him on the bench.
"Well thanks to Cadance I'm getting better." He then tilted his head back so he could get back to his cloud watching.
"Hey Shining, you wanna talk about what just happened? 'Cause if you don't want to that's fine."
He let out a groan before turning his gaze to me, he then gave me a small chuckle before speaking again. "I guess I couldn't avoid it forever. To tell you the truth Ryan I don't know what to do. I've gone and told Twilight not to bother coming to my own wedding." He then gave me a look of desperation. "Ryan please tell me you can help."
"Hmm. Well how about this, you continue with the wedding." I said with a forceful smile on my face.
"Okay then, but I don't have a best stallion."
"How about me?" I said gesturing to myself.
"You why would I. Y'know what sure thing you're my best stallion."
"Um technically I'd be your best man, seeing as how I'm a human and not a pony." Shining then gave me an unamused look. "Oh would you look at the time we best go get ready for the wedding." I said. That managed to get Shining to look up before a look of panic crossed his face before he jumped off the bench.
"Yeah your right. Well do you know what to do?"
"Plan your bachelor party."
"Too late for that." He deadpanned.
"Okay then." I said disappointed, whilst another part of my mind wondered how a pony bachelor party would work, a question to ask Shining later. "Well what I do is stand next to you during the wedding, then at the after party I make a speech."
"Yes that's all you have to do." With that said he began trotting off towards the castle, before stopping in place turning around to face me. "You do have a tuxedo right?"
"Yes I do." With that said he dashed off into the castle. I then decided to head bac to my room and get changed into my tux.
An hour later I was standing on the wedding altar next to a very nervous Shining Armor.
I placed a hand on his shoulder as we waited for Cadance's arrival. "Shining mate calm down okay. You're getting married to the mare of your dreams, she's probably as nervous as you right now."
That managed to calm him down quite a bit. He turned his head around to face me as I took my hand off his shoulder. "Thanks Ryan, I needed that."
"Hey that's what I'm here for as your best man, someone's gotta keep you from diving out a window in the middle of your vows."
Before Shining could give me a reply, the organ player began playing 'Here Comes the Bride.' Through the large double doors came Cadance trotting up to the altar.
When she arrived at the altar her and Shining shared a look at each other as Celestia began with the long process of wedding these two ponies.
After about half an hour, Celestia had finally come to the conclusion of the wedding.
"If any-pony wishes to voice their opinions as to why these two ponies should not be wed speak up now or forever hold your peace." As soon as Celestia spoke those words the doors to the cathedral were blasted open by Twilight Sparkle.
She then rushed in followed by what looked to be be a beaten up Princess Cadance. The ragged princess managed to get every-pony in the room to look between the real deal and the imposter on the altar.
"Stop the wedding!" The ragged Cadance yelled out. "That isn't the real Cadance, that is an imposter!" This managed to get the ponies in attendance to let out gasps of shock. "She's a changeling queen. The changelings are a race of creature's that change their forms to feed off of love generated by ponies."
At this the imposter let out an evil cackle. "It seems that some-pony finally managed to figure it out." With that said a ring of green fire enveloped the imposter. From the fiery embers came the queen of the changelings in her true form.
At this ponies began to run out of the room in panic.
Celestia saw that her ponies were in danger, and she jumped in front of the changeling queen charging up her horn. "Surrender now changeling queen, or you will be waking up in the dungeons."
"You think that you scare me Celestia, because you don't." The changeling queen then fired up her horn a shot a green beam at Celestia. In a blinding flash of light Celestia countered the queen's magical laser.
A bead of sweat could be seen running down Celestia's fore head as she forced the queen's laser back towards her. In a quick second the queen suddenly found a second burst of magical strength flowed through her body, as she forced Celestia's yellow ray of magic back into her horn.
In a large flash of green light Celestia flew through the air towards the doors to the cathedral. She then landed on the ground sliding to a halt in the middle of the room the top of her horn was burnt. The elements immediately gathered around the fallen princess as she told them something only they could hear, after a few moments the elements ran out of the cathedral door.
With that done the changeling queen struck a victorious pose. Cadance then spoke up. "You do know you won't win."
The changeling queen turned around to see Cadance approaching her, before Cadance could get any closer the queen levitated Shining Armor up into the air and threw him at Cadance. "Of course I will win. Your guard can't do anything to stop me seeing as how my hive has already broken through dear Shining Armor's shield." With that said her horn glowed and the windows around the room shattered and changelings flew through the shattered windows.
In a few seconds Cadance and Shining were bound to each other by some sort of green goo that the changeling's spat out. Whilst Cadance and Shining were being tied up, Celestia was being wrapped in a cocoon. Spike was also trapped in the same goo.
I then realized that I was very thirsty and I walked over to the snack table and poured myself a glass of punch. After finishing my glass of punch I looked over too the changelings as they finished wrapping Celestia in a cocoon.
I then fell over onto my rear into a fit of laughter. This managed to capture the eyes of every-pony and changeling look at me. "What are you laughing at?" The changeling queen asked me.
"Oh sorry it's just funny that you made Celestia into a popsicle." I then decided to get off my rear and approach the queen before I could get within two meters of the queen, two changelings landed in front of me blocking me off from reaching the queen. "Whoa calm down you two I'm not going to hurt your queen."
After a few seconds the queen let out a few chirps and clicks, the changelings then gave the queen a quick bow and moved out of my way.
"Thanks for that." I then dropped down onto my knee bowing my head to the changeling queen.
"Hmm so you have manners I see. You may rise."
I then followed the orders of the changeling queen, rising off of my knee. "So may I please ask you a question my queen?"
"You may."
"What would be your name?"
"My name Is Queen Chrysalis Bladequeen."
"Well then Queen Chrysalis, may I say it is a pleasure to meet you." I then turned around to see that Shining and Cadance were staring at me their jaws agape.
"What the heck Ryan?! Why are you bowing to that thing?! You're meant to be our ally you traitor!" Shining yelled at me.
"Shiny why do you call me a 'Thing' I thought I was your one true love." Chrysalis said stroking his cheek.
"Get away from me!" Shining said to Chrysalis, flinching away from her touch.
"Fine then." Chrysalis then shifted her gaze back to me. "Wait a second I've just realized you aren't under my mind control spell."
"No I'm not." I said. Noticing Cadance and Shining's looks of shock.
After a few seconds the doors to the cathedral swung open as the mane six were pulled into the cathedral, a small swarm of changelings accompanied them. After they were properly secured to the floor in changeling goo Chrysalis addressed them.
"So you six are the oh so powerful elements of harmony." At this Chrysalis let out a short laugh. "So much for being Equestria's best defense against the forces of evil."
"How about you let us go and you'll see how good we are at kicking evil's flank." Dash spat at Chrysalis.
The elements then noticed that I wasn't in any goo. "Ryan what are y'all doin grab her!" AJ yelled out to me, as I was inspecting the cocooned Celestia.
"Hey Queen Chrysalis, do you have a stick?" I asked the changeling queen as she walked up to me.
"How come?" She asked, I could see the confusion spread across her face as she asked this.
"I don't know why but looking at Celestia like this I feel like smashing open a pinata." With that said two things happened over the next few seconds. The first was that the ponies present let out gasps of shock and horror at what I said. The second thing was that Chrysalis fell onto her side in a fit of laughter.
"Ryan why are you saying that?!" Twilight exclaimed at me.
"Because Twilight Sparkle he is allied with me." Chrysalis stated, she the looked to me. "Aren't you Ryan?"
"I guess I am." With my answer delivered the ponies in the room wore faces of disbelief and horror.
Whilst the mane six were trying to wrap their heads around what I said, Shining looked into Cadance's eyes.
"Well if we are about to be conquered by changelings at least I got to spend the invasion next to the pony I love."
"Aww that's so sweet." Cadance said before pulling Shining into a kiss. "And I'm glad I got to be glued to you as well Shining."
As Cadance said this a pink light started to envelop their horns. After a few seconds the pink light enveloped the two ponies, when the light disappeared Shining and Cadance had all of the changeling goo removed from their bodies. After a few more seconds their horns started to glow again emanating a strobe light effect.
I looked to my side to see Chrysalis backing away from the two lovers as the pulsing light started to quicken its pulses. "No, no this can't be. No pony should be emanating that much love energy."
My brain immediately went into overdrive as I worked on the next part of my plan. I dove straight at the closest changeling tackling him to the ground, unfortunately I couldn't get a good enough grip on him and he slipped out of my grasp.
Before he could even wonder why I had tried to grab him, Shining and Cadance's love bomb went off. The next thing I knew as I looked around the changelings in the room were flung out of the windows Chrysalis' screams as she flew through the air could be heard. I then decided to get off the floor and look out one of the windows to see the changeling swarm be flung away from Canterlot, I then looked down at my fee to see the changeling that I had grabbed had collided into a wall instead of being flung out a window, and from what I could tell his chitin was severely cracked and broken in multiple places.
"Hey Ryan, is it just me or did you also think that Chrysalis was really beautiful." Orion said.
Before I could give him an answer, I heard someone approaching me from behind. I turned to see that Shining Armor was walking up to me, his horn was glowing a faint light pink aura surrounding his horn. "Hey Shining how's it..." I never got to finish my sentence as Shining hit me with a knockout spell.
I awoke to find that I was in a hospital bed, I sat up taking in my surroundings it was then I noticed that two guards were giving me the stink eye from their positions at the door to the room. I looked to my right to see that a curtain was hanging around a bed I could make out some shadows that were plastered across the curtain.
After a few moments a familiar figure walked out from behind the curtain. "Good to see you again Miss Redheart." I said to the nurse who jumped a bit not noticing that I was awake.
"Good to see you again Ryan, how are you feeling?" She asked.
After a few seconds I gave my answer. "Well I feel fine. But I'm quite confused to tell you the truth."
"Well I could try to answer any questions you have." She admitted, a comforting smile on her face.
"Okay then. First question: how did I get here." I asked gesturing to the room I was in.
"Ah well, Shining Armor hit you with a stun spell, normally you would have gone to the dungeons or a locked room, but Shining didn't plan on your head smashing into bit of debris when you hit the ground." She explained. It was then that I noticed that I had a bandage wrapped around my fore head.
"Oh thanks for the bandage then. Second question: Who's behind the curtain." I asked pointing behind Redheart to the curtain.
"Well that would be an injured changeling, a changeling that was at your feet when Shining Armor knocked you out. His chitin is quite badly beaten and broken after Shining and Cadance cast their love spell forcing the changelings out of Canterlot, all except the one behind that curtain, who apparently was smashed into a wall by the love spell." She explained.
"Okay then, also thanks for that. Third question can I go?"
At this one of the two guards decided to answer for Redheart. "No you cannot, we are under strict orders from captain Armor to keep you here until his is done with his wedding."
"Oh yeah, and what's to keep me from levitating you two out of the way." It was then I noticed that whilst I was still in my tux my gloves were missing. "Okay you two where are my gloves?"
The other guard decided to step in. "The captain has them. After his sister explained to him what they were he took them off you. If I remember correctly, he said he was going to be hanging onto them." He said with a smirk adorning his face.
Before I could reply to him yelling could be heard from behind the door to the room. From the sounds of it, it sounded like someone was speaking Italian, or at least some pony version of Italian. It was then I noticed the guards move away from the door.
I then found out why as the door was kicked open from the outside. On the other side of the door was a very angry looking Moonlight. As she entered a thestral stallion followed in behind her.
I decided to remember what I had learnt from an Italian teacher I had in high school, barely managing to remember the Italian word for hello. "Ciao Miss Moonlight, who's your friend?" I asked her casually.
Her anger disappeared as soon as she heard me speak Italian. "Wait you know how to speak Thestrali." She asked me.
"Thestrali what's that?" I asked confused as to what Thestrali was.
"Thestrali is the native tongue of thestrals."
"Oh well, I wasn't speaking Thestrali, but I guess that's what you ponies call Italian. Anyway you still haven't answered my question who's your friend?" I asked pointing at the male thestral who was talking to Redheart about what I guessed to be the changeling behind the curtain.
"Oh that's my lieutenant, Nightblade." At the mention of his name, he turned around and walked over to us.
When he was close enough he started whispering something into Moonlight's ear, he decided to speak in Thestrali so that no one could understand what he was saying. When he was done Moonlight pondered what he had said and gave him a quick nod.
Nightblade then noticed that I was looking at him with my hand stretched out towards him. He gave my hand a look of confusion before it crossed his mind what to do, after placing his hoof in my hand I then gave it a quick shake. With him being this close I took in his features.
His coat was as black as the night sky, his mane and tail were dark grey, his slitted eyes were a faint green. With a craning of my neck I then noticed what his cutie mark was, it was a sword overlapping a starry night sky. Looking back up his side I noticed what seemed to be blades on the edge of his wings.
"Nice to meet you." He said in a gruff tone.
"Same here." I said flashing him a grin. I then turned my head back to Moonlight. "So anyway what brings you here, because I don't see a get well card."
That managed to get a smile on the captain's face. "Sorry about forgetting your card. No I'm here to take you to the wedding's after-party."
"Sorry captain but Ryan there, isn't aloud to leave this room." One of the guards said. That guard received a glare from Moonlight that immediately made him regret speaking up.
"Soldier please tell me your name and rank."
That caught the guard by surprise. "U-um my name is Quick Spell, and Corporal is my rank."
"Hmm a corporal, well sorry to say but first of all I outrank you by quite a bit." She then trotted over to Quick Spell, staring into his eyes. "I also outrank Captain Armor. So Ryan is coming with me is that clear corporal?"
"Crystal, ma'am." He said giving her a quick salute.
Moonlight then turned from the corporal to Redheart. "Is Ryan, alright to come with me nurse?"
At that Redheart came up to me and gave me a full inspection, shining alight in my eyes, examining my ear and putting a thermometer in my mouth. "Yes he should be fine captain. I just need to sign this form." With that she pulled a out a ink quill and inkwell and signed a piece of paper that was attached to the foot of my bed. "And done, he's good to go."
With that said I jumped out of the bed, as Moonlight left the room. I decided to give the guards a quick wave goodbye. Before I left the room I turned around and looked Nightblade. "Arrivederci Nightblade." I then turned to Redheart. "Bye Miss Redheart."
With that said I followed Moonlight down the corridor that the medical room I was in was connected to. "Ryan can I ask you a couple of questions?"
"Sure Moonlight but I want to ask you a question first."
"Sounds fair, what's your question?"
"Why is Nightblade staying back there?" I said pointing a thumb back towards the room.
"Well do you know about the changeling in there?" I gave her a quick nod. "Well I left Nightblade in there to keep an eye on the changeling. Now for my first question: how do you know how to speak Thestrali?"
"Ah well, back on Earth, Thestrali is spoken by a group of people called Italians, but on Earth it's called Italian. All I know what to say is hello and goodbye."
"Hmm okay then. Second question: What happened during the wedding? Shining Armor and a few of the elements of harmony said you were working with the changeling queen."
"Ah that, well it'd be easier for me to explain it to you all at the same time." As I said this I noticed that Moonlight was also wearing the same sort of blades on her wings that Nightblade was wearing.
After a few minutes we arrived outside in the Canterlot gardens where ponies were partying. Whilst I was taking in the party that was happening I failed to notice that Moonlight and I had been surrounded by a large group of mares. I also then failed to notice the bouquet of flowers that was flying towards us, the next thing I knew the same bouquet had collided with my head and fell into my open arms.
The next thing I knew was that I was lying on my back on the ground. When I looked down to see what had tackled me to the ground I noticed a very shocked Rarity looking up at me.
"Hey Rarity." I said giving the mare a comforting smile. It was then that I remembered that the mane six had seen and heard me say I was allies with Chrysalis. "Hey Rarity, do you mind finding the other elements I need to explain a few things." With that said Rarity gave me a nod as she hopped off my chest.
I then decided to get of the ground as the crowd of mares dispersed. I then realized that I still had the bouquet of flowers in my grasp. I then looked up to see that I was standing in front of a large doorway. As I looked around the party I could see Rarity walk around the gardens looking for the rest of the mane six.
"I see you managed to catch the bride's bouquet of flowers." After she said that I looked down at the flowers realizing what these flowers meant. When Moonlight saw my shocked expression she let out a few short chuckles. "So what are you going to do with those?"
As she said this I placed my hand to my chin thinking about what to do next. My answer appeared in the form of something poking my upper thigh. When I looked down I saw Spike looking up at me, the drake still wearing his tux. "Hey Spike, what do you want?" I asked the drake.
"Twilight wanted to see you, as well as the others and the princesses." Spike said raising a claw to point to a part of the gardens that was cornered off from the rest of the party.
"Okay well lead the way Spike, but before we head off I need you to give this to Rarity." I then handed the small drake the flowers. "Make sure you tell her that I dropped them and you decided to give them to her."
"Okay then." With that said Spike, led Moonlight and I over to the cornered off area of the gardens. "I got him." Spike said to the mane six who were apparently waiting for us.
"Thank you for grabbing him Spike." Twilight said as Spike approached Rarity.
"Here you go Rarity, I found this lying on the ground." Spike said as he handed her the bouquet of flowers.
"Oh why thank you Spike." Rarity said as a slight blush adorned her face.
"Hey Spike how about you go enjoy the party." Twilight said. He then gave her a nod as he turned and left to go enjoy the party. Twilight and the others then shifted their gazes to me, all except Fluttershy who was trying to hide behind her mane.
I then found my vision filled with Dash's face, her muzzle mere inches away from my face. "Okay buddy we want answers. What the hay happened at the wedding?!" Dash spat at me in an aggravated tone.
I then took a few steps away from the aggravated pegasus. "Look Dash, I'll explain when the others show up."
"What do you mean by others?" Dash asked.
"Well Dash, I can only guess that the princesses want to know what happened."
As if on queue the royal sisters arrived with Cadance and Shining Armor in tow. As soon as Shining saw me he froze and in the next instant I found my self enveloped in Shining's magical glow.
"Captain Moonlight, can you please explain to me why you brought Ryan to my wedding's after-party?" Shining asked Moonlight, as I realized I was floating a few feet above the ground.
"Captain Armor, if you do not wish to face being court marshalled, you will remove your magical aura from around Ryan."
"Why should I captain?" Shining asked Moonlight.
"Because Captain Armor, I am giving you a direct order to remove your magical aura from Ryan." Moonlight said whilst giving him a death stare that could frighten Death himself.
After a few moments Shining lowered me back down to the ground. "Thanks mate." I said to Shining as my feet touched the ground.
"No problem." He muttered under his breath.
"So Ryan, I hear you have a few things to explain." Celestia said, after I had gotten used to being on the ground once more.
"Sure thing what would you like for me to explain, I could go over how the sun and moon moves by themselves back on earth." I said to Celestia, trying to lighten the mood a bit.
"As appealing as that sounds Ryan, I will have to decline. Now back to the matter at hoof, what happened during the wedding, other than a changeling invasion."
"Ah I'm guessing you want to know why I allied myself with Chrysalis." This managed to get a round of nods from the ponies. "Okay then. Well I'll start with why I didn't try to fight against her. The reason for that is that I wasn't going to go into a fight with an experienced magic user when all I had at my disposal was a few levitation spells, also I definitely wasn't going to get in a fight with someone who beat Celestia in a magical duel." I said gesturing to Celestia at that last part.
"Now as for why I allied with Chrysalis was for two reasons. The first was to try and distract her long enough so Twilight and the others could get the elements of harmony. The second reason is because I was waiting for the opportune moment to strike." I said to the ponies as looks of relief washed over their faces.
"Thank you for telling us that Ryan." Celestia said.
"Not a problem Celestia, y'know I'd never betray you guys intentionally right?" A few of the ponies gave me some nods to covey their answers whilst Shining wore a face of guilt. "Hey Shining don't worry about it all right, you barley know me I'm not surprised you don't trust me that much." I then held out my hand to him. "Know how about we start our introductions again." He then placed his hoof in my hand after he gave it a quick shake I decided to speak up once more. "Hi my name's Ryan, what would yours be?"
"Well Ryan, it's nice to meet you, and my name is Shining Armor." He said letting out a small chuckle.
"Well Shining, it's nice to meet you I hope we can be great friends one day." I then let seriousness coat what I said next. "Now can I please have my gloves back?"
"Sure thing Ryan." He said levitating my gloves back to me.
After putting my gloves back on I turned back to the other ponies that were attending our meeting. "Hey guys how about we go enjoy this party that Pinkie threw together for us." After I said that Dash and Pinkie let out cries of excitement and rushed off towards the party. "Wow I guess they really wanted to party eh?"
I then decided to follow in their example and ran out into the party.
Somehow after rushing into the party I had managed to find myself next to the dance-floor, it was being this close to the dance-floor I noticed the type of music that was playing. Dubstep. I looked around the party for the source of these killer wubs, after a few seconds my eyes fell onto an alabaster unicorn mare, with a neon blue mane and purple party glasses blasting wubs out of a large speaker system. I decided to go say hi to her.
After managing to cross the dance-floor I found myself behind the mare. After giving her a quick tap on the shoulder she turned around to see who had interrupted her concentration. When she saw me her jaw dropped to the ground in shock, before I could open my mouth to say hello she placed her hoof over my mouth. When she had done that she turned back to her mixing table and changed the song from dubstep to slow music.
"Yo you're that human that moved into Ponyville right?" The mare said after removing her hoof from over my mouth.
"Yes I am, and you would be?"
"Heh name's DJ-PON3, but my friends call me Vinyl Scratch, or just Vinyl for short." She said offering me a hoof-bump which I gladly accepted. "So if I may ask what would your name be human?"
"Name's Ryan." I then looked past her at her set up. "Nice set up you have here Vinyl."
"Thanks buddy. Hey you know much about these set ups?" I shook my head in response. "Okay then no biggie. Hey Ryan what's your favorite type of music?"
"It would have to be a tie between Dubstep and Pop music."
"Good choice my friend, good choice. Now don't get me wrong I'd love to sit here and chat with you about music but, I got a show to run so try to look me up in Ponyville next time you're in town. Just ask around and you'll eventually find the right place." With that said she turned back to her set up and changed the music back from slow dance to dubstep.
After socializing with a few ponies and finding out from Trixie that she slept through the whole invasion, my stomach began to rumble in hunger, unfortunately for me I didn't feel like having any party food to eat. Instead I felt like having a nice piece of steak.
When I was nearing the edge of the party I found Moonlight sitting on the edge of the party watching it all go down. "Hey Moonlight how's it going?" I asked the mare as I got closer to her.
"Oh going fine how about you?"
"Fine, fine just going to go stop by the dining hall and grab something to eat, for some reason party food and cake won't cut it."
"Well in that case mind if I tag along, I'm getting a bit hungry myself."
"Um sure thing Moonlight but first I gotta ask you something." I asked the mare a tad bit of worry in my words.
"What is it?"
"Well how do you feel about me eating meat 'cause I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable that's all."
"Aw how sweet a true gentlecolt. Also no I won't mind, I think I'll actually join you in having a bit of steak."
Before I could ask whether she was serious or not she gave me a very toothy grin, showing me her large canines. "Whoa I'm guessing thestrals eat meat?" She gave me a nod in response before stopping her grin. "Okay then let's go Moonlight." With that said the two of us headed to the dining hall. |
Another human in Equestria fic | Spending the day with the Princess of Love. | That night I awoke to find myself standing on top of the hill that I usually dreamt up whenever Luna came to visit. Instead of the princess of the night sitting next to me on the picnic blanket Orion was in her place.
"Oh it's you." I said glaring at Orion.
"Oh well sorry I ain't the pretty pony princess you were expecting. Besides I'm only here to ask you some questions."
"Hmm well I'll try to answer them but if I don't want to I won't."
"Yeah, yeah. Well anyway my first question is this: What the heck are you planning to do with that changeling the ponies captured, because you were very happy when Redheart told you that they had captured a changeling."
"Sorry can't tell you that Orion." That managed to get the annoying voice in my head to have steam come out of his ears.
"Fine then." He spat at me before taking a breath to calm himself. "My next question: did you think that Chrysalis looked sexy?"
That managed to stop my brain entirely as I tried to think of an answer. "First of all Orion is that a serious question? Second of all no I don't think she looked sexy."
"Okay then, well yes it was a serious question, and secondly that's good you don't like her more changeling queen for me." He said with a smug grin.
After a few seconds of trying to figure out what was running through his mind, I felt a weird feeling run through my gut. "Hey Orion do you feel that?"
"What that rumbling feeling, in your gut."
"Yeah that's what it feels like. Wait how do you know it was that, also what does it mean?"
"Okay, well I'll answer both your questions then with one answer." He said whilst standing up off the blanket, I decided to follow in his footsteps and stood up off the blanket. "As I was saying the reason how I know what that feeling is, is because that's the feeling I get whenever you wake up."
"So this feeling in my gut is the feeling of me waking up?"
"Bingo. But I've also noticed that you only get this feeling when you're being forced awake, instead of waking up naturally."
With that said I felt myself waking up.
When I woke up I found myself looking at a pink pony who was lying in bed with me. "Good to see your awake Ryan."
In an instant I immediately thanked myself mentally for forgetting to take my gloves off last night. I then proceeded to do what any normal person who wore magical gloves, who found a pony lying in bed would do. "AHHHHH!" I screamed levitating the pony, out of my bed and floated them a few meters away from my bed, keeping the pony levitating a few feet off the ground.
It was then I saw who exactly the pony that I saw lying in my bed was. Cadance. My mind then decided to shut down for the rest of the day. As my mind slowly rebooted itself, Cadance started to spin around in the air giving herself momentum to do so with her own magic.
Once my brain rebooted I then got out of bed and walked over to the spinning pony princess. "Okay first of all I want you to prove to me that you're the Cadance." I said giving her a wary glance.
"Okay well before I do that can I say that this whole levitating thing is really fun." As she said that she let out a few giggles. After composing herself she then donned a serious expression. "As for how I can prove to you that I'm the real Cadance, that's really tricky for me to do that as I don't know anything about you that a changeling wouldn't." She then placed a hoof on her chin in contemplation before a look of realization plastered itself on her face. "Okay then after Chrysalis and her hive went flying out of Canterlot, and the captured changeling passed out from injuries Shining Armor hit you with a stun spell."
I then thought long and hard on what she said, her logic made sense as the changeling hive was gone so none of them could see that happen, but the detail that convinced me was how the captured changeling couldn't have seen Shining knock me out as the changeling had fainted.
I then turned my gaze to look back up at the floating princess. "Okay you're the real deal. Now do you want me to put you down or not?" I asked a bit uncertain about the last part.
"No thank you this is actually quite fun really, just spinning around in a circle slowly it's really fun and relaxing."
"Okay then but if you feel sick or you want to get your hooves back on the ground just let me know." She then gave me a quick nod. "Alright now back to business, why were you lying with me in bed?"
"Because I wanted to talk to you today, and its already lunchtime and I couldn't wait any longer, so auntie Luna told me that lying in bed with you and poking you a bit would wake you up faster." She admitted rubbing the tips of her hooves together.
"Dammit Luna." I muttered under my breath before realizing an important detail that Cadance had said. "Wait a second it's lunchtime. What happened to Twilight and the others?" I asked remembering that I told them during the party that I was going to go back to Ponyville with them.
"Oh Twily and her friends left for Ponyville after breakfast. Auntie Celestia told them that you would be staying here for the next few days. Practicing magic under her vision and guiding hoof, but also I wanted to ask a few questions about yourself and tell you a few things, about ponies." That managed to calm me down a bit knowing that the mane six didn't think that I forgot to go back to Ponyville with them.
"Thanks for telling me that Cadance, you have no idea how much that made me worry."
"No problem Ryan. I'm guessing you want to go get some lunch? I know a pretty good restaurant in Canterlot."
"That sounds like a good plan Cadance." I said hoping that the restaurant wasn't in the upper district of Canterlot.
"Well then as tempting as it is to let you float me all the way to the restaurant I would like to get a bit of exercise." She admitted.
After lowering her to the ground. She lit up her horn and cast a spell on me. "Um Cadance what did you cast on me?"
"Oh just a cleaning and washing spell." After she said this I decide to take off my tuxedo's jacket and my tie when I took off my tie I threw my removed accessories on the bed.
"Well Cadance, let's get going. Although I don't know why you'd think about doing exercise, you don't look like you need to do any." That managed to give a slight blush to cross her pink cheeks.
"Why thank you for the compliment Ryan. Although for future reference try not to go flirting with a married mare especially when her husband is the captain of Celestia's royal guard." She said a small giggle escaping her lips.
"Duly noted. By the way where is Shining?" I asked her as we left the room.
"Oh, captain Moonlight wanted to see him."
Meanwhile
"Keep going Captain Armor, you only have 50 more laps of Canterlot castle to go!" Moonlight yelled out to the sweating captain, as she took a sip of lemonade. She then turned her gaze to her guest. "Seems Mother Sol decided to treat us to a really hot day today isn't that right Lady Noctis."
Luna gave a smirk from behind her glass of lemonade a s she watched Shining Armor disappear behind the walls of the Lunar Guard's barracks. "Indeed it is Captain Moonlight, indeed it is."
As we approached the castle gates a couple of guards intercepted us. "Sorry princess but you're not aloud to leave the castle." One of the guards said holding out a hoof to stop her.
"And why is that good sir?" Cadance said adopting her serious tone once more.
"Sorry about him princess he's new here, y'know the rookies taking their orders too serious. He could have said that better." He said letting out a small chuckle.
"Oh alright then. So please tell me how you would word it." Cadance said to the guard.
"Well princess, after the changeling invasion Captain Armor and Captain Moonlight said that the princesses are to always have a guard with them at all times, also they aren't aloud to leave the castle without at least one guard with them." The guard explained.
"Hmm well that makes sense thank you for that. Guard if I may bother you once more." Cadance asked the guard.
"I highly doubt you could bother me Princess Cadance."
"Well am I aloud to pick a guard to come with me?"
"Yes princess."
"Hmm." She then turned to me. "Ryan do you have any recommendations?"
"How about Fire Wand?" I asked the guard.
"Of course Princess." With that said he turned to his rookie friend. "Hey Rook can you go get Sergeant Fire Wand." With that said the rookie left.
After a few minutes the rookie returned with Fire Wand.
"Ah hello Princess Cadance, you wished to see me." Fire Wand said giving Cadance a bow.
"Good afternoon Sergeant, the reason why I requested to see you is because of the captain's newest orders. I need you to accompany Ryan and I as we go on a trip into Canterlot."
"It would be my pleasure Princess Cadance." Fire wand said as we left through the castle gates.
As we left I could have sworn I saw a sweaty panting Shining Armor running around the inside of the castle walls.
"Fire Wand I want to tell you something." Cadance said to Fire Wand as we walked through the streets of Canterlot, catching the eyes of the nobles that were on the streets at the time.
"What is it princess?" Fire said looking from pony to pony with a cautious gaze.
"Well from now on I wish for you to call me Cadance if you can help it. Also you are to treat me like a regular pony and not like your princess. Is that understood?"
"Of course princ--I mean Cadance." He replied giving her a sheepish smile.
"Don't worry Fire, you'll get used to it, Shining didn't get used to calling me Cadance and treating me like a regular mare for about a week." She said with a slight giggle.
It was then that I noticed we had passed into the middle class district. I couldn't help but let out a gasp of relief that I didn't know I had been holding in.
Cadance had picked up on it. "Are you alright Ryan?"
"Oh. Heh yeah I'm fine Cadance just glad to get out of the upper class district of Canterlot that's all, just hate the feeling of those nobles glaring at me like I'm some sort of wild animal." I managed to see a flash of sadness cross Cadance's muzzle. "Hey Cadance, don't worry about it. I got used to it." I said in a calm tone. That managed to calm her down.
It was after that little revelation, I realized that Cadance had led us to a restaurant called 'The griffon's feast'. "Okay you two we're here." Cadance said turning around to make sure we were still with her.
"The griffon's feast? What sort of food do they serve?" I asked Cadance.
"Well they serve a wide vary of foods. They have a large range of chefs from different cultures, they serve meals for almost all races of Equestria."
"Sounds fun. What do you think Fire?"
"Always wanted to check this place out, few of the guards have been they said it was pretty good. Always thought to test it out before bringing the wife here." The mention of Fire being married caught me by surprise, whilst this admission made Cadance sport a large grin.
"So who would the lucky mare be Fire? Some-pony I'd know?" Cadance asked as we walked into the restaurant. Before Fire could answer a griffon waiter appeared.
"Ah good afternoon Princess Cadance, it has been a while since we've seen you here." The griffon said whilst giving Cadance a small bow, when he rose up from his bow he gave one of her fore-hooves a small kiss. "A shame that some-pony managed to catch your eye before I could, but I can say for certain that I feel very jealous of the lucky Shining Armor. Who are your friends Princess Cadance?" He said pointing a claw at Fire and I.
"Oh Griff you tease." Cadance said waving a hoof at the griffon. "And my friends are the only human in Equestria Ryan." She said gesturing to me with a hoof, I then held out my hand to the griffon.
He then took my hand in his claw in an instant. "Pleasure to meet you Ryan, my name is Griff."
"Pleasure to meet you too Griff." I said as he released my hand.
"Anyway as I was saying." Cadance said re-capturing the attention of Griff. "My other friend here is my guard escort, Fire Wand." She said. Fire then followed my lead and held out a fore-hoof that Griff took into his claw.
"Pleasure to meet you Fire Wand. Be warned Fire, Cadance is a mare that is hard to keep a track of." Griff said a smug grin on his face.
"Oh be quiet you." Cadance said giving the griffon a playful punch on his shoulder.
"So table for three I'm guessing?" Cadance gave him a nod at the offer of a table to sit at. "Well then follow me if you will." With that said the griffon led us to a booth with a window view of the middle district of Canterlot.
"Thank you Griff." Cadance said to the griffon said as he presented us three menus. "I think we should start with a round of water please Griff." She then looked to her left at me, I gave her a nod, she then shifted her gaze to Fire who decided to sit across from us Fire then gave her a nod as well. "Yes water should be fine for now." With that said Griff then left us to over look our menus.
"By the way I forgot to say congratulations for your successful marriage Cadance."
"Why thank you Ryan, also thank you for letting me have the window seat." Cadance said as Griff returned with our glasses and a jug of water.
"Now have you decided your orders?"
"I think I'll go for a daisy sandwich please Griff." Cadance said, handing her menu to Griff
"I'll go for a caesar salad." Fire said handing Griff his menu.
"I'll go for fettuccini please." I asked, handing my menu back over to the griffon.
"Well your lunches will be out in 10 minutes." With that said Griff walked off towards the kitchen.
"Now where were we." Cadance said placing a hoof to her chin in thought. "Ah yes Fire you were about to say who you were married to."
"Well my wife is one of the maids working in the castle. You may know her as Quick Clean." He explained.
"Ah yes I know her. Auntie Celestia speaks quite highly of her." Cadance admitted.
"Really?" Fire asked shocked by this little revelation.
"Yes she does think highly of your wife, well she actually thinks highly of all the castle staff." With that said Griff returned with our food. "Thank you Griff." Cadance said as the griffon placed her sandwich in front of her.
"Your welcome Princess Cadance. It's always a pleasure to sate the desires of any mare that comes into my establishment, whether they wish food and drinks or something else." He said leaving the last part of his statement open to our imagination. Once he delivered that statement he went off back to the kitchen.
"I'm guessing he likes to woo mare's Cadance?" I asked the princess, noticing she was still lightly flustered from Griff's comment.
"From what I've heard yes. Now how about we dig into our meals, I do wish to get back to the castle before night time as I need to talk to you about something Ryan." With that said we dug into our meals.
After we had completed our meals and payed for them we left for the castle. Once we had returned to the castle we noticed the guards giving Cadance some odd looks, looks that she didn't fail to pick up on.
"Something the matter guards?" She asked keeping her tone chirpy and happy.
"Well Princess Cadance we just saw a very exhausted Captain Armor run off towards the Lunar Guard's barracks, and were wondering if you knew what he was doing."
That Cadance by surprise. "Well that is quite strange, he has been known to be active but why would he be running off to the Lunar barracks." Cadance said while placing a fore-hoof on her chin. She turned to look at Fire. "Fire I believe I don't require an escort anymore. Come now Ryan let's go see what is happening to Shiny." With that said Fire gave us a farewell before trotting off.
When we arrived at the barracks we found Shining on the ground panting like he had just run from Canterlot to Ponyville 10 times in a row. It was then we noticed that Luna and Moonlight had walked over to Shining from under the shade of a nearby tree.
"Auntie Luna, what exactly have you done to my Shiny?" Cadance said as she walked up to the still panting Shining Armor. "He hasn't been panting this much since our wedding night." She said with a slight giggle at what she said.
"Well Cadance, Captain Moonlight suggested that we make sure that Captain Armor, is still fit enough to perform his duties as a guard." Luna explained, whilst she was explaining her horn glowed and jug of water appeared in front of Shining, which he quickly took in his hoof and chugged it down in one gulp.
"It was then that Lady Noctis suggested we put Captain Armor through what I usually do whenever I have spare time to train." Moonlight chimed in. Making Shining look up at her, as he inhaled a large breath of air trying to summon the power to talk.
"There is no way one pony can do all that in their spare training time." Shining said in between gasps.
Moonlight then gave Shining an amused look. "Well two things to take into consideration Captain. The first being that I have been around longer than you have, I have more endurance than you do. The second thing is that you have a lot more exercises to do before you even come close to doing what I do in my spare training time." With that said she then switched her gaze to Cadance. "If I may Princess Cadance, can I please borrow Captain Armor from you for the rest of the afternoon, and maybe a bit of the evening?"
"Well you can borrow him for the rest of the afternoon, but I think Auntie Celestia would like him to join us for dinner." She then placed a hoof to her chin. "If I may also make a request of you Captain."
"Of course Princess Cadance, what is it you require of me?"
"Well if you join us for dinner I'll let you borrow Shiny for tomorrow as well."
"Well with an offer like that how can I refuse." Moonlight said perking up at the idea of giving Shining more training exercises.
"Well then it's a deal" Cadance said. I then looked down to see what Shining's reaction would be. When I looked down at him I saw he wore a horrified look on his face as he looked up at his wife.
"Why Cadance?" He pleaded with her.
Cadance then leaned down and gave Shining a kiss. "Don't worry Shiny, I'll repay you when the training is done." She said in a sultry voice that would make any nearby stallions very jealous of Shining.
"Sure thing Cady." Shining said in a mesmerized voice.
"Okay then Ryan let's go I still need to talk to you about a few things." With that said her horn started to glow and the next thing I knew my vision was filled with the light blue coloration of her magical aura.
When I opened my eyes I found myself in a bedroom. I looked around to see where Cadance was and found her lying on a bed.
"Ryan please have a seat." She said gesturing to a seat behind me. After I took my seat she hopped off the bed and walked over to me. "Now Ryan I need to tell you about the birds and the breezies."
"The what?" I asked her wondering what she wanted to talk to me about.
"Y'know." She said, whilst tapping the tips of her hooves together.
The way she said it awkwardly made my mind jump to what she could be meaning, I then decided to ask her a question before I let my mind think she wanted to talk to me about the birds and the bees. "Cadance what are you the princess of exactly?"
"Oh well I'm the Princess of Love." She said.
"So you want to tell me how to..." I said letting my sentence end there. Letting her give me a nod to know that I had guessed correctly. "Um no thank you Cadance." I then tried to stand up but found myself stopped by Cadance pushing down on my shoulders with her fore-hooves.
"Sorry Ryan, I can't let you go. Auntie Celestia said that I needed to tell you this if you were going to be staying in Equestria, as you may start a relationship with some-pony and we don't want things to be explained to you then and there."
"Okay then that makes sense I guess. But before you go telling me this, I don't want you making things to awkward or going into too much detail. As I already know how some specific things work."
"Okay then Ryan, but you'll have to tell me what you do and don't know exactly."
"Cool. Well before we start I have a question. When we were coming back to the castle with Fire, I saw that a stallion was having a picnic with two mares, is that common or..."
"Ah I see you saw your first herd." She said. Then she saw the look of confusion on my face. "Okay well first of all I don't know whether it's the same where you come from but on Equestria there are more mares than stallions, the ratio is about three mares to one stallion." That managed to get my jaw to drop to the ground. "As I was saying herd's are group of multiple mares for one stallion or multiple stallions for one mare, or an even number of mares and stallions." She explained.
"So if you wanted too Cadance you could ask another mare or stallion to join you and Shining's relationship?" I asked.
"Why yes we could."
"Okay then well thanks for summing that up for me." I said now understanding what a herd was.
"Okay then, well let's get started on our lesson." It was then she summoned a few pony anatomy books with bookmarks in them, she also summoned a chalkboard. It was then I realized that my afternoon was going to be full of studying. Much to the amusement of Orion who wouldn't stop laughing.
After a few hours I stumbled out of Cadance's room, my mind was completely devoid of thought. I decided to go see the pony responsible for Cadance's lesson. Celestia. With an objective set my mind restarted itself, I then began thinking about where Celestia could be at this time. Seeing as how it was still day time I figured she would be in the throne room attending Day-Court. With a location in mind I began heading for the throne room.
After a few minutes of walking I found myself outside of the throne room.
"Good afternoon Ryan." I turned to see Raven walking down the hall towards me.
"Oh hey Raven. Do you know whether Celestia's in there or not?" I said gesturing to the throne room doors.
"Yes she's in there. I'm just coming back from my lunch break." With that said her horn glowed and the throne room doors opened up as we walked in.
"Hello Ryan. Raven how was your lunch?" Celestia asked Raven as she walked over to her position next to Celestia's throne.
"It was fine your majesty."
"Good to here." Celestia then shifted her gaze to me. "How has your afternoon been Ryan?"
"Well Celestia, my afternoon has been great. I had a wonderful lunch with your niece, then we found Luna and Moonlight showing Shining Armor how the lunar captain trains. Then for some odd reason your niece decided to give me a lesson on, hmm what did she call it again? Ah yes the birds and the breezies. Any reason why she would have decided to give me that lesson." I said to Celestia, slightly angry at having that lesson with Cadance.
"Ryan please understand that Cadance's lesson was meant to help you." Celestia said, truthfully as far I could tell. "You're not mad are you?" Celestia asked worried about whether I would be upset with her or not.
"No I'm not Celestia. Just a bit miffed that you didn't ask me about it."
"That's good to hear." Celestia said a look of relief crossing her muzzle.
"Also that isn't the only reason I'm here, I thought I got some time to kill so I thought about seeing how day-court works."
"Alright then." Celestia then shifted her gaze to an earth pony guard that was standing next to the doors. "Corporal Sucker Punch can you please send in the next noble." Sucker Punch then went through one of the doors that had opened slightly to let him through, as he went to get the next noble I took a seat to the right of Celestia's throne.
After a few seconds Sucker Punch returned with Fancy Pants in tow. Fancy Pants then approached the throne and gave a bow. "Good afternoon Princess Celestia, how has your day been so far." He said as he rose from his bow.
"I've been doing fine Fancy, very fine. Tell me how has Fleur been these days." Celestia asked Fancy.
"She's been doing well. Her modeling career is going quite well." Fancy then caught sight of me sitting next to Celestia. "Hello Ryan. Good to see you once more."
"Good to see you as well Fancy. So who would Fleur be if I may ask?"
"Ah Fleur, is my wife. She makes me feel like a very lucky stallion." Fancy then shifted his gaze back to Celestia. "Now back to business before I forget." With that said he levitated out some papers from his saddlebags.
Celestia saw these papers and levitated them over to herself. "So already organizing next year's gala Fancy?" Celestia asked, raising an eyebrow at Fancy.
"Well you know me Princess, I like to be prepared." At this Celestia then levitated the papers to Raven.
"I see your missing the guest list." Celestia said pointing out the lack of said list from the stack of papers.
"Ah well I'll have them written up about a week or month prior to the gala." He explained.
"Well I'll look these over. Anything else you need to address?"
"No nothing else Princess. If you don't need anything else from me I will be off." Celestia then gave him a shake of her head. "Well then I'll be off. Princess Celestia, Raven, Ryan." He said giving us a bow of his head as he left the room.
"I thought you said that day-court was stressful." I asked Celestia. "Or were you just over-exaggerating."
"Believe me when I say that it gets a lot more stressful." With that said she then asked Sucker Punch to bring in the next noble.
An hour later I found myself on the verge of pulling my hair out from stress, all the while Celestia sat across from me in the dining hall sipping her Jasmine Tea. "How have you not ripped out your mane yet?!" I asked as I was barely containing my rage.
"I don't know. But if I had to draw it to anything, I'd draw it to years of experience. Now try drinking your tea it helps." She said gesturing to my Green Tea.
I then decided to sip my tea before my mind realized something. "Wait Celestia, have you ever done anything to release stress?"
"No I haven't, why would I need to?" She asked a look of confusion on her face.
"Because if you don't release your stress then it'll boil up inside you, and then one little thing will set of the power keg of all your pent up stress." I said hoping ponies knew what a powder keg was.
"Hmm I see what you mean. Then what would you recommend I do?" She asked giving me a questioning gaze.
This managed to get me to pause for a second as I tapped one of my fingers on my chin. I then felt a light bulb appear over my head. "I have an idea. I need you to yell at me." That managed to get a look of shock horror to appear on her face, just as I realized what I had said.
"Ryan I could never yell at you." She said a hint of sadness and worry laced her voice as she said that.
"Sorry I didn't mean to say it like that." I said waving my hands at her, luckily that managed to calm her down. "What I meant to say is tell me what is bothering you. Maybe that will calm you down. Also if you do feel like raising your voice that's fine I won't be insulted or hurt."
"Alright then Ryan, but I will try to refrain from raising my voice." She then placed a hoof to her chin in thought. "First of all why can't the nobles just realize that some laws were made for a reason." She said. What caught me by surprise was that her tone went from calm and motherly to frustrated and on the verge of yelling. "Like for example, Lord Lighthorn came in saying that one of his farms was being attacked by Manticores from the Everfree, so he wanted to either send in a battalion of guards to destroy their nest, or he would request for fire mages to burn part of the Everfree to scare them off." She explained.
"Wow... Well Celestia, this Lord Lighthorn sounds like he isn't the sharpest tool in the shed." I admitted, she gave me a nod in response. "Okay now how do you feel about telling someone about that?" I asked, whilst I wondered whether or not I should become a therapist in Equestria.
"I do feel a bit better. Thank you Ryan."
"No problem Tia, I can call you Tia right?" I asked hoping she would approve of that little nickname.
"Usually Luna, would be the only one to call me that, but you can call me that if you want to." She said as I managed to calm down.
At the mention of her sister, the princess of the night walked into the dining room. "Good evening sister how was day-court?"
"Good evening Lulu, day-court was fine thank you for asking."
I couldn't help myself as I tried to contain my laughter behind my hands, Luna noticed this and gave me a death stare. "What are thou laughing at Ryan?" She said in a stern voice.
"Sorry Luna, can't help myself to not laugh at the cuteness of that nickname." I admitted calming the princess of the night. "Anyway what are you doing here Luna?" I asked her, hoping to change the topic of the conversation.
"Well we are here to join you for dinner. Why else would we be here." It was then that I realized that the sun had set.
I then turned to Celestia. "I guess time flies when you let out your frustrations." That managed to get Celestia to let a smile adorn her muzzle.
"I guess that's correct Ryan." Celestia said. She then let out a giggle as she saw Luna giving us a look of confusion.
"Did we miss something sister?" Luna asked, confused as to what we had said.
Before Celestia could answer the rest of the dinner guests arrived. Cadance was the first to enter into the dining room, she was soon followed by a winded Shining Armor who let himself sway in the non existent wind. Moonlight then entered into the room, her lunar armor had been clearly polished before coming to dinner. Trixie then arrived lastly.
The gathered ponies then took their seats, Celestia decided to take her spot at the head of the table. Cadance decided to take Celestia's spot across from me. Shining then sat to the right of his wife, he then let his head smash into the table as he finally succumbed to exhaustion. Luna then took her seat to my right. Trixie decided to sit to the right of Celestia, whilst Moonlight took her seat to my left.
Silver Platter then appeared next to Celestia in a flash of silver, that didn't fail to startle Trixie and also managed to wake Shining. "Good evening, sirs and madams I will be servicing you tonight." He said giving a slight bow, before he levitated two different menus to us, one labeled drinks the other labeled food. "I will give you a minute to decide on drinks." He said giving us a small bow before he was gone in another flash of silver.
"Huh? Where am I?" Shining asked his voice laced with tiredness.
"Well Shiny, we're in the dining room, having dinner with auntie Celestia, auntie Luna, Trixie, Captain Moonlight and Ryan." She said listing us off one by one. Before she then realized something important. "Oh and also you have to decide on what to eat and drink." She said gesturing to the menus that were sitting in front of him.
"Oh okay then." He said barely keeping the exhaustion at bay.
Celestia then shifted her gaze to Moonlight. "Captain what did you do to leave Captain Armor this exhausted?"
Before Moonlight could respond Luna cut in. "Sister it is our fault that Captain Armor is in this state."
"Okay then Luna, would you please elaborate what you did to Captain Armor."
Before Luna could answer, Silver reappeared beside Celestia in a flash of silver. "Have you made your decisions on what to drink?" He asked us.
"I'll take a water please." I said to Silver as he pulled out notebook and quill.
"A water for me as well please." Celestia said.
"A non-alcoholic cider for me please." Moonlight said.
"Oh that sounds nice I'll have one too." Cadance said.
"Huh what." Shining said as he came back from the land of the sleeping. "Oh I'll go for a coffee please." He said probably hoping it would keep him awake.
"I'll go for a coffee as well Silver." Trixie said.
"I'll go for a moonflower tea please." Luna said.
Our drinks then appeared in front of us in a flash of silver. "And for your main meals?" He asked after teleporting our drinks onto the table.
"Oh I have an idea how about we all get the same thing." Cadance said excitement lacing her voice. This managed to get looks of interest to cross all of our faces except Cadance's. "How does fettuccini sound?" She said looking between all of us excitedly.
"Sounds good. Silver we'll all take an order of fettuccini." Celestia said.
"Of course. Your meals will be ready in about ten minutes." Silver said, he was then gone in a flash of silver.
Celestia then turned back to Luna. "Now please continue with what you were saying before."
"Of course sister. As I was saying, I gave Captain Armor the idea of doing what Captain Moonlight, does during her spare training time to see if he was still exercised enough to perform his duties."
Celestia then shifted her gaze to Shining. "Captain Armor is what my sister say true? As she has been known since coming back from her banishment, that she has performed pranks on a few of the castle staff." She then saw the hurt look she was getting from Luna. "Not to say anything is wrong with some harmless pranks." She said removing the hurt look from Luna's face. "I just wish to know whether or not my sister has played a prank on you."
"Well Princess Celestia, what your sister says is true. Her and Captain Moonlight suggested that I perform those duties to make sure that I was in fit and working condition."
Celestia then nodded her head in understanding. It was then that Silver reappeared with our meals. "Dinner is served." He said giving us a small bow before he left.
"Well then let's hope Cadance's idea was a good one. Let's eat." Celestia said as we dived into our meals.
"Well I must say that was a marvelous idea Cadance." Celestia said as she finished her dinner.
"Thank you auntie." She then looked over to her right to see Shining asleep against the table. "Well thank you for allowing Shiny and I to come to dinner, alas I must be off as I am feeling quite tired." After she gave us a wave goodbye her and Shining were surrounded in a light blue aura as she teleported them both away.
"Well sister Trixie and I must be off, as her lesson starts in a few minutes." Luna spoke up as she stood up from her seat.
"Hey Luna can I come too?" I asked her.
"Of course Ryan, but I must know why would you want to come?"
"Well I want to learn a few new spells, maybe a few illusion spells." I admitted.
"Well then you best come with us then." She said as her and Trixie walked over to the door.
After giving Celestia and Moonlight a wave goodbye I followed Luna and Trixie out into the hallway. All the while I was wondering where exactly Trixie's lessons were held. |
Another human in Equestria fic | The training chapter | After a few minutes we arrived to a large set of two dark oak doors, Luna's cutie mark was emblazoned in the center of each of the doors. Flanking the doors were two of Luna's thestral guards. When they saw us approaching they moved to open the doors, after they opened the doors for us they then proceeded to bow.
Instead of entering the room like they were expecting Luna stopped in front of the two guards. "Rise." She said to them both.
"Is something the matter Lady Noctis?" The guard to Luna's left asked.
"No nothing is the matter. But let me say this, whilst I do appreciate the gesture of you opening the doors for me it is not needed."
"So you don't want us to open the doors for you?" The guard to Luna's right asked.
"Exactly. Don't get me wrong I do appreciate your assistance it is just I won't always require it."
"Of course Lady Noctis." The guards said in unison.
"Good to hear. Hope you two have a good night." With that said she then led Trixie and I into the room.
When we entered the room I saw that the room was the same size as Trixie's, the walls were a dark blue hue with a few bookshelves taking up space along the walls, there was also a lack of a giant window taking up one of the walls, in it's place was a door that led out to a balcony over looking Canterlot. Opposite the door to the balcony was pair of double doors that had the same design to the dark oak doors we just came through.
"Here we are." Luna said gesturing to the room. She then turned to face me. "So Ryan what would you like Trixie and I to teach you."
"Wait teach?" Trixie said surprised at what Luna had said. "You don't expect me to teach him do you Luna."
"Why yes I do Trixie. This would be a large step for you to take in our lessons. I will be monitoring how you teach Ryan, and if I need to I will step in and help you."
"Okay then Luna." Trixie said. She the turned to face me. "Ryan are you sure you want me to teach you. Luna could probably do a better job then me." She said whilst looking down at her fore-hooves.
I then walked over to her and pulled her chin up so I was looking in her eyes. "Yes I do want you to teach me. Do you want to know why."
"Why Ryan." She said a tone of uncertainty in her voice.
"Well to put it simply Trixie, when am I ever going to get the chance to learn from the Great and Powerful Trixie." That managed to get Trixie to get a confident smile to adorn her muzzle.
"Your right. Okay then Ryan, prepare yourself to experience what it is like to learn from the Great and Powerful Trixie!" She said whilst striking a dramatic pose. She then stopped her posing to look at me. "So then what do you wish to learn?"
"Well what are you and Luna willing to teach?" I said looking between Trixie and Luna.
"Well Ryan, we will be able to teach you many things. Although Trixie and I specialize in illusion spells." Luna said as Trixie gave a few nods in agreement.
"Okay then. How about fire illusions." I said thinking that I could use the fire illusions to trick anything that wanted to kill me.
"Good choice." Once Luna said this she then levitated a spell book over into my grasp.
"What exactly do you wish for me to teach you about fire illusions?" Trixie asked.
"How to make it seem like my body's on fire, or at least parts of my body." I said excitedly.
"Alright then. Now which page was it on." Trixie said as she levitated the spell book from my grasp so it was levitating in front of her muzzle. "Ah here it is page 55." She said whilst placing the now open book into my grasp.
As I read through the description of the spell it said that to ignite part of my body in an illusionary flame, all I had to do was envision the part of my body that I wanted to engulf in the illusionary flame, I then had to envision that part of my body being set alight I also had to envision a lack of pain, to make sure that I didn't ignite my body in real fire. It was when I reached the bottom of the page that I read something interesting. The page said that I could change the color of the flames by envisioning them in a different color.
After putting to memory what I had to do I reached out with my magic. I then closed my eyes and envisioned my right hand being lit by a purple flame. When I opened my eyes I looked at my outstretched hand to see that it was being burnt by a purple flame, it was then I noticed how there was no heat to the fire.
"Impressive work Ryan." Luna said as she watched in interest from her seat on a dark blue couch.
"It really is Luna, but what surprises me even more is how he got it right the first time." Trixie said looking at my hand in awe. She then approached my still burning hand and placed one of her hooves in the flames. "Good work you didn't accidentally set fire to your hand."
"Good to know." I said my voice slightly strained from holding the spell. After a few more seconds I cut the spell, letting out a sigh of of relief and exhaustion. "Wow I feel drained." I said whilst checking my gloves to see that they had barely lost any blue coloration.
"Not surprising that your exhausted Ryan, those sorts of spells are quite exhausting, even if they don't drain much mana." Luna said whilst she levitated a glass of water over to me.
"Thanks." I said. I then proceeded to gulp down the water in one gulp. After getting a drink of water I then decided to try out the same spell once more.
When I opened my eyes again I saw Luna and Trixie trying to hold back their laughter behind their hooves. Luna then lost her self control and burst into a fit of laughter, she then rolled off her couch onto the floor after she realized that she had fallen off her couch she then proceeded to continue her laughter.
"What's so funny?" I asked as Trixie composed herself whilst Luna's laughter could be heard in the background.
"What did you do to your hair?" Trixie asked. The next instant I discovered a mirror in front of my face I saw that the mirror was being held in Luna's magical grasp. I then looked into the mirror to see that the purple flaming pompadour that I envisioned during my spell casting had replaced my hair.
Luna then made the mirror disappear in a dark blue flash of light. "What is that ridiculous style of hair you've made for yourself?" Luna said finally being able to speak properly without bursting into a fit of laughter.
"It's a purple flaming pompadour why?" I said a tad bit annoyed at them making fun of flaming style of hair that I had cast. "I'm trying to look like Mystery Skulls' Lewis." I said I then realized that the two mares wouldn't know what that is.
"Mystery what?" Luna asked a look of confusion on both of the mare's faces.
"Never mind it's a human thing." That managed to get the looks of confusion off of the ponies faces. I then cut the spell to keep Luna from bursting into a fit of laughter.
I then thought about what to do next before a wicked idea crossed my mind. I then refocused my mind and reached my magic out, instead of envisioning a part of my body being set on fire I decided to envision Luna's wings on fire.
"Seems thou have become quite experienced in setting things on fire." Luna said as I opened my eyes to see her wings engulfed in purple flames. "I don't know whether to be impressed or concerned." She said giving me a look of concern.
"I'd go with impressed." Trixie said as looked at Luna's wings.
"A good point thou make Trixie, as he still hasn't accidentally set my wings on fire." Luna said as her horn lit up and her wings were no longer on fire.
"Wait how did you do that?" I asked wondering what happened to the fire.
"Magic cancellation spell. Quite simple to learn but hard to master." Luna stated.
"Could you teach me?" I asked her hoping she would say yes.
"Maybe another day." It was then that Trixie let out a yawn. "Well it seems we are done for the night."
"What how come?" I asked a bit sad at the prospect of the lesson ending.
"Well I have my royal duties to attend to, and Trixie has dreams to catch up on." It was then I saw that Trixie was on the verge of falling asleep where she stood. "I shall teleport you two back to your room."
It was then Trixie decided to fall asleep as I held onto her for the teleportation. I then looked up at Luna once I saw that Trixie was asleep. "Hey Luna come visit me tonight I need to talk to you about something." She then gave me a nod of understanding as she teleported Trixie and I to our room.
After managing to right myself from the teleportation. I then shifted Trixie so she was cradled in my arms as I carried her up to her bed. After removing her cape and hat I tucked her into her bed. I then decided to go have a quick shower before heading off to bed. Before I hopped into bed I decided to take my gloves off as I had kept them on since the wedding. After a few moments I finally fell into the land of the sleeping.
When I awoke I shifted my dreamscape so that I was sitting on top of the hill that I usually sat on whenever one of the princesses visited me in my sleep, I made one final change to the picnic before Luna arrived.
"Hello there Ryan, why is it that whenever me or my sister visit you always have a picnic set up?" She asked as she took her seat next to me on the picnic blanket.
"Well first of all I like to have picnics with my friends. Second of all the picnic has changed since you last visited." I said gesturing to the picnic spread.
"What hast changed then?" Luna asked raising an eyebrow in confusion.
"Well at dinner you asked for moonflower tea, so I thought I'd dream up some for you." I said gesturing to the tea set on the picnic blanket.
"How thoughtful. Thank you Ryan." She said as she took a sip from her tea. Her face lighting up as she swallowed her sip of tea. "It tastes like the actual thing."
"Of course it does. You sound surprised." I asked wondering how it wouldn't of tasted like the real thing.
"Well usually it doesn't taste like the real thing, usually it is more artificial tasting when some-pony dreams of a food or drink they wish to consume." She explained.
"Well maybe ponies just don't dream about them tasting like the real thing." I stated she then gave a look of thought towards me, before giving me a nod of understanding. "Anyway let's get down to what I needed to talk to you about." I then turned my head so I was looking her in the eyes. "Luna I want you to be honest with your answer." She then gave me a nod. "Okay good. Now my question is why did you recommend that Shining do what Moonlight does during her free training time?"
"You really want to know." I then gave her a nod. "Alright then. The reason why I did it is because I wanted to punish him for hitting you with a stun spell during the wedding."
"Wait you punished him just because he hit me with a stun spell." I asked to make sure I wasn't imagining things.
"Yes I did, I know it sounds ridiculous and that it sounds un-princess like. If your ashamed with me for acting upon my feelings, I would not be surprised." She said looking down at her fore-hooves, a look of sadness adorning her muzzle.
I then pulled Luna into a hug. After pulling away from the hug she gave me a look of confusion. "Luna I'm not disappointed in you."
"Why not? I acted upon my feelings without thinking first." She said still giving me the look of confusion.
"Yes you did and I am slightly disappointed you acted without thinking first. But the reason why I thank you for doing that is because it shows how great of a friend you are." I then let out a sad sigh as few memories surfaced. "Y'know Luna back on earth I had friends that were really good, but they would never do what you did, I guess that just shows how better than them you are." I said looking at her with a small smile.
"You think me better than your friends on earth?" I gave her a nod in response. "Thank you Ryan." She said pulling me into a hug, unlike her previous hugs she decided to wrap me in her wings. I then felt something wet on my shoulder where her head was resting.
"Luna are you okay?" I asked wondering why she was crying. She then let me separate the hug. I then looked at her to see that she was wiping a few stray tears away.
"Yes I am fine thank you for worrying, I am just shedding tears of happiness at the thought of you telling me that I am a better friend than your friends on earth."
"Well then your welcome, as long as you aren't sad." I said looking at her as the tears subsided.
"I am sorry Ryan but I must be off. It hast been a pleasure as always." She said whilst she hopped of the blanket.
"Not a problem Luna, and don't forget you can visit me anytime you want to." I said as she gave me a wave goodbye and then she was gone. After a few moments looking at the place where she had been floating I could feel myself waking up. "Wonder what today will hold in store for me?" I asked myself.
"Urgh." I groaned as I slowly woke up from my sleep. As I slowly opened my eyes I saw that I wasn't alone in my room, standing next to my bed looking at me was Cadance. "Cadance, how long have you been standing there." I asked slightly frustrated at Cadance for interrupting my normal routine for waking up.
"Only a few minutes." She admitted, a look of guilt on her face. "I woke you up didn't I?"
"No you didn't. Anyway why are you here?" I asked giving her a smile to calm her down.
"Well Auntie Celestia, wanted to see if you wanted to learn any spells today under her guidance, and I wanted to see how that would work." She admitted.
"Okay, well why are you here watching me sleep then?" I asked genuinely wondering why she was watching me sleep.
"Well Auntie Celestia sent me to get you and take her back to the throne room so you could talk to her." She said giving me a smile hoping that her answer was good enough.
"Well seems like I have a fun day ahead of me." I said giving Cadance a grin. "Hey Cadance can you go wait upstairs while I get changed." I said a sheepish smile on my face.
"Oh yeah sure thing Ryan." She said as she walked up the stairs out of my room, as she reached hallway up the stairs I could have sworn I saw a slight blush on her face.
After getting changed into some fresh clothes, I joined Cadance, on the first floor. "So where did you say we were going Cadance?"
"Well we're heading off to the throne room." She said as she walked towards the door. She then stopped noticing that I wasn't at her side. "Ryan are you alright?"
"Hmm? Oh sorry Cadance just got lost thinking about what I should ask Celestia to teach me." I admitted as I joined her next to the door. I then gave her a small bow. "If you could lead the way Princess." I said in a slightly posh accent.
"Why of course." Cadance said in her own posh accent. We then headed out towards the throne room. "How about we save the walking and I just teleport us there." Cadance said once we left the room.
"Sure thi..." I didn't get the opportunity to finish my sentence as I found myself surrounded by a blinding light blue light, once the light was gone from my vision I found myself collapsing onto a red rug as I tried to get my vision to stop spinning.
After a few moments making sure that my vision wasn't spinning anymore and I wasn't on the verge of losing last night's dinner, I looked up to see Celestia, walking towards me from her place on her throne.
"Ryan are you alright?" She asked a look of worry on her face when she got close enough to me.
"Yeah I'm fine." I then looked behind me to see a worried Cadance. "Hey Cadance, just to let you know for future reference try to give me a heads up before teleporting."
"Sure thing I'll put that to memory." She then gave me a helping han... hoof to get up.
I then turned my view from Cadance to Celestia. "So Tia, what did you want to do today?" I asked giving her a grin.
"Well what sort spells do you wish to learn?"
"Well I was thinking along the lines of fire balls." I said as I realized something important. "Wait a minute don't you have day-court; how will you be able to teach me."
"Well I don't have day-court on Sundays. As for what sort of spells you wish to learn I have an idea." She looked past me at Cadance. "We're going to have to pay Shining a visit. He is at the barracks correct?"
"Yeah he is." Cadance said.
"Well then let's go to the barracks." Celestia said as she led us to the door of the throne room. She then stopped and turned to look at me. "Just a heads up Ryan, I'm going to teleport us there." I gave her a nod in understanding before my vision was filled with a yellow flash.
After making sure my stomach was still inside of me I opened my eyes to see that Celestia had teleported us outside to the day guard's barracks.
"Good morning Captain Armor, I hope our arrival hasn't interrupted anything." Celestia asked Shining who by the looks of it hadn't been fazed by our sudden arrival.
"Of course not Princess Celestia." He then turned his gaze to Cadance. "Especially when your niece appears as well." Shining said causing Cadance to wear a small blush.
"Well it's good to see you too Shiny." Cadance said whilst giving Shining a small kiss. This caused a few guards who Shining had been talking to before we arrived to let out a few giggles.
As soon as Cadance broke the kiss Shining turned to look at the guards who had managed to stifle their giggles. "Anything funny gents? Because if something is, please speak up." He said glaring at the guards.
It was then one of the guards broke out into a fit of laughter. He then fell to his side as his helmet fell off his head revealing his mane to be a light green mess of hair. As he picked himself up off the ground he spoke up. "Nothing's the matter Captain Shiny." He said barely managing to contain a second fit of laughter.
"Okay then." He then placed a hoof on his chin in thought. "Well guess what you get cleaning duty of the barracks for the next week." Shining stated.
The guard then gave a salute. "Yes sir."
Shining then turned to the other guards. "You're all dismissed." He barked at them, the next instant all of the guards were leaving to go about their duties all except the one who had burst into a fit of laughter. As Shining went to talk to the princesses I decided to talk to the box of laughter.
As I got closer I saw that he was a pegasus, he still had his helmet off at his hooves as he looked to see me approach. "Hey there wanna here a joke?" He asked me.
"Sure thing. Been a while since I've heard a good joke." I said hoping his joke would be good and not something corny.
"Okay, Knock Knock."
"Who's there?"
"Nobel."
"Nobel who?"
"No bell, so I knocked." He said as he caused me to let out a short laugh. He then held out a hoof towards me, after taking it in my grasp, I found out that he had a joy zapper attached to his hoof which gave me one heck of a shock.
After letting go of his hoof he then fell into a fit of laughter. "So if I may ask what would the name of the prankster pegasus standing in front of me?"
After he calmed down he stood up holding a hoof out to me. I then decided to inspect his hoof before gripping it. "Name's Joker." He said whilst shaking my hand. "And what would the name of the human be?"
"Joker eh, good name. By the way the name's Ryan." I said once I released his hoof from my grasp.
"Yep Joker's the name, playing pranks is my game." He said whilst hovering a few feet off the ground striking a pose. He then placed himself back on the ground when he and I saw Celestia approach. "Princess Celestia." He greeted her giving her a bow of respect.
"Good to see you again Joker, how's life been treating you?" Celestia asked as he rose from his bow.
"Well it has it's ups and downs, but I always keep a smile on my face. How's your sister been I haven't heard from her in quite while."
"She's going quite well." Celestia then shifted her gaze to me. "Ryan, Joker here is the one that taught Luna about pranks and other practical jokes."
"Guilty as charged." Joker giving a slight chuckle. "So Ryan has Luna unleashed any pranks on you yet?"
"A few." I admitted as he gave a slight smirk.
It was at that time Shining and Cadance joined us. "Joker I thought you had some cleaning to attend to." Shining said as he joined our little group.
"Got it Captain Shiny." Joker said. Before Shining could give a rebuke Joker was gone, al that was left was a pegasus shaped white cloud of dust.
"Shiny calm down." Cadance said giving Shining a hug to calm him down.
"Captain Armor, if you could can you please lead us to the spell firing range." Celestia said.
"Of course, if you will follow me." Shining said as he led us to a small firing range.
He led us behind a small fence that was at one end of the firing range, at the other end multiple targets were set up. When we approached the fence we found we weren't the only ones on the firing range.
"Hello Fire." Shining said greeting Fire Wand as he took a few shots at the targets.
"Hello Captain Armor, Princesses, Ryan." He greeted us.
"Hello to you too Fire." Celestia said as she walked up beside Fire. "You don't mind doing a favor for me do you?"
"Of course not Princess. What would the favor be?" Fire asked looking up at Celestia.
"Well correct me if I'm wrong, but out of all my guard you specialize mainly in fire related spells correct." Fire gave her a nod in response. "Well Ryan here wishes to learn how to cast spells such as fire balls, and I thought you would be able to teach him."
"It would be my pleasure Princess." Fire then turned his gaze to me. "So Ryan, what sort of spells do you know?"
"I know basic levitation and also how to make illusionary fire." I said as he nodded in thought.
"Okay then well to cast a fireball all you have to do is imagine a ball of fire in your hand, the key is you have to imagine it as real fire instead of illusionary fire." He said as I closed my eyes in concentration.
After a few moments I opened my eyes to see the ball of fire floating above my outstretched hand. "Good work now you're going to throw that fireball at one of those targets." He said gesturing from the fireball to the targets.
I then closed one of my eyes and aimed my fireball at the closest target, after a few seconds to make sure I had the shot lined up I threw the fireball at the target. After hearing what sounded like a small explosion I looked up to see the closest target on fire.
"Good work Ryan, quite surprised that you got it on the first try." He then turned to the others. "How would you rate that Princess?"
I followed his gaze and saw that Shining had erected a small shield around himself and the princesses. "Really Shining, was the shield necessary?" I asked as he lowered the shield.
"Didn't want to take any chances." Shining said as Celestia looked past us at the target.
"I'd have to say that was a pretty good shot Ryan. Excellent for your first try." She then looked up to the sky. "Ryan how do you feel about staying here with Fire."
"I fell fine with doing that Celestia, how come?"
"Well unfortunately I have to go sign a few documents. But I'm sure Cadance and Shining will be able to stay and monitor your progress." She said looking to the royal couple.
"Unfortunately I have a few more things to do around the barracks." Shining said.
"Well I'll stay here with you and Fire." Cadance said to me before turning to Shining and gave him a kiss. "Goodbye Shiny, see you later." She said as he followed Celestia away from the firing range.
"So anyway where were we Fire?" I said turning back to him.
"Simple I was going to tell you how to control the explosiveness of a fireball. So that we don't end up scaring the castle into a panic with all of the explosions." He said a slight grin on his face. |
Another human in Equestria fic | The return of the Crystal Empire (A.k.a the point where Orion becomes important to the plot) | I awoke the next day slightly exhausted. Memories of yesterday came to me as I slowly allowed my body to wake up. The rest of yesterday was spent with Fire, he trained me how to control how explosive my fireballs could be, much to the gratitude of Luna who I accidentally woke from her sleep with my first fireball.
As I got out of bed I heard someone knocking on the door to me and Trixie's room. As I got changed the knocking became more loud and fast paced. Once I reached the top of the stairs that led down to my room I saw that the knocking didn't wake Trixie up.
Once I reached the door I realized that whoever was knocking had stopped knocking. I could barely hear whoever was on the other side of the door talking saying something. I then opened the door to see who was on the other side of the door. As soon as I opened the door I was tackled to the ground.
When I looked down to see who had tackled me to the ground I saw Pinkie Pie. "HIRYANHOWSITGOING!" She said as fast as she could.
I immediately placed my hand over her muzzle as I looked up the stairs that led to Trixie's room, not hearing any noises from up the stairs I turned my gaze back down to Pinkie. "Pinkie I need you to be very quiet okay." I whispered to her not wanting to wake Trixie up.
She gave me a nod in response as I removed my hand from covering her mouth. It was then that I noticed the rest of the mane six and Spike enter the room. "Sorry about Pinkie, Ryan. She's been excited to see you since we were summoned by Princess Celestia." Twilight said as she levitated Pinkie off of me.
After standing up I gave one last glance upstairs before turning my gaze back to the others. "No problem Twilight. By the way try to keep it down Trixie's upstairs asleep." I said gesturing up the stairs to where Trixie was hopefully still asleep.
"Well hopefully we haven't accidentally woken her up darling." Rarity said giving Pinkie a slight glare at her nearly waking Trixie up.
"Well anyway Princess Celestia sent us to get you, she wanted to see you as well as us." Twilight stated.
"Okay. Let's get going then." I said walking towards the door. Once every-pony was outside of the room I closed the door behind us, I then turned to look at Twilight. "Do you know where Celestia would be?"
"She told us to meet her in the Throne Room." Twilight said before heading off in that direction.
After a few minutes we arrived outside the throne room doors to find Luna waiting for us.
She turned to look at us as we approached. "Twilight good to see that you and your friends have arrived." Luna said. "My sister would only like to see you and Ryan, your friends will have to wait out here." Luna said whilst she opened the doors for us.
Twilight turned to look at the others. "Don't 'cha worry sugarcube we'll be waiting right here fer ya." AJ said whilst the others gave nods of agreement.
"Well c'mon Twilight let's not keep Celestia waiting." I said as I approached the open doors. Before crossing the threshold, I stopped in front of Luna and gave her a small bow. "Thank you for opening the doors for us Lady Noctis." I said getting a small smile to cross her muzzle before she re-donned her look of seriousness.
I then turned back to the open door frame to find Twilight had already entered the room. After entering the room, I found Celestia talking to Twilight, when she noticed me walk in as the doors closed behind me. "Ryan good to see you could make it. Now please come here I have something I need to discuss with you and Twilight." She said waving a hoof towards herself to get me to approach them.
"So what's up Tia?" I asked her casually. "Okay something serious to talk about then." I said noticing her serious expression.
"Twilight, Ryan, I must inform you that the Crystal Empire has returned." Celestia stated whilst levitating a small pink crystal in front of us.
"The Crystal Empire? I've never read anything about that." Twilight said to Celestia a look of confusion adorning her face.
"Yes the Crystal Empire." Celestia said as her magic surrounded the small pink crystal. The crystal then projected an image of what I presumed was the Crystal Empire. "It is no surprise that you have not read about the Empire, very few remember it's existence, even my sister and I have very little knowledge about the Empire." She said whilst gesturing to the model of the Crystal Empire. "1000 years ago the empire was ruled by a tyrannical leader by the name of King Sombra, an evil unicorn with a heart as black as night, he ruled with an iron hoof enslaving the Crystal Empire forcing its citizens to work in the crystal mines. Once word of this reached me and my sister's ears we acted swiftly."
"What happened?" I asked wondering exactly what Celestia and Luna did.
"My sister and I fought the tyrannical King and banished him to the frozen north. Before he fell he cursed the Crystal Empire to disappear for 1000 years." She then turned her gaze from looking at the hologram to me and Twilight. "Twilight, Ryan, if the Crystal Empire is filled with hope and love then hope and love will spread across Equestria." She said. She then charged up her horn and fired a yellow beam into the pink crystal causing bright lights to emanate from the crystal filling the room. "But if hatred and fear take hold..." She said letting her sentence hang in the air as her horn glowed purple, her eyes started glowing a sickly green as she shot a pitch black laser into the crystal.
Once she shot the beam into the crystal a dark shadow crept out from the crystal, once the shadow had surrounded Twilight and I dark crystals sprung up from the shadows. As soon as they appeared Celestia blasted them with a beam of light causing them to shatter. She then looked at us as we recovered from seeing the dark crystals. "Twilight, Ryan, I need you to go to the Crystal Empire and protect it. Now you two must be off I have already arranged for a train to take you and your friends to the empire, the train is waiting for you at the Upper District's train station." She said as she led us to the now open double doors.
Before I could join Twilight and the others I was stopped by Luna, I then turned around to see Celestia looking at me. "I'm guessing you two want to talk to me." The two sister then gave me a nod. "Okay then." I then turned to see Twilight talking to the others. "Hey Twilight I'll meet you guys at the train station." I said she then gave me a nod as I followed the two sisters back into the throne room. "So what do you want to talk about?"
"Ryan, we need to tell you something, something very important." Luna said a serious look upon her and Celestia's face. "It concerns something that happened a thousand years ago, when Celestia and I went to face Sombra." She said a look of sadness and worry on her face.
"What happened?" I said concerned for my friend.
"When my sister and I battled Sombra I was slightly corrupted by his magic, which caused me to become a darker version of myself to defeat him." She said looking down at her hooves in sadness. "That corruption was what led to me becoming jealous of my sister and in turn turning me into Nightmare Moon." She said her voice cracking up at the sad memories.
Celestia the draped a wing over her sister's back to comfort her. "What my sister is trying to say is that Sombra may have returned along with the Empire, and that we wish for you to be careful." Her horn started to glow as a black trench coat with a blue and red trim appeared levitating in front of me. "That is why we made this. The Thaumonomicon called this the Arch Mage's Cloak. We have enchanted it with multiple protective enchantment, as well as an enchantment which allows the cloak to adjust to the temperature around it, so if you are in the freezing colds of the north the cloak will keep you warm, and if you are in the boiling heat of the badlands then the cloak will keep you cool." She explained as I put the cloak on.
"Wow thanks Tia." I then looked at Luna who still had a look of sadness on her face. I decided to pull the lunar princess into a hug. After ending the hug, I looked into her eyes seeing the sadness disappear. "Don't worry about me Luna I'll be careful and if I do encounter Sombra I'll take him down for you." That managed to get a small smile to don her muzzle. "Well I best get going. Already keeping you from getting your sleep Luna." I said whilst making my way towards the doors.
"Be careful Ryan." Luna said.
"Don't worry about me Luna, I'll be fine. Just get yourself some sleep okay." She then gave me a nod as I left the room heading for the train station.
Once I finally got on the train after the conductor not letting me on without a ticket, and him not believing that I was sent here by Celestia. Dash came out and told the conductor to let me on. It turns out that we had the whole train reserved for ourselves as each of the mane six and Spike spread themselves out on their own individual couches.
As I took my seat across from Pinkie, she immediately sat up and looked at me with interest. "So Ryan, how has your stay up in Canterlot been?" She asked me.
"Yeah what did you do, 'cause Princess Celestia said that you were staying up there to learn a few more spells from her." Dash said taking a seat next to me.
"Well I did learn a couple more spells." A mischievous thought then crossed my mind. "I'll show you one but you have to stay perfectly calm okay." I then got a round of nods from the ponies and dragon as they circled me. I then decided to start off with something simple as I ignited my hand in purple illusionary fire.
"Whoa that is cool." Dash said looking at my flaming hand.
"Darling isn't that burning you?" Rarity asked worry lacing her question.
"Don't worry about that Rarity, it's not real fire it's an illusion." I said as Dash decided to place a fore-hoof on my flaming hand.
"Yeah it's fake." Dash said as she removed her hoof from the fire. "So any other spells you learn?"
"Well one other but I'm not giving you a demonstration."
"Aww how come?" Pinkie asked disappointed at me not showing her another spell.
"Because Pinkie, the other spell I learnt was how to launch fireballs." I said.
"Yeah that's probably a good reason not to give us a demonstration." Twilight said as she looked at my jacket. "So where did you get the jacket?"
"Oh yeah, this thing. Well Celestia gave it to me, she said it's design is from the Thaumonomicon. Celestia said she enchanted it with a few protective wards, as well as an enchantment that either cools or warms up the jacket depending on the temperature around me." I said as Twilight gave a few nods of understandment.
"Interesting." Twilight said still looking at my jacket with interest. "Urgh when am I going to get to look at that book." Twilight said frustrated at the fact she still hadn't seen the Thaumonomicon.
"Well how about this Twilight, I'll tell the Princess to give you the book when we get back from the Empire." I said giving her a hopeful smile. "Now if you don't mind can you guys please wake me up when we get to the Empire." I said getting nods from the ponies.
I then decided to drift off to sleep.
I was awoken from my nap by someone poking me. I slowly opened my eyes to see Fluttershy slowly poking my side. "Hey Fluttershy, I'm guessing we're getting close to the Crystal Empire."
"Yes we are." She then decided to look down at her hooves. "I hope I didn't interrupt any good dreams." She said a slight amount of guilt on her face.
"No you didn't Fluttershy." I then looked around to see that the rest of the cabin was empty. "Hey where are the others?"
"Oh their waiting for us in the next cabin." Fluttershy said as I got up from my seat.
"Well let's not keep them waiting." I said whilst walking towards the door that led to next cabin. I then held the door open. "Ladies first." I said whilst Fluttershy gave me a quick thank you as she went through the door.
"Ah good to see you're awake Ryan." Twilight said before turning to Fluttershy. "Thanks for volunteering to wake him up Fluttershy."
"Well you're welcome Twilight." Fluttershy said as she walked over to her friends.
"So how far away are we from our stop Twilight?" I asked as I looked out a nearby window at the frozen wastes.
"We should be there in a few minutes." The train then came to a stop. "Or a few seconds. C'mon guys let's go." Twilight said as she opened the door to the frozen wastes.
As we exited the train we found ourselves on what seemed like an abandoned and old train station, I then turned to look back at the train as it made a quick reverse away from the station. "I'm guessing that this isn't the Crystal Empire." I said looking at the deserted station.
"No it isn't." It was then we realized we weren't alone on the platform as we turned to look at as stallion who was standing at the edge of the platform walking towards us. As he got closer we saw that he was wearing a scarf and goggles. When he was standing in front of us he removed the scarf and goggles to reveal Shining Armor.
"Shiny!" Twilight said whilst she pulled Shining into a hug.
"Good to see you too Twily." Shining said returning the hug. "Look we need to get going, it's dangerous out here beyond the empire's borders."
It was then I noticed a black cloud off in the distance behind Shining, as I looked closer I saw that the cloud was slowly approaching us. "I'm gonna guess that is dangerous." I said pointing to the black cloud.
"We need to go now. Every-pony follow me!" Shining said whilst running off the platform.
We didn't need anymore motivation to follow Shining. "Hey Shining what is that thing!" I yelled out to him as he led us to what looked like a giant light blue dome.
"I'll explain once we get through that shield." He said gesturing with his horn towards the dome.
As we got closer to the dome Shining and I looked back to see the cloud was getting closer to us, I also noticed that the cloud had grown a set of eyes. Shining then looked back at me. "Ryan get the others through the dome I'll hold this thing off!" Shining yelled at me over the freezing wind.
At this Shining stopped and fired a few bolts of energy into the cloud as the rest of us passed through the dome. Twilight then looked around to see if we had made it. "Wait where's Shiny?!" She then looked back to the part of the dome that we had entered through. "I'm going to go get him."
I then rushed a head of Twilight stopping her in her tracks. "Twilight stay here with the others I'll get Shining." I said to her. Before she could say anything else I rushed back through the dome.
Once I ran back out into the freezing weather I could've sworn that the snow storm had become more violent. It didn't take me to long to find Shining as I found him fighting with the dark cloud. Unfortunately Shining was losing the fight.
As I got closer to the fight I saw that Shining had been picked up by the cloud, as he was levitated to be looking at the cloud's eyes a dark beam fired from the cloud at Shining's horn. It was then I decided to intervene, luckily for me the cloud hadn't noticed me so it didn't expect the fireball that I had launched at it's eyes.
One screech of death later the cloud disappeared dropping Shining directly on top of me. "Oof." I groaned out as I levitated Shining off of me. "You okay buddy?" I said once I placed him back on the ground.
"Yeah I'm fine. Let's save the pleasantries for later. He'll be back." He said as we ran back through the dome.
As soon as we got back through Shining was immediately tackled by Twilight. "Shining Armor don't you ever do anything stupid like that ever again." Twilight said whilst hugging Shining.
"Okay I won't do anything like that again." Shining said whilst Twilight hopped off of him. He then turned his gaze to me. "Thanks for saving my flank back there Ryan."
"No problem. Also can you use magic?" I asked pointing at his horn.
"What do you oh." He said looking at his horn. He then tried to cast a spell as his horn slowly lit up, but the black crystals jutting out of his horn cancelled his spell. "Seems I can't." He then shifted his gaze towards the Crystal Empire. "C'mon you guys let's go see Cadance." With that said he led us towards the Empire.
After a few minutes we made our way through the deserted streets of the empire, to the base of what Shining said was the crystal palace. As we made our way up the castle I looked out nearby windows looking out at the city.
Soon enough we found ourselves in the crystal palace's throne room. When we entered I noticed that Cadance was sitting at the opposite end of the room slouched in her throne. When she noticed us enter she immediately leapt off her throne and met Twilight in the middle of the room as they performed their 'Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake' rhyme.
It was then that I noticed two things about Cadance. The first was that her horn was constantly giving off a blue glow. The second was the bags under her eyes. "Geez Cadance I didn't think that running an Empire would drain you of sleep."
Cadance then shifted her gaze to me as Shining whispered something in her ear. The next thing I knew I was pulled into a hug by the pink alicorn. Once she separated the hug she looked at me with a warm smile. "Thank you for saving my Shiny, Ryan."
"You're welcome least I could do."
"Okay then. As for how exhausting it is to run an empire it's actually not that tiring." Cadance admitted before a clap of thunder could be heard outside, causing Cadance's magic to flicker slightly.
"Here dear sit sown you need to relax." Shining said whilst carrying Cadance back to her throne. "As for why she's exhausted Ryan. Cadance is the one projecting the shield that's around the empire keeping Sombra out." He said a grim look adorning his face.
"So that cloud was Sombra."
"Yes it was Ryan." Shining said still wearing that grim look on his face.
"Good that makes me feel better knowing that I threw a fireball at his face then." I said clenching my fists in anger knowing that Sombra was still alive.
That managed to get a smile to replace the grim look on Shining's face. "Good to hear someone hates him as much as I do." He then gave me a questioning glance. "So what makes you hate Sombra, Ryan?"
"Sorry Shining but I'm not going to tell you, it's a secret."
"Oh alright then, as long it's a good enough reason." He then turned his attention to the others. "Twilight I need to ask you and your friends to do a favor for Cadance and I. We need you to go out and ask the crystal ponies about what life was like before Sombra."
"Sure thing Shiny." Twilight said before turning to the others. "Well let's get going." She then turned back to me. "You coming Ryan?"
"No thanks Twilight, probably best if I stay here might do a bit of research in the palace's library." I then turned to Shining. "This place does have a library right?"
"Yeah it does, I'll take you too it." Shining said before trotting back to Cadance's side and gave her a kiss. "Follow me then." He said as he led me to the library. Twilight and the others followed us out of the room but instead of following us into the library they went out into the empire.
As we entered the library we were greeted by an elderly librarian. "Hello you two, what can I do for you?" She asked giving me a few glances, probably wondering what I was.
"Ryan, I would like to introduce you to Amethyst Maresbury." Shining said gesturing to the elderly mare. "She'll be able to help you. Now if you'll excuse me I have to go check up on Cadance." With that said Shining left me alone with Amethyst.
"Well Amethyst do you know where the history section of the library would be?"
She then gave me a look of confusion. "Sorry dear but I can't remember. I don't even know if I work here or not." She said looking around the library.
"Okay then. Well thanks for your time." I said giving her a wave as I went searching for the history section.
After about a few minutes I had managed to find a book labeled 'History of the Crystal Empire' after spending an hour browsing through the pages a familiar voice graced my ears.
"Excuse me miss, you wouldn't happen to know where the history section is?" I looked up from the book to see Twilight talking to Amethyst, the others were slowly entering the library.
"Hey Twilight over here." I said waving the unicorn and her friends over to me.
Once they reached the table I was sitting at they each pulled up seats for themselves. "So what did you find Ryan?" Twilight asked looking at the book that was on the table in front of me.
"How about you guys go first."
"Alright then. Well we haven't been able to find any information about the time before Sombra. None of the crystal ponies remember anything, it's like they all have collective amnesia." She then looked back at the book. "So what did you find out?"
I then closed the book showing Twilight what the cover said. "You may find this more interesting than the front cover." I said whilst opening the book to a page labeled 'The Crystal Faire'.
"So we have to perform this Crystal Faire in order to protect the Empire from harm." Twilight asked looking at the page.
"Yep." I said. I then tried opening my mouth to say something else before I was cut off by Twilight.
"Okay girls let's go show this to Cadance and Shining." With that said Twilight and the others left the library except for Spike who had seen I wanted to say something.
"So what did you want to say Ryan?" Spike asked me.
"I wanted to tell Twilight that a page was ripped out of that book." I then looked back to Spike. "You best go help them out with the faire Spike, I'm going to go see if Cadance and Shining need help with anything."
"Got it Ryan." Spike said as he ran out of the room to help the others with the faire.
As I left the library I turned to Amethyst. "Thanks for all the help Amethyst."
"Your welcome Ryan." With a final wave I left the library heading back up the stairs to the throne room.
"Hey, hey, hey. How's the royal couple doing?" I asked as I walked over to Cadance and Shining Armor. "Hey Cadance, you're looking a whole lot better." I said noticing that she looked less tired than she was before.
"Thanks Ryan. Me looking better is probably thanks to the good news that Twilight delivered."
"Well good to know." I said as she led Shining and I over to a nearby balcony. Looking out at the empire I could hear Twilight and the others singing a song as they prepared the faire. "So Cadance can I ask you a question."
"Of course you can Ryan. What's the question?"
"How exactly are you related to Celestia and Luna?" I asked.
"Well I'm the descendant of the first queen, Princess Amore, she was the first ruler of the Crystal Empire before the rise of Sombra. Turns out she was a distant relative to Celestia and Luna."
"Oh okay then. Well I guess that explains why your full name is Mi Amore Cadenza. Have to have a connection to your relatives." I said as she gave me a nod at my statement.
We were then joined on the balcony by Twilight and Rainbow. "We have a problem." Twilight said as her and Dash joined us.
"What's the problem Twilight?" Cadance said a look of worry on her face.
"The book didn't say anything about a Crystal Heart." She said as she pulled the history book out from a saddle bag that she was wearing.
I then grabbed the book out from her magical grasp. I then turned the book to the last page. "This is what I wanted to tell you about before you ran out of the library." I said gesturing to the evidence of the page being torn out.
"Don't worry about that Twilight." Cadance said before fainting into Shining's arms gasping for air.
"Cadance!" Twilight said running to her side. It was then that Cadance's horn stopped glowing I then looked out across the empire to see that her shield had fallen.
"Um we may have a slight problem." I said as the others noticed the shield had fallen.
Luckily for us Shining leapt into action helping Cadance recover from her small faint. After recovering from her faint Cadance fired up her horn once more. With a look of pure exhaustion and weariness she restored the shield.
Shining then looked up at us whilst he still supported Cadance. "Twilight, you and your friends need to find the Crystal Heart." He said a look of worry crossing his face.
Twilight was in slight shock at what had happened to Cadance, I then gave her a slight shake as Shining took Cadance inside. "Twilight!" I said managing to get her to snap out of her trance.
"Huh? Wait where's Cadance and Shining?" Twilight asked looking around the balcony.
"Twilight you need to go find the Crystal Heart okay." I said pulling her attention back to me.
"Got it. I'll just need to grab Spike and the girls and then..."
I decided to cut off her train of thought. "No Twilight. Me and the girls will keep the faire going okay. You and Spike will have to look for the heart by yourselves, think you can do that?" I asked as she gave me a nod. "Good." I said as Twilight ran back inside.
After running back downstairs Dash and I found the rest of the mane six (Excluding Twilight) waiting for us next to what I presumed to be the fake Crystal Heart.
"Dash, Ryan what happened up there? The shield disappeared for a few seconds." AJ said a look of worry on her face.
After a quick explanation of what had happened a few minutes prior Rarity decided to speak up. "So what are we to do while Twilight and Spike look for this Crystal Heart?"
"Simple Rarity, we have to keep the faire going." I said to the others.
"How come?" Pinkie asked.
"Because Pinkie, we have to keep the crystal ponies distracted until Twilight and Spike finds the real heart." With that said the ponies gave nods of understandment.
"So what do we do next for the faire darling?" Rarity asked me as I turned the pages of the history book.
"Who's up for a little bit of jousting?" I said getting a look of excitement to be worn on Dash's face.
After a while we had sent up a small jousting area with Dash at one end and Fluttershy at the other. They both were wearing sets of armor fit for a pegasus, each set of armor had a small dull lance attached to the chest plate. I had decided to sit in a small booth next to Pinkie Pie as she commentated over the jousting match.
"Here comes Knight Dash running down the field towards Knight Fluttershy. Oh it seems like Fluttershy is up to something." Pinkie yelled into a megaphone as Fluttershy laid on the ground with her fore-hooves over her head. As Dash reached Fluttershy, Dash tripped over Fluttershy not expecting the yellow pegasus to stay in the same spot causing Dash to trip over Fluttershy. "And Fluttershy, wins the first match. Hooray for Knight Fluttershy!" Pinkie exclaimed as the crowd went wild with excitement.
"I can't believe that you ponies have jousting." I said to Pinkie, as Dash congratulated Fluttershy on her win.
"Wait you have jousting where you come from?!" Pinkie exclaimed.
"Yeah. Well humans used to play it along time ago. Few humans actually joust anymore." I explained.
"Do you know how to joust?" Pinkie asked.
"Unfortunately not." I said.
Rarity and Applejack, joined Pinkie and I in our little booth looks of worry on their faces. "Pinkie, Ryan we got a problem!" AJ exclaimed.
"What's the problem?" I asked as Pinkie went to go get Dash and Fluttershy.
"Oh darling the crystal ponies have realized that the crystal heart is a fake." Rarity said as the others joined us.
It was then I noticed the sky start to turn dark. "Uh oh." I said before looking back at the others. "Okay then I have a plan. You guys get back to the palace." They then gave me a nod in response. "Good. I'm going to go stall Sombra."
That managed to get looks of shock on the ponies faces. Dash then hovered in front of me stopping me from leaving the box. "No way, if you're going to go fight Sombra I'm coming with you."
"No way Dash." I then turned to the others before they could speak up. "None of you are." That managed to only increase the worry on their faces. "Look guys I'll be fine okay, it's not my first scrap." I then turned back to Dash. "Hey Dash if I need your help I'll fire a fireball into the air. But you're only to come and get me out of the fight not to get involved. Got it." I said giving her a look of seriousness.
"Okay then." She said reluctantly.
"Good." I then pulled her into a hug, I then gestured to the others to join us. After our hug I made to leave the box but before I left I turned back to the ponies. "Guys if I end up in a medical ward or something don't let the doctors take off my pants." That managed to get looks of confusion on their faces. "Look tell Cadance I said that, she'll know what it means." With that said I made my way out into the empire.
"So we're going to go fight Sombra eh?" Orion said as I passed a small group of crystal ponies as they made their way towards the Crystal Palace.
'Yep we are. Well more so I'm going to fight Sombra.' I thought back to him.
"Well I wonder if I'll claim your body if you die?" Orion pondered that thought.
'Well if you do make sure you kill Sombra for me will.' I admitted wondering if he would do such a thing.
"Sure thing. He won't expect you to come back to life." He chuckled.
'Good to know you'll do that.' I thought letting out a small chuckle as I approached a few of the corrupted crystal houses.
"You sure you're ready?" Orion asked as the shield broke down, Sombra's shadow form coming towards the empire.
'Hopefully I am.' I thought before something crossed my mind. 'If I do die and you take over my body don't let anyone know that you're in control.'
"Got it oh look who's here." I then looked up to see Sombra's shadow looking at me.
"So you're the great and powerful Sombra eh?" I asked the shadow thinking he'd give me a response. He didn't. I then decided to charge up a fireball behind my back. 'Thank god these gloves are fire proof.' I thought to myself.
Sombra just stood there looking at me probably trying to figure out what I was. I decided to interrupt his train of thought by launching a fireball directly at his face. He didn't like that. Not at all.
I soon found myself being hit by a blast of dark magic. My body was sent flying back into a crystal house. Somehow the blast of magic had sent me flying through the air at a high enough velocity to break the wall that I had collided into.
The effects of Sombra's dark magic didn't just stop there. After the dust had settled from the crystal home (One that now lacked a wall) that I had crashed into my vision was filled with I can only describe as my worst fears. Partway through my fear filled visions my vision grew dark, as I slowly lost myself to the realm of unconsciousness.
Orion's P.O.V
"Urgh my head." I groaned out as I raised my hand to my head feeling a bit of blood trickling out of the back of my head. "Damn. What'd I hit my head on..." I then looked around me taking in my surroundings. "Wait a second. Where am I?" I said standing up looking down at myself whilst patting the dust off of myself. "Okay how am I in control of that idiot's body." A thought then crossed my mind. I then decided to search my mind to see if what I thought was correct. "Dammit he's still alive." I said feeling Ryan's sub-conscious still in my mind (Also when Orion says his body/mind he means Ryan's body/mind) although it was fun feeling him experience his worst fears.
I decided to get out of the crystal house as I could've sworn some of it was collapsing. As I stepped out of the house I heard the house's roof collapse behind me.
"Whoa that was close." I said to myself a chuckle escaping my lips at the thought of what Ryan would do to me if I injured his body. "Not like he could do much anyway. Hmm wonder if this little role change is permanent." I said walking back to where Ryan had decided to face down Sombra.
"Ah you're still here!" I yelled out as I approached Sombra. "Wouldn't think you'd have stuck around." That managed to get Sombra to raise a smokey eye brow at me. I then saw that he had decided to shed his smoke form. Revealing the regal king. His armor shining thanks to whatever sunlight could break through the dark skies, his blood red cape slowly blowing in the wind.
After I had taken in his appearance I noticed his red horn charging up to become a brighter red. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Calm down buddy!" I said raising my arms out towards him getting him to calm down. "Not here to hurt you okay. We started out on the wrong foot or in your case hoof."
"What are you creature?" He asked me, his voice sounded like two stones being rubbed against each other.
"Well I'm a human." I said Sombra still giving me a look of confusion.
"A hugh-man?"
"Yeah but you don't over pronounce the hugh part." I explained.
"Okay then human." He said I gave him a nod in response to how he correctly pronounced it. "How are you not quivering in fear, your eye is glowing like it would whenever I showed a pony their worst fears." He stated as I looked at a nearby crystal house, seeing that my right eye was giving off a red smoke.
"Well I've always seen nightmares as pleasant dreams." I said calmly.
"Well whatever. By the looks of it you'll make a fine slave." What he said got me to freeze in place.
"Sorry what did you say I'd be?" I said edging closer to him.
"I said you'd be a fine slave." He stated.
"Oh okay then well let's shake on it." I said raising my left hand towards him.
"Why should I?" He asked looking at my outstretched hand.
"Because where I come from that's what slaves do to say they sign themselves over to their new masters." I said as I wrapped my right hand in fire preparing to punch the crap out of him.
Before he could say anything or do anything, I smashed the crap out of his chin with my flaming fist.
This action had two affects to it. The first was seeing him fly into the air. The second affect was that when he landed back on his hooves he fired a dark lance directly at my chest, I soon found myself tumbling backwards through the crystal's that made up the Crystal Empire's roads.
After coming to a painful stop against a small crystal wall I found Sombra had turned back into his smoke form and had started approaching me. "Man you pack one hell of a punch."
"Impressive you're still alive." He said whilst charging up his horn again.
Before he could fully charge up his spell I sent a fireball directly at his horn, causing him to reel back with a pained scream. Before he could recover I decided charge up another fireball shot with enough force in it to rival a mini nuke from fallout.
Once he recovered from the shot to his horn he looked back at me rage and hate filling his eyes. "Hey Sombrero burn in hell." I said launching the mini nuke fireball at his face. As soon as the fireball came in contact with his face he disappeared leaving behind a hate and pain filled scream.
I then decided to do a little bit of premature celebrating. I then looked down at the gloves to see that there was barely any blue coloration left in the main gems. "Okay then seems I only have enough magic left for one last fireball." I said as I looked around hoping that someone had seen my awesomeness.
I soon found myself thrown against a crystal house. As I collided with the crystal house I could hear a few of my ribs break. As I looked up I saw something that filled me with dread. Sombra was standing over me. "Hello there human."
I then decided to fire off a fireball directly above us. "You missed." Sombra said before he looked towards the Crystal Palace. "It can't be."
"What someone find your crystal heart?" I asked as I felt a bit of blood trickle down my face.
Before Sombra could respond I found myself grabbed by some blue blur and I was flying away from him thanks to the blue blur. "You okay Ryan?" The blur asked me it was then I noticed that Rainbow had saved my ass.
"I think a few of my ribs are broken, can you please take me to a hospital or something?" I said as we landed on a balcony next to Shining and the others. I then began to feel myself lose consciousness as the others ran over to me. As my vision began to fade I saw that Sombra was standing on a black crystal column. The next thing I knew he was letting out a pained screech as his body was covered in blue cracks. "I guess Twilight found the heart." I said before I fell into the black void called unconsciousness.
Ryan's P.O.V
I awoke to find myself in a very bright crystal room. As I tried to sit up I was rewarded for my efforts with a stabbing pain in my side. "Argh." I exclaimed falling backwards onto the bed that I had woken up in.
Luckily for me my scream had alerted a unicorn stallion who had come rushing into the room. His coat was a shade of dark blue while his mane was a pinkish red, his cutie mark from this angle was a red cross set upon a blue med kit. "Calm down sir. You're injured you need your rest." He stated.
His horn then began to glow as it glowed I could feel the pain in my side begin to disappear. "Thanks for that." I said whilst looking at my side to find that my waist was wrapped in bandages. "Hey what's your name?"
"Oh well my name is Sapphire Bandage, and I'm your doctor Mr..." He said before looking at a clipboard which was attached to the foot of my bed. "Mr. Ryan." He said giving me a smile.
"Okay then. Well then doc do you think you could go tell the princess that I'm awake. Also can I please get a moment to myself please."
"Sure thing." He said making his way out the door.
As soon as he left I checked once more to make sure I was alone upon completing my inspection I decided to speak to Orion. 'Okay Orion what the hell happened?' I thought to him not wanting to test whether the door to the room was soundproof or not.
"Well I saved your ass. Once you passed out I took control of your body and fought Sombra."
'Which explains why I'm wrapped up in bandages.'
"Yep so you can now begin thanking me."
'No way am I thanking you. No I'm instead going to ask you how you took over.'
"No clue." He said as a knock was heard on the other side of the door. "Oh seems you have visitors I'll leave you alone."
"Ryan I have visitors for you. Do you want me to let them in?" I could hear Sapphire say.
"Oh yeah, send them in." Once the door opened the mane six walked in along with Spike and the royal couple. "Hey guys how's it going?" I asked them as they surrounded my bed.
"Ryan what were you thinking!?" Twilight exclaimed.
"What someone had to stall Sombrero, and I wasn't going to let any of you run off after him." I said as they gave me looks of worry.
"I guess you're right." Twilight said. "But you could have at least asked one of us to help you." The others then gave me nods.
"Sorry I'm not letting any of you six go rushing into battle, you're to important."
"How are we so important darling?" Rarity asked.
"Because if something happened to you six then Equestria would have to find some new bearers for the elements of harmony." I said causing looks of realization to plaster themselves on their faces.
I then turned to Spike. "So what happened after I fought Sombra?"
Spike then decided to tell me about how he had retrieved the crystal heart and had managed with Cadance's help to save the empire and defeat Sombra.
"You did all that?" He gave me a nod. I then turned to Cadance. "You better make this guy a statue y'know."
"Oh don't worry we will be. You'll also get a statue for your bravery in facing down Sombra."
I then shook my head at what she said. "No thanks Cadance. Just get me a small plaque or something else small okay. Spike saved the day not me."
"You sure?" She asked uncertainty on her face.
"Yeah I'm sure." Spike then started coughing like something was stuck in his throat. After a few seconds he coughed up a scroll.
Twilight then took it in her grasp before she could even open it she gave it to me. "It's for you."
"Thanks." I then decided to read it out. "Dear Ryan. Luna and I have sensed Twilight's success in the empire. We would like for her and her friends to return to Canterlot immediately along with yourself. Sincerely Celestia." I then looked up from the letter. "Well then let's go to Canterlot." I said whilst try to get up but found the same pain in my side. "Ow."
I then decided to push through the pain and sat up. What surprised me was that I was still in my clothes and that they had apparently been cleaned. I then noticed Sapphire whisper something into Twilight's ear. Her horn then began to glow as I felt the pain in my side subside. "There something to keep you from hurting yourself." She said with a small smirk.
After managing to get out of the palace and through the empire, (The streets flooding with ponies who wanted to see Spike) we arrived at the train station that had been set up temporarily inside the empire's borders. After giving goodbyes to Cadance and Shining I found myself on the train heading to Canterlot. |
Another human in Equestria fic | Meeting a new friend. | On the way back to Canterlot I had been lucky enough to fall asleep, unfortunately for me my sleep was filled with nightmares. Which caused me to scare the crap out of the mane six and Spike. "Ahhh!" I screamed out as I was flung from my sleep by a terrible nightmare.
This had the affect of waking up Dash who had fallen asleep, it also caused the others' skeletons to jump out of their skins.
"Ryan are you okay?" Twilight asked me, as her horn glowed and I could fell the sudden pain in my side that had sprung up from me sitting up to quickly disappear.
"Yeah I'm fine. Just a nightmare." I said seeing the looks of worry on the pony and baby dragon's faces.
"You want to talk about it?" Twilight asked a look of compassion in her eye.
"No thanks. But thanks for the offer." I said as I saw the downtrodden look on her face. "I'll probably talk to Luna about it." It was then that I saw that we were getting close to Canterlot.
"Well good thing you're awake we're nearly at Canterlot." Twilight said before she went to go grab her things.
I then looked across from me to see Dash slowly waking up. "Sorry about waking you up Dash."
"Pfft. It's no biggie." Dash said waving her hoof at me.
"Okay. Oh I forgot to mention thanks for saving me Dash."
"No problem Ryan." Dash said as she stretched herself out.
Soon enough the train arrived in the Upper District's train station, and after a few pain filled minutes we made our way out into the streets of Canterlot. As per usual as we made our way to the castle I could catch glimpses of nobles giving me looks of disgust. After a painfully slow walk (Thanks to me limping) we arrived at the front gates of the castle where we were greeted by Joker and Fire Wand.
"Hey Ryan, how's it going?" Joker asked once we got close. "Let me guess not well." He said before he caught sight of Dash hovering to my side. He then held out his hoof towards her. "Good evening to you Miss Dash. Let me say it's an honor to meet a prankster such as yourself."
"Well good to meet some-pony who has heard of my legendary pranks." Dash said as she completed the hoof-shake.
After she reeled back clutching her hoof from the small zap Joker nearly fell to the ground in laughter. After a few seconds he managed to compose himself. "Sorry about that couldn't resist pulling out the good old joy buzzer." He said showing her the buzzer. "Anyway it's great to meet you. Joker's the name pulling pranks and playing jokes is my game."
"Sorry about him." Fire said before turning to me and Twilight. "The Princesses are waiting for you in the throne room." Once he said that he and Joker made room for all eight of us to move through the gates.
Soon enough we arrived outside the throne room doors. Once we entered I found my gaze drawn to the throne. Once I looked towards the throne to I saw that a dark blue and black throne had been placed next to Celestia's throne. My suspicions were confirmed of that being Luna's when my gaze drifted up from the throne to see the blue alicorn sitting atop it.
A look of worry plastered itself on Luna and Celestia's faces when they saw me limping towards the throne. Luna was the first to speak up. "Ryan what happened to you?" She asked whilst her and Celestia met me and the others halfway to the thrones.
"Oh you know got in a fight with Sombra. Unfortunately, I couldn't bring back his severed head for you." I said letting out a slight chuckle.
"So Sombra is no more?" Celestia asked as her horn began to glow. Once I noticed her horn glow I could feel myself being healed from the inside and out.
"Yep he's dead. The empire has also been saved thanks to dear old Spike here." I said gesturing to the drake.
As soon as Celestia's horn lost it's glow I could feel a small amount of pain come back to my side causing me to wince. This didn't escape the keen eye of Celestia. "Sorry Ryan, but my healing spells can't heal all of your injuries. You'll still experience a small amount of pain unfortunately." She said a small frown on her muzzle. She then turned her attention back to the others. "Well congratulations on your work you seven." She said giving them a warm smile.
"Thank you Princess Celestia." They said in unison.
It was then that someone had decided to enter the throne room when we turned to see who it was we were greeted with the sight of Moonlight. "Lady Noctis, Mother Sol. I hope I am not interrupting anything." She said giving a slight bow.
"No of course not captain. What is it you wished to inform us about?" Luna said causing her captain to rise from her bow.
"I have come to inform you that the changeling has awoken." She said a look of seriousness on her face.
This caused me to burst into a grinning fit as I turned to look at Celestia. "Celestia can I please talk to it?" I said, hope and joy lacing my voice.
Celestia then gave me a look of worry and seriousness. "Ryan, if I may ask why do you wish to talk to the changeling?" Celestia said as the other ponies in the room gave me looks of confusion.
"Because the changeling probably still thinks that I'm friends with his queen, so he'll be more open to talk to me." I said the grin never leaving my face.
Celestia gave a small nod before turning to Moonlight. "Captain take Ryan to the changeling."
At this I leapt into the air in joy as Moonlight moved towards the door motioning for me to join her. Before I left the room I turned back to Celestia. "Oh Celestia, Twilight wants to see the Thaumonomicon think you could let her borrow it?"
"Of course." She then turned her gaze back to Twilight and the others. "If you seven don't mind you can stay here overnight unless you desperately need to head back to Ponyville."
Twilight then pulled the rest of the mane six into a huddle, she then stepped forward. "Princess Celestia we will gladly accept your invitation to stay here for the night."
I then turned back around to Moonlight after giving the others a wave. "So Moonlight how have things been?"
"Good. How was going into a fight with Sombra?" She said as she led me out of the throne room.
"Painful. But oh so satisfying punching him." She let out a small chuckle at that, as we made our way deeper into the castle.
Soon enough I found myself in what seemed to be the castle's dungeon. As we passed different sized cells I found that they were empty. "What no prisoners?" I asked Moonlight, as we kept passing more empty cells.
"Well since Lady Noctis' return no-pony has been game enough to try anything against the castle." She explained.
"I'm guessing Canterlot has its own separate prison for petty criminals."
"Yes it does, but in the past whenever they were low on cells we would accept some inmates." She then stopped in front of a certain cell. "Here we are." She said before turning back to the cell. "Get up changeling!"
The response she received was a few clicks and chirps. Moonlight then gestured me to join her as she opened the cell door. When I entered the cell with her I was greeted with the sight of changeling laying on a small pile of hay.
"You have a visitor." Moonlight then turned to me. "He shouldn't be that much trouble." She then leaned in close to me "Magical band on his horn keeps him from using magic, if you need help or you need to get out just give me a shout." She whispered to me as she left the cell.
I then turned back to see the changeling giving me a look of confusion. "So you wouldn't happen to be able to speak Equestrian would you?" I asked it hoping it could speak a language I could understand.
"You. You're the human that the Queen was talking to. The one that grabbed me at the wedding." It said thankfully in Equestrian.
"Yep that's me."
"What are you doing here. You my new cellmate?"
"No I'm not. I want to get you out of here." I whispered to him.
"Then get the band off my head." He said pointing one of his hole covered hoofs at the base of his curved horn.
"Sorry can't do that. Will blow my cover." I said kneeling down to his level. "I just want to ask you some questions."
"What sort of questions."
"Don't worry I'm not going to ask you where the changeling hive is. Now for my first question what's your name?"
"Drone #254." 254 said.
"Okay how about I give you a more equestrian name." I said placing my hand on my chin in thought. "Ah. How about Stealth."
"That sounds suitable." Stealth said giving a small nod.
"Okay so second question. You stated that you were a drone, so you're male?"
"Yes I am. Also before you ask females of our race are called nymphs." He said.
"Got it also thanks for that bit of information. Third question, can changelings eat regular food or can you only consume emotions"
"We can eat regular food. But our bodies require emotional food to survive. Emotional food is also what replenishes our magic." He said gesturing to his horn.
"Ah interesting. So onto my next question, now a bit of fore-warning you don't have to answer this one but if you did it would make the process of you getting out of here a lot quicker." He then gave me a nod. "Good. My question is why did Queen Chrysalis attack Canterlot?"
He sat there quietly. "Sorry can't help you there." He said shaking his head at me.
"Do you not know or are you not aloud to say." I asked hoping he would at least answer that question.
"I don't know. Even if I did know I wouldn't tell you."
"Okay then, thanks for your honesty. Now my next question what was life like in your hive, before the Canterlot invasion?"
Stealth than placed a hoof to his chin in thought. "Before I answer your question what are you going to do with this information?"
"Well I'm going to tell Celestia. It's going to go towards helping me get you out of here. But you'll only get out of here if you tell me the truth." I said looking him in the eye. Which I just noticed was lacking an iris or a pupil but they did have a slightly purple hue to them.
"Well as a I'm part of a race that is no stranger to lies and deceit, I'll try to be honest." He said letting out a small chuckle. "As for how we lived in the hive before the invasion, well it wasn't nice."
"How so?"
"Well before the invasion we barely had any emotional food sources to feed the hive. So most of the hive was on the verge of starvation." He said. A look of sadness on his face.
"I'm sorry." I said a tone of sadness in my voice. "Okay time for my last question. If I could get you to join the princesses and I as well as a a few friends for dinner what would you do?"
"Wait you want me to join you and your friends for dinner?!" Stealth exclaimed.
"Only if I can arrange it. Look you need food right. I have a friend that could give you enough emotional energy to live maybe more."
"Okay then. Well if I would be dining with you and your friends I guess I would be very nervous."
"Would you act nice?"
"Yes." He said looking around the cell.
I then turned back to the cell door. "Hey Moonlight I'm ready to leave!" I yelled out hoping that she could heard me.
A few seconds later Moonlight appeared in the now open doorway. After I had gotten out of the cell I could see Moonlight give Stealth the stink eye before following me away from the cell. "So what'd you learn?" Moonlight asked as we walked towards the dungeon's exit.
"Quite a lot actually."
"So did you find out where their hive is?"
"No I didn't."
"Oh okay then. Well what else did you find out?" She asked as we walked up the stairs that led out of the dungeon.
"Well for one, I found out that changelings not only consume emotions but they can eat regular food. Another thing is that Chrysalis didn't tell Stealth why she invaded Canterlot."
"Wait you gave that thing a name?" Moonlight said as we began walking towards the throne room.
"Well I'm not going to call him Drone #254." I said as I saw that we were outside the throne room.
"Good point. Well this is your stop." She said looking towards the large double doors.
"Well have a good afternoon Moonlight." I said as I entered the throne room.
As soon as I entered the room I found myself enveloped in a dark blue magical aura. Once I realized that I had been enveloped in the magical aura I found myself being levitated towards the thrones.
When I looked up towards the thrones I could see Luna's horn glowing. I then looked to her left to see Celestia with a small smile adorning her muzzle. Once I was close enough Luna pulled me into a hug. "Thank goodness you're alright." Luna said.
"Luna...Can't...Breath..." I wheezed out. Luckily for me that managed to get her to end the hug. After getting my breath back I looked back to the blue alicorn. I then decided to pull her into a hug. "Of course I'm alright, Sombrero was a pushover." I said releasing her from the hug I then turned to Celestia as Luna slowly got her breath back.
"So Ryan did you find anything about our changeling friend?" Celestia asked looking at me inquisitively.
"Well first of all I think I've managed to figure out why Chrysalis invaded Canterlot."
"Really?" Luna said managing to catch her breath.
"Well I don't have a definite answer. I've only managed to come up with a guess thanks to what Stealth has told me."
This managed to get the princesses to share a look of confusion.
"So you gave the changeling a name?" Luna said. I gave her a nod in response.
"Good to hear. So what conclusion have you come to?" Celestia asked.
"Well Stealth said that life in the hive before the invasion wasn't good, saying that the changelings were on the verge of starving." This caused a look of shock to appear on Celestia and Luna's faces. "So the reason why I think Chrysalis invaded Canterlot was to feed her hive."
"That would make sense." Celestia said.
"I also have a question to ask you."
"What would that be?" Luna said.
"Well I want to invite Stealth to dinner." This caused Luna to gasp in shock at what I said. "Before you say anything the reason why I want him to come to dinner is because if the changelings were on the verge of starvation that would mean that he is probably starving." I explained.
"That sounds like a good idea. But would he behave himself?" Celestia asked raising an eyebrow at me.
"Well when I proposed the idea to him he said he would be nice, but if he actually acts nice is still yet to be seen."
"This seems like a good idea Ryan." Celestia said before sharing a glance with Luna. "Luna and I will have to discuss this first."
"Got it Tia." I then turned to Luna. "Well I best leave you and your sister to talk about this. See ya Lulu." I said leaping off the thrones and running through the doors, behind me I could hear Luna shouting in her Royal Canterlot Voice.
"RYAN!!!" It was then that I realized that she probably didn't like that nickname.
After a few minutes of making sure I had enough space between me and the throne room, I thought to myself. 'Now where am I going to go?'
My answer came when I looked out a nearby window to see the castle gardens. Outside in the gardens I could see that a few members of the mane six were sitting under a large tree. I decided to find the closest door to the gardens and join them. Once I got outside I looked up to see Dash doing a few tricks in the air, whilst Pinkie was on the ground acting as a cheerleader. I then saw that Fluttershy was standing next to a small bush talking to a chipmunk.
As I approached the tree I saw that Twilight was engrossed in the Thaumonomicon, AJ had her hat over her face getting some sleep, Rarity had a small sketch book out probably recording ideas, whilst Spike had followed in AJ's hoof step and decided to have a nap.
"Hey Twi." I said sitting next to the lavender unicorn. Noticing no response, I decided to interrupt her reading by waving my hand in front of her eyes.
"Huh? Oh hey Ryan." Twilight said looking up from the book.
"Hello to you too Twi. Good to see your enjoying reading that." I said gesturing to the book.
"Well I have you to thank for this, getting Celestia to let me read it."
"No problem Twi. Least I could do for the pony that's letting me live in her house." I then turned to Rarity. "Hello to you to Rarity."
That managed to cause her to jump a little before noticing me. "Oh hello darling. Sorry about that got caught up in my work." She said gesturing to her sketch book.
Unfortunately, her little jump woke up AJ. "Huh what's goin on?" She said tiredly.
I then decided to try something that I had been meaning to ty since coming to Equestria, I moved up to AJ's side and started scratching behind her ear. "How's that feel AJ?"
"That feels great sugarcube." She admitted as her eyes slowly closed again. A few seconds later she had fallen back asleep.
"Ryan how did you do that?" Twilight whispered not wanting to undo my work.
"Well back on earth I would usually do that to put my cat back to sleep, so I wanted to see if it worked on ponies." I admitted as Twilight gave a small nod. "You want me to scratch you behind your ears?"
"No thank you Ryan." She said. I then decided to go against her better judgment and moved to her left placing my hand on her head and began scratching behind her ear. She then melted into my hands letting out small purrs.
"Wow never knew my hands could hold this much power." I said as I stopped scratching her behind her ears, I then started patting her mane. 'Wonder how Lyra would react?' I thought to myself.
"She'd probably tie you to a chair again." Orion said.
'Good point. Still I can't help but test it out.' I retorted.
"Well then hope you enjoy dealing with her mad marefriend." Orion said.
'Another good point, I don't want to see if a angry Bon-Bon truly is deadly.' I was pulled from my thoughts as I heard someone snickering. I looked up to see Dash barely holding back her laughter.
"You enjoying petting Twilight there." She said. It was then I noticed that Twilight had taken rest in my lap enjoying the petting.
"I think Twi's enjoying it more." I then flashed a mischievous grin as I looked back at Dash. "What do you want to be pet to?"
"No way buddy-o." She said taking a step back. "Why would I anyway?"
I decided to give her a shrug in response as I went back to petting Twilight. Twilight then decided to let a purr escape her lips, that got Dash to fall onto the ground in a fit of laughter. I then took this as an opportunity to remove Twilight from my lap (Much to her disappointment) I then quietly approached the still laughing Dash. Dash then stopped her laughing when she noticed that I was sitting next to her.
I then grabbed her holding her wings against her body as she flailed a bit in my grasp. "What are you doing?" She exclaimed as she struggled to get out of my grasp.
After a few more seconds she gave up trying to struggle and calmed down. I then leaned down so that my mouth was next to her ear. "I'm going to pat you." I whispered in her ear. Before she could respond I ran my hand through her mane occasionally scratching behind her ears as she slowly melted in my grip. "Huh weird Dash, I thought you said you didn't want to be pet." I said smugly.
"I don't want to be." I then let go of Dash. "Huh what are you doing?" She said looking up at me with a confused look.
"Well if you don't want to be pet then you can go." She then rubbed her hooves together. "So I'm guessing by you staying here you want to be pet?"
"Yeah sure. But don't tell anyone okay."
"Don't worry I won't tell anyone." I said as I resumed my petting.
Soon enough Pinkie and Fluttershy joined us. As soon as Pinkie saw me patting Dash she ran up to us. "Ryan can you please pat me to?" Pinkie said bouncing on the spot in front of me and Dash.
I then removed Dash from my grip letting Pinkie replace her. "Okay Pinkie, how do you want to be pet?" I asked wanting her opinion.
"Just like you were patting Dashie." She said wriggling around in my grasp.
"Well you're going to have to sit still then." She then stopped her motions. "Good." I said bringing my hand to her poofy mane, despite the curls and poofiness of her mane my hand ran through it as easily as it did with Dash's mane. Once I had begun running my hand through her mane, Pinkie decided to stretch herself out and started purring and nuzzling my hand like a cat would.
After a while of us sitting under the tree enjoying the peace and quiet the sun had begun to set. It was then that I saw Trixie walking towards us. "Good evening Twilight and friends." She said giving us a warm smile.
"Hey Trixie, how's it going." I asked happy to see the mare.
"Well I've been asleep for most of the day, so I can't really complain." She said with a small chuckle.
By this point Pinkie had been replaced by Fluttershy who had fallen asleep thanks to the treatment my hands had given patting her. "Do you want a pat too Trixie?" I asked the mare.
"No thank you Ryan." She said giving me a forgiving smile.
"Got it." I said going back to slowly running my hand through Fluttershy's mane. "So what's gotten you to give us a visit Trixie?" I asked as Trixie took a seat next to Twilight who was still reading the Thaumonomicon.
"Just coming to see if you and your friends are coming to dinner?"
Twilight decided to speak up for me. "Yes we are Trixie."
I then looked from the duo to see that Moonlight had appeared in the gardens, and was approaching us with what looked like a cloaked unicorn walking beside her. As they got closer I noticed the purple eyes under the cloak as well as a chintinous hoof poke out from under the cloak.
I then carefully removed Fluttershy from my lap as I decided to stand up and stretch. By this point Twilight and the others had taken notice of Moonlight, they all gave a curious gaze to Stealth as they hadn't noticed who he was.
"Hello Captain Moonlight." Twilight greeted Moonlight once she got close enough. "Who's your friend?" She asked looking at Stealth.
"Mother Sol has asked me to introduce you all to our guest for dinner this evening." She then turned to me. "I'm sure you can take care of him Ryan, also Nightblade will be keeping an eye on him. Just in case something happens."
"Got it. Thanks Moonlight." I said as she headed back for the castle leaving Stealth with us. "Okay guys." I said looking at the others as Fluttershy awoke from her nap. "I want you to remain perfectly calm." I then moved to stand next to Stealth.
"Well why wouldn't we darling? It's not like our guest is a CHANGELING!!" Rarity screamed the last part out as I removed the hood.
The next thing I knew as Fluttershy hid behind Twilight, whilst Rarity pulled out her fainting couch, I saw a cyan blur out of the corner of my eye as I saw Stealth be tackled.
I then turned around to see Dash with a hoof to Stealth's throat. "Okay changeling what are you doing here!?" She spat at Stealth. Stealth then proceeded to do what any good changeling without magic would do in this situation. He brought his fore-hooves up to cover his face as he quietly whimpered.
I then rushed over and pulled Dash off of him. "Dash what did I say about being calm." I said into her ear my voice dripping with seriousness. I then placed her down next to the others as Rarity slowly recovered from her faint. I then walked over to Stealth and offered him a hand. "Need a hand?"
He then placed a chintinous hoof in my hand as I pulled him back onto all four hooves. "Ryan what are you doing helping that changeling?" Twilight asked as I turned back to the others. "Wait a minute are you under a mind control spell!?" She exclaimed as her horn began to charge up.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Twilight I'm not under a mind control spell. Besides Stealth here wouldn't be able to cast any spells, seeing as how he has an anti-magic ring on his horn." I said gesturing to Stealth's horn.
"Wait he has a name?" AJ said as she slowly came out of her defensive stance.
"Yes he does AJ. It's better than calling him Drone#254."
"So he's friendly?" Rarity asked. From the look on her face she was close to passing out again.
"Well to a point." I said clapping my hands together.
"Well hiya Mr. Stealth." Pinkie said as she trotted up in front of Stealth, causing him to reel back a bit at how close Pinkie had gotten to him. "Oh sorry I didn't mean to scare you." She said as she gave him an apologetic smile.
After a few seconds Stealth slowly approached Pinkie holding a hoof out to her. He then let out a few chirps and clicks at Pinkie. Pinkie then gave him a confused look as he realized he accidentally spoke changeish instead of Equestrian. "Sorry about that." He said as Pinkie shook his hoof.
"No problamo Stealthy." She said. She then turned back to the others. "His safe. Or else my Pinkie sense would be telling me he isn't." That still didn't get the others to calm down though.
"Hey Pinkie you think you could give Stealth here a hug?" I asked, getting a look of confusion from Pinkie before she gave a nod. "Make sure it's honest." I said as she pulled Stealth into a hug.
As soon as Pinkie ended the hug she was pulled into another one by Stealth. "Thank you." He said as he ended the hug. "You have no idea how much I needed that."
"Wait you needed a hug that badly? How come?" She asked.
"Because Miss Pinkie you just saved me from starving to death." Stealth admitted causing the ponies to wear looks of shock all accept Dash.
"Wait a second you guys believe him?" Dash said looking at the others.
"Dash he ain't lyin'" AJ said looking from Dash to Stealth. "As the Element of Honesty I'd know if he was lying."
"Wait you're telling the truth?" Dash said hovering in front of Stealth.
"Yes I am. Us changelings require emotional food for our bodies to survive." He then pointed a hoof at Pinkie. "And your friend there just saved my life."
"Well then if that's true I guess I'm sorry for tackling you to the ground." Dash said rubbing a hoof behind her neck.
It was then that we were joined by Raven. "Good evening Ryan and friends." She then paused when she saw Stealth. "Princess Celestia would like for you all to join her in the dining hall." She said before making her way back to the castle.
"Well then we best not keep Celestia waiting." I said as we decided to follow Raven, Stealth remained at my side hoping to not catch the eyes of any guards.
After a few minutes of walking we arrived in the dining hall. As soon as we got in the room Stealth let out a sigh of relief.
"Good to see you arrived here without any problems." Celestia said from the head of the table.
"Yes it is good to hear that sister." Luna said from her place at Celestia's right.
At the voice of the two princesses Stealth froze up in fear. I then decided to pick him up and seat him next to me.
Silver Platter than appeared in a flash of silver as usual. After he took our orders he then looked at Stealth raising an eyebrow. "Would the changeling like anything to eat?"
"He'll have the garden salad." I said. Silver than gave me a nod and was gone.
After a few minutes Stealth had managed to come back to the world of the living, just as Silver returned with all of our meals. After placing down our meals and drinks he was gone again.
"Um what happened?" Stealth said looking around the table, once his gaze landed on the princesses he started shaking.
I then placed a hand on his shoulder. "Stealth, their not going to hurt you." I then turned my gaze to the two sisters. "Are you?"
"Of course not." Celestia said.
"Only if you give us reason to." Luna said as she decided to take a bite from her salad. Causing Stealth to shake more.
"Really Luna." I deadpanned at her.
"What I said only if he gives us good reason to hurt him."
I then decided to change tactics. "Stealth how about you have some salad." I said holding his fork in front of him. After a few seconds of staring at the fork Stealth then grasped it with his hoof as he began eating his salad. After the first bite he then started eating the salad with more vigor.
After a few seconds of Stealth loudly chomping and swallowing his salad, he left behind a clean plate a smile adorning his muzzle. This sight caused Celestia to let out a small chuckle. "Good to see somebody has enjoyed their dinner." Celestia said, whilst Stealth froze up feeling Celestia's gaze fall on him.
Stealth then looked up from his dish to see that everyone at the table was taking glances at him. "Yes it was a wonderful meal." He said making Celestia give him a warm smile.
"Well then it seems that time has passed us by." Celestia said looking out a nearby window. She then shared a look with Luna.
Once the look was done Luna's horn began to glow. After a few seconds I looked to my right to see that Nightblade had appeared out of thin air and was standing behind Stealth. "Lieutenant Nightblade if you would kindly escort Stealth her back to his cell." Luna said gesturing to Stealth.
"Of course Lady Noctis." He said giving her a small bow. "Come now changeling let's get you back to your room." He said as Stealth got out of his seat.
"Bye Stealth." I said waving to the changeling as he was led out of the room by Nightblade. I then turned back to the princesses. "So how do you think dinner went?" I asked as Silver reappeared to take our dishes.
"Well it did go smoother than I expected." Luna said.
"Yes. But I do wish he wasn't so nervous around us." Celestia said a small frown on her muzzle as she looked towards the door.
The mane six then stood up from their seats. "Well thank you for having us for dinner Princess Celestia, unfortunately me and my friends need to get to sleep as we do need to catch the train back to Ponyville tomorrow." Twilight said as they made their way to the door.
"Of course Twilight, hope you have a good night's rest." Celestia said as they left.
"Well then Trixie we best be off for our lesson. Ryan will you be joining us?" Luna asked.
"Sorry but no I won't be attending Luna. Also before you go can I please talk to you and Celestia for a moment." I said, causing the two princesses to share a look before giving me a nod.
"Trixie go to my chambers tell the guards that I sent you and also that they are to let you inside." Luna said getting a nod from Trixie. As she made for the door I gave her a wave goodbye which she returned as she left the room.
"So what is it you wish to tell us Ryan?" Celestia asked giving me an inquisitive look.
"Well it's about Stealth. I want to take him back with me and the others to Ponyville." This managed to get looks of shock to plaster themselves on the sister's faces.
"How come Ryan?" Luna asked.
"Because I have a plan." I then turned my gaze to focus on Celestia. "I have a plan to find the changeling hive."
"Really and what would that plan be?" Celestia asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Simple Tia, all it will involve is getting Stealth to trust me enough to take me to the hive. Once I'm there I'll convince Chrysalis to come to Canterlot so we can form a peace treaty." I explained.
"And what makes you think she will listen to you?" Luna asked a hint of worry lacing her voice.
"Well if the changeling hive was on the verge of starving before the invasion I highly doubt that she would pass up an opportunity to feed her hive." Luna then gave a thoughtful nod at what I had said. "But it all rests on me taking Stealth back to Ponyville. But that will require him being able to have magic to disguise himself."
Celestia placed a hoof to her chin in thought. "I may have a few ideas to keeping Stealth in line." She then fixed me with a serious expression. "Ryan, are you sure that this plan will work?"
"Not 100 percent, maybe about 90 percent. But to answer your question yes I do think it will work. Also before you ask I will keep him in line."
"Alright then. Well I'll have to put a few things together." Celestia said as her horn began to glow momentarily. "Alright then Ryan, you'll get your wish."
At those words I hopped out of my seat and ran up to Celestia giving her a hug. I then turned to Luna and gave her a hug as well, much to my surprise Luna's wings wrapped around my back forcing me to hold the hug for a few more seconds. After she let me go I could see a blush adorning her muzzle. "Thanks you two. Well I better hit the hay have a good night." I said as I left the room.
"So that was your plan all along." Orion said as I made my way towards me and Trixie's room.
'Yep.' I thought back to him. 'Hopefully everything will go to plan.'
"Yeah you're definitely hoping they do, only so you can see Chrysalis again. Lover boy." He whispered the last part to me.
'Shut up!'
"I never will and you know that." He said before falling into a cackling fit. |
Another human in Equestria fic | A ship sails. | The next morning, I woke up screaming. "Arghhh!" After screaming myself awake I could feel myself covered in a cold sweat, my heart was beating at a million beats per minute, memories of my nightmare still dancing in my vision.
"Ryan are you alright?" I looked to my left to see that Luna was lying in bed with me.
"Arghhh!" I said reeling back enough to fall off the bed. After a few seconds of lying on my back on the ground I could feel myself be levitated back onto the bed. Once I was back on the bed I looked at Luna. "Luna why are you here?"
"Well whilst I was enjoying my sleep I could feel somebody having a nightmare. When I went to investigate who, through the dreamscape I found it was you. But for some reason I could not get into your dream world to help you. So I came here thinking if I was closer to the host I could enter your dream world. But you awoke before I could help you." She explained a sad look on her face.
"Oh okay then."
"Do you want to talk about your nightmare?" Luna asked a worried look on her face.
"Luna I would tell you but... I don't want to scare you." I admitted.
"Ryan, I have faced many nightmares in my time, I doubt that your nightmare could be that bad."
"It could be and it could be worse. Luna please I don't want you to be hurt, that's why I told Orion to lock you out of my dream world whenever I have a nightmare." I said a guilty look on my face.
"You'd do that for me?" Luna said. "Why?"
"Because you're my friend Luna, I don't want you getting hurt by my nightmares." I said pulling her into a hug finally managing to get my body to stop shaking slightly. "Luna what time is it?" I asked her.
"Well my sister has only just raised the sun, so about six o'clock. Why?"
"Do you mind staying here with me just until I have to get up?" I said sheepishly.
"If it will help you sleep then I will." She said as she wrapped her wings around me.
"Thank you Luna." I said causing a blush to cross her muzzle.
"Ryan, don't tell anyone about this okay."
"Got it." I said as I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.
A few hours had passed when I woke up to the sound of someone knocking on the door to me and Trixie's room. When I opened my eyes my heart stopped as I took in the sight before me. Luna's muzzle was mere inches away from my face.
At this sight I had tried to shift myself away from the sleeping mare, it was then that Orion decided to comment on this situation. "So you slept with Luna. Celestia isn't going to be happy about that."
'Shut up, I need to remember what led me to be in this predicament.' I thought back to him as Luna began to shift slightly. It was then that I felt her wings wrapped around my back, at feeling myself being held in place by her wings I could feel something inside of my chest heat up.
Slowly but surely the memory of waking up from a nightmare to find Luna with me and what happened afterwards came back to me. As a small smile formed on my face I could hear the knocking become slightly louder. Unfortunately, it had become loud enough to wake Luna from her sleep. "Good morning Luna." I said as she slowly opened her eyes.
It was at that moment that I lost myself in Luna's eyes, her blue eyes were truly a sight to behold from this close. I was pulled from my thoughts by Luna shifting her wings so that they were at her sides and not wrapped around me. "Ryan can thou please see who is at the door?" Luna said as she hopped off of the bed.
"Sure just let me quickly go get changed." I said making my way to the bathroom to get changed. After I had finished in there I came out of the bathroom to see that Luna was gone. When I looked around for her all I found was a small not on my bed.
'Dear Ryan. I have teleported myself back to my room so that I could get some sleep. Hopefully what had happened this morning has helped you. Sincerely your friend Luna. P.s. Destroy this parchment as soon as you can.' I finished reading the note to myself, as the knocking became slightly louder.
As I walked up the stairs and towards the main door I used my magic to burn the parchment. After making sure there wasn't any ash on my gloves I opened the door to find Twilight. "Hey Twi what's up?" I asked the unicorn.
"What's up? What's up!?" She exclaimed
'Oh great Twily's mad.' I thought to myself as she calmed down.
"Nothing's up it's just that every-pony is wondering where you've been being all that's up." She said a small amount of steam coming out of her ears.
"Whoa, calm down Twi. I had to get changed okay." I then looked behind her to see that the rest of the mane six and Spike were waiting down the end of the hall with Celestia. "Look give a second Twi okay. Just going to say goodbye to Trixie." I said as I moved back into the room, walking up the stairs to Trixie's room.
I then delivered a few shorts knock to the door. Which managed to get Trixie to wake up and open the door a tired look on her face. "Oh it's you Ryan." She then let out a yawn. "What's up?"
"Nothing much just that me and the others are heading back to Ponyville and I thought you may have wanted to say goodbye." Once I had said this he wrapped her fore-hooves around my waist.
"Well then goodbye Ryan, hopefully I'll see you again soon." She said as she removed herself from my mid-waist. "Sorry but I'm really tired so if you'll excuse me." She said going back into her room closing the door behind her.
After walking back to the door to join Twilight we joined the others at the end of the hall. "About time you woke up sleepy head." Dash said to me as Celestia led us through the castle out to the front gates.
Celestia then stopped and turned around. "Well Ryan, here we are. You still look half asleep." She said. "Not much for mornings, I'm slightly hurt." She said placing a hoof to her chest a small look of hurt on her muzzle.
"Don't get me wrong Celestia I like mornings, I just hate waking up that's all." I explained. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Moonlight approaching us with Fire Wand beside her.
"Ah and here is our special guest." Celestia said nodding her head towards the new arrivals. "I see that you have given him the band already Captain."
It was then I noticed that Fire was wearing a metallic band on his front right hoof, as I looked more closely at it I could see a few runes etched into it. "As you ordered Mother Sol."
"So what's with the band?" I asked Celestia.
"It grants him only enough magic to be able to disguise himself." Celestia stated. It was then I realized that this wasn't Fire but it was Stealth. "He will be staying with you Ryan." She then levitated a band towards me. "This band is connected to the band he is wearing it will keep him within 50 meters of the band I just gave you." Celestia explained what the second band was for.
"Got it so I have to feed him and walk him." I joked. "So how's it going Stealth?" I asked as Twilight and the others only now realized that this wasn't Fire.
"Well it feels good to not be getting death stares from guards when I pass them." He admitted.
"Well then you all best be going the next train to Ponyville does leave in five minutes." Celestia said as Fire joined our little group. "Have a safe and quick trip home Twilight." Celestia said as we made our way out of the castle towards the train station.
As we travelled back towards Ponyville on the train the mane six kept glancing at the disguised Stealth who had kept his Fire Wand disguise on him since Celestia had told us to take care of him.
It wasn't long before somebody broke the silence and Twilight was the one to do that. "So Ryan, what did Celestia mean by he'll be staying with you?"
"Simple Twilight, dear old Stealth here will be staying under your roof." This caused a look of shock to plaster itself on her face.
"Princess Celestia is serious isn't she?"
"Yeah she is. But hey Twilight look on the bright side, you get the opportunity to study a changeling." I said gesturing to Stealth.
"What do you mean by study?" Stealth said, looking between me and Twilight.
"Well nothing to extreme like dissecting you and seeing what's under your chitin. Probably just an assortment of questions, maybe a few experiments nothing to dangerous." I then looked to Twilight. "Right Twilight?"
"Of course. You may be seen as an enemy of Equestria but I would never do any experiments that are to dangerous." She said, soon realizing what she had said. "No offense."
"None taken." Stealth said, casually brushing off what Twilight had said about him being an enemy of Equestria.
"So anyway where will he be sleeping?" Twilight asked me.
"How about we convert part of your basement into a bedroom for him." I suggested.
"Good idea Ryan." Twilight said a grin adorning her muzzle. "But that also brings another thing to the light." She then turned her gaze to Stealth. "Stealth are changelings able to make their own disguises? Before you ask I mean can you make your disguises into ponies that don't exist."
"We can yes. Why?" He asked raising an eyebrow.
"Well it would seem a bit weird to see Fire Wand staying in the library, mainly for those who know him." Once Twilight had said this Stealth had hopped off of his seat and was standing in front of Twilight. "Um what are you doing?" She asked.
After a few seconds Stealth then dropped his disguise and tapped the tip of his horn against Twilight's. His eyes then started to glow a bright purple. Once his eyes lost their glow he then backed away from Twilight.
Once he was a pony length away from Twilight he then covered himself in a light purple flame as he donned a disguise. Once the flames subsided a unicorn stallion stepped out from the embers. Stealth's coat was a dark grey, his mane was a blood red with a small strip of purple running down the center of his mane and tail. His cutie mark was a small black heart that had holes in it similar to a changeling's chitin.
The rest of us then looked over Stealth's new disguise. "What the heck was that?" I asked him as he returned to his spot sitting next to me.
"That's a little ability that changelings can do. What it is, is that we can connect our horns to a unicorn allowing us to peer into their mind. This allows us to pull together a disguise from the unicorn's memories of other ponies. But that ability is also used by infiltrators as a way to make a disguise on what the unicorn desires in a pony." He explained.
"So which one did you use?" I asked as I saw Twilight get a small blush.
"First one." He said causing Twilight's blush to disappear.
"Five minutes until our arrival in Ponyville. Five minutes." The announcer said over the speaker system.
"Well you heard the bodiless voice let's get ready." I said as I checked to make sure that I had everything that I needed on me. I then looked around to see that everybody else was making sure they had what they needed. All the while Stealth was sitting next to one of the windows looking out it as we approached Ponyville.
Once we had arrived in Ponyville Twilight, Spike and I led Stealth to the library, as the others had gone back to their own homes or had gone off to do their own thing. As we made our way through Ponyville Twilight pointed out important buildings and other places of interest.
Whilst we were passing through the marketplace a very familiar duo of ponies came up to us. "Hey Ryan." Lyra said as she walked up to me.
"Hey Lyra, Bon-Bon, how's it going?" I asked glad to see the mint mare again.
"Oh just average, but we're really glad to see that you're back." She said with a grin on her muzzle.
"Yeah we are. Where have you been anyway Ryan?" Bon-Bon asked. She then looked past me at Stealth. "And who's your friend?"
"Oh well to answer your first question Celestia sent me, Twilight and the others out to a newly found empire. As for who that is well that's Stealth." I then turned to him. "Stealth say hello to Lyra and Bon-Bon."
"Oh hello, nice to meet you." He said holding a hoof out to Bon-Bon.
As she shook his hoof she spoke up once more. "Always nice to meet a new face around Ponyville."
"So Ryan, now that I've managed to get myself under control do you think we could have tea again sometime?" Lyra asked me.
"Sure thing Lyra. How about we do that tomorrow Twilight and I need to get Stealth here settled in."
"Oh well tomorrow's no good for me. Octavia wants me to go over to her and Vinyl's house and do some practice." Lyra said looking at the ground a small frown on her muzzle.
"Wait did you say Vinyl? As in Vinyl Scratch."
"Yeah why?" Lyra asked lifting her head back up to look at me.
"Well I needed to talk to Vinyl anyway, how about I come with you."
Once I said this Lyra's earlier cheery expression returned. "That's a great idea Ryan. How about you come to my place at around 9 o'clock so we can head over there together."
"Sure thing Lyra. Well I guess I'll see you tomorrow." I said whilst joining Twilight and the others as they made their away from the marketplace.
"See you then Ryan." Lyra said giving me a wave as I left the marketplace.
"Sounds like you got yourself a date for tomorrow." Spike said with a slight smirk as I rejoined him and the others.
"No I don't Spike, just going out to talk to some friends." I said as we approached the library.
"Whatever you say Ryan." He said as we entered the library.
"Here it is home sweet home." Twilight said gesturing to the library.
"So you live in a library?" Stealth said looking at the numerous bookshelves.
"Yep. Isn't it great. Anyway I better show you where you'll be staying." She said as she led Stealth and I to a dark oak door. When she opened the door she led us down into her basement.
As I looked around the room I noticed that there were two levels to Twilight's basement. On the second level I noticed to no surprise that there were a few bookshelves, but what surprised me the most was that Twilight had some machines set up. Next to the bookshelves a bed big enough to hold Stealth was in place.
"Twilight exactly where did you get these machines?" I asked as Stealth jumped on his bed.
"Oh these old things, well I made them. Also before you ask they measure a pony's heartbeat and other things with magic."
"So these machines produce readings of how a pony's mind with magic?" I asked hoping for her to confirm my guess.
"Exactly." She said with a smile before levitating a metal hat with blinking lights and wires attached to it from a top one of the machines. She then turned to look at Stealth. "Okay Stealth, I need you to come over here and put this on."
Once Stealth had gotten close enough Twilight strapped the hat to his head. "Um do you want me to drop my disguise?" Stealth asked as Twilight made sure the hat was strapped on properly.
"That would probably be a good idea." She said as she undid the straps. After removing the helmet Stealth changed back to his changeling self in a light purple flame. Twilight then proceeded to strap the helmet back onto his head. Once she had done this she had plugged the helmet into one of her machines. "Now make sure you tell me if you feel any pain in your head." She said as she turned the machine on.
After a few seconds the machine began to feed out a piece of paper with some results written on it. "So how long does he have left to live?" I joked getting a small smile out of Stealth.
"Yes please tell me how long I have to live doctor?" Stealth pleaded to Twilight as he decided to wear a look of worry.
"Hmm." Twilight said looking over the readings, ignoring me and Stealth's joking. "Strange, quite strange. For some reason your readings are actually quite similar to that of a regular pony. Although that would help with avoiding detection." Twilight said as she pulled out a needle.
As soon as Stealth saw the needle a look of fear came to his face. "What are you going to do with that?"
"Well I'm going to take a blood sample from you. Now if you could hold still this won't hurt at all." She said approaching Stealth.
"Well that needle isn't going to pierce my chitin. You're going to have to insert it in one of the joints in my chitin." He said getting a nod from Twilight. Twilight then inserted the needle into one of his shoulder joints.
At the needles penetration of his joint he let out a small wince of pain. "Oh sorry, I didn't hurt you much did I?" Twilight asked worry lacing her voice.
"No you didn't. I think you may have accidentally hit a nerve." Stealth said as Twilight removed the needle a small amount of his blood in the needle.
She then inspected his blood. "Hmm a slight green coloration to it interesting. I'll have to give this to Nurse Redheart she'll be able to analyze it better than I could." Twilight than looked up to a clock on the basement wall. "Oh its dinner time. I'll go help Spike with dinner." Twilight said as she left the basement, before she went upstairs she turned back to us. "Don't touch anything!" She yelled back at us.
"Well I better go give Spike a hand with dinner." I said walking up the stairs whilst Stealth was right behind me.
"Didn't Twilight say she would help Spike?" Stealth asked as we got to the basement's door.
"Let me tell you something Stealth, Twilight can't cook." I said in a whisper as we left the basement.
After I had managed to help Spike save what dinner Twilight hadn't burnt we had all sat down eating a salad. After that was done Twilight had managed to enchant Stealth's band to keep him within his small section of the basement.
After that I had decided to call it a night while Twilight decided to keep looking over the Thaumonomicon.
Later that night I woke up to find myself in a queen sized bed. This bed was very familiar to me, as I looked around the room it all came flooding back to me. I was in my apartment back on earth. "Huh was that all a dream?" I asked myself thinking back to my time in Equestria.
I was puled from my thoughts as I heard a growl emanate from my stomach. I then decided to get out of bed and grab something to eat. As I walked into the kitchen I decided to grab a quick snack and watch some TV. As I grabbed my snacks and jumped on the couch I was interrupted by a knocking coming from my door.
It was at that moment I realized I was still in my pajamas. "I'll be with you in a moment!" I yelled at the door, as I went back into my room to change into something presentable.
After changing into a shirt and a pair of shorts I walked up to the door and opened it. I was then greeted by Luna. "Hello Ryan, I hope you haven't had any nightmares yet."
"Am I dreaming?" I asked her.
"Why yes you are. May I please come in?" She asked.
"Oh sure thing Luna." I said moving out of the doorway.
"So what is this place Ryan?" She asked looking around my apartment.
"This is where I used to live back on earth." I explained as I went to go sit back on my couch. "By the way what are you doing here, not that I don't enjoy your company but still." I said turning on the television. "Urgh!" I groaned out as I had turned my TV onto the news channel.
"And the winner of America's election is Donald Trump." The news anchor said.
I then decided to obliterate my TV with a fireball. "Ryan why did you destroy that box?" Luna asked.
"Because the TV reminded me why I don't want to go back to earth."
"TV?" She asked looking at the smoldering remains of the TV.
"Maybe I'll explain another time." I said as I looked around my apartment. "Maybe we should go for a change of scenery." I said as I shifted my dreamscape so that Luna and I were sitting on top of the hill with the oak tree sitting above us. Luna's moon was at it's peak in the sky above us, as always it was a full moon.
I had also noticed that when I changed the scenery I had brought my couch along with me. Luna had also decided to join me on the couch. "Now Ryan as for the reason I'm here I need to tell you something." Luna said as she softly nuzzled my side.
"Would have something to do with why you're so affectionate?" I asked as I ran a hand through her starry mane.
"Well it has something to do with what happened this morning, as well as when you went to the Crystal Empire. Since then I have felt strange feelings towards you." She admitted causing me to pause as what she said ran through my mind.
"What do you feel?" I asked.
"Well whenever I'm around you I feel an enormous amount of joy within me." She admitted as she looked up at me.
"So you love me?" I asked my voice wavering a bit.
"I guess so. How about you, do you feel the same about me?" She asked, sitting up so that she was looking in my eyes.
"Yes." I said. I then looked into her eyes seeing them light up with excitement. "Luna if I may?" I said leaning towards her.
She decided to answer my question with actions. She then placed her lips on mine as she kissed me, I then decided to wrap my hands around the back of her head as I pulled her deeper into the kiss. After a few seconds I could feel her tongue pressing against my lips, I decided to grant her wish as I opened my mouth and let my tongue wrestle with her's.
After a few more seconds we both separated a small string of drool connecting our lips. After catching my breath, I spoke up. "That was amazing." I said a grin on my face.
"Thou really think that?" Luna said a look of joy on her face.
"By your technique I'm guessing this was your first time?" I questioned as a small blush crossed her face.
"Yes it was." She admitted, causing her blush to grow.
"How is that?"
"Well let us say this. No-pony saw to court us; they were more interested in our sister." She said a downtrodden look on her face.
"Well their idiots." I said causing her to smile. "I'm surprised no one tried to court you, honestly. You're beautiful, your personality is amazing, and don't get me started on how beautiful your smile is."
She then decided to press her lips against mine again. "Thank you Ryan." She said once we ended the kiss. "So what does this mean?" She then pointed her hoof back and forth between us.
"Well I guess we're dating." I said before placing a finger on my chin. "Great I guess I have to take you somewhere to go on a date." I then realized something. "Well I think I have an idea."
"What would that be?" She said a look of excitement in her eye.
"Well first if this is you're first time on the dating scene well you may want to talk to Cadance." She then gave me a nod as she understood what I meant. "As for our date, how about I come and pick you up two days from now. How about I meet you at the castle gates at 7 in the evening." I said as her horn began to light up.
"Well then I guess it's a date then." She then looked up at her horn. "I am sorry but I must go, some-pony is having a nightmare."
Before she could go I decided to give her a quick kiss. "Well I guess I'll see you the night after tomorrow."
She then gave me a nod before she left in a flash of dark blue. Once she was gone I saw Orion step out from behind the oak tree. "Well, well, well. Look who's dating a princess." He said giving me an applause.
"Yeah I am. Better date than the one you got." I said jokingly.
"Yep I guess you're right." He then faded away as I could feel myself awaking. |
Another human in Equestria fic | The Ponyville chapter. | Chapter 17
When I opened my eyes I looked around to see that I was in my bed on the upper floor of the library. I also noticed that Spike and Twilight weren't in their respective beds, I then looked up at a clock mounted on the wall to see that the time was 8:30. Once I saw this I was immediately reminded that I needed to get to Lyra's house at 9.
After quickly getting changed, I rushed downstairs. Unfortunately for me I missed the last step and tripped landing on my face. "Ryan are you alright?" Twilight exclaimed as she trotted up to me.
"Yeah I'm fine. Hey what's for breakfast?" I asked as I got up.
"Pancakes." She said leading me to the dining table she had set up.
As I took my seat I saw that Stealth had joined us, he was wearing his unicorn disguise. I also noticed he was giving me a look of curiosity. "So what's got you so happy?" He asked.
"What do you mean?" I asked back taking a bite out of my pancakes.
"Well number one, your radiating joy and happiness. Before you ask I'm an emotivore so I can sense emotions. Second of all you're wearing a giant grin." He said pointing a hoof at my face.
"Well if you must know I had an awesome sleep last night." I said after eating the last of my breakfast. "Well I got to get going." I said turning to Twilight. "Try not to dissect Stealth to much." I said jokingly as I headed out the front door.
On my way to Lyra's house I had managed to run into Pinkie. Well more like she ran into me knocking me to the ground. "Oh sorry about that I wasn't watching where I was... Oh hey Ryan. Need a hoof?" She asked holding a hoof out to me.
"Thanks Pinkie." I said taking her hoof as she pulled me up, with a surprising amount of strength.
"So what are you doing Ryan?" Pinkie asked as she decided to join me on my journey to Lyra's.
"Well I'm going to go visit Lyra." I said as I could see Lyra standing in front of her house in the distance. "What are you doing Pinkie?"
"Oh yeah I gotta go check up on Stealth, see if he needs anymore emotional food." She said before making a U-Turn towards the library. "Bye Ryan!" She said as she trotted off.
I gave her a wave as I joined Lyra in front of her house. "Wow right on time." Lyra said once I was close enough. "Well c'mon then let's get going." She said trotting off the way I had come.
"So Lyra, what business do you have with Octavia if I may ask?" I asked her, as we passed the library.
"Well she wants to have a practice session for an upcoming event that she and I are playing music for."
"Really. What instrument do you play then Lyra?"
"Well I play the lyre." She said opening one of her saddlebags to reveal a pony sized lyre.
"Well that explains your cutie mark. How exactly do you play that?" I asked her wondering how a pony would play that using hooves.
"Well lyres were designed to be played by pegasi, but that didn't stop me. After a few years of careful practice, I managed to figure out how to contort my hooves to play the lyre." She said with a small grin on her muzzle.
I then looked up to see that we were walking towards a small house, it's outside walls were split halved by two colors. Brown for the left side and purple for the right. "So this is the place?" I asked pointing to the house.
"Yeah. Octavia and Vinyl couldn't decide on a house color so they decided to paint their own halves of the house." She said as we reached the front door.
"So each of them owns a side of the house?" I asked as Lyra knocked on the door.
"Well they both own the house, they just live on different sides."
The door then opened to reveal a gray earth pony mare with a black mane. "Oh good morning Lyra." She said before noticing me. "Ah and you must be Ryan, Ponyville's resident human."
"Yep that's me, and you would be?" I asked her.
"Oh yes introductions. My name is Octavia Melody, although you can just call me Octavia." She said giving a small curtsey.
"Yo Tavi, who's at the door?" A voice called from inside the house.
After a few seconds the owner of the voice came to the door. "Oh yeah you and Lyra have practice today. Sorry." Vinyl said she then saw me. "Oh hey Ryan. Good to see you mate. Well now let's not keep you and Lyra out here. C'mon in." She said moving out of the way.
Once I entered the house I saw that it was split up into two sections. The left shared the same brown walls as the outside of the house. Whilst the right had the same purple walls. I also noticed that the left side had classical instruments set up, it also had a more classical theme to it. The right side was the exact opposite. In place of classical instruments was a mix board on one of the tables whilst a large DJ mix table was set up in the middle of the room whilst two large speakers were flanking it.
Opposite the front door was a stair case which led up to the upper floor of the house. "Pretty weird isn't it." Vinyl said, pulling my wandering eyes back to her. "The whole et up I mean." She said waving a hoof around the house.
"I wouldn't call it weird. I'd say it's more unique." I said as she took a seat in front of her mix board.
"Well thank you Ryan." Octavia said from behind me. "Me and Vinyl just couldn't settle on a color so we decided to get two." She said, whilst standing onto her hind legs whilst she held her cello.
I then felt a poking in my side. When I looked down I saw Vinyl poking my side. "So anyway Ryan, I needed to ask you something."
"Oh really. Okay then what's your question." I asked deciding to take a seat on a purple couch that was on Vinyl's side of the house. I then remembered something. "Hey Lyra come here for a sec will you." I said patting the spot next to me on the couch.
"What is it Ryan?" She asked hopping up on the couch. I decided to give her my answer by scratching her behind the ears. She then started to purr as she let herself melt in my hands.
"Whoa what did you do to her?" Vinyl asked.
"Just scratched her behind the ear. Anyway what was your question Vinyl?"
"Oh yeah my question. This might sound ridiculous, but do you have music where you come from?" Vinyl said a small look of embarrassment on her face.
"Yes we do." I said.
"What sort of music?" Octavia asked, placing her cello against it's stand.
"Well for one we have classical, dubstep, pop, rock, blues and probably any other sort of music you could think of." I said.
"So out of those what would be your favorite?" Octavia asked.
"Stupid question, the answer's gonna be dubstep." Vinyl said.
"I highly doubt that for all you know his favorite is classical." Octavia rebuked.
I decided to intervene before this got out of hand. "Mares please calm down." I said to them managing to get them to calm down. "You're both wrong. Pop is my favorite, but my second favorite would have to be a tie between dubstep and classical." I said hoping that would further calm the mares down.
"Oh okay then." Octavia said.
"Okay then." Vinyl said before perking up. "Do you play an instrument, and if so what?"
"I do, and I play piano." I said as I continued to pet Lyra. "Hey Vinyl, why do you always wear those glasses. Don't get me wrong they look cool, but why do you wear them?"
"You really want to know?" I gave her a nod. She then looked down at Lyra to see that she had fallen asleep. "Okay then but you can't freak out got it." I then gave her another nod. Her horn then began to glow as she took off her glasses.
I was speechless with what I saw underneath those glasses. "Ryan are you okay?" Octavia said.
"Oh great I killed him." Vinyl said putting the glasses back on.
Before she could fully put them on I stopped them with my hand. "I'm not dead just speechless. Geez Vinyl, your eyes..." I cut the sentence there as I thought on what to say next.
"Are weird." Vinyl said as she slipped the glasses out of my grasp.
"No they're actually pretty cool." I said lowering my hand away from her face.
"You really think so?" I gave her a nod. "Okay then. Well I guess I got to tell you why I always wear these glasses. Well the reason is, my eyes tend to scare ponies away." She then turned her head to Octavia. "Tavi here is the only pony I've ever shown my eyes to who hasn't gone running for the hills." She said causing the earth mare to blush slightly. The blush only intensified as Vinyl pulled her into a hug with one hoof.
"So another question are you two..." I said pointing between the two.
"Marefriends. Yes, we are." Octavia said.
"Well good for you." I said giving them a small congratulation.
"Thanks." Vinyl said before releasing Octavia. "Hey shouldn't we wake Lyra up, you two have to practice."
"Oh yes thank you for reminding me Vinyl."
"I'll get her up." I said before flicking her horn causing her to wake up almost immediately.
"Huh what's happening?" She asked letting out a yawn afterwards.
"Well you and Octavia still have your practice lesson to do." I said to her.
She then leapt off of me and made her way to Octavia's side of the house. As Octavia followed Lyra, Vinyl decided to get close to my ear. "Hey don't tell anyone about what's under my glasses okay." She whispered to me.
"Got it, Vinyl."
"Hey wanna hear something I've been working on for a while now." She said standing behind her mix table.
"Sure. But won't we be disturbing them?" I said gesturing to Lyra and Octavia.
"Nah." Vinyl's horn then glowed again. "Soundproofing spells help a bunch. Let's Tavi work on what she wants while I can blast my tunes without disturbing her." She said as her horn lost its glow. She then fired up her mix table. "Now you ready?"
"Yep." I said keeping my seat on her couch.
After she had cut the song I had sprung up from my seat and started applauding her. "Holy crap Vinyl, that was awesome!" I exclaimed walking over to the DJ.
"Really? I thought it could've used a tad bit more work. But if you like it that much, I guess I'll keep it like that." Her horn then began to glow. I then could hear Octavia's cello begin to die down behind me.
I then noticed that it was lunchtime, when I looked at a nearby clock. "Sorry mares but I have to go." I said turning to Octavia and Lyra.
"How come Ryan?" Lyra asked walking up to me.
"I have to go check up on Twilight and Stealth." I said leaning down to give Lyra a small hug. "Don't worry I'll see you guys around some time." I said as I walked towards the door. I then gave them a wave as I walked out into Ponyville.
After a few minutes I arrived back in the library. I noticed that no one was around so I went downstairs to the basement. "Hey Twilight how's it going?" I asked as I saw Twilight continuing to ask Stealth questions.
"It's going pretty well. I'm even considering taking the band off of him." Twilight said.
"How come?" I asked approaching her cautiously.
"Well he's been on his best behavior, and as far as I can tell he needs to be rewarded for telling me so much information about changelings." She then pointed a hoof towards a large stack of papers. "That's everything he's told me so far."
"Is that true Stealth?" I asked the changeling.
"Yes it is. But I've been getting a good enough reward by hanging out with Twilight." He said.
"Oh really?" I asked with a small smirk spread across my face.
Once Twilight saw my smirk, a blush grew on her face. Stealth noticed Twilight's embarrassment and decided to give me a glare. "That's not what I meant Ryan. What I meant was that Twilight has been letting me read books from her library." He then pulled a book off of his bed. "This series of books is quite intriguing." He said whilst holding a Daring Do book.
"I know what you meant Stealth." I said to him before turning to Twilight. "Sorry Twi, I couldn't help myself." I said to her causing her blush to die down.
"Well then you're forgiven." She said before turning back to Stealth. "Sorry about him he can be as bad as Dash sometimes." She said rolling her eyes slightly. This managed to get the affect of getting Stealth to laugh a bit.
"Geez you guys are just perfect for each other y'know, both of you picking on me." I said getting Twilight to let out an annoyed whinny.
"What so you can deal out jokes but can't take them?" She said a bemused expression on her face. This caused Stealth to let out another small fit of laughter.
"Okay then well I'm going to go have a walk around Ponyville for a bit." I said walking up the stairs leading out of the basement. "Bye." I waved back to the duo as I left.
After walking around aimlessly for a few minutes I decided to give Ponyville's resident mayor a visit. After managing to get the all clear by her receptionist I walked into the mayor's office. "Hey Mary, how's it going?" I asked the mare, as she looked up from her work.
"Ah hello Ryan. I'm going pretty well, how about you?" She asked placing her quill down.
"Good. I just came her wondering if you wanted to go grab some lunch." I said to her gesturing to the door.
"I could go for some lunch. Just let me finish signing this form and I'll be ready to go." She said. Picking up her quill once more she then signed the form and placed it in an out box that was on her desk.
She then joined me as we left the town hall. "So where are we going Mary?"
"I would've thought you'd know where we were going Ryan." She said.
"Well I don't know anywhere to go for lunch other than Sugarcube Corner." I said to her.
"Well how about we go for a hayburger." She said leading me towards what looked like a pony version of McDonalds.
"Wait you ponies have fast food joints?" I asked as we entered the establishment.
"Yes we do. They don't always offer up the healthiest of meals, but it's at least somewhere ponies can go to grab a bite to eat." She said placing her order for a Hayburger.
"And for you sir?" The mare at the register asked.
"Oh I'll take a regular salad." With that said the mare took Mary's bits and gave us our food.
"Not a fan of burgers?" Mary asked me once we found a spare table.
"Mary exactly what is on a hayburger?" I asked her.
"Hay, why?" She asked raising an eyebrow.
"Well hay isn't a part of a human's diet. It actually tastes horrible to us." I explained to her as I took a bite out of my salad.
"Oh I see." She then placed a hoof to her chin in thought. "Hey Ryan, before when you asked that we ponies had fast food establishments you sounded surprised, any reason for that?" She asked.
"Well back on earth, where I come from. We humans also have fast food joints. Just a bit of a surprise how similar our species are." I explained as I finished my salad. She gave a nod of understanding as she finished off her burger. "Hey Mary. I have to ask you something."
At that she looked up at me from the remains of her burger. "What is it Ryan?"
"What's it like being mayor of Ponyville?"
"Well it's no easy job let me say that. Not only is Ponyville one of the most welcoming towns in Equestria but it's also the most disaster ridden." She explained.
"How is it the most disastrous?" I asked.
"Well as you know Ponyville is on the border of the Everfree forest, y'know the home of Manticores, Timberwolves and other beasts. So you can tell what the source of our disasters is." She said a bemused expression on her face.
"Sounds like fun." I said sarcastically.
"It is sometimes." She said as she finished off her burger. "Hey Ryan, how about we get out of here. Go for a walk." She said getting up from her seat.
"Sure thing." I said following her out of the establishment. As we walked around Ponyville I got more of an opportunity to see the town for what it really was. The physical example of what happened when all three races of ponies worked together.
"See something you like?" Mary said pulling me from my thoughts.
"Yeah. This town it's basically an example of what happens when all three races are friends. Isn't it?" I asked her as we approached the town hall.
"It really is." She said before looking towards the town hall. "Well this is my stop. Have a good day Ryan."
"You too Mary." I said to her as she went back to her work.
Meanwhile in Canterlot.
"It's so good to have you and Shining around again Cadance." Celestia said to Cadance as they sat at a table in the gardens having tea.
"Well it's always good to visit. Besides I wanted to get a few more tips for managing court and other things." Cadance said enjoying her tea.
"Well that I can do. It's actually a good thing you come here for that reason." This managed to get Cadance to raise an eyebrow out of curiosity. Something Celestia didn't fail to pick up on. "The reason is; I am thinking of getting Luna to assist me in day-court. Get her to help out ponies." Celestia said as she noticed Luna walking towards them. "Speak of the pony. Hello Luna how was your night?"
"It was wonderful sister." Luna said her voice filled with joy. "Cadance good to see you. Sister I may need you and Cadance's help with something."
"Oh and what would that be Auntie Luna?" Cadance asked the ecstatic alicorn.
"Well I have a date tomorrow night." At this a wide grin adorned Cadance's muzzle. Meanwhile a look of both happiness and confusion adorned Celestia's face.
"And who would you have a date with sister?" Celestia asked.
"Well I have a date with Ryan. Isn't that wonderful sister?" Luna asked, her grin never leaving her muzzle.
"Yes that is wonderful Luna. Hmm how about you go back to your room." This caused Luna's face of happiness to be replaced with a face of confusion. "Cadance and I will just finish our tea, and then we will join you to tell you how exactly a date would work."
"Alright then sister. I shall wait for you two then." She said her grin reappearing as she made for her room.
Celestia then turned to Cadance a serious expression on her muzzle. "Cadance it seems we will need to talk to Ryan."
"It seems we shall. Should we send him a message Auntie?"
"I shall send him one tomorrow. Make sure you have Shining go to meet him at the train station." Cadance then gave Celestia a nod as they finished their tea. "Cadance tomorrow when we speak to Ryan, I want you to be as serious as you can be is that understood?"
"Got it Auntie." Cadance said as they made their way towards Luna's room. |
Another human in Equestria fic | Date night | Today was the big day. I had a whole day to plan out my date with Luna tonight. Luckily for me I had managed to dream up a plan. "Ryan!" I heard Twilight call out from downstairs, this had the affect of scaring me out of my thoughts as I fell out of bed.
After getting changed I joined Twilight downstairs where she was joined by the rest of the mane six. "Hey girls how's it going." I said to them as I made my way down the stairs.
"Not to bad. This also came for you." Twilight said tossing me a scroll.
As I read over the scroll it seemed to be lacking quite a bit of volume to it. All that was written out was an official summons to Canterlot written by Celestia. "Okay then seems I'm going to Canterlot for the day." I said as Spike walked out from the kitchen a plate of pancakes in his claws.
"Breakfast is served." He said as he laid the platter of pancakes on the table Twilight would summon whenever we would have something to eat. After Spike had said that breakfast had been served Stealth had decided to come crawling out of the basement.
"Someone say breakfast?" Stealth said as he donned his unicorn disguise as he took his seat at the table. I then decided to follow his lead and sit next to him grabbing myself a couple of pancakes.
"So Ryan, what did you do to get a summons to Canterlot?" Dash said sitting across from Stealth and I.
"No clue Dash." I then shifted my gaze to Twilight. "Maybe they want a report on Stealth."
"Maybe. Maybe." Twilight said as she divided the rest of the pancakes between her and the others.
"Well whatever it is darling, I'm sure it can't be bad." Rarity said before thanking Spike for the breakfast.
"Yeah Rares is right Ryan. It's probably nothing to worry about." AJ said.
"Yeah I know. Still I can't help but wonder what Celestia could want. It must be something serious if she sends me a royal summons." I said holding up the scroll. "But anyway I got business in Canterlot to do anyway, so I guess I can talk to Celestia and then do what I need to do."
"What ya need to do Ryan?" Pinkie asked around her mouthful of pancakes.
"A private matter Pinkie. Private matter." I said to her, hoping that the others wouldn't try to inquire.
"Well then that's fortunate for you dear." Rarity said finishing her pancakes.
"Anyway what are you guys doing here?" I asked the mane six.
"Well I thought that we should show Stealth around Ponyville a bit more. I was also thinking of taking his blood sample to Nurse Redheart." Twilight said. "Also you better get going to the train station Ryan. You don't want to keep Princess Celestia waiting." She said finishing off her pancakes.
"Good point." I said standing up. "Well have a good day you guys. Oh and Twilight don't wait up for me." I said leaving the library.
As I made my way through Ponyville towards the train station I swear I could hear someone yelling out. The yelling soon became louder and I could figure out what was being yelled out. "LOOK OUT!"
I then turned around to find the source of the yelling, to find myself tackled to the ground. After a few seconds of getting air to my flat lungs I looked down my body to see that a grey pegasus mare had collided with me. As I looked around I could see that there was a heap of scattered letters on the ground around us.
The pegasus mare then decided to hop off me and start picking up the letters. As I got back up I decided to levitate the letters off the ground and into my hands. "Oh no where'd the other letters go?" The mare said looking around for the rest of the letters.
"Are these the letters you're looking for miss?" I said catching her attention, as I held out the letters that I had collected towards her.
"Oh thank you Mister." She said as she took the letters and put them back into her saddlebags. It was then that I saw that the mail mare was none other than Derpy Hooves. "Are you okay Mister?" She noticing that I had stopped talking as I took in the fact that Derpy Hooves was standing in front of me. "Oh no I hope I didn't crash into you too hard."
She then started to wave a hoof in front of my face causing me to be shaken from my thoughts. "Sorry about that. Just a bit shaken up."
"Oh okay then as long as you're okay." She said before a look of realization dawned on her face. "Oh sorry I didn't introduce myself. The name's Derpy. Derpy Hooves." She said holding a hoof out to me.
"Well pleasure to meet you Miss Hooves. By the way my name's Ryan." I said shaking her hoof.
"Well it's been nice to meet you. Not to sound rude or anything but I have to get going, got to finish these mail deliveries." She said gesturing to her saddlebags.
"Not a problem Derpy, not a problem at all." I said giving her a wave as she flew off.
"Well I guess we can check meeting Derpy, off of the list of things to do in Equestria." Orion said as I headed towards the train station.
'Yes we can.' I thought back to him as grabbed my tickets and boarded the train.
After a few hours Canterlot had come into my view outside the train's windows. "So what are we doing first?" Orion asked as the train chugged towards Canterlot.
'Going to prepare for tonight. Then we'll go see Celestia.' I thought as ponies around me had begun to pack up their things.
"So keep the goddess of the sun waiting. Good plan." Orion said sarcastically. The train then pulled into the middle district's train station. "Wait what are we doing here?" Orion asked as I stepped out of the train.
'I have to go see a friend.' I thought back to him as I left the train station. As I continued to walk through the district I saw my destination at the end of the street.
"The Griffon's Buffet. That's where we're going?"
'Yep.' Was all I said before I made to go into the establishment.
As I pushed the door open I ran into a pegasus in guard armor. "Oh sorry about that." I said to him backing out of his way. I then took notice of who the guard was. "Hey Joker, what are you doing here?" I asked him as he took notice that I was the one that he had run into.
"Well I'm on break Ryan, Cadance suggested that I should go here. Anyway what are you doing here?" He said as he joined me outside the restaurant.
"Well I have to go see Celestia about something. But I have something else to do here, other than grab something to eat before I go visit her." I said as Joker gave me a nod.
"Well good luck with that." He said as he trotted off. "Hopefully I'll see you around the castle." He said before stretching his wings out.
"Same here Joker." I said as he took to the sky. After giving him a wave I turned to enter the restaurant, making sure to check that no-pony was exiting at the same time I entered.
Once I entered I was greeted by the owner. "Hello Ryan. How's it going?" Griff asked me.
"Hey Griff, it's going pretty good actually. Hey can I get a table for two please?" I asked him as he raised an eyebrow.
"Is someone joining you?" He asked.
"No I need to talk to you about something." I said. He then gave me a nod before leading me over to a small booth.
"Well then how about I take your order before we start talking." He said taking out a small notebook and quill.
I then decided to look over the menu for a few seconds before turning my gaze back to the griffon. "I'll just have a caesar salad, with a glass of water please."
"Got it." He said before heading for the kitchen. After a few minutes he returned with my order and what looked like a small salad for himself. "So Ryan what did you want to talk about?" He asked as he took his seat across from me.
"Well Griff, I have a date tonight, and I was wondering if I could pay you in advance." I said as I started to dig into my salad.
"A date eh? Who's the lucky mare?" He said with a sly grin.
"Can't tell you. But you'll be able to find out tonight." I said taking a sip from my water. "So can I pay early or not?"
"Of course you can. Now a question where would you and your date like to sit?"
"A private booth if you could."
He then placed a talon to his beak. "What day is it?"
"Tuesday, why?" I asked caught off guard by his question.
"Well you and your date will probably be the only ones here. I usually never have business on a Tuesday night." He said before looking back at his notepad. He then pulled off a page of his notepad and handed it to me. "Here's your bill for lunch and tonight. Don't worry I'm only charging you for what your ordered for lunch, I'll pay for what I got for myself." He said gesturing to his plate. "You able to pay that?" He said gesturing to the bill.
"Yeah I can. Thanks Griff." I said as I pulled out my bit bag and handed him what he wanted.
Meanwhile Canterlot Upper District Train Station.
'Where the buck is he?' Shining Armor thought to himself, as he looked around the train station as the train from Ponyville left the station.
"Captain what are you doing here?" A familiar voice called out to Shining, causing him to be shaken from his thoughts.
When Shining turned around he found Joker walking towards him. "Joker what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be on patrol in the middle district?"
"First of all, my shift ended. I was heading back to the barracks before I saw you. What are you doing here anyway?" Joker asked.
"Wondering where the buck Ryan is. He was meant to arrive here on the train from Ponyville." Shining said as he looked around the station once more a scowl of annoyance on his muzzle.
"Well he's at the Griffon's Buffet in the middle district." Joker said catching Shining's attention.
"He is. Damn that human." He said stomping his hoof against the ground in annoyance. "Thanks Joker. I probably would have been standing here all day if you hadn't come along." Shining said following after Joker as they left the station.
"Well anything for dear old Captain Shiny." Joker said before taking to the sky.
"JOKERRRRR!!!" Shining yelled at the pegasus as he flew towards the castle. After taking a few deep breaths to calm himself, he then made to head towards the middle district.
'Weird.' I thought to myself, feeling a shiver run down my spine as I went to leave Griff's restaurant.
As I exited through the front door I was greeted by what seemed like a fuming Shining Armor. "Hey Shining what's up?"
"Nothing much. I need you to come with me Ryan." He said in a slightly angry tone.
"Oh great an angry Shining, what ya gonna do?" Orion whispered to me.
'Crap I can't deal with Shining, I still have to get one more thing for tonight.' I thought to myself. "Sorry Shining but I have to go do something."
"And what would that be?" He said giving me a glare.
"None of your business that's what it is." I said to him.
"Well then you can do it later." He said still holding his glare.
I then decided to try and step around him. He decided to block me. "Shining I have to go do this first okay." I said annoyed at how he had blocked me.
"You're not going to come with me are you?" He said with a look of defeat on his face.
"No I'm not."
"Well I'm sorry." He said causing me to give him a confused look. I then saw that his horn had begun to glow, before I could say anything I was knocked out.
After a while I had slowly woken up from my unwanted slumber. I found myself chained to a bed. As I began to struggle with the chains I discovered that whoever had chained me to the bed had removed my magic coat and gloves. 'Darn.' I thought to myself as it became apparent to me that someone else was in the room with me.
"Good to see that you're awake Ryan." A familiar voice said from out of my view.
I then decided to shift my view to the origin of the voice to see Cadance sitting on a chair sipping some tea. "Hey Cadance, you're very pretty but a few things. Number one I don't like breaking up a marriage. Secondly I like us being friends. Thirdly I'm not into these sort of activities." I said struggling against the chains as I said the third point.
"What do you... Ohhh." She said a blush crossing her face as she realized what I had said. "Well no offense Ryan but I don't like you that sort of way. I'd never break up with my dearest Shiny. Also another thing the way that you're being held is the only thing I could think of."
"Okay then good to know. Also another thing whose bed am I attached to?" I asked her as I realized that the bed was quite large, I also took notice that the hoof/handcuffs were somehow able to stretch to the bedposts from my position in the middle of the bed.
"Well this is Auntie Celestia's room. She wanted to talk to you so I said I'd bring you here to wait for her." She said a small smile on her face.
"Okay then... Wait a second Celestia's bedroom?!" She gave me a nod. "Okay then. Now where exactly did you get these cuffs."
"What do you..." A blush soon appeared on her face this time more furious then her last one. "Nonononono. I brought them here." She said her blush still burning bright enough to light up the room.
After a few moments the door to the room opened. As I looked at the door the cuffs were removed from my wrists and ankles by a yellow magical aura. After seeing the yellow aura, I knew who had entered the room. Celestia. "Good afternoon Ryan." She said in a slightly serious tone.
"Good afternoon Tia." I said not holding back on my snark. "Any reason why I'm chained to your bed?" I asked slightly annoyed.
"I need to talk to you about tonight." She said taking a seat next to Cadance.
"What about tonight?" I then realized what she meant by that. "Luna told you didn't she?"
"Yes she did. Before you get the wrong idea I want you to know that I am happy of this little bond that you have decided to make with my sister." She said fixing me with the motherly smile she always wore.
"That's good. So what did you want to talk about?" I asked her.
"Well I wanted to know where you were going to take her for dinner for one thing."
"Oh well, I am taking her out to the Griffon's Buffet." I said.
"Really. Well you shouldn't be disappointed." Cadance said a smile on her face.
"The Griffon's Buffet. The middle district correct?" Celestia asked turning to Cadance. Cadance gave Celestia a nod in response. "Ryan if I may ask why don't you take her to one of the fancier restaurants in the upper district?"
"Because Tia, number one I don't have that many bits to my name. Also secondly Luna wouldn't like being in a restaurant filled with nobles." I said to her.
"Very well." She said before fixing me with a gaze that scared Orion. "Now for the more serious part of our session." She said her voice laced with seriousness. "Ryan I want you to tell me how much my sister means to you." Her horn then began to glow. "I have also cast a truth spell upon you. If my horn glows green you are telling the truth, if it glows yellow you are partially lying, and if it turns red it means you are lying. Also if you do lie I will vaporize you in an instant." She said.
"Okay then. Well how I feel about Luna, not beating around the bush are you." I said as I thought of something to say. "Well what else can I say but she's probably the most beautiful mare that I have seen since coming to Equestria." Her horn glowed green, she then gestured with a hoof for me to continue. "Now before you threaten me with how you will kill me if I harm her, I want to tell you this. If I do harm her in anyway, you won't get the chance to kill me. As if I do hurt her I would have already killed myself before you get the chance."
Her horn glowed green, it then stopped glowing. "Thank you for telling me that Ryan." She then levitated my coat and gloves to me from their place next to Cadance. She then shared a look with Cadance as I put on my coat and gloves. "Well then I guess I have no problems with having you date my sister. Also if certain things go correctly her first date may lead to something else." She said a small smile on her face.
"Wait what do you mean by that?" I asked her.
"Well she hasn't had any lovers in the past, if you catch my drift." Cadance said receiving a glare from Celestia.
"Wait so you mean she's a..." I said hoping Celestia would fill in the gap.
"A virgin yes, and if you so much as use that against her." She said letting my mind fill in the blanks.
After my mind filled in the blanks it finally realized what Celestia had said before her threat. "She's a virgin." I said.
"Yes did you not hear me?" Celestia said raising an eyebrow.
"How is she a virgin?" I asked. "And before you ask I know what being a virgin means. But anyway how has she not had any nobles wanting to court her in the past?" I asked the two alicorns. "She's the most beautiful mare in Equestria, not only with her physical beauty but also with her beautiful personality."
Celestia then shared another look with Cadance before turning back to me. "Are you serious about what you just said?" Celestia asked me.
"Of course I am. Whenever I'm with her I feel like the luckiest guy in Equestria." I said as Celestia's horn glowed a familiar green. I noticed this and gave her a look that screamed 'really?'
"Well then Ryan you best get ready for your date." She said before turning towards Cadance. "We best go help my sister get ready Cadance."
"Of course Auntie." Cadance said as her and I followed Celestia towards the door.
"Hey Tia what's the time?" I asked her as we left her room.
"6 o'clock why?" She said casually.
"6 o'clock!? Holy crap!" I then rushed off towards Trixie's room remembering that my suit was still in the castle. "See ya guys!" I shouted back to the mares as I sped off to get ready for my date.
After scaring Trixie as I burst into her room I got myself ready. Having a shower to freshen myself up and get changed into my suit which thankfully Celestia had the castle staff wash it. After asking Trixie whether or not I looked good I headed out towards the castle gate to wait for Luna.
As I made my way towards the gate I passed through the castle gardens. As I looked around at the different types of flowers, on caught my eye. It was a dark blue rose, with a few white spots on the petals, the flower reminded me of the night sky. 'Perfect.' I thought to myself as I plucked the rose. 'Hope Tia doesn't mind if I take one the garden's flowers.' I said as I left the garden heading back on my course for the castle gate.
As I approached the gate I noticed Joker and Fire Wand standing outside the gates. As I got closer Joker noticed me and nudged Fire to look at me. "Hello Ryan." Fire said as I got close enough to the duo.
"Damn looking good Ryan." Joker said noticing my suit. "Guessing you got plans for tonight."
"Yes I do." I said as I held the flower behind me.
"So you have a date then Ryan?" Fire said pointing his horn towards the flower. "So who would be the lucky mare?" He asked.
"Good evening Ryan." I heard Luna's familiar voice say from behind me.
When I turned to face her I could have sworn my jaw had hit the ground. Standing in front of me was the Princess of the Night in all of her glory. She wore a dark blue dress that swayed cool breeze of the night, upon the dress were patterns that resembled constellations. "Whoa." I said taking in her beauty.
She let out a slight giggle before turning to Joker and Fire. "Gentlecolts if you would please head back to your barracks for the night, my two guards will be your replacements." She said gesturing to two thestral guards that were moving to replace Joker and Fire.
"Of course Princess Luna." Fire said as he and Joker gave a bow.
As they made to leave Joker nudged me in the side with a wing and whispered to me. "Good luck mate." He then ran off making sure to catch up with Fire.
"So shall we be off Ryan?" Luna asked as she walked up to me.
"Well I have something to give you before we go." I said as I showed her the flower that I had hid behind me.
"Ryan this is a midnight rose." She said taking the flower in her magical grasp. "Where did you find this?" She asked me.
"Well I'm hoping your sister doesn't mind me taking flowers from her garden." I said sheepishly.
"I don't think she will. It's beautiful thank you." She said as she placed it behind her ear. "But I must ask why did you get it?"
"Because it reminded me of you." I admitted to her causing her to blush. "Now shall we get going." I said gesturing towards the city.
"Well I could definitely go for something to eat." She said making her way out of the castle grounds. She then turned to me noticing that I wasn't beside her. "Art thou coming Ryan?" She asked me.
"Of course just being polite and letting mares go first." I said as I walked up to her side.
"So where are we going?" She asked me as we headed off into the city.
"It's a surprise." I said as we passed into the middle district. "So did you somehow manage to get out of having a guard look after you Luna?" I asked her.
"No. My guard is keeping an eye on me but you probably won't see her unless she wants you to be seen." She said looking up at the stars.
"She? This guard wouldn't happen to be Moonlight would it?" I asked her as we got closer to The Griffon's Buffet.
"Maybe." She said slyly before noticing where we were going. "So we're going to The Griffon's Buffet? I've been meaning to see it for myself. Cadance has spoken quite highly about it to me and Tia." She said a smile adorning her muzzle.
"Good to hear." I said as I held the door to the restaurant open for her. "Mares first." I said giving her a small bow.
"Why thank you, kind sir." She said entering the building.
After following her inside, we were greeted by Griff. "Why good evening Princess Luna, a pleasure to have you here." He said giving Luna a bow. "If you will follow me I will take you to your table." He said before leading us to a small booth. He then handed us our menus. "If you would like to order your drinks now, I will go get them whilst you think of what you wish for dinner." He said as Luna and I looked over the drinks menu.
"Water for me please." Luna said.
"Same here." I said turning my gaze to the meal menu.
"Well I'll be back in a bit." Griff said before disappearing into the kitchen.
"Well tonight is already turning out to be great." I said to Luna as she looked up from her menu.
"How so?" She asked raising an eyebrow.
"Well just because I get to go on a date with the most beautiful mare in Equestria." I said causing a blush to arise on Luna's face as Griff returned.
"Here are your drinks. Have you decided what you would like to eat?" He asked looking between us.
"I'll go for a fish fettuccini." Luna said. Griff then shifted his gaze to me.
"I'll go for spaghetti Bolognese please." I said. Griff then gave us a nod and went back to the kitchen.
"I must say Ryan you do clean up well in that suit of yours." Luna said gesturing with a hoof to my suit.
"Thanks. Also to say that you clean up well Luna would probably be an understatement." I said as a blush adorned her face.
"Thou can't be serious, this is only a something Tia and Cadance threw together for me at the last minute." She said looking down at her dress.
"Well if that's the case you alone make it look like the next big thing for fashion." I said causing her blush to intensify.
"Thank you Ryan." She said as her blush slowly died down.
"Hey Luna, I got to ask what's up with you and Celestia's manes being wavy and ethereal?" I asked hoping to get an answer.
"Our manes? Well that's a little spell that Tia and I came up with. Its main purpose is to intimidate any enemies of Equestria." She explained.
"So what does your mane actually look like?" I asked her wondering if she would show me or at least describe it.
After a few short seconds of thought she spoke up. "Alright then." With that said her horn glowed for a few short seconds as her ethereal mane disappeared. In it's place was her mane from when the Elements of Harmony purged her of Nightmare Moon's darkness.
"Whoa, and here I thought you couldn't get anymore beautiful." I said admiring her real mane.
This time her blush returned with a vengeance as I could have sworn her coat was going to change color to red. "Thank you Ryan." She said before her ethereal mane returned as Griff returned with our dinner.
"Here you go. If you need anything else just come and get me." With that said he gave a bow and headed for the kitchen.
"Well let's not let our dinner get cold." I said before digging into my spaghetti.
After our dinner was done, Griff came back to check up on us. "I hope that you have both enjoyed your dinner."
"Yes thank you. My compliments to the chef." Luna said.
"Same here thanks Griff." I then turned my gaze back to Luna. "So you're paying right?" I said jokingly.
"Why Ryan?" Luna said raising an eyebrow.
"Well I got no bits to spare." I said. Luna's mouth was agape in shock once I said this. "Look Luna I'm only joking, I already paid Griff." I said a large grin on my face.
"Well then we best get back to the castle. Thank you for dinner Griff, I'll be sure to tell my sister about this place." She said as I got out of my seat.
"Well then see ya Griff." I said as I noticed out of the corner of my eye Luna's horn glow.
"Your welcome it's the least I could do." Griff replied.
The next thing I knew my vision was filled with a blinding blue light, once my eyes were no longer filled with the blinding light, I looked around to find myself in what looked like a mirror image to Celestia's bedroom. The walls were a dark blue and the nearby bed had dark blue sheets on top of it.
Once I took a guess that I was in Luna's bedroom I fell to the ground with my eyes closed. I then felt a wing drape itself on my back. "Ryan art thou alright?" Luna asked from her place at my side, worry lacing her voice.
"I'm fine. Why did you not give me a bit of warning we were going to teleport?" I asked her as I tried to make sure my dinner didn't come back up.
"I thought about paying you back for joking about the bill for dinner." She said as I slowly stood up her wing still slightly draped a cross my back.
"Well then." I started turning to look into her eyes. "I guess I have to pay you back." I said as I pressed my lips against hers. As our tongues intertwined I wrapped my hands around her neck pulling her deeper into the kiss.
After a few moments we separated for air. "That was..." Luna started.
"Better than kissing my dream self." I finished for her.
"Yes it was." She said a small smile appearing on her muzzle.
"Good to know, and let me tell you this kissing the real you is far better than kissing your dream self." I said to her causing a blush to plaster on her face.
A small sly smile then appeared on her muzzle. "So Ryan, you're alone with a mare in her bedroom what are you going to do next."
"What do you mean Luna." I said as I found myself being levitated along with Luna onto her bed. "Oh I think I might have an idea." I said.
"Good to know that you get what I mean." Luna said as she nuzzled against my chest.
I decided to hold up a hand to stop her. "Luna believe me when I say I would love to do that with you, but..."
"But what?" she said a slight look of worry in her eye.
"Well I don't want anything to go to fast between us. I want to get to know you a bit more before we do anything like that." I said to her.
"I see. I'm sorry for being forward with you." She said.
"No problem Luna. Also I don't have a problem staying here with you for the night." I said to her as a smile crossed her face.
"Alright then Ryan." She said going back to nuzzle my chest once more.
I then decided to give her a kiss on her fore-head as my eyes slowly closed from tiredness. "Goodnight Lulu." I said to her.
"Goodnight Ryan." She said pressing her lips against min before she fell asleep on top of me.
I then decided to follow in her tracks and let my tiredness claim me. |
Another human in Equestria fic | Bonus chapter: Dinner Conversations. | After Griff gave us our meals I decided to practically inhale my spaghetti much to the amusement of Luna. "It seems thou really enjoy your spaghetti." Luna said holding back a few giggles behind a hoof.
"Well it was one of my favorite things to have for dinner back on earth." I said, as memories of my childhood danced across my vision. This had the affect of a small smile appearing on my face.
"Seems something's got you happy." Luna said pulling me away from my memories.
"Just a few memories." I said looking at her as she ate her fettuccini. "Huh didn't think alicorns could eat fish."
"How come? Us alicorns have traits from all three races of pony, having wings isn't the only thing we share with pegasi." She said ruffling her wings for emphasis.
"So you inherited fish eating from pegasi?" She gave me a quick nod. "Cool." I said returning back to my food.
"Ryan if I may ask what do you think of this." She said pointing a hoof back and forth between us.
"It feels weird, but nice at the same time."
"How is it weird?" She asked raising an eyebrow.
"Well back on earth there are ponies and horses." I said to her as she gave me a nod. "But the ponies on earth can't talk like Equestrian ponies. We humans see them as pets."
"So how is this weird then?" She asked.
"Hold on I'm getting to that. Anyway the way this is weird is because on earth when a human would date or have sex with an animal it is referred to as bestiality." Luna gave a nod of what looked like understanding.
"So you have bestiality back on earth?" It was now my turn to nod. "We have it here as well y'know. So do you see me as an animal?" She asked.
"No I don't Luna. I never would. It's just that part of my mind still thinks this is a tad bit weird." I then decided to place one of my hands over her hooves which were resting on the table. "Believe me when I say I would never think you're an animal." I said to her causing her to perk up.
"Thank you Ryan." She said as I rubbed her hooves in my hands. "Good thing to or I might have to tell Tia."
"Please don't do that. She already gave me a talk to today." I said to her. I then realized what I had just said.
"She what?!" Luna said a slight hint of anger in her voice. "How dare she." She said I then decided to place a finger over her lips silencing her.
"Luna don't worry she was just looking out for you. Besides I had to pass the interrogation by the elder brother/sister eventually." I said getting Luna to smile slightly.
"I suppose." She said quietly.
"Hey Luna you can enter ponies dreams right?" I asked her already knowing the answer.
"Yes I can. Why?"
"Well I wanted to ask you what do you do if you encounter a 'wet dream'." I said to her causing her to blush.
After a few seconds she managed to get control of her blush. "Well I can sense what is happening in a dream, and if a dream is of a private matter I do not enter it." She said before giving me an accusing glare. "Why do thou ask this anyway?"
"Just something that's always been on my mind." I said shrugging my shoulders.
"Alright then." She said returning back to her food.
"Also I may or may not have asked to see you get flustered." Said causing her to choke slightly on her pasta.
"Why would thou wish to see us flustered?" She asked recovering from her small choking fit.
"Because you're cute when you're flustered." I said causing a blush to reappear on her face. "There you go more cuteness for me to look at." I said gesturing to her face. This only got her blush to intensify.
"Alright then thou hast had your fun." She said noticing me barely holding back my laughter.
"Sorry couldn't help myself. As I said I love to see you flustered it's cute." I said giving her a sympathetic look.
"So Ryan I must ask am I the first being that you have dated?" Luna asked finishing of her pasta.
"Unfortunately no you aren't." I said to her. "There were a couple before you."
"Did you love them like you love me?"
"I did. The only difference was that they didn't love me back." This had the affect of putting a scowl on Luna's face.
"How couldn't they? You're nice and caring from what I have seen so far." She said a small amount of anger in her voice.
"I know but... It's complicated, look can we leave it at that." I said to her.
"Of course I didn't mean to remind you of them." She said a downtrodden look on her face as she looked at her empty bowl.
I placed a had under her chin and got her to look me in the eyes. "Luna, I have to sort of thank you for reminding me of them."
"How come?"
"Because it reminds me of how better than them you are." I admitted to her.
"Well then you're welcome Ryan." She said slightly nuzzling my hand.
I then decided to finish my dinner off as Griff came over to check up on us. |
Another human in Equestria fic | Telling ponies about changelings and meeting a spirit of chaos. | The next morning, I awoke to a pitch black room. Slowly but surely my eyes adjusted to the lack of light, when my eyes had adjusted I saw that I was being pulled into a hug by Luna. She had a small warm smile on her face, occasionally letting out small coos as she slept.
"Lucky bastard." Orion said to me, once again interrupting the peace and quiet.
'Did you really have to ruin this moment?' I thought to him irritation lacing my thoughts.
"Not really, but I do love annoying you so much." He said with glee in his voice.
I decided to ignore him and go back to focusing on Luna. As I watched her sleep I could feel her wings wrapped around my back holding me in place. 'Not that I wanted to leave anyway.' I thought to myself.
Once I thought that she slowly stirred mumbling slightly in her sleep. I then decided to run a hand through her mane, causing her to calm down and fall back to sleep.
Meanwhile in Ponyville
"Okay now girls let's un-freeze Discord." Twilight said before her and the other elements of harmony released Discord.
Once he was free of his stony prison Discord let out a loud yawn that could rival a dragon. As he stretched himself out the elements stood in front of him wondering what he was going to do. Twilight then decided to speak up just as Discord summoned a coffee pot. "Discord, by order of Princess Celestia you are..." She was stopped when Discord held up his paw to silence her.
"Hush now child. I know what dear old Celestia wants me to do. Just because I was frozen in stone doesn't mean I couldn't hear what she had just said." Discord then ate the coffee pot along with the coffee before looking around the area. "Now where is that human I must speak to him." With that said Discord then snapped his fingers. "He'll be here in a bit." He said a mischievous smirk on his face.
As I sat there getting comfortable laying next to Luna I could feel a tingling feeling in my chest. 'Hey Orion what's that tingling sensation?' I thought to him hoping he would know.
"Prepare yourself Ryan, we're being teleported." He said. The next thing I knew my vision was filled with a blinding light.
The next thing I knew I found myself a floating a few feet off of the ground. After regaining myself I found myself dropped to the ground. "Oof." I grunted as my face hit the ground.
"There he is the human of the hour." I heard a familiar voice in my ear. I then pulled my face up from the dirt to take in my surroundings to see that I was on the edge of Ponyville, I then turned my head around to see the source of the voice Discord was standing behind me.
Standing a few feet behind him was Twilight and the others. "Ryan are you okay?" Twilight said. It was then I realized what had happened.
"How did I get here?" I said getting up and walking over to Twilight and the others.
"I teleported you here." Discord said wearing a smug look on his face.
"Well thanks Discord, but that was probably the last thing you wanted to do." I said to the spirit of chaos. I then turned to Twilight. "Twilight please tell me you have a quill and a piece of paper." I said. She gave me a nod as she teleported the things I asked for into my hands.
I then began to right out a letter to Celestia. 'Dear Celestia. I need you to tell Luna that Discord has teleported me to Ponyville as she will probably realize that I am gone, which will lead to her panicking. Also you may want to explain to her why Discord isn't a statue. From Ryan.' Before I could hand the letter to Spike so he could send it, Discord decided to interrupt us.
"Wait a second let me check where I teleported you from." He said pulling a scroll out from his mouth. "Let's see recent teleportations. Hmm...Oh." He then flashed me a sly smile. "Here for only about two to three months and you've already become great friends with the royal duo." He said. "Especially Luna." He stated slyly causing me to blush a bit.
I then handed Spike the letter. "Send to Celestia now!" I said to him. I then turned to Discord. "You do know Luna's going to have your head."
"Highly doubt that technically you're still in Canterlot." That caused me to raise an eyebrow in confusion. "Well if you see yourself as an anime body pillow." He said causing me to freeze up.
"You what?!" I exclaimed.
"I swapped you for a body pillow. I think Luna will like anime you, a lot more than your actual self." He said before he fell onto the ground laughing.
I then decided to calm myself down before speaking to the being of chaos again. "Discord how about we make a deal."
"Oh?" He said stopping his fit of giggles as he floated in front of me. "What's the deal?"
"Simple I won't help the elements with reforming you." I said much to the shock of the mane six.
"Okay then, what do you get if I agree to that?"
"Simple you have to grant me a wish." I said to him.
He then placed his talon hand to his small beard and began to stroke it. "Sounds like a good deal, but no wishing for more wishes okay."
"I wouldn't think about it." I said to him as he held out his paw hand towards me.
He then ignited his hand in a blue flame similar to one Bill Cipher. "Okay then buddy let's shake on it."
I then shook his hand as the deal was struck. Once the flames had subsided and Discord let go of my hand I walked over to the others. "Okay then have fun you guys." I then turned to face Twilight. "I'll take care of Stealth for today." I said holding out a hand to her.
"Okay then. Well you have to take him to Nurse Redheart along with his blood sample, also you have to tell the mayor about him." She said giving me his blood sample and the band that his anti-magic band was connected to.
"I thought we were keeping him a secret?" I asked her.
"Well Nurse Redheart has to know because of the blood sample, and if we do reform Stealth we have to introduce him to Ponyville and the mayor can help with that." She explained.
I then shifted my gaze to Stealth. "Okay then, c'mon where do you want to go first town hall or hospital?" I asked him.
"Either one's okay with me." He said shrugging his shoulders.
"Hospital it is." I then turned back to Discord. "See ya Discord." I said giving him a wave as Stealth and I headed off towards Ponyville Hospital.
"Should we really have left the others with Discord?" Stealth asked as we approached the hospital.
"Don't worry they'll be fine. Besides if Discord gets out of hand they can just zap him with the elements." I said as we entered the hospital heading for the front desk. "Hey. We're here to see Nurse Redheart." I said to the mare behind the desk.
"Do you have an appointment?" She asked never letting her gaze leave her paperwork.
"No. But I'm pretty sure she'd like to see her favorite human." I said that managed to get the mare to look up from her paperwork.
"Oh it's you. She's in room 285. I'll send a message ahead to let her know." She said gesturing with a hoof towards a set of stairs. "285's on the third floor. With that Stealth and I headed up the stairs.
"What if Discord tries to trick them though?" Stealth asked me.
"Again don't worry Twilight's smart she won't go falling for his tricks a second time."
"Yeah I guess you're right." He said as we got off the stairs onto the third floor. "She is very smart and beautiful." Stealth muttered under his breath.
"What was that Stealth?" I asked him barely managing to catch what he had muttered.
"Nothing why?" He said to quickly to not be anything.
"We'll talk about it later." I said noticing we were outside room 285. "Hey Redheart." I said as I entered the room.
"Good day Ryan." Redheart said trotting over to Stealth and I from a nearby hospital bed. "Good to see you're in good health."
"I try." I said rubbing the back of my neck.
"So who's your friend here?" She said looking at Stealth.
"First of all is anyone else in here?" I said looking around the room.
"No why?" Redheart asked as I locked the hospital room door.
"Now Redheart don't freak out okay." I said to her.
"Okay then." She said unsure of what I was doing.
I then turned to Stealth. "Drop your disguise."
Stealth then dropped his disguise in a flash of light purple. "That's a changeling." Redheart said.
"Yes and he's not going to try and rob you of your emotions." I said hoping to calm her down.
"Why is there a changeling in Ponyville Ryan?" Redheart asked me a creepy amount of calmness in her voice.
"He's here on Celestia's orders." I then leaned down to whisper in her ear. "He's being reformed."
"Ah I see." She said the uneasy calmness leaving her voice. "So what would be your name changeling."
"My name's Stealth." He said.
"Also we'd rather you not tell anyone about him." I interjected.
"Of course not. Now is telling me about our resident changeling the only reason why you're or..." She said leaving me to fill in the blank.
"Well I'm here for a couple of reasons. The first being I wanted to see how my favorite nurse was doing." I said stopping there so she could answer.
"Well I'm doing well. I heard about what happened in the Crystal Empire Ryan, are you sure you're okay. You went into a fight with King Sombra." She said worry lacing her voice.
"Yeah I'm fine. It's a wonder what healing spells can do for ya." I said calming her down. "Now for the seconds reason I'm here, Twilight wanted me to give this to you." I then gave her the vial of Stealth's blood.
"What is this?" She asked inspecting the vial.
"Changeling blood. Twilight took a dosage from Stealth, she was wondering if you could analyze it for her."
"Of course. It'd be my pleasure." She said tucking the vial into a small apron she was wearing. "Anything else you need to do here?"
"No. Stealth and I were about to head over to town hall. Tell the mayor about Stealth."
"Gotcha." She then turned to Stealth. "Well thanks for the blood donation. You two best get going then." She said as we turned to leave the room.
Once we made our way out of the hospital and back into the streets Ponyville. We were greeted by Discord. "Hello there Ryan."
"Hey Discord. How's Twilight doing trying to reform you?" I questioned as he followed us towards the town hall.
"She's trying her best but she's failing." He then summoned out a grandfather clock and looked at the time. "Well it's been fun but I gotta go. Bye you two." With that said he was gone with a snap of his claw.
"Huh weird." I said aloud.
"What's weird?" Stealth said as we continued towards town hall.
"Just would've thought he'd have caused a bit more chaos." Once I said that Discord reappeared and snapped his claw with that done he was gone yet again. "What the..." I never got the chance to finish my sentence as I soon found myself wearing a cake as a hat.
"Umm you have a..." Stealth began before I shot him a glare.
"I know." I said annoyed at the spirit of chaos.
Meanwhile in Canterlot
"You're certain that Discord can be reformed sister?" Luna said to Celestia. The lunar princess barely holding back a fit of giggles at the sight of seeing Discord appear and steal Celestia's chocolate cake.
"Why did he have to take that cake?" Celestia said still slightly shocked at seeing the draconequus appear out of her cake and then teleport it away. "I was looking forward to having some cake with you, Cadance and Shining Armor." Celestia said to Luna her gaze never leaving the plate that the cake had been set upon.
"Don't worry sister. You still have a whole section of the castle food storage devoted to cake left for you." Luna said.
With that said Celestia's horn glowed and another chocolate cake appeared on the cake plate. "There we go. Thank you for reminding me of the royal cake storage Luna."
"Tis no problem sister. I am still accompanying you to Ponyville this afternoon to check up on Discord."
"Yes, but please refrain from hurting him too much." Celestia said.
"Depends on how I feel." Luna said before shifting her gaze to her tea.
"Guess that's the best I'm going to get." Celestia said receiving a nod from Luna. "Seems fair." With that said Celestia then took a large slice out of the cake as Cadance and Shining joined them at the small tea table they had set up in the gardens.
"Thanks for that." I said to Stealth as he helped me remove the chocolate cake from my head. "Although it seems you're only helping me because you get to eat cake." I pointed out as he ate another piece.
"Not my fault changelings have a sugar craving." He said after handing me a piece of the removed cake.
"Good point." I said before eating the piece of cake. "At least Discord has good taste in cake." I said after swallowing my piece of cake. "C'mon then let's get going to the mayor we've already wasted enough time." I said heading off for town hall.
"So what did you want to talk to me about before?" Stealth asked catching up to me.
"You have a crush on Twilight don't you?" I asked him. Once those words left my lips his face erupted into a nice shade of red as he blushed.
"I-I-I..." He stammered out.
"I'll take that as a yes. Don't worry I won't tell anybody." I said seeing town hall in the distance. "So anyway, when are you going to tell her."
"Why would I tell her? For all I know she doesn't like me like that, then I would be making a fool of myself." He said worry lacing his voice.
"Okay Stealth calm down buddy. Look I'll talk to Twilight and see how she feels about you okay." I said to him giving him a reassuring smile.
"Okay then. But don't tell her I have a crush on her." He said as we entered the town hall.
"I won't." I then looked around to see Mary entering her office. Lucky for me she saw me out of the corner of her eye. "Hey Mary." I said walking over to her.
"Hello Ryan." She said before taking notice of Stealth. "Who's your friend?"
"Well this is Stealth." I said as Stealth gave her a small bow. "Hey Mary can we talk somewhere private for a sec." I said to her.
"Sure thing just in here." She said gesturing to her office. She then turned to her receptionist. "Hold any appointments I have dear." Once she saw her receptionist nod she followed us inside. After closing the door, she turned to us. "So what did you want to talk about?"
"I'll tell you but first I need you to promise me you won't freak out." I said to her as she took a seat behind her desk.
"If it's about Discord, Princess Celestia already sent me a letter telling me about her plan to reform him." She said casually, gesturing to a scroll on her desk.
I then turned to Stealth. "Drop it."
With a nod he dropped his disguise. I then shifted my gaze to Mary who surprisingly wasn't shocked by the sudden changeling in the room. "So you're the changeling Princess Celestia informed me about." She said trotting around her desk to stand in front of Stealth. She then held out a hoof to him. "Pleasure to meet you Stealth. I do hope that Ponyville has been welcoming to you." She said as he shook her hoof.
"It has been welcoming to my disguised form. Although whether their welcoming to my true form is yet to be seen." He said releasing her hoof.
"Wait a sec. Celestia told you about Stealth?" I questioned Mary.
"Yes she did. She also told me why he is here." Mary said gesturing to another scroll on her desk.
"Well she could have told me that she had given you some fore-warning." I said as I looked out a nearby window to see that Sweet Apple Acres had been covered in a layer of snow. "C'mon Stealth we better see how the others are going." I said making my way towards the door. "See ya Mary." I said giving Mary a wave as Stealth joined me next to the door.
"Goodbye you two." She said as we left the room after Stealth re-disguised himself.
After a few minutes of walking we had found out the cause of the snow. Discord. Once we found ourselves next to the mane six on a small snow covered hill, watching Discord skate around Fluttershy on a frozen lake, Discord took notice of us.
"Hello there Ryan, would you like to come and skate with us?" He asked holding up a pair of skates.
"No thanks Discord not one for ice skating." I said seeing my breath freeze in front of my eyes.
"Suit yourself. Fluttershy and I will have to have all the fun for ourselves seeing as how we're friends." He said. I then took notice that Fluttershy's eye was twitching slightly at his words.
'Here it comes.' I thought to myself.
The next thing I knew was that Fluttershy had thrown her skates away. "That's it Discord. I'm not your friend." She said getting looks of shock from the rest of the mane six and Stealth at her sudden outburst.
"Whatever not like I needed you anyway. All you would do is boss me around. Is that what true friendship is? Who cares if I just lost my one and only friend." He asked before turning his gaze to the discarded skates. "My one and only friend." He muttered before gliding over to another small hill. "Fine then you win." With that said he then snapped his claw and the acres went back to normal. He then floated down from atop the tree he was resting on to ground level with the mane six and Spike. "I liked it better my way, but...I guess when you're friends, you can't always have things exactly your way all the time, eh?" He said getting a round of nods from the ponies. "I guess you better tell Celestia I'm reformed then." He said to Twilight as she pulled out a small piece of parchment and began writing a message.
"Good to hear that Discord." I said standing next to the spirit of chaos.
"Of course you're happy to hear that. Seeing as how you get a wish. So out with it what's your wish?" He said in a slightly annoyed tone.
"I'll cash it in later." I said to him before turning to the others as Spike spat out a scroll.
"Princess Celestia's on her way." Twilight said. "She said she'll meet us where she left Discord with us. She also said she is brining a friend of your's Ryan."
"Well then we best not leave them waiting." I then turned to leave the acres. "You guys coming or not?" I asked them as they followed me.
"So who would that friend of your's be Ryan?" Discord asked me.
"Someone that may or may not cut your head off."
I then found Discord's disembodied head floating in front of me. "Joke's on them my head's already been cut off." He said giving me a wide grin.
Once we reached the spot where Celestia had dropped off Discord, I found myself wrapped in a dark blue aura of magic. The next thing I knew I was being pulled into a hug by Luna.
"Well hello to you too." I said returning the hug. Once I was released from her hug I turned to see Discord had pulled out a violin and had begun to play some romantic music.
"Ah to be young and in love." He said whilst still playing the song.
He soon found his violin gone in a blast of magic. "That is for teleporting Ryan." Luna said as her horn let off some steam from the blast. She then levitated what looked like a pillow above Discord's head and sent it crashing down onto the spirit of chaos.
"Do you have the receipt? Because if you don't I can't accept this." He said before causing what I saw to be the body pillow to disappear in a flash of light. It then fell onto Luna's head being impaled on her horn.
As I saw the pillow drape itself over her face I could see the pure hate and anger in her eyes. I then did what I thought was the best thing to calm her down. I pulled her into a hug and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Calm down Lulu." I whispered into her ear as I ran a hand through her starry mane.
"Aww adorable." Discord said. "Let me take a photo." With that said he then pulled out a camera and took a picture. He then showed said picture to the mane six. "Isn't it adorable?" He asked them.
"Discord enough." Celestia said. "Am I to believe that you are reformed or not?" She asked whilst removing the body pillow from it's place on Luna's horn with her magic.
"I am." Discord said. "I have accepted the magic of friend ship into my heart. As well as whatever you taught Twily." He said.
"Good to hear. Well I best get back to Canterlot." Celestia then shifted her gaze to Luna and I. "I guess you will be staying here Luna."
"If that isn't a problem with you sister." Luna said, my hand still running through her mane.
"Not at all. Also Twilight you and your friends best hang onto the elements for now. I sense they will be safer with you." With that said she was gone in a flash of golden light.
"Well I best be off too. My house is probably filled to the brim with cobwebs." Discord said before disappearing with a snap of his claw.
"Good to see him gone." Luna said before nuzzling my neck.
"I guess." I said before looking up to see that the others were giving us looks of shock. "What?" I asked them.
Luna noticed this as well. "Twilight what is it?" She asked the shocked unicorn.
"You two are..." She said looking between us.
"Dating yes." I said bluntly. "Prefer it if you kept this a secret." I said to them getting them out of their states of shock.
"Why should they keep it a secret Ryan?" Luna asked me.
"Because I highly doubt either of us would like to be harassed by paparazzi." I said to her getting her to give me a nod. "Good." I then turned back to Twilight. "You don't mind having a guest over for the night. Do you?"
"Of course not. It'd be my pleasure." Twilight said before looking around. "We could all have dinner back at the library." She said getting a round of nods from the others. "Well then it's settled. We'll all have dinner at around about 7." She said once again getting nods from the others.
With that said the mane six (aside from Twilight and Spike) departed giving us their goodbyes as they went to do what they would usually do when they weren't trying to reform spirits of chaos.
"Well then let's get back to the library." Twilight said.
"If I may I will help you with that Twilight." Luna said before her horn began to glow. "You all may want to brace yourselves." With that said we had only a few seconds before our vision was filled with a blue light. When the light subsided we found ourselves standing in the main floor of the library.
"Whoa well thanks for that Princess Luna." Twilight said. "Sure saved us walking all the way from the edge of Ponyville." She said before turning to Spike. "So chef Spike, got any ideas for dinner?"
Spike then proceeded to walk into the kitchen before quickly coming back out. "I have a few ideas but we'll have to go grab some ingredients from the markets." He said. Twilight gave him a nod and floated her saddlebags to her side. Spike then held up a claw to stop her. "I can go get them Twilight. Maybe I should take Stealth with me get him out a bit more." He said before holding a claw out towards me.
"Are you sure Spike?" Twilight asked him worry lacing her voice.
"Yeah I'm sure Twi." With that said I gave him the magical band. "Besides I'll be able to keep him line." He said as Stealth walked over to the door.
"Still be careful okay." She said as Spike gave us a wave and left the library.
"Don't worry Twi he'll be fine. He saved a whole empire, I'm pretty sure he can handle one changeling." I said to her.
"I know Ryan, I guess it's just me being protective of him." She said.
I then looked to see that Luna was no longer with us. I then heard a door open upstairs, as I walked up the stairs I noticed that the door to Twilight's balcony was open. Standing out on the balcony was Luna looking at an easel. I decided to pull her into a hug, as well as give her a kiss on the cheek. "So what would my favorite princess be up to." I said looking at the easel as she painted what looked like the night sky. "Huh, never took you for a painter."
"Well it helps me envision how the night will look." She said gesturing to what seemed to be constellations on the canvas.
"Wait so you create the night?"
"Yes I do."
"That is... I'm not going to bother arguing with you about how that's impossible." I said getting her to let out a small giggle.
"Don't worry Ryan, there are probably some things that make sense in this world that won't give you a headache." She said nuzzling my neck. "Now if you'll excuse me I must get back to my painting." She said levitating her paintbrush back up above the canvas.
"Okay then. Don't want to accidentally screw up the night sky." I said with a chuckle. "Not a problem I have to go ask Twilight something anyway." I said before giving her a kiss as I left the small balcony.
After making my way back down to where I had left Twilight. "Oh hey Ryan."
"Hey Twi. I need to tell you a couple of things." She gave me a nod. "Cool. First of all don't worry about getting a bed for Luna, she'll probably want to sleep with me."
"Okay then Ryan, I sort of figured she would have wanted to do that anyway but thanks for letting me know anyway." She said before I continued.
"Second thing, and I want you to be honest. How do you feel about Stealth?" I asked her.
"Um... Well. He's very nice and quite well versed in his mannerisms." She said with a slight blush. "He's also a bit cute." She mumbled under her breath. Something I didn't fail to pick up on.
"What was that Twi?" I asked her. This only caused her blush to intensify.
"Ihavetogotothelittlefilliesroom." She said before rushing out of the room.
"Smooth. Very smooth." Orion said to me.
'Well I figured out what I wanted to figure out didn't I.' I thought back to him.
"Good point. Well you better go apologize to her."
"Yeah I better." I muttered under my breath. Following Twilight's path towards the bathroom. |
Another human in Equestria fic | Getting a suit and meeting the CMC. | "Urgh." I groaned to myself as I was awakened by sunlight drifting into the room from a nearby window. As the sun slowly woke me up I felt that something was resting itself on my chest. As I looked down my vision was filled with what seemed to be the night sky, but as I pushed it away I found that it was Luna's mane.
As I finally uncovered her face from her mane I saw that it was filled with distraught and worry. As I noticed this I could hear her whimper slightly.
"Ryan." I heard her mutter between whimpers.
"Shhh. Don't worry Luna I'm here." I said brushing my hand against her cheek. This managed to calm her down, it also had the affect of waking her up. "Hey Luna you alright?" I asked her hoping she was alright.
"I am fine Ryan." She said sternly.
"Really because it looked like you were having quite the nightmare."
"It was nothing."
"Luna you can tell me if it bothered you okay." I said to her getting a nod from her. "Good." I said to her before giving her a quick kiss. "So then shall we go get some breakfast?" I asked her.
This managed to get her to perk up quite a bit as she got off of me. "Alright then I shall inform the others that you're getting ready." She said returning the kiss. "After I get some coffee." She muttered under her breath as she left the room.
After getting changed into a t-shirt and jeans I found that Luna had also brought my gloves and jacket to Ponyville with her. After putting those on I made my way downstairs to find that Twilight, Spike and Luna were sitting around a large table with plates of pancakes in front of them.
"I saved thou a seat." Luna said to me as she gestured to the seat next to her.
"Thanks Luna." I said taking my seat as Twilight levitated me a plate of pancakes. "Thanks Twi." I said before digging into my pancakes.
"Morning y'all." Stealth said as he exited the basement. He then froze once he saw Luna. "Your Highness." He said before giving a bow to her.
"Ah yes the changeling. Good to see you Stealth. Please have a seat." Luna said giving him a look that said. 'Try something that I won't like I dare you to.'
"Thank you Princess." He said giving her another bow as he sat next to Spike. Once he took his seat Twilight levitated a plate of pancakes over to him. "Thank you Twilight." He said before eating them.
After a few minutes of sitting in silence we had managed to finish our breakfast. "Ryan may I please talk to you outside for a moment?" Luna asked me as she slowly stood up from her seat.
"Lead the way." I said as I followed her towards the door. After exiting the library Luna pulled me into a kiss. After a few moments I broke the kiss my lungs screaming for air. "What was that for?" I asked after getting my breath back.
"What am I not aloud to kiss you?" She said sarcastically.
"You are it's just that I wish to know the reason why you kissed me."
"Well I'm heading back to Canterlot." She said looking towards said city. "If thou wish you could come with me."
"As nice as that sounds and how much I'd love to do that, I have few things to do here in Ponyville." I said causing her to wear a small frown.
As quickly as it appeared her frown was gone as she pulled me into a hug. "Alright then. Well I shall see you tonight." She said as she released me from her grip. It was then I noticed her horn begin to glow.
"See you then Luna." I said as she gave me a wave. Then she was gone in a flash of blue.
As I went back into the library I was met by Twilight who gave a small yelp of shock. "Oh sorry Ryan." She said backpedaling a bit.
"No problem Twi. Hey where are you going?" I asked noticing that she was wearing her saddlebags.
"Oh well I was going to go shopping. We're running low on a few things." She said pulling out a list. "Hey you don't mind keeping an eye on Stealth for the day do you?"
"Of course not Twilight." She said levitating Stealth magical band to me.
"Okay well I better get going see ya." She said before heading off towards the market.
As I made my way back into the library I saw that Spike was sitting in a chair reading a Daring Doo book whilst Stealth was looking at a nearby book shelf. "Wow Spike never knew you read anything other than comics." I said jokingly.
"Ha ha ha." He said dryly. "For your information the Daring Doo books are as action packed as my comics."
"Yeah I know I've read the ones that Twilight's got." I said before turning to Stealth. "Hey Stealth how do you feel about heading out for a bit?"
"Sure where we heading?"
"I was thinking Rarity's." I said before turning to Spike. "You wanna come bud?"
"Nah I'm up to a really good bit." He said his gaze never leaving the pages.
"Okay then. Let's go Stealth." I said as Stealth and I made our way out into Ponyville.
"So why are we going to Rarity's?" Stealth asked me as we walked through Ponyville.
"Well we need to get you a suit." I said getting a confused look from him.
"A suit?"
"Oh yeah." I said realizing that he had no context about why I wanted to get him a suit. "Well I talked to Twilight last night and if her running off to lock herself in the bathroom, all the while wearing a giant blush is anything to go by I think that she may share the same feelings that you have for her."
"Really?!" He exclaimed causing a few ponies to give us a few wayward glances before going back to their business. "I mean really?" He said in a hushed tone.
"Really. So that's why we are getting you a suit." I said as we finally arrived outside of Carousel Boutique.
As we walked in Rarity immediately took notice of us. "Ah hello darlings. What can I do for you Ryan?"
"Well Rarity, Stealth here needs a suit."
"A suit whatever for?" She asked raising an eyebrow as she levitated out a measuring tape and notebook and quill.
"Well Stealth here has his eyes on a special somepony so I thought I'd get him a suit for when he asked her on a date." This managed to get Rarity's eyes to nearly pop out of her head.
"Really who is it darling?!" Rarity exclaimed.
"Rarity. How about we keep that between Stealth and me." I said getting her to regain her composure.
"Alright then." She said levitating the measuring tape over to Stealth. "Now please stand still darling."
As she began taking Stealth's measurements I could hear a trio of voices coming from the stairs that led to the boutique's living area.
The next thing I knew three fillies had joined Stealth, Rarity and I. "Hey Rarity..." One of the three fillies said before pausing at the site of me.
"Sweetie Belle what's wrong." An orange pegasus filly said to the white unicorn filly whilst waving a hoof in front of her eyes.
"Yeah Sweetie Belle what's wrong?" An earth pony filly with a large red bow said joining the pegasus filly with trying to get Sweetie Belle to talk again.
All that Sweetie Belle could do was raise a hoof to point at me. Her friends then followed her hoof until they saw me.
Rarity took notice of this as she wrote down Stealth's measurements. "Sweetie Belle it is impolite to stare." She said pulling Sweetie Belle out of her mile yard stare. "I'm so sorry about that Ryan."
"It's no problem Rarity. I'm used to ponies staring at me."
"I guess you would be. Anyway I would like for you to meet my sister Sweetie Belle and her friends, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo." At the mention of their names the three fillies gave me a wave.
"Nice to meet you three." I said to them as I returned their waves. This managed to get them to calm down at seeing how friendly I was.
Apple Bloom then decided to take a few steps towards me. "If ya don't mind me asking, what are ya?" She asked me.
"Well I am what's called a human." I said as Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle began to circle me like sharks taking in my appearance.
"Now, now Sweetie Belle, I'm quite sure that Ryan doesn't need to be put under you and your friends scrutinization." Rarity said.
"Yeah like I didn't go through enough of that by you, Twilight and the others when I first showed up." I said to her jokingly getting a look of shock to appear on her face.
"I did no such thing darling."
"Don't think I didn't see the looks you guys were giving me."
"Alright then we have been keeping a close eye on you, but we weren't scrutinizing you."
"You do know I wouldn't care if you said that you were scrutinizing me y'know. I got pulled here by Discord, you guys were only being cautious." I said calming her down.
"Wait so you're here because of Discord?!" Apple Bloom exclaimed, drawing my attention back to the three fillies.
"Yeah I am. But if your worried about me causing chaos like he would don't worry because I won't." I said getting the three fillies to calm down.
"Alright then but we'll be keeping an eye on you mister." Scootaloo said to me.
"Maybe we can get our cutie marks by keeping an eye on Ryan!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed to the others.
At this Sweetie Belle got a round of agreement from her two friends before running out of the Boutique. "Um where did they just run off to?" I asked Rarity.
"Probably going to plan how their going to keep an eye on you." She said before turning her gaze back to Stealth. "Now then dear I guess you're going to go out on your date as this." She questioned gesturing to his unicorn disguise.
"Yes I will be." He replied. "If I may ask why?"
"Well no offense but whoever your dating may be turned off at the idea of going on a date with a changeling, y'know with what happened at Canterlot."
"Good point."
"Besides I'm already brewing up a few designs for your suit that go with your disguise." She said before reviewing what she had written down. "Do you have a time set for your date?"
"Um no I don't I haven't asked her yet."
"Alright then. Well that gives me more time to work on it."
"Okay how much for the suit Rarity?" I asked.
At this a slightly wicked smile spread on her face. "Well how about you tell me who Stealth has a crush on."
"Alright then but you have to promise to keep it a secret." I said before leaning down to whisper who it was in her ear.
"Really?!" She exclaimed looking between Stealth and I.
"Yes really." Stealth said sheepishly.
"Good for you and her. And don't worry I promise I won't tell anypony about this."
"Thanks Rarity." Stealth thanked her.
"As I said darling it's no problem." She said before pulling Stealth close. "But if you don't treat her right well me telling people about your crush will be the least of your worries with me." She said darkly causing Stealth to shake slightly.
"Got it Rarity." He said as she released him.
"Wow Rarity you sure can be scary." I commented slightly scared at her tone.
"Don't worry darling I'm only like that when someone has the chance to hurt my friends." She replied in an all too cherry mood that send shivers down my spine.
"Okay... Well Stealth and best be off now." I said to her as I slowly backed towards the door. "Seeya." And with that Stealth and I ran all the way back to the library. |
Another human in Equestria fic | Double date night and a new perspective. | After a quick sprint through Ponyville Stealth and Ryan found themselves breathless outside of Golden Oaks Library. "That was..." Ryan said before taking in a deep breath.
"Creepy?" Stealth finished for him.
"Yeah." Ryan said finally catching his breath before turning to the front door of the library.
"Geez I thought ponies couldn't be creepy." Orion said to Ryan.
'Well apparently they can.' Ryan thought back as he and Stealth entered the library.
"Well at least we got the suit in order." Stealth said pulling Ryan from his thoughts.
"What suit?" The familiar voice of Spike said from the entrance to the kitchen.
"Well looks like you two have been sprung."
"Suit? I don't know what you're talking about Spike." Ryan said choosing to ignore Orion.
This had the affect of getting Spike to raise an eyebrow at the duo. "Guys you do know I can tell a lie from a mile away. Hanging out with Applejack can give you that ability."
"Fine we'll tell you but you can't tell anyone got it." Ryan said to the dragon.
"Okay I won't."
"Pinkie Promise." Stealth said.
"Cross my heart, hope to fly stick a cupcake in my eye. There now tell me."
"Stealth has a crush on Twilight." Ryan said getting straight to the point.
"Wha..." Spike said looking at Stealth.
"It's true so don't tell anyone." Stealth said fixing Spike with a glare.
"What happens if I do tell someone, what's the bug going to do to me?" At this Stealth decided to get right in Spike's face.
"I will get Ryan to take this ring off my horn and then I will drain you of every drop of emotion in your body."
"Whoa geez man calm down." Spike said putting as much distance between him and Stealth as he could. "I Pinkie Promised okay I won't tell anyone, cause if I did I'd be unleashing the wrath of Pinkie Pie and no one wants that."
"So you won't tell anyone Spike?" Ryan asked Spike.
"As I said I won't. By the way Ryan you wouldn't actually remove Stealth's ring would ya?"
"Maybe." Ryan shrugged.
"You can't do that Ryan. Didn't Princess Celestia say that you couldn't take the ring off of him unless he was reformed?" Spike asked as he kept giving a cautious glance to Stealth.
"Well in that case I think that he's quite reformed." Ryan said lifting a hand towards Stealth's Anti-Magic ring.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!" Spike yelled as he jumped towards Stealth and Ryan.
"Don't worry Spike I won't take it off." Ryan said as he held Spike in the air with a few levitation spells.
At this the door to the library opened and Twilight walked in. "Ryan, why are you levitating Spike?"
"Ooh someone's in trouble." Orion whispered.
"Would you believe me if I said that he wanted to know what it's like to fly."
The unicorn then turned her gaze to Spike. "Is that the truth?"
"Yes but Stealth wants to tell you something." Spike said as Ryan lowered him to the ground.
"Really Stealth. What do you want to tell me?"
"Did you really just do that?" Ryan whispered to Spike.
"What he was going to tell her eventually." Spike said before realizing he wasn't whispering.
"Tell me what?" She then looked Stealth in his eyes. "Stealth what are they talking about?"
Before Stealth could give an answer Ryan spoke up. "Me and Spike are gonna go get started on lunch okay." And with that Ryan dragged Spike into the kitchen.
"So what did you want to tell me?"
"Well...It's not that simple." Stealth said as he rubbed his fore-hooves together out of nervousness.
"Well whatever it is I'm sure I can help in someway." Twilight said as she put a hoof on Stealth's shoulder.
"Well that's the thing it involves you."
"What involves me?"
'Come on Stealth you're one of Chrysalis' finest. If you could take over most of Canterlot than you can tell Twilight your feelings for her.' A voice in Stealth's mind said to him.
"Twilight, ever since I met you I've felt something that changelings rarely feel for a pony."
"Wait are you saying that you like me?" Twilight asked a small blush rising on her muzzle.
In that moment Stealth could feel a few choice emotions around her that told him that she felt the same way.
'Screw it.' Stealth thought to himself before catching Twilight off guard by pulling her into a kiss.
After breaking the kiss Stealth looked at Twilight to find that she wasn't moving. "Umm Twilight are you okay?" Stealth said waving a hoof in front of her face.
'Oh crap I broke her.' He thought before realizing that he should get help.
"Spike, Ryan I need your help!" He called out. The next moment he found that he and Twilight weren't alone as Ryan came rushing out of the kitchen followed by Spike.
"What happened?" Ryan asked looking between Stealth and Twilight.
"Well one moment we were kissing and when it ended she was just like this." Stealth said as Ryan got closer to inspect the lavender unicorn's expressionless face.
"Well it seems she's in a state of shock." It was then that Ryan realized that Twilight's face was turning redder by the second.
"I just got kissed by Stealth." She whispered.
"Um Twilight mind repeating that?" Ryan said.
"I just got kissed by Stealth." She then quickly began to stare at Stealth. "Why did you kiss me?" She asked as she walked over to Stealth.
"Because I like you a lot, maybe even love you." Stealth said worried that she may be mad.
"And I didn't return the kiss." Twilight said worry lacing her voice. "I can fix that."
"What do you. Mmph?!" Stealth said being caught off guard as he was pulled into a kiss by Twilight. After a few moments he decided to let himself go to the kiss and push back against her as their tongues began to dance with each other.
As they parted Spike decided to ruin the moment in a way only a kid could. "Eww gross. I'm going to go grab lunch." He said making his way into the kitchen. "..."
"Wow, who knew a baby dragon could cause an awkward silence so quickly." Orion said.
"Okay then. Well Spike's romantic moment ruining ability aside I'm happy for you both." Ryan said as he gave each of them a warm smile. "But he does have a point about getting some lunch."
As Ryan left the room Stealth turned to Twilight. "So what do we do now?"
"What do you mean?" Twilight asked wondering what he meant.
"Well us." He said pointing a hoof between the two of them. "What does this mean for us?"
"Well I may have to talk to my friends for advice."
"Why?" Stealth asked raising an eyebrow.
"Well I don't really have much experience in the field of relationships. And well the girls' advice has helped me in the past."
"I see. Well how about we go get some lunch first."
At this Twilight's stomach let out a small growl. "Good plan."
An hour after lunch Stealth had found himself sitting in a couch shifting around nervously.
"Stealth calm down." Ryan said as he looked up from a book that contained spells about magical constructs.
"I can't, what if Twilight's friends don't like me." Stealth said as his disguise flickered slightly.
"Stealth calm down okay your nervousness is causing you disguise to flicker." At this Stealth took a deep breath in as he slowly counted to ten in his head. "Another thing the others already like you okay. Well as much as they can like a changeling that tried to take over Canterlot a while ago."
"That doesn't help." Stealth said in a deadpan tone.
"Good point. How about this, at least you aren't going to meet her family."
"That is a very good point."
"Hey I just thought of something!" Ryan exclaimed as he got up from his seat.
"What did you think of?"
"Well you know how me and Luna are dating." Stealth than gave him a nod. "Well how about you, Twilight, Luna and I go on a double date."
"A double date?"
"You don't know what a double date is."
"No I don't, the teachers in the hive didn't teach us about that. They only taught us about regular dates."
"Well then I'll give you the basics. A double date is basically a date where two couples go out and have dinner together, this usually occurs between friends."
"So it's basically if Twilight and I joined you and Luna on one of your dates?"
"Exactly."
"That sounds nice."
"Great I'll have a chat to Twilight about that." It was then that Twilight had walked through the front door to the library.
"Speak of the devil." Orion said.
"Hey Twi how'd it go?" Ryan asked once he noticed that Twilight had a look of exhaustion on her face.
"It was exhausting." She said before taking a seat next to Stealth on the couch.
"Didn't know that you talking to your friends would be that hard." Stealth said as Twilight snuggled up next to him.
"It isn't it's just that they thought that you had put me under some sort of mind control spell. Then Pinkie put me through a series of ridiculous tests to make sure I wasn't under some sort of spell."
"Sounds like fun. I'd imagine Rarity would've give you some advice on what to do." Ryan said.
"She did. She told me to tell Stealth to take me out somewhere nice for dinner. She also said your suit should be done tomorrow afternoon."
"Well I may have an idea about what you two can do for a date."
"What would that be Ryan?" Twilight asked.
"Well I just need to borrow Spike and send a message to Luna. Cause I'm thinking that you, Stealth, Luna and I could go on a double date."
"That sounds like a great idea Ryan." Twilight said before her horn began to glow. After a few seconds Spike appeared holding a quill and scroll.
"Twilight can you please stop teleporting me around whenever you want to send a letter to the Princess." He then walked over to Twilight holding out the scroll and quill.
"Sorry Spike but Twilight isn't the one sending the letter." Ryan said.
"Oh well here ya go." Spike said as he handed off the quill and scroll. "Now if you'll excuse me I got some comic books to get back to." And with that Spike made his way towards the stairs.
"Hey Spike." Ryan said finishing his letter.
"Yeah?"
"I need you to send this thing for me bud." Ryan said levitating the letter to Spike.
After Spike sent the letter off to Canterlot with a tongue of fire he then made his way towards the stairs before stopping and coughing up a scroll which he handed off to Ryan.
"Thanks Spike." Ryan said before looking over the letter. "Well I got good news you two."
"What is it?" Stealth asked as he took a pause in giving Twilight a hug.
"Luna agreed to let you two join us on a date. And before you ask Twilight, she proposed that we go on a date tomorrow night."
"So should I get Spike to send our acceptance of this proposal." Twilight said.
"No point Twilight. Luna said she'd pay us a visit tomorrow night. Also she said that she'd take care of where we go."
"Well that's nice of her." Stealth said before returning to hug Twilight.
"Okay I'll go cook us up something for dinner." Ryan said heading towards the kitchen.
The next day
A knock could be heard throughout the library as Stealth and Ryan had finished getting ready for the night ahead.
"Hello." Ryan said as he opened the library's front door.
Once he opened the door Ryan found himself being pulled into a deep kiss by a familiar blue magical aura. Once the kiss ended he looked up into the eyes of Luna. "Well hello to you to Luna."
"Hello to you as well Ryan." Luna said as she still kept Ryan in a hug. "So are the others ready for tonight?"
"Well Stealth is but Twilight's over at Rarity's getting ready." Ryan said as he was released from the hug. "I'll go get him."
After a few moments Ryan returned to the door with Stealth. "Good evening Princess Luna." Stealth said before bowing to her.
"Please no need to bow Stealth, also for the rest of the night just call me Luna."
"Of course Princ... I mean Luna." Stealth said still nervous around the princess of the night.
"Now then how about we go retrieve Twilight." Luna said as her horn began to glow.
"How about we walk instead Luna." Ryan offered as he held a hand up to stop her from teleporting them. "Gives us a chance to see the artwork you've weaved for us tonight." Ryan said gesturing to the sky above them.
"You always seem to know what to say to make me happy don't you Ryan." Luna said as she gave Ryan a kiss on the cheek.
"All part of the job that is being your boyfriend." Ryan said as he returned the kiss.
"Wow if I could puke from the amount of affection happening between you two I would." Orion said as Ryan, Stealth and Luna made their way towards Rarity's Boutique.
'Glad to hear I found a way to annoy the crap out of you.' Ryan thought back to him.
"Now Stealth I must ask why have you decided to pursue a relationship with Twilight?"
"May I ask why you want to know?" Stealth said as the trio made their way through Ponyville.
"Because my sister is Twilight's teacher, and if I am to guess correctly she would want to know why someone of your species is proceeding to court Twilight."
"Well in that case it is because I am one of the few of my species that sees a pony as more than a food source." Stealth explained.
"So you love her?" Luna asked as they approached the Boutique.
"I don't know if it's love, but I do have strong feelings for her."
"Well that's better than nothing." Ryan said as the trio found themselves outside the Boutique. Ryan then held open the door. "Princesses first."
"Such the gentlestallion." Luna said as she made her way inside. "But Ryan is correct I may not be Cadance but I can tell that you have strong feelings for Twilight that could be considered love."
"Thanks for that Luna." Stealth said as the trio were joined in the Boutique's main lobby by Rarity.
"I'm so sorry but we are closed for the nigh... Oh Princess I didn't realize it was you or your company."
"Tis no problem Rarity, but we must ask whether or not Twilight is ready for tonight."
"I am." Twilight's voice could be heard from another room.
After a few seconds Twilight walked out from a side room. As she entered the room Stealth's jaw dropped at the sight of Twilight. "Huh guess it's true about how my dresses will leave stallions speechless." Rarity said at the sight of Stealth's hanging jaw.
"You look beautiful." Stealth said to Twilight.
"Thanks Stealth. Although it's not much really, it's just a lavender version of the dress I wore to the last Grand Galloping Gala." Twilight said as she wore a small blush under her make-up.
"Don't care if it's a bunch of rags you still look beautiful." Stealth said as he gave Twilight a kiss on the cheek.
"I-Um-I... Thank you." She said her blush becoming more intense.
"Sorry to interrupt this moment but we should get going." Luna said causing Stealth and Twilight to be shaken out of the romantic moment.
"Luna's right we should be heading off." Twilight said before turning to Luna. "Where exactly are we going for our date?"
"To a place in Canterlot. I do hope you don't mind."
"Not at all Luna." She said before turning to Rarity. "Rarity I'm sorry to ask you of this but could you tell Spike that I'll be staying in Canterlot for the night."
"Of course I will darling. I'll tell him when he comes over to help me take inventory of my stock. Now you four head off and have a good night to yourselves." Rarity said before giving Twilight a hug.
"Thanks Rarity." She said returning the hug before turning to Luna, Ryan and Stealth. "Okay let's go."
At this Luna's horn began to glow as her blue aura surrounded the two couples as they disappeared in a flash of blue.
Once the teleportation ended the two couples found themselves outside a very familiar restraunt to the human of the group. "The Griffon's Buffet? Nice choice Luna." Ryan said to the alicorn as the group made their way inside.
"The Griffon's Buffet? You've been here before Ryan?" Twilight asked as they were greeted by the owner of the restraunt.
"Good evening Princess Luna." Griff said as he laid a kiss on one of Luna's fore-hooves.
"And a good evening to you too Griff. You wouldn't mind escorting us to our table would you?"
"Not at all Princess. If you would please follow me." Griff said as he led the group to a booth. As the group took their seats Griff left four menus for them before speaking again. "Now if you'll excuse me I will give you time to decide what you will want for dinner." He said before heading off towards the kitchen.
"Now as for your earlier question Twilight, yes I've been here before. Twice actually, first time was with Cadance, the second time was the time I took Luna here for a date." Ryan said as he browsed the menu.
"Must be good if two princesses have come here to eat." Stealth said as Griff returned to the table.
"Have you all made your decisions for dinner?" Griff said as he collected the groups menus.
After a few minutes of the group placing their orders Griff left to prepare their meals.
"If you don't mind Stealth I would like to ask you some questions." Luna said looking to Stealth.
"Of course not Luna." Stealth said as a serving colt arrived at the table with a round of wine.
"Thank you good colt." Luna said as the colt left the table. "Now as for my question it is about your species diet. Can your species eat meat?"
"Yes we can. We can actually eat a variety of meals without any major repercussions." Stealth said as he took a sip of wine.
"How about getting drunk?" Ryan asked as the groups meals arrived.
"We can get drunk. Why do you want to know?" Stealth said before digging into his meal.
"No reason." Ryan said before he followed Stealth's example and began to eat his dinner.
After the group had finished their dinner, Ryan had taken notice that they had somehow managed to run out of wine. "Um Luna, how much of a fan of wine are you?"
"Hmm." Luna said before noticing the empty wine bottle. "I only had a couple of glasses."
"Well I only had one." Ryan said before looking to Stealth. "How about you?"
"Three glasses." He said before he found himself pulled into a hug by Twilight.
"Hey Twilight how many glasses of wine have you had?" Ryan asked Twilight.
"About five. Why?" She slurred before going back to nuzzling Stealth.
"No reason." Ryan said as Griff appeared with their bill.
"Wow who knew Bookworm was a light weight when it came to drinking." Orion snickered to Ryan, as Luna paid the bill.
'Well it's probably her first night drinking.' Ryan thought back before turning to Luna. "So should we head off?"
"We should. I'd recommend we walk but it'd probably be best if we teleport to the castle." Luna said as her horn began to glow.
After a few seconds the group found themselves inside the castle. "Stealth I trust that you will be able to take care of Twilight for the night." Luna said as she gestured to Twilight's old room.
"They're going to be bunking with Trixie?" Ryan asked as he opened the door for Stealth as he carried Twilight into the room.
"No they won't. I moved Trixie into her own room in my Lunar Wing of the castle."
"Hey Stealth her room's at the top of the stairs there." Ryan said gesturing to the stairs that led to the main bedroom.
"Got it. Well goodnight you two." Stealth said as Ryan and Luna left the room.
"There you go." Stealth grunted as he lifted Twilight onto the bed. "Probably best if I get you out of you dress." Stealth said as he began to peel the dress off of her with Telekinesis.
"So I see you have heaps of experience with undressing mares." Twilight said lustfully as Stealth finished taking her dress off her. "I got to repay you for that y'know." She said as she levitated him onto the bed.
"Twilight what are you suggesting?" Stealth asked worried about what she was implying.
"Well we don't just have to use this bed to sleep." Twilight said before letting out a small yawn.
"Twilight I really don't think we should do that..." Stealth stopped himself when he realized that Twilight had fallen asleep on top of him. "Well guess I'm staying here for the night. Can't get her off of me without waking her." He said before letting out a yawn as he fell asleep.
Meanwhile
"So then Ryan you're alone with a princess in her bedroom what are you going to do next?" Luna asked Ryan quizzically.
Her answer came in the form of a deep passionate kiss. When the kiss ended Luna found herself on her back looking up at Ryan. "Simple Lulu. I'm going to show you a night of pleasure unlike any night you've experienced before."
"Really? I highly doubt that." She said before she was interrupted as Ryan showed her how good hands could be for certain things. "So you're going to play like that eh?"
"Well I did say I'd show you a night of pleasure like no other night before." He said before giving her another kiss. |
Another human in Equestria fic | A thoughtful chapter. | As the sun rose over the land of Equestria, a changeling by the name of Stealth slowly awoke from his slumber. "Where am I?" Stealth said as he took in his surroundings before remembering the events that happened the previous night.
As he sifted through the events of last night he was pulled from is thoughts by a weight on his chest. As he looked down his form he could see that Twilight had her head resting on his chest. After a few minutes of Stealth thinking of what to do next he realized two things. The first was that Twilight was slowly waking up. The second was that he didn't have his disguise on.
Before he could reapply his disguise Twilight had opened her eyes. "Um hi." Stealth said as Twilight's eyes widened in shock.
It was in the next second few seconds that Stealth found out how Twilight had managed to fight off an entire changeling horde, at the time Stealth rounded her fighting them off to be because of her friends. But that all changed when he found himself flying through the door to the bedroom in the blink of an eye.
Before Stealth could make head or tails of how he had managed to get from a comfy bed to falling down the stairs that led to the bedroom he was previously in. "GUARDS!!!" The sound of Twilight screaming that one word caused time to somehow slow around Stealth as his mind raced to come up with a plan.
As his mind formulated a plan Stealth realized three things. The first was that during his fall down the stairs his anti-magic ring had somehow fallen off of his horn. The second was that it sounded like Twilight was making way to follow him. And last but not least Twilight screaming for the guards had managed to get the two ponies that Stealth didn't want to be around to send the door to the room flying open. Shining Armor and Princess Cadance.
"Twilight are you alright? We heard yelling..." Princess Cadance began before catching sight off Stealth.
"Cadance is it just me or is there a changeling standing in Twilight's room." Shining said before aiming his horn at Stealth.
"Wait!" Stealth said raising his hooves causing Shining to pause. "I mean you no harm."
"Hey Cadance, don't you just love changeling tricks and treachery." Shining said before his horn began to glow before firing a magical bolt towards Stealth.
As Stealth rolled out of the way of the bolt a plan had managed to formulate in his mind. 'Gotta find Ryan, only way to live.' Stealth thought as he prepped a teleport spell.
At the sight of Stealth's horn glowing from the prepping of his teleport spell Shining sent a hail of bolts at Stealth a hail of that Stealth couldn't avoid if he had his anti-magic ring on his horn.
As soon as he blinked out of Shining's sight the prince turned to see Stealth reappear in the doorway before sprinting off into the halls of the castle. "Cadance check on Twilight. I'll deal with the changeling!" Shining said before charging off after Stealth.
As Cadance made her way towards the bedroom to check on Twilight the door was flung open as Twilight came running out. "Stealth!?" She yelled wondering where he had gone. Before she could say anything else she saw Cadance. "Cadance what are you doing here?"
Before she could get an answer Cadance pulled Twilight into a hug. "Shhh Twilight it's okay. The changeling isn't here to hurt you anymore." She said as she ran a hoof through Twilight's mane.
"What? Wait Cadance you don't understand Stealth isn't trying to hurt anypony. He's-he's-he's..." Twilight stammered.
"He's what Twilight?"
"He's my Coltfriend." Twilight said causing Cadance to give her a look of disbelief.
"Twilight he probably made you believe that with a disguise."
"No he didn't!" Twilight said taking a few steps away from Cadance. "Well technically he did but I always knew he was a changeling."
"So you knew that he was a changeling throughout your relationship?"
"Yes I did." Twilight stated before looking past her sister-in-law out the open doors. "Know if you'll excuse me I have to go save Stealth from Shining." She said making her way towards the door.
"I'll give you a helping hoof with that." Cadance said as she joined Twilight run out the door after Shining and Stealth.
"GET BACK HERE CHANGELING!!!!!!" Shining Armor shouted as he chased Stealth through the castle.
'Geez this guy doesn't give up.' Stealth thought to himself as he made his way towards the Lunar Wing of the castle. As he was being chased through the halls he noticed that Shining wasn't the only one chasing him anymore, through his chase Shining had managed to gather a number of Solar Guard to help him in the chase.
As Stealth rounded a corner he ran into another guardspony if the armor was anything to go by. "Hey watch where you're going..." The mare said before looking down to see who had run into her. "You!" She said as she spun him around and held him against a wall.
"Ah buck." Stealth said as he noticed who the mare was. "Morning Captain Moonlight." Stealth croaked out as Moonlight applied pressure to his throat.
"What the buck are you doing out here changeling?" She said before looking up at his horn. "And where is your anti-magic ring?" She questioned levelling her blades at his throat.
"Do you mind using my name please, I've had enough ponies only address me as changeling."
"Fine then Stealth. Where's your ring and what are you running from?"
"Well through a series of complicated events my ring was knocked off, as for what I'm running from that would be Captain Shining Armor. Now if you would please let me go I need to go talk to Ryan." Stealth said as the pressure on his neck was slightly reduced.
"Well too bad." Moonlight said as she reapplied the pressure to his neck. "You're no taking another step towards the Lunar Wing."
"Well sorry but I gotta go." Stealth said as he teleported once more and sprinted away from her as Shining and the Solar Guard rounded the corner.
"Captain Moonlight, you haven't happened to see a changeling pass through here have you?" Shining asked her. Before he could get an answer Moonlight was gone as she flew off after Stealth. "I'll take that as a yes. C'mon men he's got no where else to go!" Shining exclaimed as he and the Solar Guard made to follow Moonlight.
Meanwhile
As Ryan slowly woke up from his sleep he could have sworn he heard a small boom from somewhere within the castle. 'What the heck was that?' Ryan thought to himself as he slowly propped himself up on his elbows.
As he rose up he noticed two things. The first was that there was a pressure on his mid-section which upon inspection was the sleeping head of Luna. This was the point he noticed that he was lying in Luna's bed naked.
"Well I gotta congratulate you on one thing Ryan." Orion said as Ryan laid back down on his back.
'And what would that be?' Ryan thought back as he swore he could have heard another boom throughout the castle.
"What do ya think. You just got lucky with a Princess!" Orion exclaimed as Ryan began to work his way out from under Luna.
'A good point. But I don't see it as that.' Ryan said as he made his way towards the bathroom.
"So what would you see it as?"
"A new step in our relationship." He said before having a shower and getting dressed into his magic coat and gloves.
"Can you stop you're gonna make me puke." Orion said as Ryan made his way towards the door. "Wait a sec where are we going? Shouldn't you be staying here with Luna?"
'Luna would understand that I need to go have some coffee.' Ryan thought before stopping himself from opening the door. 'Did you hear that?' Ryan asked Orion.
"Did it sound like a boom?"
'Yes.'
"Then yes I did." Orion said before Ryan opened the door to see Stealth round the corner into the hall that led into Luna's private chambers.
As Stealth got closer Ryan closed the door hoping that the soundproofing charm from the previous night was still in effect. "Hey Stealth what's wrong?" Ryan said as Stealth hid behind him and decided to use Ryan as a shield. "Also where's your ring?"
"Long story I'll tell you later. For now, please protect me!" Stealth said as Ryan attention was pulled from him as he noticed a group of guards standing at the entrance to the hallway that Stealth had just appeared from.
As Ryan inspected the group of guards he noticed that Shining Armor was at the head of the group. "I'm guessing Shining may or may not have found you in the same room as Twilight?" Ryan whispered to Stealth.
"He doesn't know that me and Twilight are dating. All he knows is that I'm a changeling and I may or may not have been undisguised around her."
"Got it." Ryan said as he focused on the guards.
"Um Ryan there's a problem. Moonlight isn't with those guards."
At this Ryan looked above him to see a single Thestral hanging over over him and Stealth. Upon seeing the Thestral, Ryan hit her with a smug grin. "Morning Moonlight, how's it hanging?"
"Did you really just do that?" Orion and Stealth asked in unison.
"Yep." Ryan said the smug grin still on his face.
With that said and done Moonlight slinked down from her place in the roof's rafters. "... Did you really just say that?" Moonlight deadpanned.
"Yep. Sorry." Ryan said apologizing for the pun. "Anyway jokes aside what seems to be the problem?"
At this Shining made his way towards the small group. "Well Ryan we're here for the changeling that's behind you." Shining said pointing at Stealth.
"A couple of things. One, let's move a bit away from the room that Luna is sleeping in. Second, you'll call Stealth by his name got it Shining." Ryan said before gesturing for the gathered group to move away from the door. "Also Shining call off your guards they won't be needed."
At this the small group made their way to the gathering of Solar Guards as Shining told them to go back to their regularly scheduled duties. "Now if you don't mind Ryan I'll be taking Stealth into custody." Shining said.
"Why?" Ryan questioned as he saw out of the corner of his eye two ponies approach the small group.
"Yes Shining why indeed?" The familiar voice of Twilight Sparkle said from behind Shining.
As Shining turned around to greet the new arrivals he noticed that Cadance was with his sister. "Because Twilight he was trying to drain your emotions. If it wasn't for you yelling for the guards me and Cadance probably wouldn't have been able to help you in time."
At this a small blush arose on Twilight's face. "Oh yeah the yelling." She said before turning to Stealth. "Sorry about that."
"No problem." Stealth said before shying behind Ryan again thanks to a glare from Shining.
"Shining Armor, you will stop giving my Coltfriend the death stare is that understood?!" Twilight exclaimed once she saw the glare.
"Coltfriend!?" Shining exclaimed, before looking between Twilight and Stealth. "Twilight he probably tricked you with a disguise into having you think he's your Coltfriend."
"As I've explained to Cadance I already knew that he was a changeling." Twilight said as she moved beside Stealth before giving him a kiss on the cheek.
"Okay then he's your Coltfriend." Shining said all too calmly. "If you already knew about him being a changeling why did you start yelling for guards?"
"Guess I'm not used to waking up to a changeling in the same bed as me."
This admission had the effect of having Shining freeze in place as his brain shut down from this admission. "You slept with my sister?" Shining said as his gaze fell on Stealth. In the blink of an eye Stealth found himself wrapped in a pink aura of magic as he was pinned to a wall by the aura. "You slept with my sister!" Shining said as he kept Stealth pinned against the wall.
Before anypony could react to this Ryan had his hand wrapped around Shining's horn. "Shining drop Stealth right now." Ryan said in a serious tone as small flames began to dance on the hand that was holding his horn. "Or else tiny black crystals will be the least horrible thing to happen to your horn."
At this threat Shining dropped Stealth from his place on the wall. "Thanks Ryan." Stealth said as he righted himself. "Um Twilight don't get mad at your brother okay." Stealth said as he made his way over to Twilight.
"No promises Stealthy." Twilight said before giving him a small kiss.
"Sorry to interrupt this moment Miss Sparkle but I need Stealth to put this on." Moonlight said before pulling out a ring Stealth's anti-magic ring. "And before you ask I went back to Twilight's room and found this on the ground. Now Stealth please put this back on." She said offering him the ring.
"That won't be necessary Captain Moonlight." The familiar voice of Luna said from behind the entourage.
"Morning Luna." Ryan said as she joined the group. "Have a good night's rest?"
"I believe you know the answer to that already." She said before realizing that they weren't the only ones present.
"Lady Noctis why shouldn't he wear the ring?" Moonlight asked.
"Because Stealth has to wear that ring until either me or my sister see him rehabilitated. And whilst he may not be a hundred percent rehabilitated I think he's rehabilitated enough that he doesn't need the ring."
"And what proves that Princess?" Shining asked.
"Simple Captain Armor. For most of this morning he was not wearing the ring, during that time he could have fled Canterlot and we probably wouldn't have seen him again. But instead of running he stayed. Now we may not know why he stayed..." She explained before letting her gaze land on Twilight for a few short moments. "We do know that he did stay when he could of left. That enough is proof that he doesn't need to wear the ring." She said finishing her explanation.
"A good point Lady Noctis." Moonlight said before tucking the ring away.
"Now then Twilight, I can entrust you to keep an eye on Stealth." Luna said getting a nod from Twilight before turning to Stealth. "And I entrust you Stealth to follow the laws of Equestria."
"Of course Princess." Stealth said giving a slight bow.
"Good to hear. Now I must go discuss this matter with my sister." Luna said before giving Ryan a kiss on the cheek as she made her way off towards where her sister would be at this time during the morning hours.
"Well Shiny and I best be off." Cadance said as she pulled Shining away by his tail with her magic. It was then that Ryan had noticed that Moonlight was gone as well.
"Well I best go pack up and get ready for the train ride back to Ponyville." Twilight said before turning to Stealth. "I'll be in the room if you need me." She said before giving him a kiss and leaving.
"So you can use all your magic now?" Ryan asked Stealth.
"Yeah I can. Why?"
"Well I need you to do something for me Stealth."
"And what would that be." Stealth said before donning his disguise. "Gotta keep up appearances mate." Stealth said when he noticed Ryan giving him a quizzical look.
"Okay then." Ryan said before leaning down so he was eye level with Stealth. "As for what I need you to do for me, well it's quite simple. I need a meeting with your Queen." |
Another human in Equestria fic | A human in the hive. | "You want to what?!" Stealth exclaimed at what Ryan had just said.
"You heard me. So can you get me a meeting with her or not?" Ryan asked the changeling.
"Okay. First off how could I?" Stealth asked as he walked away from Ryan. Before pausing a few feet away. "So you want to walk and talk or not."
"Got it. Well Stealth, as for how you could get me into a meeting with your queen well it's quite simple. From what I know changelings are quite similar to insects and some species of insects such as bees are connected to their queen and hive through a hive mind. So if my guess is correct you changelings are connected to your queen telepathically via a hivemind." Ryan explained as he walked beside Stealth.
"... That was..." Stealth began.
"Smart?"
"Not really more so it was accurate."
"So I'm right about you being connected to Queen Chrysalis?"
"Yes your correct." Stealth said before his horn began to glow slightly. "How about we go discuss this somewhere else."
"How about we go check on the Princesses? Celestia probably wants to see you about the whole lack of an anti-magic ring." Ryan said before trying to remember where the Throne Room was.
"If you want I could lead the way y'know able to read ponies emotions and tell where they are." Stealth said before changing his direction by 180 degrees. "C'mon let's go." Stealth said as he made his way towards the Throne Room.
"Ah Ryan, Stealth good to see you two." Celestia said as Stealth and Ryan entered the Throne Room.
"Morning Celestia." Ryan said as he and Stealth walked towards the thrones. "I'm guessing Luna's told you about why Stealth isn't wearing his ring."
"Yes she has. And I have to agree with why she allowed Stealth to go with out the ring, so Stealth doesn't have to worry about my approval." Celestia said nodding to Luna as Ryan noticed her drinking from a jug of coffee as she sat on her mixture of ebony and sapphire throne.
It was then Ryan levitated the jug of coffee out of her grasp and over to himself. "Thanks for sharing." He said before drinking out of the jug and walking over to the two sisters. "Hey I need to talk to you two about something."
"What would you like to talk to us about?" Luna asked before she stole the jug of coffee back from Ryan.
"It involves our little plan with Stealth."
"Ah I see." Celestia said before her horn let off a glow before the glow disappeared. "You can talk now Stealth can't hear us."
"Let me guess sound proof bubble?" Ryan asked before Celestia gave him a nod. "Cool. Okay now for what I wanted to talk to you about. With Stealth not having to wear his ring anymore he can now talk to Queen Chrysalis via a hivemind."
"And so you wish to use this hivemind to meet with Chrysalis." Celestia asked.
"Yes. And with that hopefully I'll be able to convince her to discuss peace with you two." Ryan said.
"Sounds like fun." Luna said before looking to Stealth. "So then sister shall we drop this little bubble and let Ryan tell Stealth to talk to Chrysalis."
With that said Celestia's horn glowed once more as the sound proof bubble dissipated. She then shifted her focus to Stealth. "Stealth if we may my sister and I have a favor to ask of you."
After a few seconds of silence Ryan noticed that Stealth's horn was giving off his signature Amaranth Red glow. "Yo Stealth you okay?" Ryan asked as he waved a hand in front of his eyes.
"Huh?" Stealth said as he jumped back slightly at how close Ryan's hand was to his face. "Did I miss something?"
"No not really. But we need you to get me an appointment with your Queen."
"Heh about that. While you were talking to the Princesses I spoke to Queen Chrysalis and she said she'd want to see you as soon as possible."
"Really." Ryan asked disbelief coating his voice.
"Really. She also said that we have to go alone." Stealth said before looking to the Princesses. "As much as you would wish to keep Ryan safe by sending a guard with us, the Queen would probably kill them on sight."
"Are you certain your Queen would be able to find the guard that we would send with you?" Luna asked Stealth with a raised eyebrow.
"No she wouldn't because you won't be sending any guards right Luna?" Ryan said walking over to Luna. "I'll be fine Luna. So don't worry."
"I can't help it." Luna said as Ryan pulled her into a hug.
At this a small flash of light appeared in the room. As the flash faded everyone looked to see Raven appear with a scroll floating above her head. "Here's the spell you wanted Princess." She said as she floated the scroll over to Celestia. Before anyone could give her a proper greeting she was gone in another flash of light.
"What's on the scroll Celestia?" Ryan asked before Celestia gave the scroll to him.
"A simple recall spell." She explained as Ryan looked over the piece of parchment. "This spell is quite similar to a teleportation spell but unlike your everyday teleport spell this recall spell doesn't require you to visualize where you're teleporting as it already has a set place to teleport you to."
"Cool. So let me guess if I get into danger I can simply use this recall to teleport somewhere more safe?"
"Precisely."
"Wow thanks Celestia." Ryan said before giving the Alicorn a small hug.
"No problem Ryan." She said before turning to Stealth. "Well you two best say your goodbyes and leave as soon as possible." She said causing Ryan to go back to Luna's side and giving her a kiss.
As Ryan finished the kiss he made his way towards Stealth. "C'mon then buddy we got a long train ride ahead of us we need to go pack."
A few hours later.
"So the changeling hive is in the Badlands?" Ryan asked as he and Stealth made their way out of Appleloosa.
"Yes it is. Now before you ask I cannot tell you where exactly it is." Stealth said as his horn gave off a small glow. "Okay they now know we're coming."
"So they're getting a party ready for us?"
"No. They now know not to attack us on sight."
"Oh well that's nice to know." Ryan said before letting his thoughts wonder as to how he was going to get Chrysalis to agree to meet with the Princesses.
"Hey Stealth." Ryan said as a particular thought entered his head.
"Yeah Ryan?"
"What'll happen to you once we get to the hive?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well for one you haven't been reporting to the hive or causing problems for the Princesses. And for two you're probably full of emotions such as love."
"Well for one I've already explained to the Queen how I've been under careful watch by the Princesses so I couldn't do anything against them. As for the stored emotions well all I have to do is give any excess emotions that I have gathered to the hive's emotion storage so that the emotions can then be distributed throughout the hive and feed it."
"Okay then. Also the reason why I asked is because I gotta make sure that you get back safe to Twilight."
"Good to know you care so much for me." Stealth said before taking a sharp right hand turn. "C'mon this way."
"Hey Stealth I gotta ask is the hive above ground or below?"
"Below. It helps against the sandstorms that roll through the Badlands."
"So I'm gonna take a guess and say that changelings hate the storms?" Ryan asked as they passed a few stacks of boulders.
"Not really. We can survive storms perfectly fine thanks to our chitin and also a layer of skin that covers our eyes."
"A layer of skin?"
"It's not really skin more so a thin see through membrane that protects our eyes from the sandstorms. Besides we really made the hive underground for our young, as for the first few years of their lives they don't have the membrane to protect their eyes." Stealth explained as they approached a large cave.
"So I'm guessing that this isn't the entrance to the hive." Ryan said sarcastically.
"Exactly." Stealth said as they entered the cave. "Oh okay then." Stealth said before turning to Ryan. "Ryan I'm really sorry about what's going to happen. It's the Queen's orders."
"What's gonna... Argh!" Ryan exclaimed as he found himself pounced on by a large changeling.
"Drone #254 what are you doing bringing this thing to the hive?" The changeling said as he placed a hole covered hoof on Ryan's head.
"Queen's orders." Stealth said as more changelings appeared in the cave.
"You idiots the thing is still awake!" One of the new arrivals exclaimed pointing to Ryan.
"Not for long." The changeling that was standing atop Ryan said before brining the hoof that was pinning Ryan's head to the floor crashing down and filling Ryan's vision with darkness as he flew into unconsciousness.
As Ryan slowly awoke from his unexpected nap he found his vision was a lot greener than usual. 'What the hell?' Ryan thought to himself as he found something was keeping him from talking.
"Start struggling and you'll get your answer." Orion said giving Ryan a reason to begin struggling against what he figured to be a green goo.
After a few seconds of continuing to struggle Ryan found himself dropped onto the floor from a few feet in the air. "Oof!" Ryan said as he hit the floor. After managing to get his bearings Ryan found that he had a layer of green goo covering his form. "Eww what the hell is this crap!?" Ryan exclaimed as he took in his surroundings.
As he looked around he saw that he was laying on the ground in a puddle of the green goo, he then looked above him to see what looked like a ruined version of the cocoon that held Celestia during the wedding invasion. As Ryan took his vision away from the ruined cocoon he saw that he was in a large bedroom, to his left was a large circular bed which Ryan guessed could seat 4 Celestia's on it.
He also noticed that the other furnishings in the room were left to a few bookshelves, dressers and drawers. As he got up he saw that the main light source in the room was a large green crystal that illuminated the room like a chandelier. Ryan also noted that everything had a green hue to it.
"Huh guess whoever owns this room really likes the color green." Ryan said out loud. "Okay Orion what the hell happened that got me stuck in a cocoon?"
"Well after that big drone knocked you unconscious, you were carried through the hive by the big lug whilst Stealth went off to God knows where. You were then brought here and put into a cocoon by order of Chrysalis as the large drone said, then him and a couple of other drones who helped him string you up left." Orion explained as Ryan could hear the sound of hoofsteps coming from the other side of the main entrance to the room.
After a few seconds the double doors swung open to reveal Queen Chrysalis. "Ah good to see that you're awake Ryan." She said as she entered the room.
Before Ryan could give her a greeting of his own Chrysalis stumbled forward. Before her face could meet the floor Ryan stopped her mid-fall with a levitation spell as he held her in place. "Chrysalis are you alright?" Ryan asked as he levitated her onto the bed before releasing his magic.
"I'm fine. And you shall address me as Queen." Chrysalis said weakly.
"I'll start doing that when you tell me what's wrong." Ryan said before placing a hand on her forehead to check her temperature.
"Why would you care! Drone #254 told me of how you're allied with the Princesses." Chrysalis spat as the green in her mane faded slightly.
"My allegiance may be with the Princesses yes. But I'm not going to let something bad happen to you." Ryan said as he racked his brain for a cause of Chrysalis' sickness. Then it hit him like a ton of bricks. 'Emotional starvation.' Ryan thought to himself. "Chrysalis can you shape shift?"
"Of course I can."
"Then how about you prove to me that you're okay by disguising yourself as Princess Luna." Ryan proposed to her.
"Fine then." She said before a green flame covered her body. When the flame subsided Luna was sitting next to Ryan on the bed instead of Chrysalis. "This prove you wrong?" 'Luna' said.
"Yes it does." Ryan said before pulling 'Luna' into a deep hug.
As she was pulled into the hug Chrysalis' disguise disappeared as she was exposed to the wave of emotions that Ryan output.
"There that help?" Ryan asked as he finished the hug noting that Chrysalis had ended her disguise this allowed Ryan to see the color return to her mane.
Before Ryan could get an answer he was pulled into another hug by the Changeling Queen. "Thank you." She said as Ryan could feel a few tears on his back. "Thank you." She said weakly.
"Your welcome." Ryan said as he returned the hug. After he finished the hug Ryan saw that her eyes were red and puffy from the crying. "You okay?"
"I'm fine. Thank you for that by the way."
"No problem Chrysalis. Hey by the way would I be able to see Stealth?"
"Stealth? Oh you mean Drone #254!" Chrysalis said before her horn began to glow. "He's on his way. He'll show you around the hive." She said before a knocking could be heard at the door. "That's him now."
"Thanks for that." Ryan said making his way towards the doors before stopping and turning back to Chrysalis. "Hey Chrysalis just wondering when's dinner?"
"I'll let Drone #254 inform you." She said as Ryan left the room.
As Ryan left the room he ran into Stealth. "So how'd the meeting with the Queen go?" Stealth asked.
"It was...nice." Ryan said as they made their way away from the Queen's room. "So you gonna give me a tour of the place or what?"
After Stealth had given a Ryan a tour of the different caves that the changelings called their home, Ryan had found himself summoned to the Queen's personal dining hall.
"So your taking me to a dining hall correct?" Ryan asked Stealth as they made their way through the tunnels of the hive.
"Not any dining hall Ryan. It's the Queen's personal dining hall. So it'll only be you and her having dinner."
"Ah got it." Ryan responded as they found themselves outside a large set of ebony and emerald doors with a changeling guard on either side of the doors.
"Well in you go." Stealth said looking to the doors.
At that the doors swung inward to reveal a large dining table with Chrysalis sitting at the head of it. As Ryan entered the room the doors swung closed behind him as he walked the length of the table to take a seat to Chrysalis' right.
"Ryan glad you could make it." The Queen said a warm smile on her muzzle as Ryan took his seat.
"Wouldn't miss it. But I gotta ask Chrysalis why do you have such a large table if you're the only one at it?" Ryan asked as her horn gave off a light glow as a changeling walked into the room through a side door.
"Well this dining hall belonged to my mother. She used to use it whenever she had dinner with important guests or on the rare occasion family." Chrysalis said in a slightly grim tone. Before Ryan could say anything she adopted her smile from before. "Now nymph #367 here shall take your order." She said gesturing to the changeling.
"Cool. So what's on the menu?" Ryan asked as Nymph #367 pulled out a menu. "Oh thanks." Ryan said giving the Nymph a smile as he looked over the menu. "You guys have steak?" He said as he noticed a T-bone steak on the menu.
"Yes we do." Chrysalis said as she was looking over her own menu. "Drone #254 told me that you eat meat so I don't see what the problem is."
"I don't have a problem with it. I'm just wondering why you would have those on the menu."
"What did you expect we have to have a little variety on the menu rather than just have a large list of salads." Chrysalis said with a small chuckle.
"Ah I see." Ryan realized before turning to the Nymph who still stood between the human and the changeling Queen. "Well I'll take the T-bone please."
"Of course sir." The Nymph said before retrieving the two menus and leaving the room.
"So Chrysalis I gotta ask what exactly does the great Queen Chrysalis do for the hive?" Ryan asked wanting to know how the hive worked.
"Well as the Queen I carry the responsibility of ensuring the hive's safety and wellbeing." Chrysalis explained as Nymph #367 returned with their dinner.
"One salad for the Queen and a T-bone steak for her guest." She said before taking her leave.
"Weird I don't remember you ordering anything." Ryan said before taking a piece off his steak.
"Well as the Queen I am connected mentally via a hivemind to every changeling within my hive. So using that hivemind I placed my order mentally." Chrysalis explained as she took a stab at her salad her horn glowing slightly.
"You having fun there feeding off my emotions." Ryan said taking a pause from his steak.
"What gave you the idea I would be doing that?"
"Well I've been hanging around Stealth for a while so I know the feeling of a changeling feeding off of my emotions." Ryan said before turning back to his steak.
"So do you want me to stop?"
"No it's basically your dinner. But I do want to know what emotions you were feeding off of."
"Well in that case the emotion was joy. I'm guessing you're a fan of the steak." She said with a chuckle.
"Well when you factor in that I live around herbivores and the additional fact that I am a great fan of steak and other cuts of meat, it brings me a great joy to have a steak." Ryan said as he finished off his steak.
"Good to see that you've finished your dinner." Chrysalis said as she stood up from her seat and moved behind Ryan. "If you'll follow me I shall take you to your room." She said before making her way towards the dining room doors.
After a few minutes of making their way through the tunnel network Ryan found that Chrysalis had led him to what seemed like a bedroom similar to the Queen's but slightly smaller.
"I'm guessing this is my room?" Ryan asked as he took a seat on the bed.
"Yes it is. My hive knows not to disturb anyone who resides in this room." Chrysalis said as she walked around the room. "It's not a problem is it?"
"No it isn't. Heck If you didn't offer I'd probably go bunk with Stealth."
"Or you could bunk with me." Chrysalis said with wiggle of her eyebrows.
"Hmm. Tempting but I'll have to pass. Maybe I would have if you hadn't of given this me room." Ryan said as Chrysalis made her way towards the door.
"Well if you get lonely you only have to come and visit me." With that said Chrysalis left with what seemed like more sway in her hips then usual.
"So still not going to admit you have a crush on Chrysalis." Orion said after Chrysalis had left.
"Shut up!" Ryan said out loud as he fell back onto the bed a slight blush on his face.
"You gotta at least agree with me when I say she's got one hell of a flank."
"SHUT UP AND LET ME GO TO SLEEP!!!" |
Another human in Equestria fic | Entering Larson's territory | For the next few days Ryan stayed in the hive. During his spare time Ryan would spend it with Stealth as he learnt more about changeling culture and how the hive operated. And whenever he could, he would try to convince Chrysalis about going to Canterlot and talking to Celestia. But whenever he brought it up Chrysalis would immediately dismiss the idea and ignore him.
But it had come time for him and Stealth to leave. "So you ready to leave?" Ryan said as he and Stealth stood at the entrance to the cave that led down to the hive.
"I guess so." Stealth said before reapplying his unicorn disguise. "So I guess you didn't convince the Queen to come back to Canterlot."
Before Ryan could give an answer the voice of Chrysalis came from the cave. "And where do you think you're going?!"
Ryan and Stealth then turned to see Chrysalis standing at the mouth of the cave flanked by two large changelings. "We're going back to Ponyville." Ryan said as the queen walked towards them.
"Why?"
"Because if I don't the princesses will send a search party for me." Ryan explained.
"Alright then." She said before shifting her gaze to Stealth. "So where do you think you're going?"
"He's coming with me." Ryan said getting the queen to shift her gaze back to him. "And before you ask ponies will wonder where he is." He explained not saying anymore to let Chrysalis imagine what would happen next.
"Fine then. Go see if I care." She said turning back to the cave barely stopping herself from crying.
Before she could reenter the cave she could feel Ryan put a hand on her withers. "Look Chrissie, you could come to Canterlot with me and Stealth. Cause if your worried about Celestia throwing you in the dungeon I won't let her okay?"
As Chrysalis turned around a storm of thoughts and emotions passed through her mind as she looked into Ryan's eyes. "I'll think about it okay." She said turning back and walking into the cave. "I'll let Stealth know of my decision. BUT DON'T GET YOUR HOPES UP!" And with that said she disappeared into the shadows of the cave.
"C'mon let's get going Stealth." Ryan said as he began to walk away from the cave.
A few hours passed as Stealth and Ryan rode the train from Appleloosa to Ponyville.
"So Stealth happy to be back here?" Ryan asked as the train they were on began to pull into the Ponyville station.
"Of course I am. I get to see Twi again." Stealth said as the duo moved to the door of the train.
"So you don't miss the other friends that you've made?"
"I'm not saying that it's just I'll be happy to see her again seeing as how she's my marefriend. Oof." Stealth grunted as he ran into somepony. "Sorry about that miss..." Stealth said before noticing who he had run into.
"Stealth!" The familiar voice of Twilight said before tackling Stealth into a kiss. "It's so good to see you again." She said pulling him up into a hug.
It was then that Stealth and Ryan noticed the wings on Twilight's back. "Um Twi don't get me wrong it's great to be back but when did you get a set of wings?" Stealth asked as Twilight released him from the hug.
"Oh these old things." She said extending one of her wings. "Well I got these a day after you two went on your little trip. Got them by using the friendship of magic or something like that Celestia didn't really explain it that well."
"Sounds legit. So why are you guys getting on the train anyway?" Ryan asked. Noticing the rest of the mane 6 on the train station's platform with Spike.
"Well the Princesses invited us all to a summit in the Crystal Empire. If you want, you and Stealth can come with us." Twilight said as the mane six and Spike took their seats.
"Well Stealth how does another vacation sound?" Ryan said taking a seat.
"Sounds like fun." He said before taking a seat next to Twilight. As the train began to pull out of the station a thought crossed his mind. "Wait you said Crystal Empire right?"
"Yes I did." Twilight said before realizing what Stealth implied. "Look Stealth, my brother won't hurt you okay. Or else me and Cadance will make him regret even looking at you badly." She said as Stealth pulled her into a hug.
"Sorry to interrupt you two love birds but exactly where did you and Ryan go Stealth?" Dash said to Stealth.
"You really want to know Dash?" Ryan asked Dash.
"Yeah. But I'm not the only one here that wants to know where you two went." She said taking a seat next to Ryan.
"Okay then. Well we went to the changeling hive and tried to convince Queen Chrysalis to come to Canterlot and discuss peace with Celestia." This got the assembled ponies and dragon's jaws to hit the floor.
"Y'all went to the changeling hive?" AJ asked.
"Yes we did. It was nice to go back home." Stealth said before he found his vision filled with the face that Twilight gave whenever she found a book she'd never read before.
"Tell. Me. Everything." She said.
"As much as I'd love to Twi I can't tell you anything about the hive." As soon as Stealth said that Twilight's head shifted so she was staring at Ryan.
"Don't look at me I can't tell you anything either." Ryan said getting Twilight to put on a pouting expression. "So what exactly are you meant to be doing at this summit Twi?"
"Well it's where the Princesses gather and discuss political happenings in Equestria and the Crystal Empire." Twilight said a look of nervousness on her face. "I'm a tad bit nervous it's the first summit I'll have attended."
"Hey don't worry Twi you'll do great. Besides you'll have us to back you up." Stealth said tightening his hug on her.
"Thanks Stealth." Twilight said giving him a kiss on the cheek.
A few hours later.
As the group entered the Crystal Palace's throne room, Ryan saw that the two royal sisters were sitting on what seemed like smaller version of the crystal throne that Cadance sat on in between them.
"Twilight I do hope that you and your friends had a pleasant journey here from Ponyville." Celestia said as the group gathered in front of the three princesses.
"We sure did." Twilight said before letting out a small yawn.
"Sister it is getting quite late maybe Cadance should show Twilight and her friends to their rooms whilst we have a word with Ryan." Luna said as Cadance got off her throne.
"Sure thing. C'mon you guys I'll take to your rooms." Cadance said leading the assembled ponies, dragon and changeling out of the room. Before she left she whispered something to the guards stationed at the double doors, they then followed her out of the room.
As soon as the throne room was empty Ryan found himself pounced on by a familiar blue blur. Before he could even say a hello he was pulled into a deep kiss.
As Ryan pulled back for air he saw the eyes of Luna staring back at him. "Well hello to you too." Ryan said as Luna pulled him into a hug.
"Thank goodness you're alright Ryan." Luna said as Ryan ran a hand through her star filled mane.
"Sister I'm sorry to interrupt this moment." Celestia said joining the duo at the foot of the thrones. "But if I may ask how was your mission?"
"Well it was interesting to say the least." Ryan said remembering his encounters with Chrysalis. "However I didn't get a confirmed answer from her about talking peace. But I did manage to get her to consider it."
"Good to hear that Ryan." Celestia said before heading towards the throne room doors. "We shall discuss this further tomorrow with Stealth after the summit. Goodnight you two." With that said Celestia left Luna and Ryan alone.
"So then I guess that I'm bunking with you Luna." Ryan said before he found his vision filled with a blue light. When the light subsided Ryan found himself in one of the Crystal Palace's guest rooms. As he looked around the room he saw Luna sitting on the bed.
"You could say that you're bunking with me." She said levitating Ryan next to her on the bed. "Now then let's make up for lost time." She said pulling Ryan into a kiss.
That night Ryan was awoken by what seemed like an explosion. "Huh what the?" He said as he woke up.
"Ryan what's wrong?" Luna said as Ryan began to get dressed. Before he could give an answer another explosion was heard. "Never mind."
"Look you stay here I'll go check what's happening." Ryan said running out of the room.
'C'mon where is it?' Ryan thought as he ran through the halls of the Crystal Palace.
"If your looking for the mirror take a right." Orion said. "Before you ask how I know this I had a look around whilst you and your buddies were walking through the palace. Also before you ask how I did that I found out that I can float around as a spirit using a few drops of magic."
'I swear if your lying Orion.' Ryan thought back as he rounded a corner and came to a hall that led to a solitary door. 'Never mind.'
"So this is the Magical Mirror?" Orion said as Ryan walked into the room.
Before Ryan could even think of a response he heard yelling from the hall to the mirror room before something crashed into his back. "Oof." Ryan grunted as he was knocked to the ground. As he fell to the ground he saw what seemed like a crown bounce through the mirror.
"Ugh get off me!" The voice of whoever had collided into him said before he felt whoever it was hop off of him.
"Stop right there thief!" The voice of Twilight said as she and her friends entered the room as Ryan got back to his feet.
As Ryan levelled his vision with who had collided with him, a wall of realization hit him as to the order of events that were happening. His mind was pulled from the tidal wave of facts and memory as the voice of the pony standing in front of the mirror spoke up.
"You're a human?!" The voice of the pony said to Ryan.
"And you're a mare with bacon hair." Ryan said a smile on his face.
"Whatever, it doesn't matter." The bacon haired mare then levelled her vision with Twilight. "So sorry about your crown Princess. Oh wait a minute I'm not." She said before cackling madly and diving through the mirror.
The next morning
"So let me get this right Celestia," Ryan started as he paced in front of the magical mirror. "The pony who just stole Twilight's crown/Element of Harmony was your ex-student Sunset Shimmer?"
"Yes, if you and Twilight's description is correct." Celestia said as the mane six, Stealth, Spike, Shining Armor and the other two princesses kept their gazes shifting between Celestia and Ryan.
"Okay then. And it is here in the Crystal Palace why?" Ryan asked as he continued his pacing.
"It was originally positioned in Canterlot I kept it there hoping that Sunset would return from the world on the other side of the mirror. But when the Crystal Empire reappeared I had it moved here for safe keeping."
"Okay then." Ryan said finally stopping his pacing. "So someone has to go through this mirror/portal into the other world and get the crown back?"
"Yes that is correct Ryan. But to complicate matters that someone must retrieve the crown within 3 days or the portal will close for another 30 moons." Luna spoke up.
"How long's 30 moons?" Ryan asked raising an eyebrow to the Lunar Princess.
"30 months or to simplify things 2 and a half years." Twilight explained.
"Sounds fun." Ryan said in a sarcastic tone. "So who's going?"
"I'll go." Twilight said. Getting everyone to look at her. "It only seems right that I get my Element back."
"Are you sure about this Twilight?" Celestia said as she gave Twilight a look of worry and concern.
"Yes I'm sure Princess."
"If your worried about Twilight don't worry cause she ain't going in there alone. Cause I'm going with her." Ryan said getting a worried look from Luna.
"Ryan, it's not that I doubt your abilities but if someone other than Twilight goes it may bring instability to that world." Celestia explained as Ryan put an arm around Luna's neck.
"Celestia I'm pretty sure I'm safe on that front. Heck I don't even belong here so I wouldn't be surprised if my appearance in the other world had no affect on anything." Ryan said.
"I guess you do have a point there Ryan." Celestia said before turning to the rest of Twilight's friends. "Unfortunately none of you can go with Twilight and Ryan either. Is that understood?"
"Yes Princess." The group said.
"Well looks like we best be going Twilight." Ryan said before giving Luna a kiss on the cheek. "Don't worry I'll be back before you know it." He said before walking up to the mirror. "Okay well I'll see you on the other side Twilight." He said before walking through the portal.
"Oh god that was horrible." Ryan said as he found himself lying on concrete.
"Yeah thank god we don't suffer from seizures or else that damn tunnel of color would have killed us." Orion said as Ryan got back up on his feet. "Oh you might want to get away from the statue unless you wanna be combined with Spike and Twi."
"Good point." Ryan said taking a few steps away from the statue of the Wondercolt. "So this is Canterlot High?" Ryan said taking in the sight of the high school. "Seems nice."
Ryan then turned back to the Wondercolt statue to see two figures be spat out of the base of the statue. "Urgh where are we?" The familiar voice of Twilight said from the purple skinned girl that had fallen out of the statue base.
"Yo Twi you ok?" Ryan said as he joined her at the base of the statue.
"Yeah I'm fine just a bit dizzy." She said before her breath caught in her throat as she looked down at her new body. "I'm a human?" She asked stretching and wiggling her new fingers.
"By the looks of it yes you are." Ryan said before he noticed a dog walk into his field of vision.
"Hey guys why exactly am I a dog?" The voice of Spike said from the dog's mouth.
"No clue Spikey boy." Ryan said as he helped Twilight onto her feet. "Okay now Twi have you ever walked on your hind legs before?"
"Yeah a bit why?" She said as she wobbled slightly on her new appendages.
"Well walking on your legs is like that. Except you don't have a tail to help steady yourself." After a few seconds of letting Twi get used to her legs he spoke up once more. "Okay now Twi I'm gonna give you a chance to walk around so take things slow and steady okay?"
"Okay." Twilight said before she began to walk around the area in front of the school. "Hey Ryan I think I'm getting the hang of this!" Twilight said a grin on her face. She then walked up to Ryan. "Hey Ryan you look different."
"What do you mean Twi?" Ryan asked as she began to inspect his features.
"You look younger." Twi said.
"Younger?" Ryan said before walking over to the glass doors of the high school taking in his appearance. "Holy crap! I'm eighteen again!" He exclaimed as he saw the face of his teenage self on the door.
"Hey Ryan are you okay?" Twilight said placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Yeah I'm fine just gotta get used to being my old self again." Ryan said turning back to Twilight. "Okay now let's go get your crown." Ryan said before opening the glass door and walking into the school followed by Twilight and Spike.
"So then what's the plan guys?" Spike said looking around the empty halls.
"Okay then as much as I don't want to Twi we're gonna have to split up. You and Spike try and figure out where the crown is I'll try to get some more info on this place." Ryan said getting a nod from Twilight and Spike. "Cool let's get going then."
And with that the four of them split up as a bell rang throughout the school. The halls were then filled with multicolored teenagers as they filed out from classrooms.
"Think we should have given her a warning about how she could get trampled by a class of teens?" Orion said to Ryan as he made his way through the sea of teenagers.
'I'm pretty sure she'll be fine.' Ryan thought back. 'Hey I've just thought of something.'
"And what would that be?"
'Well I'm just wondering how Stealth's doing?' Ryan thought.
"Don't worry about it he'll be fine he's a grown changeling he can take care of himself."
Meanwhile in Equestria
"Thank you for taking time out of your day to have tea with me Princess Cadance." Stealth said as he took a sip of his tea enjoying the company of the Princess.
"Please just call me Cadance. But I am glad to hear you are enjoying this." She said taking a sip of her tea. "Tell me how has it been here? Has Shiny been nice to you?"
"If you call having a guard with me 24/7 nice then yes Shining's been very nice." Stealth said sarcasm coating his words. "But I must say your hospitality in other departments has been very appreciated."
"Well it seems you don't always have a guard with you especially now." Cadance said as the door to the balcony opened to reveal a Crystal Guard. "Is there something you need guard?" Cadance asked the arrival.
"No ma'am just wondering if you or your friend had seen the unicorn Stealth?" The guard said.
It was then Cadance noticed that instead of having tea with Stealth she was apparently having tea with one of her maids. "No unfortunately we haven't. And if you wouldn't mind please notify the guards on the other side of the door that me and my friend wish not to be disturbed."
"Of course Princess sorry for interrupting you." The guards bowed before closing the door to the balcony behind him as he left.
As soon as the guard left Cadance found herself sitting across from Stealth's unicorn form instead of the earth pony maid he had posed as. "So if I'm to guess correctly Stealth none of the guards know you're here?"
"Maybe?" Stealth said trying and failing to sound innocent.
"Alright then as long as you're not planning on getting up to any mischief." Cadance said with a smile. "Actually what just happened provokes a question if you don't mind me asking?"
"Sure go ahead."
"Okay Twilight's probably asked this but what's the extent of your powers as a changeling?"
"Well we can perform the same sort of spells that unicorns can perform." Stealth explained as Cadance gave him a few nods.
"What about your shape shifting is there a limit to what you can do?"
"There is." Stealth said before finishing off his tea. "Unlike what some ponies think we can only shape shift into Ponies and Zebras."
"So you can't become say for example a dragon?"
"No we can't. Now before you ask changelings can become anypony that you can think of, but we can also create our own disguises if we need to."
"Okay. So can changelings also switch gender?"
This question caught Stealth by surprise as it hadn't been a question Twilight had asked him. "We can. But we usually don't unless we have to as having genitalia that we usually don't have is both awkward and sometimes annoying."
"Okay. Sorry if that was a bit of an awkward question." Cadance said hoping she hadn't offended Stealth.
"No problem at all."
"Alright then. Onto my next question could you become an alicorn or is the queen the only one who can do that?"
Cadance's answer came in the form of Stealth body being wrapped in purple flame as Celestia sat in his place. "Regular changelings can change into alicorns it's not only the queen." 'Celestia' said before she was covered in a purple flame and replaced by a changeling with purple eyes. "But it drains the crap out of us." Stealth said weariness in his voice.
"What do you mean by drain you?"
"Before I answer that I gotta ask you a question."
"Sure go right ahead."
"Can I feed off of you for a second so that I don't die?"
"Of course you can." Cadance said worry filling her voice.
"Thanks for that." Stealth said as he fed off a small amount of the love that was being generated by Cadance. "Now then as for how it drains us." Stealth said getting back to Cadance's question after reapplying his unicorn disguise. "When a changeling feeds on emotions we store those emotions within out body so that whenever we need the emotions it's right there waiting for us. But whenever we use magic or disguise ourselves it drains us of our emotional reserve." Stealth explained.
"That sounds very interesting." Cadance said before noticing the sun begin to set. "Oh dear would you look at the time we best get back inside." She said standing up.
"Yeah we best." Stealth said following her off of the balcony. 'Wonder how Twi, Spike and Ryan are doing?' He thought to himself as he reentered the Crystal Palace.
Meanwhile Canterlot High
After a while of walking around the school Ryan, had managed to come up with nothing pertaining to the location of the crown. Fortunately for him he had run into the human counterparts of the mane six (excluding Twilight) and had become friends with them.
"So then where to next buddy?" Orion said after Ryan had finished talking to Pinkie about how Twilight was running for Princess of the Fall Formal.
'We gotta find Twilight.' Ryan thought before face palming himself for not realizing where she was sooner. "Hey Flash." Ryan said stopping in front of the blue haired boy as he was getting something out from his locker.
"Oh hey Ryan." Flash greeted him as he pulled out a maths textbook.
As much as Ryan hadn't wanted to admit it he had become friends with Flash only for the chance to have a guy friend that wasn't Spike or Stealth. "You wouldn't mind pointing me in the direction of the library would you?"
"No problem Ryan." Flash said pointing down the hall. "Just go straight down this hall then make a left and you'll find the library. Now I gotta get going can't be late for maths!" He said rushing off to another part of the school.
As Ryan made his way into the library he found himself standing himself behind what he guessed to be Snips and Snails as they recorded footage of Twilight carrying books around in her mouth and trying and failing to use a computer.
"Oh man Sunset's gonna love this footage!" Snips said in his annoying voice that was usual for an annoying henchman.
"What footage is Sunset gonna like?" Ryan said placing a hand on both Snips and Snails' shoulders.
"Ahhh!" They both screamed before bolting out of the library.
This had the affect of getting Twilight to look over to Ryan. An eyebrow raised wondering what caused the commotion. "Hey Twi." Ryan said pulling a seat next to her. "How's it going?"
"It's going well, although I could use your help." Twilight said her eyes shifting to the computer she had in front of her. "I need you to teach me how to use this."
"Sure thing Twi." Ryan said with a chuckle. "Although you may want to start using your hands when carrying books."
"I'm guessing you saw me carrying books around in my mouth?" Twilight said a blush on her face.
"Yeah. So anyway let's get started on how to use a computer." Ryan said before giving Twilight a run down on how to operate a computer.
"And that's the basics of how to operate a computer." Ryan said before noticing the time thanks to a clock on a nearby wall. "Holy crap! It's already 7pm. How has time passed by so quickly?"
"It may have had something to do with all the research we did." Twilight said as she got up from her spot at the desk. "Um Ryan where exactly are we gonna sleep tonight?"
"Don't worry Spike's here to save the day." Spike said joining the duo. "I already set something up so just follow me."
"Is that a bed made of books?" Ryan asked as he saw what Spike had led them too.
"Yeah." Spike said his tail wagging behind him.
"Thanks Spike." Twilight said taking her place on the bed. "But wait a second what about Ryan? Doesn't he need a bed?"
"Nah I'll be fine Twilight, you and Spike can have the bed. I'll take the carpet floor." Ryan said before laying down on the floor.
"Goodnight Ryan." Twilight said as she pulled a blanket over her and Spike.
"Night Twi. Night Spike." Ryan said before letting sleep take his body.
The next morning
"Hey Ryan question why is everyone pointing and laughing at us?" Twilight asked as the duo made their way through the halls of CHS.
Before Ryan could give an answer he found himself lacking his friend noticing what seemed like Rarity's signature purple hair style disappear into an empty classroom. As he entered the room he saw Rarity puts a new outfit and wig on Twilight. "Rarity why are you playing dress up with Twilight?" Ryan asked the fashionista.
"Wait you know Twilight, Ryan?" Rarity said as she made slight adjustments to the wig on Twilight's head.
Before Ryan could get a word out of his mouth the door to the classroom opened and Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy entered the room. As they entered they each gave a greeting to Ryan and Twilight. "Rarity why are ya dressin Twilight up like one of your mannequins?" AJ asked as Rarity finished fiddling with Twilight's wig.
"Because we need to hide her from the rest of the student body or else she will die from all the embarrassment." Rarity explained as she stood back to take in Twilight's disguise.
"What embarrassment are you talking about Rarity?" Twilight said before Rarity pulled out her phone. This led to everyone crowding around her to see what was on the screen. What they found was a video of Twilight carrying books around in her mouth and trying and failing to use a computer.
Once the video ended Twilight spoke up her voice wavering and her eye on the verge of being flooded with tears. "That's horrible who would do such a thing?"
"Sunset did it. She really doesn't want you winning the title of Princess at the Fall Formal." Pinkie said getting everyone other than Ryan and Twilight to give a slow nod.
"So that's what those brats were doing." Ryan said in an aggravated tone.
"Whatcha mean by that sugarcube?" AJ asked.
"Snips and Snails I was wondering what they were talking about when they said that 'Sunset's going to love these videos.'" Ryan explained.
"Don't worry about that Twi." Pinkie said adopting her signature bubbly and happy attitude. "I'll help you get that crown!"
"I wouldn't do that if I were you Twilight. Pinkie has been known to be unreliable." Fluttershy said getting a glare from Pinkie before she began arguing with Fluttershy.
Before Ryan or Twilight could say anything to stop them fighting AJ and Rarity joined the fight causing the four girls to get at each others throats.
"Girls stop it." Twilight said but to no avail. She then paused for a moment to take a breath in and decided to give the Royal Canterlot Voice a try. "GIRLS STOP FIGHTING!" As soon as those words left Twilight's lips, all eyes in the room were on her. "Look at you. You used to be friends." She said before pulling out a yearbook from her bag showing them a certain page.
"The Freshman Fair." Rarity said as she took the yearbook from Twilight's hands to inspect the picture on the page.
"What happened between you five?" Twilight asked. "Did Sunset have something to do with it?"
"No she didn't." Fluttershy said. "Our friendship broke up because we each sent each other texts that ruined school events that we planned. For example, I received a text from Pinkie that ruined a silent auction that I had planned."
"What? Fluttershy I never sent you a text that would ruin your silent auction. At least not one I remember." Pinkie said.
"Really? Then who would have done such a thing?" Fluttershy asked.
"Well I don't know about you guys but I'm placing my money on it being Sunset who set you all up." Ryan said.
"Then if that's true that means... Oh my stars." AJ said placing a hand on her mouth. "That means that Rainbow got a text that ruined the bake sale from Sunset not me."
"So let's go tell Rainbow then." Ryan said.
"I don't know Ryan. Dash and I got into a pretty heated argument over that. I don't know if I could face her." AJ said rubbing one of her arms.
"Look AJ don't worry you got us to back you up." Twilight said giving AJ a comforting smile.
"Thanks Twi." AJ replied returning the smile.
"So then let's go see Dash." Ryan said leading the group out to where he guessed Dash would be. The school's soccer pitch.
"Hey Dash!" Ryan called out to the rainbow haired girl as he and the others approached the soccer field.
"Hey Ryan!" Dash said waving to him and the group before noticing AJ. "Oh it's you." She said to the farmgirl when the group was close enough.
"Dash, AJ wants to apologize for what happened between you two." Twilight said as AJ stepped forward.
"They're tellin the truth Dash. I'm sorry for what happened between us, I should have known that you would never send those texts to me." AJ said her voice and expression downtrodden.
"Okay I forgive you." Dash said.
"Really?" AJ said.
"Yeah I am. So then what are you guys doing out here anyway I highly doubt that the only reason your out here is to seek my forgiveness."
"Straight to the point Dash?" Ryan asked getting a nod from her. "Well we need your help in getting Twilight the title of Princess of the Fall Formal."
"Really your going up against Sunset?" Dash asked Twilight getting a nod from her. "Okay, now then I'm gonna need you to convince me to help you."
"Okay then. For starters you should help me because..." Twilight started before being silenced by Dash holding up a hand.
"Not with words. With action." Dash said before walking over to one of the soccer goals. "All you need to do is score a single point against me."
"And how would I do that?" Twilight asked.
"I'm guessing you've never heard of soccer?" Dash asked getting a nod from Twilight. "Well in that case. To get a point you have to kick the ball into the goal." Dash explained gesturing to the items in question. "But the catch is I'm aloud to stop the ball."
"Alright then." Twilight said stepping up to the ball. She then swung her foot towards the ball before missing and falling onto her back.
"Twi! You alright?" AJ said as she helped Twilight back onto her feet.
"Yeah I'm fine." Twilight said before repositioning herself to take another shot. What soon followed was ten whole minutes of Twilight trying and failing to kick the ball into the goal.
"Okay that's enough." Dash said walking up to Twilight. "I'll help you."
"Really but I didn't get a point." Twilight said with a look of confusion.
"That's a good point. But the real reason I made you try to score a point was to see if you had the two most important qualities for the Princess of the Fall Formal. Determination and Heart." Dash explained. "And you fit the bill so let's go win you the Fall Formal!"
As the Spike and the girls began to celebrate Ryan noticed laughter coming from behind the nearby bleachers. As Ryan got close enough he could make out the voices of Snips and Snails.
"Dude Sunset's gonna love these pics." Snips said a camera held in his hand as he and Snails looked over the pictures.
"And what pictures would those be?" Ryan said.
"Oh crap!" Snails said backing away from Ryan. "Snails we gotta run c'mon!" With that said the duo sped off towards the school.
"Oh no you don't." Ryan muttered to himself before running after them.
As Ryan ran across the field he found Pinkie running beside him. "Hey where are you running off too?" She asked as she kept up with him.
"Got business to attend to. Pinkie make sure you help Twi no matter what okay?" Ryan said as she came to a stop.
"OKIE DOKIE LOKI!" She yelled out as he ran into the main building of the school.
'Now where did those nitwits go?' Ryan thought to himself as he ran through the halls of the school.
"Take a left than a right." Orion said.
Deciding he had nothing better to do Ryan followed Orion's directions and much to his surprise saw Snips and Snails at the end of the hall bent over as they tried to recover their breath. Before Ryan could get close enough to grab them Snips had caught sight off him. "Come on Snails get up we gotta keep running!" And with that said they sped off towards another part of the school.
Before Ryan could continue following them he collided with a door that had swung open. "Oof." Ryan said as he landed on his butt.
"So you're the one making all the noise?" The familiar voice of Luna said to him.
As Ryan's head stopped spinning he realized whose door he had collided into. Vice Principal Luna's office door.
"Now then. If you would kindly join me in my office." She said as Ryan got back on his feet her tone of voice turning Ryan's blood cold.
"So Ryan you've only just arrived here yesterday. Correct?" Luna asked Ryan as he sat opposite her desk.
"That's correct Vice-Principal." Ryan answered.
"Already one day in and your causing trouble."
"As I said before it wasn't me." Ryan said hoping this time she would believe him.
"Well I'm sorry to say but I still don't believe your story of chasing Snips and Snails through the halls." She said before taking a sip of some tea she had poured herself. After taking her sip she paused for a moment looking on her desk to see her cup of tea and another empty one, she then looked up to Ryan. "Would you like one?" She asked.
"One of what?" Ryan asked.
"A cup of tea. My sister said she was going to join me for tea, but some unforeseen paperwork for the Fall Formal sprung up and she had to cancel. So would you like a cup of tea?" She explained.
"Sure thing." Ryan replied as she began to pour him a cup of tea. "I'm sorry about Principal Celestia not being able to make it."
"It's no problem I'm just happy to have some company. Not many people wish to spend time with me other than my sister, her assistant Raven and my assistant Moonlight."
"Really?" Ryan asked her, surprised. "How could no one want to spend time with you. From what I can tell you seem nice and you have a great personality."
"Thank you for that Ryan." Luna said a small blush on her face. "But as for why no one really would want to spend time with me it probably has something to do with how all the students see me as the evil vice-principal that hands out punishments left, right and center."
"Well from what I can tell you're a damn shy better than my last vice-principal." Ryan said enjoying his tea.
"How so?"
"Well my last VP was the strictest person I've ever known. He used to be in the army. So for example if he had to fill in for the principal he would end up running the school like it was a military cadet academy. Everyone in the school had to address him as sir whenever they saw him, had to salute him as well. And to top it all off all of his punishments were military based. An example is if you were speaking in class when you weren't meant to he'd have you perform a few laps of the school." Ryan said with a chuckle at the memories.
"And the school board allowed this?!" Luna said nearly knocking over her tea.
"No one knows if they knew or not, but a few kids at the school theorized that the board did know and just didn't do anything about it."
"That sounds ridiculous." Luna deadpanned.
"Yeah it does. But my school made a class specifically designed for troublemakers. It was sort of like a permanent detention for any kid who wouldn't right their wrongs. It also served as a brilliant way to keep kids in line. You get hit with a detention you get a whole school day in the detention class."
Before Luna could respond to what Ryan had said a knocking could be heard at the door to her office. "Come in." Luna said. When the door opened Sunset Shimmer could be seen standing in the doorway. "Ah Miss Shimmer what brings you here?"
"You need to come with me right now Miss Luna. Something's happened concerning the Fall Formal that I need to show you." Sunset said before being joined in the doorway by Luna.
"Of course Sunset." Luna said before turning back to Ryan. "I trust that you will stay here?"
"Of course." Ryan replied before Luna and Sunset left him alone.
After a few minutes of admiring the decorations that lied around Luna's office. Mostly related to the moon and stars as he found out. He was rejoined by an angry Luna and a sad Twilight. "Sit." Luna said pointing to the second chair across from her desk. "Ryan your free to go I need to speak to Miss Twilight alone."
"Of course Miss Luna." Ryan said making his way towards the door. "Thanks for the tea by the way." He said before leaving the room.
As Ryan made his way out of the room he ran head first into Flash Sentry. "Hey bud watch where you're... Oh sorry Ryan." Flash said helping Ryan up from his new found position on the floor.
"No problem Flash. But I gotta ask you why your going around running into people?" Ryan said jokingly.
"I gotta speak to VP Luna." Flash said before opening up the door to Luna's office.
"How long till Luna starts yelling?" Orion asked Ryan before the voice of Luna yelling at Flash could be heard through the hall. "Never mind."
After what seemed like an eternity Twilight came running out of the office. As she ran pass Ryan, he could've sworn he heard her saying a constant stream of nos. As Ryan looked back to the door of Luna's office he found Flash standing outside the door a downtrodden look on his face.
"Yo Flash you okay?" Ryan asked as he went over to the downtrodden boy.
"To be perfectly honest with you no I'm not okay. I just asked Twilight if she'd like to go to the Formal with me and well I'm guessing you saw her running out her saying no over and over again."
"This is great now's your chance to tell him that Twilight ain't interested. Fulfill the dream of every brony. Destroy Flash Sentry's heart and spirit." Orion said giving off an evil cackle.
"I'm pretty sure she was only saying no about something else." Ryan said getting Orion to start cursing him.
"You do have a point. She was probably saying no to the fact that the Fall Formal will probably be cancelled."
"How come?"
"Someone trashed the gym including the Formal's decorations." Flash said before showing a few pictures to Ryan. "Found these outside the gym."
As Ryan took them he saw that they were pictures of Twilight trashing the gym. "Oh sorry you also have to look at these to get the full affect." Flash said handing another set of photos to Ryan. In these photos instead of Twilight trashing the gym it was Snips and Snails.
"Wow. So I'm guessing this is what you showed VP Luna." Ryan said handing the photos back.
"Yep. Besides I'm surprised Luna actually believed the fake photos were real. Those things were horrible to look at given that they look like they were photo shopped by five year olds."
"Yeah that they were." Ryan said part of his mind focusing on the fact of the Formal being cancelled. "Hey Flash what's the chance that you could get the school to do what you wanted?"
"What do you mean by that?" Flash replied completely caught off guard by the question.
"Sorry let me rephrase that. Could you convince the school to help clean up the gym so that the Formal doesn't have to be cancelled?"
"I probably could why?" Flash said still not being able to put two and two together.
"...Because I may have found a way for you to ask Twilight for a dance at the Formal." Ryan said getting Flash to finally be hit by what Ryan meant.
"Ryan I owe you one." Flash said. "Now you head to the gym, and I'll go get my pals."
"So you told them everything?" Ryan said to Twilight, after they had helped clean up the gym.
"Well Pinkie sort of guessed it." Twilight said before noticing her new/old friends making their way over to the duo. "And when they asked about you I said that you would give them an answer." Twilight said pointing to the group.
"Okay before I start giving you answers let's get somewhere more private so that we don't risk anyone eves dropping." Ryan said as the humane 5 came into view.
"Well I may have an idea darling." Rarity said before turning to wards the gym's doors. "Well then let's go get ready for the formal."
After a short walk Ryan found himself sitting inside the human Rarity's boutique. "So who's going to ask a question first?" Ryan said as the humane 5 and Twilight were in their own separate changing booths getting ready for the night ahead.
"Can't we wait until we're out of the booths?" The voice of Applejack said from one of the six booths.
"Hey this wasn't my idea so you can blame Rarity." Ryan responded as he remained seated outside the booths keeping a close eye on Spike not letting him get near any of the booths.
"Well if no one's gonna go first I may as well go second." Pinkie said. "Twilight told us what sort of pony she is so tell me Ryan what sort of pony are you?"
"I'm not a pony." Ryan replied. "I'm a human that was pulled into Equestria by an interdimensional portal."
"So you're a human running around a world filled with ponies?" Dash asked.
"Yep."
"Don't you ever get lonely darling?" Rarity asked.
"Sometimes." Ryan said sadly. "But I guess I'm just glad ponies are quick to make friends or I'd go crazy from the loneliness."
"I'm sorry for bringing that up darling." Rarity said noticing Ryan's tone.
"It's no problem Rarity. Sometimes it helps being reminded that I'm alone. Helps me appreciate my friends more." Ryan said before looking up and seeing that the girls had finished getting into their dresses and they were standing in front of him.
"Well darling what do you think?" Rarity said giving a twirl of her dress.
"You look nice." Ryan said getting Rarity's eye to twitch slightly.
"Nice? We look just nice." Rarity said her voice a bone chilling calm.
"Well sorry but I've seen hotter." Ryan said before finding his vision filled with the angry face of Rarity.
"AND JUST TO SATE MY CURIOSITY BUT WHY WOULD THAT BE?" Rarity said steam whistling out of her ears.
"I have a girlfriend. Does that sate your curiosity?" Ryan said getting Rarity's mood to fulfill a complete 180.
"Oh okay then dear." Rarity said clearing Ryan's vision.
"Dude you just nearly died." Orion said to Ryan.
'Yep. Man I love living life on the edge.' Ryan thought back.
"So Ryan, Twilight told us that you got a special trick." Pinkie said. "And that it may have something to do with these gloves of yours."
"So you wanna see a bit of magic eh?" Ryan said before igniting his gloves in a purple flame. "How's this?"
"Wow." The humane five said.
"Um darling doesn't that hurt?" Rarity asked pointing to the fire.
"No it doesn't it's only an illusionary flame." Ryan said before putting the flame out. "So how are we getting to the Formal anyway?"
"Well darling we're getting a limo there." Rarity said before disappearing into a nearby room. After a few minutes she returned with a suit in hand. "Now darling if you would please put this on."
"I'd love to Rarity but no thank you. I'll stick to the magically enchanted jacket."
"Fine then at least the jacket blends well with the gloves." Rarity said turning to the front door of the boutique. "Now let's not keep the limo waiting."
As the group arrived at the school they found most of the student's eyes on them as the got out of their limo.
"Hey Rares I think the limo overdid it." AJ said to Rarity as they made their way towards the front doors of the school.
"Don't worry about that darling." Rarity replied as the group entered the school.
"Hey Twilight wait up!" The voice of Flash Sentry called out from behind the group.
"Oh hey Flash what's up?" Twilight said.
"I was wondering if you would be my date for the Formal?"
"I'd love to Flash." Twilight said giving a smile to Flash before thoughts of Stealth crossed her mind. "Actually I can't. I already have a colt... I mean boyfriend."
Hearing this Ryan decided to step in and give Flash a hand. "Hey Twi I'm pretty sure Stealth wouldn't mind you having a couple of dances with Flash."
"Really?" Twilight said before turning back to Flash. "Well in that case let's go hit the dance floor."
As Twilight made her way into the school Flash followed after her stopping for a short second to whisper a single sentence into Ryan's ear. "I owe you mate."
"No you don't Flash." Ryan said before following Flash into the school.
Ten minutes later
"So what do we do now!" Orion screamed into Ryan's head as Sunset, placed Twilight's crown on her head and began the transformation into her daemon self.
'Simple we stall her.' Ryan thought back before turning to Twilight and the humane 5. "Twilight get the elements ready I'll stall Sunset."
"You sure you'll be able to stall her Ryan?" Twilight replied.
"Yeah how hard could it be?" Ryan said before turning back to Daemon Shimmer. "Let's light her up." Ryan said before tossing a fireball at her.
"Did you really just chuck a fireball at a daemon that is immune to fire?" Orion said as Daemon Shimmer shrugged off the attack and turned her gaze to Ryan.
"Yeah not my best plan." Ryan said.
"You dare defy me?!" Daemon Shimmer roared.
"Sunset this isn't you!" Ryan shouted back as he dodged fireballs that Daemon Shimmer sent at him.
"Mate you're not gonna get through to her. So fire something at her to keep her distracted." Orion said.
"Fine then." Ryan replied before sending a bolt of lightning towards Daemon Shimmer.
"Ahhh!" She roared out as the bolt hit her in the chest. "You'll pay for that worm!" She said before sending a speeding fireball at Ryan.
"Ahhh!" Ryan screamed as he was sent flying into a wall thanks to the fireball. "Argh." He groaned as he rolled onto his side in agony.
"You okay?" Orion asked.
"Yeah wouldn't be surprised if a rib is broken."
"Well remember to thank Celestia for that jacket when we get back to Equestria." Orion said as Ryan got back on his feet.
As Ryan looked up he saw that Daemon Shimmer was gliding towards him a fireball in hand. "Now you burn!" She said before letting out a mad cackle.
"Not if we have anything to say about that Sunset!" The voice of Twilight shouted from behind the daemon girl. "Now girls!" She exclaimed before her and the humane 5 began to float into the air.
After a few seconds a ray of rainbow light shot out from the 6 girls that flew towards Daemon Shimmer. "What?! No this can't be happening! NOOO!" Daemon Shimmer roared as she was consumed by the rainbow of friendship.
When the light from the rainbow dissipated Sunset was left in the place where her daemon side last stood. As Ryan and the elements approached Sunset they saw that her face was covered in tears.
"Sunset Shimmer!" Twilight yelled out to her.
"Please, please forgive me." Sunset said between sobs.
"Twilight for the love of god stop!" Ryan said running over to Sunset. "You can hold off on the friendship lesson until Sunset sees the school nurse." Ryan said before kneeling down and checking Sunset over. "You okay?"
"I-I-I think so." She said still sobbing.
"Well by the looks of it you only got a few cuts and bruises. Can you stand?" Ryan asked helping Sunset to her feet.
"Thanks Ryan." Sunset said as she got back onto her feet.
As Sunset had finished steadying herself the rest of the school body exited the school to see the small warzone that had sprung up in front of the school.
"Will someone please explain what happened out here?" Luna asked as her and Celestia made their way over to the group that surrounded Sunset. "But before you do explain why you six look like anthropomorphic ponies?" Luna said pointing to the humane 5 and Twilight.
What followed was Twilight giving an explanation to Celestia and Luna about what happened and why they were at CHS. When Celestia asked the duo about the bodily changes Twilight gave her the theory about how they had taken on the pony characteristics of their Equestrian counterparts.
While Twilight was giving her explanation Luna had told the rest of the student body to go back and enjoy the Formal. After the last few students had left Luna turned to Sunset. "Sunset as punishment for what you have done you will receive a week's worth of detention. You also have to clean up the mess you've made of the front of the school."
"Yes Vice-Principal Luna." Sunset said before being handed a broom from the VP.
"Good to hear. Now sister I trust that Miss Sparkle has informed you of what has taken place." Luna said turning to Celestia.
"Yes she has. Now then you seven can go back inside and enjoy the Formal." With that said Twilight and the others made their way into the school followed closely behind by Spike. After they had left Luna and Celestia took notice that Ryan hadn't gone with them. "Ryan aren't you going back inside?" Celestia asked.
"Nah I gotta help Sunset, some of this destruction was caused by me." Ryan replied.
"Come sister we best not leave the Formal for too long." Luna said getting Celestia to follow her back inside.
"Need a hand with that?" Ryan said noticing Sunset was having trouble with bagging some rubble.
"No thanks." Sunset said before she found the rubble being levitated out of her grip and into the bag. "You know you don't have to help me."
"I know but friends help each other." Ryan said cleaning up more rubble with his magic.
"You consider yourself my friend?"
"Of course I do." Ryan said waling over to her. "Why wouldn't I?"
"Well I acted like a snob. Heck I doubt anyone will accept me not after everything I've done."
"Well I can't say everyone will accept you, but I know that Twilight's pals will be your friends." At this Twilight, Spike and the humane 5 walked out of the front doors of the school. "Speak of the devil."
"But what do I say. It's been a while since I've had any actual friends." Sunset said as Twilight made her way over to the duo.
Ryan took notice of this and held a hand up to stop her. "Well a good place to start would be to apologize for what you've done." Ryan said before clearing the last of the rubble. "Now Twilight's probably going to say the same thing to you. So I better go say my goodbyes." With that said Ryan made his way over to the humane 5.
After Ryan, Spike and Twilight had given their goodbyes they stood in front of the Wondercolt statue. "You first M'lady." Ryan said giving her a bow.
"Such a gentleman." Twilight said before her and Spike made their way through the portal.
"Hey Ryan if that portal turns Twilight and Spike back into their original selves what's going to happen to us?" Orion asked as Ryan gave a final wave back to Sunset and the humane 5.
'No clue but hopefully we'll be restored back to 23.' With that thought done Ryan stepped through the portal. |
Another human in Equestria fic | Meeting with a god and a setup for the next chapter. | "Where the hell am I?" Ryan asked as he found himself in what seemed like the white room from the matrix.
"So where the hell are we?" The familiar voice of Orion said to Ryan.
"No clue. But wherever we are there sure as hell seems to be a whole lot of nothing." Ryan said as he looked around the expanse of white.
"Ah good to see that you have arrived." A female voice said, her voice emanating from all around Ryan.
"Um who's there?" Ryan asked not seeing anyone in any of the directions he faced.
"Maybe you'll recognize me when you see my physical self." The voice said before a white coated alicorn with a blood red man appeared in front of him. "Recognize who I am now?"
"Holy crap is that Fausticorn?" Orion asked as Ryan was left speechless by the sudden appearance of the alicorn.
"I believe your kind knows me as Fausticorn if your looking for a name for my face. Or would you rather call me by my human counterpart's name of Lauren?"
"Wait you know about..." Ryan said not wanting to talk about what he knew.
"Your kind's knowledge of ponies? Yes, I do." She said before noticing why Ryan was being so quiet. "You can talk to me about your kind's knowledge of Equestria. For many years I have looked upon your kind with interest. Besides your god told me of your mission here so don't fear being sent back to earth for talking to me about what you know."
"Okay then." Ryan said letting out a sigh of relief he didn't know he was holding in. "That takes a load off my mind." He said with a chuckle before looking around his surroundings. "So exactly where are we Miss Faust?"
"Please call me Lauren. As for where we are, we are in the space between realities." Lauren said.
"So this place in the space between Equestria and the human world?" Ryan asked.
"Yes and no. This is the space between the two realities but it is also the space between multiple other realities." She replied before her horn began to glow and magic mirrors sprung up around the duo.
"What's with the mirrors?" Ryan asked examining the mirrors to see they were all the same.
"These aren't just mirrors, these are doors to each of the different Equestrias."
"Wait there are different realities of Equestria?" Ryan asked as he realized what she was implying.
"Yes there is." She said before walking over to one of the mirrors. "Take this Equestria for example, in this Equestria a human arrived 1000 years before the days of the Equestria you know. He became a knight in the service of my daughters."
"So the rumors of you being Celestia and Luna's mom are true?"
"Yes." Lauren said before turning her gaze from the mirror back to Ryan. "So then let's talk about the Equestria you know."
"What do you... Oh." Ryan said. "Hi mom." He said sheepishly realizing who exactly he was talking to.
"Don't call me that Ryan. Not until you are married to my daughter. Now seeing as how my husband isn't here I'm going to have to scare you a bit." She said before her horn began to glow and Ryan was surrounded by a ring of fire. "Now if you recall from how you humans describe me I am a god. And guess what those stories are true, so keep in mind if you even think about hurting Luna, Celestia will be the least of your worries. Got. It?"
"Got it ma'am." Ryan said giving her a salute. "If you don't mind me asking Lauren who exactly is Luna and Celestia's father?"
"Ever heard of the Alicorn of Death?" She said a small sly smile on her face.
"She can't be serious?" Orion said to Ryan.
"I am." She replied catching both Orion and Ryan off guard.
"Wait she can hear me?!" Orion said.
"Yes I can. I'm the pony version of your god I have infinite power, that helps me hear you perfectly clear." She said. "But as I was saying my husband is the Alicorn of Death."
"How?" Ryan asked.
"When he died he found out that when an alicorn dies they become the spirit of death. His spirit appeared to me and told me of what he had discovered about our kind. So he asked me to make him the Alicorn of Death, this in turn would make it so that no other alicorns could be the spirit of death. When I asked him why he wished for me to do such a thing he told me that he did not want our daughters to collect the spirits of those they loved or cared about."
"Wow. He sounds like one heck of a father." Ryan said after hearing her out.
"Thank you. He really was." Lauren said memories dancing in her vision.
"So I have to ask how did you end up here?" Ryan said gesturing to the space between realities.
"Star Swirl the Bearded told me that through his research he found that tears in reality would appear overtime. So with his help I found that the only way was to make the magical mirror that he had designed and then make my way into the space between realities. Unfortunately, that meant I couldn't see Celestia and Luna." She said the last part coated with sadness.
"I'm sorry to hear." Ryan said placing a hand on her withers.
"Thank you Ryan." She said holding back her tears. "I can already tell that you'll make Luna a very happy mare." She said before her horn let off a slight glow. "Now it is time for you to leave and go back to the Equestria that you know." With that said a magic mirror appeared to the right of the duo.
"Yeah good plan. Everyone's probably wondering where I am." Ryan said with a chuckle.
"I highly doubt that. I've frozen time in that Equestria so it'll seem like you'll arrive back through the mirror exactly when they expect you too."
"Wow that's pretty cool." Ryan said making his way over to the mirror.
"Ryan before you go I want you to promise me that you will tell Celestia and Luna that I always have and always will be with them."
"I promise." Ryan said before taking another step towards the mirror. "Hey Lauren I gotta ask what'll happen to me when I go back to Equestria? Will I be a pony or a human?"
"If you wish to be a pony I could make it so the portal turned you into one. What race would you like to be?"
"What's the chance you'll let me be an alicorn?" Ryan said with a sheepish grin.
"Sorry no can do. But you could become one if I turned you into another race of pony."
"Well in that case I'll decline the offer. I've spent my whole life getting used to my human body so I think I'll keep it."
"Suit yourself." Lauren said with a warm smile.
"Got it. See ya Lauren!" Ryan said before leaving through the mirror.
"Ryan you're back!" The voice of Twilight said as Ryan found himself back in the magic mirror's room in the Crystal Palace. "What took you so long?"
"What do you mean?" Ryan asked as his vision finally stopped spinning.
"Well you were gone long enough that I gave everypony here a quick rundown of what happened." Twilight said.
"No you didn't silly I did." Pinkie said bouncing up next to Twilight.
"Well I was just saying my goodbyes is all." Ryan said before noticing Stealth was standing near the door to the mirror room his eyes glazed over and his horn giving off a faint glow. "What's with Stealth?" Ryan said pointing to the changeling.
"Stealth? Are you okay?!" Twilight said running up to him as his eyes return back to normal.
"Yeah I'm fine Twi." He said before turning to Ryan. "We might want to head back to Ponyville as soon as possible."
"How come?" Ryan asked.
"We have a guest waiting for us." Stealth replied. |
Another human in Equestria fic | Saying hi to new friends, new enemies and new lovers. | An hour had passed since Ryan, Stealth, Spike and the mane 6 had made their way out of the Crystal Empire and back to Ponyville. After they arrived back in Ponyville they made their way directly to the library.
"Stealth, Ryan who exactly is this visitor?" Twilight asked annoyance coating her voice as she hadn't received an answer from them on the train ride back to Ponyville.
"Should we tell them?" Ryan whispered to Stealth as they found themselves outside of Golden Oaks Library. "Better question is she in there?"
"Yes to both questions. Also you're explaining who our visitor is." Stealth said his gaze never leaving the library.
"Fine." Ryan said slightly annoyed he had to explain. He then turned around to see the mane six and Spike giving him looks of confusion. "Okay then you want answers I'll give them. You all remember that Stealth and I went to visit the changeling hive?"
"Of course darling how could we forget." Rarity said as the others gave nods.
"Well we went there to convince Queen Chrysalis to go to Canterlot and arrange a peace treaty with Celestia."
"Okay that sounds ridiculous." Dash said.
"Dash's right Ryan." AJ said. "But what exactly does that have to do with this visitor?"
"Take a guess who our visitor is." Ryan replied getting a gasp of realization from Twilight.
"She's in there?!" Twilight said pointing at the library. "Oh boy I'm going to have sending her to the Canterlot dungeons." She said making her way to the library's front door.
"Oh no you don't Twi." Ryan said picking the alicorn up in a field of levitation. "If she's here that means she wants to talk peace. So calm down."
"Okay your right." Twilight said as she was slowly lowered to the ground. "I shouldn't have overreacted like that."
"Good to hear. Now let's go say hi to Chrysalis." Ryan said making his way to the door. "Um Twi can I have the key please?" He said holding a hand out as she placed her keys in his hand.
When Ryan placed the key in the key hole he found that the door was already unlocked. It was then that he noticed the sign on the door that said 'OPEN'. When he pushed open the door he noticed that the first floor was empty as he and the others walked in he heard the voice of Twilight come from upstairs.
"Just give me a moment and I'll be right with you!" 'Twilight' called out. "Now then how can I help you..." 'Twilight' said as she made her way down the stairs pausing when she noticed who was standing in the library. "Oh buck."
"Hey Chrysie." Ryan said greeting the false Twilight. "Never knew you had a knack for running a library."
Ryan received no response as Chrysalis' gaze never left the Elements of Harmony. After a few seconds she let out a line of clicking sounds that caught Stealth's attention. Stealth then retaliated with more clicking sounds.
Chrysalis' gaze then fell on him as she shot a glare of hate at him. "Disobeying your Queen, Drone #254?"
"No. I just don't need to do what you say." Stealth responded.
"And why would that be?" The false Twilight said raising an eyebrow.
"Because they aren't going to hurt you." Stealth replied.
"No offense Drone but I'd like to hear it from them."
"He's telling the truth Chrysalis." Twilight said trying to keep her words hate free.
"I want to hear that from her." Chrysalis said levelling a hoof with Applejack.
"Why me?" AJ asked.
"Because you're a terrible liar. And you're also the Element of Honesty, so I'll know that your telling the truth." Chrysalis explained.
"Fine then. Look we ain't gonna hurt ya so can ya drop yer disguise please." AJ said getting a smile from Chrysalis.
"Good to hear." She said before she was engulfed in a green flame as the false Twilight was replaced with the Queen of the Changelings. "Now was that so hard dear?"
"So Chrysie, why exactly are you posing as Twilight?" Ryan asked the Queen.
"I had to keep up appearances. Besides I had to have a way of feeding myself. And before you start panicking Twilight I didn't go draining any of the residents of Ponyville, I merely took small nibbles off of the joy they generated whenever I forked over a book that they wanted." She then tossed a bag to Twilight. "That's how many bits you've earned while I was posing as you."
"Thanks." Twilight replied skepticism coating her voice. "Hey wait a second you better not have gone through any of my stuff!"
"Of course not. I'd only do that if I planned on replacing you. But I'm not so I don't have to worry about doing all that."
"So why are you here Chrysalis?" Ryan asked once Chrysalis had reached the bottom of the stairs.
"Why to be with you of course." Chrysalis said poking Ryan in the chest.
"Chrysie. Why are you really here?" Ryan asked the changeling.
"Fine then party pooper. I'm here to talk to Sunbutt about peace."
"Wait a sec so Ryan was telling the truth?!" Dash exclaimed.
"Of course I was Dash why wouldn't I be?" Ryan said raising an eyebrow to the pegasus.
"No reason." She replied avoiding Ryan's gaze.
"Oh are the goodie two shoes fighting?" Chrysalis said getting glares from the group of good guys. "What?"
"So guys how does another train trip sound?" Ryan asked looking at the assembled group of ponies.
The response that Ryan got involved the mane six looking to each other with looks of uncertainty. "Ryan we'd like to go honestly we would." AJ started.
"But we have things to do darling." Rarity continued.
"Maybe tomorrow would be a better time. Some of us do need to have a rest even if we don't have anything to do." Twilight finished.
"Okay then." Ryan said before turning to Chrysalis. "Looks like your going to be here longer than expected."
"Oh that's fine." Chrysalis said before leaning close to Ryan. "As long as I get to spend my time with you handsome." She whispered into his ear before turning to Twilight. "So where am I sleeping?"
"Why are you asking me?" Twilight asked.
"Because I highly doubt anypony else will let me spend the night with them." She said before turning her gaze to the other elements. "Unless I'm mistaken and somepony does want me to bunk with them."
"Fine you can stay the night here." Twilight said.
"Goodie." Chrysalis said.
"Hey Twi we'd hate to leave ya but we need to get going." AJ said gesturing to the other elements.
"Oh it's no problem AJ. You guys have stuff to do." Twilight said.
"You sure Twilight?" Rarity said.
"Yeah I'll be fine guys." Twilight said as the elements made their way towards the front door of the library.
"Okie dokie Twi. But if you need us just send Spike out and we'll be over here to help you out." Pinkie said.
"Got it Pinkie." Twilight said as the elements left the library.
"So Twilight where will I be staying for the night?" Chrysalis asked.
"Follow me." Twilight said before leading Chrysalis towards the basement door.
"You can't be serious." Chrysalis said noticing where she was being led to.
"What?" Twilight said before realization struck her. "You already know what's past this door don't you."
"Yes I do. And don't worry I didn't touch any of your machines." Chrysalis said before turning her head to Ryan. 'Help me.' She mouthed to him.
"Well are you gonna help her?" Orion asked. "If you do you could end up sleeping with a queen."
'Fine then I'll help her.' Ryan thought back. "Twi maybe we could give Chrysalis my room. I can bunk with Stealth."
"I guess you could." Twilight said before turning to Stealth. "How do you feel about that?"
"Sounds fun. It does get quite lonely down there." Stealth said looking to the basement door.
"Why haven't you said that before?" Twilight said.
"Cause before you would have locked me down there if I offered I sleep with you." Stealth said getting a blush to rise on Twilight's face before she began to speak in tongues.
"Good work Stealth ya broke her." Spike said.
"Is she gonna be alright?" Stealth asked.
"Yeah just give me a hand to get her in bed she just needs some rest is all." Spike said before Stealth lifted Twilight onto his back and followed Spike up the stairs leading to the next floor.
"So then now that we're alone I can thank you properly for helping me out there." Chrysalis said stalking towards Ryan a sway in her hips.
"No thanks necessary Chrysalis." Ryan said. Unfortunately for him that did nothing to stop her from stalking towards him.
"Please I insist you let me repay you." She said seductively.
"Well then looks like your plan worked better than expected." Orion said keeping barely keeping himself from filling Ryan's mind with mad cackling.
"No thank you." Ryan said before levitating Chrysalis up a few feet into the air. "Now if you would kindly stop trying to bed me."
"Fine then." Chrysalis said dropping the seductive tone of voice. "Can you let me down?"
"Okay." Ryan said as he lowered Chrysalis back to the ground. "Now I'm guessing that you already know where the spare room is."
"Yes I do." Chrysalis responded before her horn gave of a slight glow. "You'll find that your stuff is down in the basement on a spare bed." With that said Chrysalis made her way up stairs. "Good night Ryan."
The next morning Ryan found his vision filled with the face of the resident changeling queen.
"Chrysalis why are you in my bed?" Ryan asked the queen as he slowly rose onto his elbows.
"Well I just couldn't resist spending the night with you." She whispered into his ear.
"Chrysalis why are you really in my bed?" Ryan deadpanned.
"Twilight wanted someone to wake you and Stealth up. So I offered to help her and wake you up." She answered hopping off the bed. "C'mon then or else all of the pancakes will be gone." She said before making her way out of the basement.
"You didn't sound that annoyed to find Chrysalis in bed with you y'know." Orion said as Ryan got out of bed.
"Where's Stealth?" Ryan asked aloud ignoring Orion's comment.
"Chrysalis woke him up before you. Said that Twilight was going to cook them all breakfast then he bolted." Orion said as Ryan began to make his way up the basement stairs.
'Hopefully Stealth managed to stop Twilight.' Ryan thought as he walked into the main floor of the library to see that Twilight had set up the dining table which had the mane six, Spike, Stealth and Chrysalis sitting around it.
"Ryan! I saved you a seat!" Chrysalis said patting the seat next to her.
"Thanks Chrysie." Ryan said as he took his seat before being served a plate of pancakes by Twilight. "Good to see that no one's been killed." Ryan joked between bits of pancakes.
"No but I've been getting a lot of glares." Chrysalis said as she bit into her pancakes. "Although I haven't gotten any from the ball of pink."
"Of course not silly. I don't hate anypony, I only dislike them. And besides you've given a great reason for us to trust you and help you." Pinkie said giving Chrysalis a warm smile.
"Sure thing." Chrysalis replied giving her a wary look. "At least my loyal drone isn't giving me a death stare."
"Of course not my queen." Stealth said bowing his head.
"Good to hear." Chrysalis said getting a glare from Twilight. "Geez what do you expect, I'm his queen I order him around. Besides I don't make him do anything to bad."
"She's right Twi." Ryan said. "The time that I was in the hive Chrysalis didn't make any of the changelings do anything to bad."
"Alright then." Twilight said before turning to Chrysalis. "So do you have your stuff packed for the train trip?"
"I didn't bring anything with me from the hive. So yeah I'm ready to go."
"Good to hear. Although you'll have to disguise yourself before we go." Twilight said as Chrysalis turned to Ryan.
"Now Ryan what I'm about to do may feel a bit strange." She said before guiding her horn towards his forehead.
"Let me guess your going to sift through my mind to find a disguise for yourself?" Ryan asked stopping her horn with a hand.
"Yes. Wait how do you already know about that?" She asked before turning to Stealth. "I'm guessing you showed them?"
"Only way I could go around and not look suspicious." Stealth replied.
"Hey Chrysie, how about I give you the description of a pony and you use that?" Ryan asked Chrysalis.
"That would work. What do you have in mind?" She asked before Ryan pulled out a piece of paper and quill and began writing out the description of her new disguise. After he was done he handed the paper to Chrysalis. "Okay then I can work with this." She said before her body was coated in green flame.
When the flames dissipated what sat in the changeling queen's place was a unicorn mare with an alabaster coat, a cyan green mane and tail and a ladybug with a black and green shell design for a cutie mark. "Ponies I give to you Chrysie Lovebug." Ryan said gesturing to the disguised Chrysalis.
"I must say your way of creating OCs is quite impressive." Orion said as Chrysalis summoned a mirror to examine her new self.
"I must say that this new form is quite impressive. Thank you Ryan." Chrysalis said making the mirror disappear in a flash of green light.
"Your welcome." Ryan said before turning to the mane 6. "So you guys ready to go?"
"Yeah we're ready." Twilight said.
"So exactly how is this going to work?" Chrysalis asked as the train from Ponyville to Canterlot pulled into Upper Canterlot's train station.
"Well Chrysie, the princesses are already expecting you thanks to the letter I got Spike to send them. So all we have to do is just walk into the throne room, you drop your disguise and tell them how you want peace." Ryan explained as the group made their way through Upper Canterlot to Canterlot Castle.
"Sounds simple." Chrysalis said as they walked through the castle's front gates.
"Twilight?" A familiar voice said from behind the group. When the group turned around they saw Cadance and Shining Armor approaching them through the castle's gates.
"Shining, Cadance! What are you two doing here?" Twilight asked as she got a hug from Shining and Cadance.
"Well Princess Celestia asked me and Cadance to come as she wanted to talk to us about something." Shining said before his gaze shifted to Chrysalis. "Who's your new friend?"
"This is Chrysie Lovebug." Ryan said introducing her to the royal couple. "She's here to meet with the princesses."
"Really? What are you here to see them about?" Cadance asked.
"Well Princess, I'm here to see Princess Celestia and Luna about a discovery that I made about changelings and their relations to a few species of insects in the Everfree." Chrysalis said, keeping her cool around the royal couple.
"That sounds great." Shining said. "Found any weaknesses?"
"Unfortunately I can't give you that information Prince Armor. That information's only for the Princesses to see." Chrysalis said with a smirk.
"Okay then." Shining said before his gaze fell onto Stealth. "Good to see you again Stealth."
"Really you don't sound that pleased." Stealth responded getting a glare from Shining.
"Well we best be getting on our way." Cadance interjected. "See you guys soon." She said before dragging Shining off into the castle.
When the royal couple left the groups view Chrysalis let out a sigh of relief that she didn't know she was holding in. "You okay Chrysie?" Ryan asked her.
"That was not fun." She said before shifting her gaze back to the castle. "C'mon let's get the meeting with Sunbutt over and done with." She said walking into the castle Ryan and the others close behind her.
"So how does it feel?" Ryan asked Chrysalis as they made their way towards the throne room.
"How does what feel?" She asked as the group rounded a corner to see the throne room entrance at the end of the hall they had just entered.
"Being in Canterlot and not planning to conquer it." Ryan explained.
"It's weird. All the guards that we've met don't give me a second glance. It's a weird feeling walking past them all and them not trying to tackle me to the ground." She explained before noticing that their group was lacking one member. "Hey Sparkle where'd the dragon go?"
"Oh Spike he went to the kitchen said he didn't want to be sitting in a boring meeting." Twilight explained as the group entered the throne room.
Once the doors to the throne room closed behind the group Ryan noticed the lack of guards in the room. His gaze then drifted to the throne's of Celestia and Luna to see them flanked by two smaller thrones that had Shining and Cadance sitting atop them.
"Twilight good to see that you've arrived with our guest." Celestia greeted the group. "Good to see you once more." She said her gaze falling onto Chrysalis.
"Good to be back." Chrysalis said her voice wavering slightly under Celestia's gaze.
"Now then how about we get this started?" Celestia said getting a nod from Chrysalis.
"Yes we would like to hear what research you've done on the changelings..." Shining started before noticing that in a flash of green flame Chrysie Lovebug was replaced by Queen Chrysalis.
"Hello to you too Shiny." Chrysalis said noticing Shining's jaw hanging open.
Before anything else could be said Shining shook his head and blinked a couple of times. "Chrysalis." He muttered under his breath before his horn began to glow.
It was at this point that time began to slow down around Ryan as the glow from Shining's horn shot out at Chrysalis. It was as the bolt of magic raced towards Chrysalis that Ryan sprung into action. In an instant Ryan knocked Chrysalis out of the way of the bolt a few seconds before it would have collided with the queen.
It was then that Ryan realized exactly where he had placed himself. 'Oh crap.' Was all he thought before being launched into the throne room doors by the magical bolt.
"RYAN!" Luna yelled out as soon as Ryan's head collided with the large double doors. In an instant she was at his side inspecting his unconscious form. "Ryan." She whimpered noticing the blood on the back of his head and the doors where his head at collided with the doors.
Before anyone could say anything else a maniacal laugh could be heard reverberating through the room. It was then that Luna had noticed something different about Ryan when the laughter died out. His right eye had an all too familiar flame coating it. "Hello there Luna." The voice of Orion said from Ryan's mouth. "Miss me?"
Before Orion could say anything more to the princess his vision was filled with a blue light. When the light faded he looked around himself to see that he and Chrysalis were the only one's that were in front of the closed doors. As he looked back to the throne's he saw that Luna had teleported the rest of the group next to her and Celestia.
"Luna what's wrong?" Celestia asked looking between Luna and Orion.
"What don't recognize me Tia?" Orion asked as he got back onto his feet. "I sure as hell recognize you."
"It can't be." Celestia said noticing the voice and flaming eye. "How is this possible?" She asked as Orion made his way towards the throne's only to be stopped by what seemed like a blue barrier.
"Really Luna?" Orion said raising a hand and tapping it on the barrier. "Is this really necessary?"
"Princess what's going on?" The voice of Twilight said as she looked between Celestia and Orion.
"It's quite simple Twilight, Luna and Celestia are scared of me." Orion said.
"Leave her out of this and answer my question." Celestia said to Orion getting his gaze to drift back to her.
"Fine then." He said removing himself from the barrier. "But I want you to answer my question first." He said walking up to Chrysalis. "Why didn't you teleport dear Chrysie here onto that side of the barrier?" After waiting a few seconds of getting no reply he spoke up once more. "No answer? Fine then." He said.
"Answer my sister's question!" Luna exclaimed.
"Okay, okay. Calm down I'm getting to that." Orion said. "Now then as for how this happened well you can blame Sombra for that."
"How so?" Celestia asked.
"Well he hit Ryan with some sort of nightmare inducing spell. This led to him passing out from fear and well I took this opportunity to use these magical gloves," He paused showing off the gloves. "to take control." He explained.
"Wait you're not Ryan?" The voice of Twilight asked from her side of the barrier.
"No I'm not Sparklebutt." Orion said with a smirk. "As for who I am you can ask Ryan later."
"What do you want Orion?" Luna asked.
"Well Luna, I'm here to number one defend dear old Chrysalis and make sure that she gives her peace of mind about peace between ponies and changelings." This got a look of disbelief from the two royal sisters. "What? I can be nice sometimes."
"Sorry but do you really think that Chrysalis would actually want peace?" Shining asked getting looks from the princesses and the mane six. "I mean seriously you don't really believe her?"
"Did you really just say that?" Orion asked walking back up to the barrier. "How about I help you understand that Chrysalis is telling the truth?" He said before reaching a hand out towards Shining. When his hand hit the barrier he began to heat his hand up until the barrier gave out. "Now then let's talk." He said before wrapping hand around Shining's horn and dragging him off towards Chrysalis.
"Argh let go of me!" Shining exclaimed.
"Shut the hell up Shiny flank!" Orion yelled silencing the struggling unicorn. "After the crap you just pulled you don't get to talk." He said before letting go of his horn in front of Chrysalis. "Now if you would please show him why you wish to star peace between ponies and changelings."
"And how would I do that?" Chrysalis asked.
"I don't know. Link him to the hive mind or something like that." Orion said.
"Good plan." Chrysalis responded before leaning down to Shining's level. "Now if you try to resist my magic your brain will be fried. So don't resist." She said before touching her horn to Shining's.
After a few seconds Chrysalis removed her horn from his, a disappointed look on her face. "Did it work?" Orion asked.
"No. He's put in mental defenses to keep me out of his mind."
"Fine then." Orion said before turning to the roof and cupping his hands around his mouth. "DISCORD!" He yelled.
"What I was in the middle of something." Discord said as he appeared a towel wrapped around his head and waist. It was then that he saw the glowing eye. "Good to see that you're here Orion. Now what do you want?"
"Need you to show the ponies Chrysalis' hive." Orion said.
"What you mean the hive that's filled with starving changelings?" He asked getting a nod from Orion. "Got it." He said before summoning a TV with a snap of his claw. "For your viewing pleasure Princesses."
After a few seconds the TV buzzed to life with images of the changeling hive. "As you can see the changelings are on the verge of starving to death." Orion said narrating the images on the TV. "This is the reason why Chrysalis is here. On the outside she may treat her hive as a bunch of mindless drones but on the inside she treats them like her own children." He explained as the TV went dark.
"So that's why you're here Chrysalis?" Cadance asked leaving her place at Celestia's right to walk up to the changeling queen.
"Yes it is." She said before finding her self with a hoof over her withers.
"Well the you don't have to worry about them any more." Cadance said before turning to Celestia. "Auntie Celestia I think that we should begin peace talks with Chrysalis as soon as possible. Don't you agree?"
"I do Cadance." Celestia replied shifting her gaze to Chrysalis. "Queen Chrysalis, consider for the time being until an official peace treaty can be created. That you and your hive are friends of Equestria."
This announcement got Chrysalis to be on the verge of bursting into tears at this announcement. "Thank you Princess." She said.
"Yay we're all pals!" Orion said before seeing the glare he was getting from Luna. "What do you want?"
"Give Ryan control of his body now." Luna said darkly.
"Sorry can't. Not until I fall asleep or pass out and let me tell you this I ain't feeling tired." It was then that Orion raised a hand to feel the damp spot on the back of his head. "Wow that's a lot of blood." He said before falling his head hitting the floor of the throne room as he fainted from blood loss.
"Urgh." Ryan groaned as he slowly woke up to what seemed like a giant headache.
"Ah good to see you awake Ryan." The familiar voice of Nurse Redheart said to Ryan's right.
"Hey Miss Redheart." Ryan said as he slowly rose onto his elbows. As he got up onto his elbows he noticed he was lying in a medical bed in an almost empty part of the Canterlot Castle's medical ward. "We really have got to stop meeting like this." Ryan joked.
"Yes we really do." Redheart said before seeing Ryan shaking the hoof cuffs that had him chained to the medical bed. "If your wondering why your chained to the bed Princess Luna says it's for own safety. The same goes as to why you don't have your magical gloves or coat. And before you ask I can't undo the cuffs only Princess Luna has the keys." Redheart explained.
"Why would she..." Ryan started before being interrupted by Orion's whispers.
"You don't remember what happened after you took that magical bolt for Chrysalis?" Orion asked.
"Hey Redheart I didn't hurt anyone before I ended up here did I?" Ryan asked.
"No. Probably the only one that was hurt in the throne room was you." Redheart replied gesturing to the bandages around his head.
"If it's too much for me to ask, can I please get a moment alone Redheart?"
"Sure thing. I'll be outside if you need me." She said before making her way out of the room.
"Orion, my memory's a bit fuzzy. What the hell happened after I took a spell to the chest?"
What followed next was Ryan having the events that happened after he had been knocked unconscious be explained to him by Orion.
"I can't believe you did that." Ryan said trying to keep his anger under control.
"Well if I didn't step in, Chrysalis would've been thrown in the dungeons." Orion explained.
Before Ryan could say a word about that comment Redheart stuck her head in through the door to the medical bay. "Ryan, Princess Twilight and her friends would like to see you. Do you want me to let them in?"
'Well better to bite the bullet now.' Ryan thought to himself. "Sure send them in." Ryan said as Redheart disappeared through the door. "Hey guys." Ryan said as the mane six, Stealth and Spike entered the room.
"Hey Ryan." Twilight replied. "You okay?" She asked as the group gathered around the medical bed.
"Yeah I'm fine. So which of you wants to ask questions first?"
"What exactly was that back in the throne room?" Dash asked.
"Well I suffer from MPD, which means Multiple Personality Disorder. Except unlike other people back on Earth who have it I don't switch personalities at the drop of a hat. Instead my other personality up until now has only been a voice in my head." Ryan explained.
"So he isn't meant to be able to take control of you?" Twilight asked.
"Pretty much."
"Ryan, why didn't you tell us about this?" Fluttershy asked.
"Because I didn't want you guys worrying about me. And Twilight before you ask there isn't a way to remove Orion. Celestia and Luna said that even they couldn't get rid of him when they first found out about him." This admission got a downtrodden look to place itself on the faces of Ryan's friends.
"Wow way to be a downer Ryan." Orion said.
"So guys what happened after I was dragged into here?" Ryan said gesturing to the medical ward ignoring Orion's comment.
"Well after Orion passed out, Princess Luna may have gotten a bit mad at Shining." Twilight said. Memories of the Lunar Princess nearly deafening her brother with the Royal Canterlot Voice. "Then Princess Celestia calmed her down and they decided to take Chrysalis with them to a conference room where they'd be discussing terms of the treaty."
"Good to hear that they're discussing peace." Ryan said, a smile on his face.
"And if what the Queen is saying over the hivemind the meeting's nearly over." Stealth said. "So if I were you I'd be ready for a visit from royalty."
"Got it." Ryan said before noticing Redheart standing in the doorway to the medical room. "Hey Redheart what's up?" Ryan asked as she walked over to the bed.
"I'm sorry to say but you and your friends Princess Twilight will have to leave, Ryan needs his rest." Redheart explained.
"All right then." Twilight said before turning to Ryan. "Well hope you get well soon Ryan." With that said the group made their way out of the infirmary.
"So guess it's my bedtime now?" Ryan asked Redheart.
"Yes it is. But I'm not going to tuck you in or read you a bed time story." Redheart said a smile on her face.
"Spoilsport." Ryan said before shifting himself so he was lying on his back. "Goodnight Redheart."
"Night Ryan." She replied making her way out of the room.
"Ah good to see you're awake." Were the words that filled Ryan's ears as he woke up from his slumber.
As Ryan opened his eyes he saw that standing next to his bed was Luna. "Hey Luna. How'd the peace treaty go?"
"It went well." Luna said with a smile on her face.
"Good to hear, so can you maybe undo these cuffs?" Ryan asked shaking the object in question.
"Of course." Luna said before she leveled her horn with the cuffs.
"Hey Luna why don't you just use the key?" Ryan asked.
"What key? These things require magic to open."
"Then why do they have a key hole?" Ryan said before wrapping his left hand around Luna's horn. "Hi Chrysie." Ryan said noticing the green hue to Luna's eyes.
"How did you?" Chrysalis said dropping the disguise.
"Know you weren't Luna? Well it's quite simple my dear, Luna's the one who cuffed me to the bed and she's the only one with the keys." Ryan explained.
Before Chrysalis could respond the door to the room was flung open and Chrysalis found herself wrapped in a blue magical aura. "If we may ask why art thou in here Chrysalis?" The familiar voice of Luna said from the doorway.
It was when Ryan heard the voice he turned his head to see that Luna, Celestia and Cadance were standing a few feet in front of the bed.
"You really want to know Luna?" Chrysalis asked getting a nod from Luna. "Well believe it or not but you're not the only one that cares about Ryan y'know."
"What do you mean by that?" Luna asked.
"Well let's say this when I first saw Ryan at the wedding something began to grow inside of me. At first I didn't know what that feeling was but when he and Stealth arrived at the hive I was filled with joy at seeing him. It was then I had an idea of what I felt, but I was certain of what I felt for Ryan when he and Stealth left."
"And what would that be?" Luna asked.
"Love." Chrysalis said. Once that word had left her lips the room had turned silent.
"Celestia, Cadance if you will may I please have a moment alone with these two?" Luna said her voice laced with ice.
"Of course sister. But please don't do anything rash." Celestia said before motioning for Cadance to follow her out of the room.
"So." Luna started one the door to the room had closed and she was certain Celestia and Cadance were a good distance away from the door. "These feelings that you have towards Ryan, you're certain they are true?"
"Yes I am." Chrysalis replied.
Luna's gaze then fell to Ryan. "Ryan. What are your thoughts on this?"
"Honestly I don't know what to say." Ryan said in disbelief. "This has sort of come as a shock to me."
"Well then I'm sorry to say Chrysalis but Ryan is already in a relationship with me. So you will have to find somepony else to love." Luna said to Chrysalis.
It was then that something that Cadance had told him before came rushing to Ryan's mind. "Well that's not entirely true Luna." Ryan said.
"What do you mean by that?" Luna asked.
"Well Cadance had explained to me a certain type of relationship between more than two ponies. Ever hear of a heard?" Ryan said.
"You can't be serious." Luna said before shifting her gaze to Chrysalis. "You think that we should start a heard with her?"
"What's so bad about that?" Chrysalis asked.
"Nothing's wrong with the idea but..." Luna said pausing as she tried to finish her sentence.
"So the problem is me that's good to hear." Chrysalis said in a hurt tone. "And here I thought you and I had become fast friends."
"When did that happen?" Ryan asked.
"When we were discussing peace." Luna said before turning back to Chrysalis. "And besides there's nothing wrong with you it's just that if we act on this now it may raise a few eyebrows."
"How so?" Chrysalis asked.
"Well for one we still have to go public about the changelings being Equestria's newest friends. And the populace, especially those in Canterlot may not take the idea of one of the princesses having a relationship with the mare that tried to take over Canterlot." Luna explained.
"Well I may have a solution for that." Ryan said getting the two royal's eyes to fall on him. "How about we wait a bit before starting a heard. Give ponies time to get used to the idea of changelings being our friends. Besides we don't have to go public about it immediately so we could always have this thing kept secret."
"Sounds like a plan." Chrysalis said before turning to Luna. "What do you think?"
"That could work." Luna responded. "So I guess we're a heard."
"I guess so." Chrysalis said before turning back to Ryan. "Now if you'll excuse me Princess I've been waiting a while to do this."
Before Ryan could ask what she was talking about he found his vision filled with Chrysalis' face as she pulled him into a deep kiss. After Chrysalis ended the kiss Ryan was left trying to process the events that just transpired.
"Good to see I can still leave my lovers breathless." Chrysalis said before turning to Luna. "Now it's your turn unless you'd rather not want a kiss."
What happened next was something that Chrysalis didn't expect. "Can you handle me?" Was all Luna said before wrapping a fore-hoof around the back of Chrysalis' head and pulling her into a deep kiss.
After the kiss had ended Chrysalis was left breathless as Luna made her way to Ryan's bed. "How?" Was all Chrysalis could say as Luna released Ryan from the hoof cuff.
"We alicorns have a lot more endurance than humans." Luna said as she nuzzled Ryan. "How'd you like the show?"
"That was hot." Was all Ryan could say before he pulled Luna into a hug.
"Good to hear. Now let's get out of here. Twilight and the others are probably worried about you." Luna said wiggling her way out of Ryan's grip and making her way towards the room's exit.
As Ryan got of the bed and followed Luna he paused in front of Chrysalis. "Hey Chrysie you coming?" He asked.
"Maybe I will be later tonight." She said seductively before joining Luna at the door.
"And to think none of this would have happened if I didn't take control." Orion said.
'Ya know what Orion I guess in a way you're right.' Ryan thought.
"Really?!" Orion exclaimed.
'Yeah. But don't go thinking I'm not murdering the crap out of you in the dreamscape tonight.' Ryan thought back getting a devilish smile to cross his face as he followed Luna and Chrysalis out of the room. |
Another human in Equestria fic | Original and creative name. | "So you're staying here." Twilight said to Ryan as he met the mane six, Spike and Stealth in the main foyer of Canterlot Castle before they made their way back to Ponyville.
"Yeah. Probably for the best that I don't risk Orion destroying anything if he takes over again." Ryan replied. "But don't worry I'll be back after I figure out how he does it and put a stop to it."
"Okay then. But wait what if he takes over while you're in Canterlot? Won't he cause destruction anyway?" Dash asked.
"A good point Dash. But if he does take over the princesses and two different groups of guards to subdue him." Ryan said getting an understanding nod from Dash.
"Well we better get going." AJ said getting nods from the rest of the mane six, Spike and Stealth. "Take care of yourself Ryan."
"Don't worry I will." Ryan said before giving the mane six a hug each.
"What not going to give me and Stealth a goodbye hug?" Spike asked once Ryan had finished giving Fluttershy her hug.
"Sorry didn't think you'd want a hug." Ryan said before moving over to the drake his arms outstretched.
"Whoa!" Spike exclaimed jumping back a few feet. "I was only joking."
"Okay then." Ryan replied with a chuckle. It was then Ryan noticed that Twilight and the others had already walked away from Spike, Stealth and himself. "Hey make sure you two take care of Twilight okay." Ryan said to the duo as they made their way after Twilight and the others.
"Got it Ryan!" Stealth exclaimed before he and Spike ran after the others.
"You really think that you can keep me away from them forever?" Orion said to Ryan with a dark chuckle.
"Not forever. But I can at least keep you away from them until I figure out how to keep you from taking over my body." Ryan replied. It was then Ryan heard hoofsteps approaching him from behind. When he turned around he saw Moonlight. "Hey Moonlight." Ryan said with a smile.
"Good afternoon Ryan. You just see the Elements off?" Moonlight asked.
"Yeah just waiting for Celestia to get back from her tour of Canterlot with Chrysalis." Ryan said turning his gaze back to the foyer's main entrance.
"Not that I doubt Mother Sol's abilities but why exactly did she take Chrysalis on a tour of Canterlot?" Moonlight asked copying Ryan's gaze.
"She wanted for ponies to see how she has changed first hand. Rather than only making an announcement over the news." Ryan explained, repeating Celestia's reason for taking Chrysalis out on tour. It was then that said royal duo arrived through the castle's front doors. "Speak of the devil." Ryan said to himself as Celestia and Chrysalis walked over towards him and Moonlight. "How'd it go?"
"It went well. Until the ponies pulled out tomatoes and began throwing them at me. Other than the unexpected shower of fruit it was nice." Chrysalis said shaking off a few tomatoes that were sitting on her back.
"Wait they actually threw tomatoes at you!" Ryan exclaimed before looking to Celestia. "And you let that happen?!"
"I stopped most of the tomatoes with a bit of magic but Chrysalis deactivated the shield I had in place saying that she wished to face some form of punishment." Celestia explained.
"Anyway let's move on." Chrysalis said before moving next to Ryan. "You wouldn't mind giving me a hand to scrub all the tomato juice out of my chitin. Would you?"
"Don't you have a changeling that could do that for you?" Ryan asked.
"They're in the hive. And I don't want to fly all the way there or call them out here. I need to get rid of the juices now before they dry in the cracks between my plates of chitin." Chrysalis explained getting Ryan to let out a sigh.
"Fine." Ryan said before making his way towards the castle's bath room. "C'mon or do you not want the juices gone?" Ryan called back to Chrysalis getting a grin from her as she trotted up to him. "And no funny business."
"Aw you just had to go ruin the fun didn't you." Chrysalis whined.
"Too bad." Ryan said as he and Chrysalis made their way towards the baths.
Scene change
"Not going to join me?" Chrysalis asked seeing Ryan sit on the edge of the bath she was in.
"Don't need to just stand here and I should be able to clean you." Ryan said getting a smirk from Chrysalis.
"But it'd be so much easier if you joined me." Before Ryan could say anything he found himself submerged in water as he was pulled into the bath by Chrysalis. "There was that so hard?" Chrysalis asked when Ryan resurfaced.
"Damn you." Ryan said before taking off his shirt.
"I thought you said no funny business?" Chrysalis asked as she licked her lips at seeing Ryan's built frame.
"And I mean it. You know how annoying it is to have a loose shirt cling to your skin?" Ryan asked getting Chrysalis to shake her head. "Well it's a pain in the ass."
"Hmm well from where I'm standing It doesn't seem like a bad thing." Chrysalis smirked.
"Ha ha." Ryan said sarcastically before reaching for a sponge he had left on the side of the bath.
"What are you doing?" Chrysalis asked turning to see Ryan pull himself out of the bath.
"Getting the soap." Ryan said before walking over to a nearby set of drawers with different cleaning products in them. As he walked back to the bath after retrieving the soap he pulled off his shoes and socks.
"You do know you're not going to need that." Chrysalis said pointing at the sponge.
"Why?" Ryan asked as he lowered himself back into the bath.
"Because it won't fit in the cracks between my chitin." Chrysalis said before levitating the soap out of Ryan's hand and held it up to one of the cracks in her chitin. "See won't fit."
"Okay then. So what do I use then?" Ryan's response came from Chrysalis moving one of Ryan hands to hover over the crack. "Now I see why you wanted me to clean you." Ryan said before sticking one of his fingers into the crack.
"Whoa!" Chrysalis exclaimed jumping out of the water slightly. "Warn a changeling before you go plunging your fingers into the cracks in their shell."
"Sorry. That didn't hurt did it?" Ryan asked worrying if he had hurt her.
"No. However if you stuck a knife in there it would hurt. But if anything soft ends up there the crack becomes quite a sensitive spot." Chrysalis said, saying the last part in a seductive voice.
With that it was Ryan's turn to jump slightly in the bath his cheeks a fine crimson. "You could've told me that before telling me to clean the gaps between your chintinous plates!" Ryan exclaimed getting a smile to form on her lips.
"See that as my payback for you saying no funny business." Chrysalis said her smile taking on the form of a smirk.
"Good point I guess." Ryan said moving back to Chrysalis' side. "Let's get this over with then."
"Ooh yeah. Right there." Chrysalis moaned as Ryan returned to cleaning the cracks in between chitin plates.
"Having fun?" Orion said trying to keep himself from laughing at Ryan's embarrassment.
'Shut up!' Ryan thought back as he kept cleaning Chrysalis.
"Okay you can stop now." Chrysalis said using her magic to remove Ryan's fingers from their position. "I think you got the job done."
"Good to hear." Ryan said making his way towards the side of the bath.
As Ryan began to pull himself out he could feel something pulling him back in. "Now where do you think you're going?"
"Leaving. My mission here is done." Ryan replied before finding a sponge put in his hand.
"Sorry but you did agree to cleaning my chitin. And you've only cleaned the cracks in the chitin." Chrysalis explained. With that said Ryan moved back to Chrysalis' side before applying the sponge to her side. "Hey Ryan have you ever considered moving to my hive?"
"Um no. Why do you ask?" Ryan replied.
"Because I'd love for you to be my royal cleaner." Chrysalis said with a small smile.
"What's the pay like?"
"Pay? You expect to be payed in bits?" Chrysalis responded getting a confused look from Ryan.
"Then what would I be payed in?"
"Well you'd be given a life of luxury. As well as anything you could wish for."
"Could I ask to be payed in bits?" Ryan said jokingly.
Before Chrysalis could respond a short cough could be heard from behind them. "So what exactly is happening here?" The voice of Luna said as the duo turned to see her standing on the edge of the bath.
"Ryan's giving me a bath." Chrysalis said.
"Really?" Luna asked skeptically. "Nothing else?"
"Nothing but the bath." Ryan said.
"Well then in that case." Luna said before stepping into the bath. "Mind giving me one too?"
"Not at all." Ryan said before finding himself pulled into a kiss by Luna.
"Good to hear. Maybe if you do a good job me and Chrysie will reward you." Luna said before turning to Chrysalis. "How does that sound?"
"Sounds wonderful." Chrysalis said before moving to Luna's side. "But let's save that reward for when he's done cleaning us."
"Of course." Luna said before turning back to Ryan a seductive smile on her face. "So then Ryan, Chrysalis and I are both wet so how about you clean us with your sponge." She said seductively leaving Ryan's face a bright red.
Scene change
"I'm starting to have second thoughts about starting a herd." Ryan said aloud as he left Luna's room. Which he found himself in after Luna had teleported himself and Chrysalis there for his reward.
"Really cause if I remember correctly you weren't complaining when you received your reward." Orion said with a short laugh.
"Oh shut it." Ryan said before realizing he had nothing to do. Fortunately, he wouldn't be standing still wondering what to do for long as he remembered one pony that he hadn't seen in a while. "I think it's time to go visit Trixie."
After a short walk Ryan found himself outside of Trixie's room. Before Ryan even raised his hand to knock on the door the door swung open. "Yes?" Trixie said as she stood in the doorway. "RYAN!" She exclaimed jumping into Ryan's arms giving him a hug.
"Hey Trixie." Ryan said before putting her down. "How's it going?"
"Not bad. How are you doing? I heard what happened in the throne room." Trixie said with a grim expression.
"Yeah I'm fine. And don't worry about what happened. Don't want anybody to go worrying about me." Ryan said moving past Trixie into her room. "So how have your studies been?"
"It's going well. Luna's been teaching all sorts of advanced illusion spells. I've also been learning a few other types of spells." Trixie replied nodding to a small table which had a few piles of books laid upon it.
"Destructive magic?" Ryan asked picking up one of the books. "Guessing Luna wants to teach you how to defend yourself?" Ryan said getting a nod from Trixie. "Good to hear."
"So anyway I heard that the princesses have the changeling queen in the castle to discuss peace. Is that true?" Trixie asked.
"I thought Luna would have told you about that." Ryan replied getting Trixie to shake her head. "Huh okay then. Well Chrysalis is in the castle discussing peace with Celestia, Luna and Cadance."
"Oh. How's that going?"
"As far as I can tell it's going well." Ryan said with a smile.
"Good to hear." Trixie said before levitating out a tray of tea. "Want some?"
"Sure." Ryan said before pouring himself a cup of what seemed to be green tea. "So how was the coronation?"
"Coronation? For who?" Trixie asked sarcastically.
"For Twilight."
"Oh yeah that. It wasn't that great." Trixie said her mood turning sour.
"Trixie. You alright?"
"NO!" Trixie exclaimed. "I'm not alright. I hate it when ponies talk about Twilight! Oh did you hear Twilight became a princess?! Did you hear about how she defeated Discord?!" Trixie said hysterically. "Oh and let's not forget how she beat that magician in a magic duel."
At this Trixie began to cry. "Hey Trixie it's alright." Ryan said enveloping the mare in a hug. "Look Trixie, you want to know something. I don't care about what Twilight has done and neither should you."
After a few moments Trixie's sobs had come to an end. "Thanks Ryan."
"No problem Trixie." Ryan said removing his arms from around Trixie. "So how exactly was the coronation I was a bit busy trying to convince Chrysalis to come to Canterlot."
"Well it was hectic to say the least. There was a heap of ponies gathered outside of the castle to see the new princess. It was actually sort of funny seeing how much makeup Twilight had to wear." Trixie said with a chuckle at the memory.
"So you didn't think of getting a photo for me? I'm hurt." Ryan replied in a hurtful tone.
"Sorry but I didn't have my camera on me at the time." Trixie replied.
"Darn. So anything else of interest been happening other than magical study?"
"Well Princess Celestia held a small celebration party after Twilight's coronation. And Luna put me up for entertainment." Trixie said with a smile.
"How'd it go?"
"Well let's just say if I was charging the nobles than I'd be as rich as the princesses." Trixie said with a smug grin.
"Sounds great. So any particular tricks you want to tell me about?" Ryan asked wanting to hear more about her performance.
"Well I did get a bit of audience participation done. But the best trick I pulled was when I made Princess Celestia disappear into thin air."
"Sounds like one heck of a trick." Ryan said a smile on his lips.
"Making the Princess disappear wasn't even the best part. Originally the disappearing act was meant for Luna, but she insisted that I perform the trick on her sister instead. What happened next was the guards freaking out about Celestia disappearing from under a sheet." Trixie said barely containing her laughter.
"Sounds like the guards would've been on you for that one."
"Oh believe me they were on me within seconds. If it wasn't for Luna, I probably would've been thrown into the dungeons."
"Well that one way to end a magic show." Ryan said before noticing a blue glow to his hands.
"Someone's teleporting you. Just to let you know." Orion said as the blue glow spread up Ryan's body.
"Ryan are you okay?" Trixie asked noticing the glow.
"Yeah I am. Although by the coloration to this glow Luna wants to see me." Ryan replied finishing off his tea. "See you some time later." Ryan said before giving Trixie a wave as he disappeared.
Scene change
"We have a slight problem dear." The voice of Chrysalis said as Ryan's vision slowly returned.
"And that would be what?" Ryan said as he pulled himself to his feet as the teleport had caused him to appear on the floor in a sitting position.
"Well you know how the reward me and Luna gave you left us a tad exhausted?" Chrysalis said getting a nod in response. "Well Sunbutt decided to come and see how her sis was doing. And you can imagine her reaction when she found myself lying next to her in bed."
"So Celestia caught you sleeping with Luna. Great. Where's Luna?" Ryan asked.
"Well her and Celestia are in the main room." Luna said pointing to the door that led to the large room where Luna dealt with her paperwork and where she taught Trixie. "Currently Luna is explaining why I was sleeping with her."
"So the cat's out of the bag?"
"Not entirely." Chrysalis said getting Ryan to raise an eyebrow. "Technically Celestia, doesn't know about your involvement in this."
"Sorry to burst your bubble but Celestia knows that I was dating Luna before all this happened." Ryan replied. It was then Ryan saw a yellow glow to his hands. "And now Celestia wants to see me." Ryan said before making his way towards the room's door.
"Sister there is no need to teleport Ryan here." Luna said as Ryan joined the royal duo in the large room.
"She has a point I don't need to be teleported when I'm already here." Ryan announced. "So Celestia how much has Luna told you?"
"Well she told me your original plan. The one that you made when you first started the herd." Celestia said as her horn stopped glowing.
"Okay then." Ryan said joining Luna's side. "So what are your thoughts on this?"
"Honestly I don't know how to feel." Celestia replied. "But if this is Luna's decision to start a herd than I have no problems with it."
"Well I can't blame you for not knowing how to feel I guess." Ryan shrugged. "But do you mind not telling anyone about this. At least until the public gets used to changelings being our friends."
"Alright." Celestia said as she made her way towards the door leading out of Luna's room just as Chrysalis emerged from Luna's bedroom. "Although whether or not you can keep this a secret from others especially Cadance is going to be quite difficult for you. As Cadance does have a way of finding things out when they concern love." Celestia explained before leaving the room.
"So is she alright with this herd?" Chrysalis asked after a few seconds.
"I guess so." Ryan replied before finding Luna nuzzling his side. "So from now on if we do have fun we have to lock the door afterwards. Okay?" Ryan said getting a nod from Luna and Chrysalis.
Meanwhile in another part of the castle.
"Cadance are you okay?" Shining asked as he and Cadance were casually strolling through the castle's gardens when Cadance came to a stop.
"Yeah I am." Cadance said before looking back to the Lunar wing of the castle. "But I just got a strange shiver down my spine."
"So your love sense is tingling again?" Shining said jokingly.
Instead of giving Shining a response Cadance stood still her gaze never leaving the Lunar wing. 'Something's up. And I'll sure as Tartarus find out what's getting my love sense tingling.' Cadance thought to herself before continuing after Shining on their walk. |
Another human in Equestria fic | The (unfortunately late) Christmas Chapter | "So now what the hell do we do?" Orion asked Ryan as he and Chrysalis made their way to the castle's kitchens.
'Simple you shut up while Chrysie and I get something to eat.' Ryan thought back as he and Chrysalis rounded a corner running into Cadance and Shining Armor.
"Oh sorry about that." Shining said before seeing who he had run into. "Oh. Good afternoon Ryan." He greeted before noticing Chrysalis. "Chrysalis." He said in a flat tone.
"A good afternoon to you two as well." Chrysalis replied keeping her gaze away from the royal couple.
"So what are you two up to?" Cadance asked hoping to break the awkward silence.
"Well Chrysie told me she was a tad hungry so I decided to take her for some afternoon tea in the kitchens." Ryan responded.
"Sounds like fun." Cadance said flashing Ryan a small smile. "You don't mind if Shiny and I tag along we were actually just talking about getting something to eat."
"Of course not. Unless you have something to say Chrysalis?" Ryan asked looking to the queen.
"Of course I don't have a problem with it." Chrysalis said still refusing to look at the royal couple.
"Good to hear." Ryan said before walking past Cadance and Shining, Chrysalis keeping by his side.
"So what exactly have you been up too lately Ryan?" Shining asked, he himself letting his gaze fall anywhere but on Chrysalis.
"Not much really. I was actually just talking to Trixie before Chrysalis decided to come ask me where the kitchens are." Ryan replied getting a nod from Shining.
"How is Trixie going these days Ryan?" Cadance asked as the group found themselves outside the kitchens doors.
"She's going well." Ryan said before holding one of the kitchen doors open. "Ladies first."
"Thank you dear." Chrysalis said as she walked past Ryan.
"Such a gentleman." Cadance said as she followed Chrysalis.
"Thanks." Shining said before moving to a small table that Chrysalis and Cadance had seated themselves at.
"But as I was saying Cadance, Trixie says she's been enjoying her lessons." Ryan said as he pulled up a seat at the table just as a chef came over.
"Princess I did not know that you would be making an appearance." The chef said giving a small bow to Cadance.
"Well me and my friends decided to come down here for a quick bite to eat. You wouldn't mind helping us out would you?"
"Of course not. What would you wish for us to make?" The chef asked before pulling out a small notepad and pencil.
"Shiny and I will have a daisy sandwich each please." Cadance replied getting a nod from the chef. "What would you two like?" Cadance said casting her gaze to Ryan and Chrysalis.
"I'm fine." Chrysalis said before looking to Ryan. "Got enough happiness from Ryan to make a quick snack off of."
"I think I'll just go for a small salad. If you don't mind." Ryan said getting a nod from the chef before he made his way away from the small group.
"So Ryan, your fine with Chrysalis eating your emotions?" Shining asked a look of skepticism on his face.
"Well I don't see you volunteering to let her snack on your emotions." Ryan said calmly.
"Sorry but I've already let her feed off of me enough." Shining replied.
"Here are your meals." The chef said placing the three meals on the table before taking his leave.
"Urgh." Chrysalis groaned out getting a look of concern from Ryan.
"You okay?" Ryan asked getting a slow nod from Chrysalis.
"Just the negative emotions in the air." Chrysalis said. "The chef that gave you your meals was oozing the stuff. I thought you ponies were meant to be a cheery bunch."
"Well he probably remembers the invasion." Shining said between bites of his sandwich.
"Haven't you ponies ever heard of water under the bridge?" Chrysalis said getting a stern look from Shining.
"Chrysie." Ryan said putting a hand on one of her fore-hooves.
"Sorry. Just venting." Chrysalis said flashing Shining and Cadance a fake smile.
"I'm sure." Shining said getting a nudge to the side from Cadance.
"Anyway. Have you two told Chrysalis about the Crystal Empire?" Ryan asked the royal couple hoping to change subject.
"Oh you mean a dragon's wet dream?" Chrysalis said with a smirk at not only her joke but also the look of exertion on Ryan's face as he tried to contain his laughter. "I already got a changeling spy in there. It's a nice place, large amount of love being generated constantly."
"Wait you have a spy there?" Shining asked.
"And what do you mean by the generation of love?" Cadance asked.
"Well you don't have to worry about Thorax, he's harmless." Chrysalis said. "Besides I've withdrawn him from your Empire as I have a special assignment planned for him. Although expect to see him again. And as for the generation of love, the Crystal Ponies love is what powers the Crystal Heart."
"Really? Nice to know." Cadance said. "So Ryan, I gotta ask ever since Chrysalis decided to enact peace between changelings and ponies, you've gotten quite close."
"I guess." Ryan said.
"How close exactly?" Cadance asked a small smile on her lips. With this question presented to Ryan, Chrysalis' chitin took on a slight pale tone.
"I'd say we've gotten quite close." Ryan answered.
"Friends? Or something more?" Cadance asked a not so innocent smile on her lips as she leaned slightly closer to Ryan and Chrysalis.
"And hypothetically if it is something more?" Ryan asked raising an eyebrow.
"Well I must ask, what would Luna say?" Cadance said. "Seeing as how you two are a couple."
"Well if that is the case I'd have to discuss that matter with her. Not you." Ryan said giving Cadance a stern look. "Not to say anything bad about you but I feel it would be something better discussed with her rather than the Princess of Love."
"I see." Cadance said as she moved herself away from Ryan. "Sorry about that."
"No problem." Ryan replied giving Cadance a warm smile. "Just maybe tone it down a bit if you do it again, maybe cut out you leaning towards me like your going to kiss me."
"I'll keep that in mind." Cadance said a small chuckle leaving her lips. "So you two got any plans for Hearths Warming?"
"Hearths Warming?!" Ryan said surprised. "When's that happening?"
"A few days." Shining replied. "Haven't you noticed the castle staff begin to put up decorations."
"I was wondering why there were giant candy canes out and about in Canterlot." Chrysalis said before turning to Ryan. "Tell me Ryan, do humans celebrate this time of year as well as ponies or not?"
"We do. It's called Christmas." Ryan replied.
"Christmas? What's it about?" Cadance asked
"Well to some people it's to celebrate the birth of the son of God. Jesus Christ."
"God? Jesus Christ? Who are they?" Shining asked.
"Figure heads/deity of one religion called Christianity back on Earth. But the main reason people celebrate Christmas is because it's a time where people come together, enjoy each others company and to give and receive gifts." Ryan explained.
"Gifts? What sort of gifts?" Chrysalis asked.
"Toys, clothes, food and other things."
"Ryan, if I may take a stab in the dark I'm guessing you know about Hearths Warming and why we celebrate it." Cadance said.
"Yeah had fun reading about it in Twilight's library." Ryan said before having his eyes widen in shock.
"Ryan, you okay?" Shining asked.
"Ryan?" Chrysalis asked before being cut short by Ryan's head slamming into the table. "RYAN!"
"I'm fine." Ryan said raising his head. "Just realized I haven't gotten a gift for Luna."
"Oh. Don't go scaring me like that." Chrysalis said getting an unamused look from Ryan. "What?"
Instead of giving a reply Ryan turned his head to look at the royal couple. "Yo Shining, you know any good places to go in Canterlot?"
"To get presents?" Shining asked getting a nod. "A couple. Why?"
"Cause your coming with me to go shopping." Ryan said rising from his seat.
"Why?" Shining asked.
"Gotta have someone with me at all times just in case Orion takes over." Ryan explained getting a nod from Shining. "Cool. Well ladies if you'll excuse us." Ryan said before dragging Shining with him out of the kitchen.
"So got any ideas on what to get Luna?" Shining asked as the duo made their way out of the castle's kitchens.
"I do thankfully." Ryan replied as the duo made their way towards the castle's exit. "Hey Shining, what've you gotten Cadance?"
At this Shining paused as the duo stood outside the castle's exit his face somehow more pale than before. "I may have forgotten to get her something."
"Well then all the better I chose you to come shopping with me." Ryan said as Shining followed him out of the castle's gates into Canterlot City. "So got any ideas?"
"Funny I was just about to ask you the same thing." Shining said with a chuckle. "But as for what I'm getting Cadance I'm thinking of getting a locket."
"Sounds nice. But I'm not shopping just for Luna to let you know." Ryan replied as his gaze kept scanning the shops that he and Shining passed by.
"Oh? Who else are you shopping for?"
"Twilight, Stealth, Spike, Rainbow, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie, Celestia, Cadance, you, Trixie, Raven, Moonlight and Chrysalis." Ryan answered before seeing a shop that caught his eye. "C'mon found where our first stop is."
As Shining followed Ryan's gaze he saw what seemed to be a rectangular marble building with a large top hat placed on top of it. A sign hung from the hat's brim saying the shop's name. "The Hat Stand?" Shining asked as he followed Ryan towards the doors of the building. "Never seen this place before."
"Really?" Ryan asked as he placed a hand on the main entrance to the shop. "How have you not heard of a shop with a giant hat on top of it?"
"Maybe it's new?" Shining mused as Ryan pushed open the door. "Wait a sec. Ryan I got a question."
"Well then speak your mind." Ryan said as he took in the sight of the different kinds of hats either lining the stores shelves or hanging from hat stands and wall hooks.
"What exactly are you going to get everyone?" Shining asked as he noticed that the shop's hats were organized into different sections depending on the occasion a hat would be used in.
"A special hat that comes from Earth." Ryan said as he made his way over too the store's counter. Finding the counter to be empty Ryan rang the small silver bell on top of it.
"Yes?" A feminine voice called out from the back of the store before the owner of the voice made themselves known.
"Holy crap. Is that?" Orion asked as the mare stepped up to the counter.
'Sassy Saddles? It seems it is.' Ryan thought back as Sassy let out a small gasp at the sight of Ryan.
"Hello." Sassy said before a small glint of realization flashed through her eyes. "Aren't you that human? Ryan?"
"Yep that's me." Ryan said giving a small smile. "And you would be?"
"Saddles. Sassy Saddles." Sassy said giving Ryan a small nod before noticing Shining walk up to the counter. "Prince Armor, it is an honor." She said giving a bow.
"Please just call me Shining." Shining said as Sassy rose from her bow.
"So what can I do for you fine gentlecolts?" Sassy asked looking between Shining and Ryan.
"Tell me Miss Saddles does this fine establishment you have here do custom orders?" Ryan asked getting a nod from the mare. "You wouldn't happen to have a piece of paper, and ink quill and some ink lying around would you?"
"Of course just give me a second." Sassy said before making her way to the back of the store before quickly returning with the requested items. "Here you go."
"Thanks." Ryan said before beginning to sketch out the Christmas hat. After he was done he showed the finished product to Sassy.
"You wish for me to make one of these?" Sassy asked getting a shake of the head from Ryan.
"Not really. I want 19 of these." Ryan said getting a nod from Sassy before he took the paper back. "And on 18 of the hats I want these cutie marks on them." Ryan said sketching the cutie marks of the mane six, the princesses, Trixie, Raven, Shining, Moonlight, Lyra, Bon Bon, Stealth's unicorn disguise, Chrysalis' disguise and a purple and green flame for Spike.
"Anything else?" Sassy asked.
"Just one last thing. For the hat with this cutie mark," Ryan said pointing to Luna's cutie mark. "instead of a round bauble for the hat I'd like a crescent moon. If you don't mind."
"Of course not." Sassy said before retrieving the piece of paper. "Now then when do you want these done?"
"By Hearths Warming would be great." Ryan said.
"Well then." Sassy said before pulling out a ledger. "I can do that. But where will I be delivering them too?"
"Up to the castle. If the guards, ask who it's for tell them it's for Ryan the resident human." Ryan replied getting a nod from Sassy.
"Alright then now the cost of this little project will come to 150 bits." Sassy said.
"Sure thing." Ryan said before turning to Shining. "Hey Shining you got my gloves?"
"I can get them for you why?" Shining asked raising an eyebrow.
"Need to pay this lovely mare somehow." Ryan said getting a slow nod from Shining before his glowed as the gloves in question appeared floating in front of Ryan. "Cool thanks Shining." Ryan said as he put them on. After a few seconds the gloves began to give off a purple glow before a ruby the size of Ryan's hand appeared floating a few centimeters above the gloves. "This ample enough payment?"
"More than enough." Sassy said as she took the ruby into her own magical grip. "I'll begin working on your order as soon as possible." She said before moving to the back room.
"Thank you Sassy!" Ryan called out before handing Shining the gloves. "C'mon let's go get you your locket."
"Wait a second." Shining said as he made the gloves disappear. "Where did you get that ruby?" Shining asked as he followed Ryan out of the shop.
"Found it in the abandoned dragon's den on the mountain near Ponyville. Dragon left his hoard behind so I thought to myself to take what I could carry and get the hell out of there." Ryan explained as he kept his eyes peeled for a jeweler's shop.
"Wait isn't that the place that Twilight and her friends cleared out?" Shining asked.
"Yep it is." Ryan said before seeing a jeweler's. "C'mon this way."
"Wait a second. I know this place." Shining said looking at the shop.
"Really? How?" Ryan asked as he and Shining entered the shop.
"Bought Cadance's wedding ring from here." Shining said before the duo found themselves greeted by a familiar stallion. Fancy Pants.
"Shining Armor. Ryan. It's so good to see you two." Fancy said giving the duo a warm smile with his greeting. "What brings you to my neck of Canterlot?"
"Here for some Hearths Warming gifts." Shining explained getting a nod from Fancy.
"So what did you have planned?" Fancy asked.
"Well I'm planning on getting Cadance a locket." Shining said getting a slow nod from Fancy.
"Alright. And what would you have in plan Ryan?" Fancy asked.
"Well you don't mind if I talk to you a bit privately?" Ryan said getting Fancy to nod before gesturing for a member of staff come over to help Shining.
"So then what did you have planned?" Fancy asked gesturing for Ryan to follow him towards a door labelled manager.
"Well if you could make them for me I want two necklaces." Ryan said as Fancy pulled out a piece of paper and quill.
"Do you have a design?" Fancy asked as Ryan picked up the quill and sketched out Luna and Chrysalis' (unicorn disguise) cutie marks, each cutie mark having a gold outline. "Ah I see." Fancy said inspecting the sketches. "So I'm to guess the symbols are to be some sort of jewel."
"Yeah. Diamond for the moon and emerald for the ladybug." Ryan said getting a nod from Fancy.
"When do you want them by?"
"Before Hearths Warming. That's if your able."
"Of course I'm able." Fancy said. "Now then let's go see Shining." Fancy said as he showed Ryan out of his office.
"Ah you two done already?" Shining said as he finished talking to the staff member that Fancy had given to him.
"Yeah we are." Ryan said before turning to Fancy. "So how much this going to cost?"
"Nothing." Fancy said getting a look of surprise from Ryan and Shining. "Consider this my Hearths Warming gift to you two."
"Well thanks for that Fancy." Ryan said as Fancy led him and Shining towards the shop's exit.
"Have a happy Hearths Warming." Shining said as he and Ryan left the shop. "So what'd you talk to Fancy about? Something extra for Luna?"
"Something like that." Ryan said with a small nod. "C'mon let's get back to the castle."
"Yeah. Probably got to go help set up the decorations around the castle."
Two days later
"So then Ryan got any plans for today?" Trixie asked as she peered over one of the spell books that Luna had assigned for her to read as homework.
"Not much." Ryan replied as he sat on a lounge across from Trixie as he himself read through his own spell book as the duo spent Hearths Warming Eve lounging around. "Chrysie what about you?" Ryan asked the queen as she stretched out on her own lounge like a cat.
"Not many. Sunbutt doesn't have any plans for me to do anything concerning peace relations seeing as how I already have a drone working on that." Chrysalis said as she rotated herself so she could get a better look at Ryan. "So my timetable's free if you want to do anything." Chrysalis said before a loud knock came from the door to the room.
"Who is it?!" Trixie called out.
"Fire Wand." The voice of Fire Wand said as the door swung open revealing Fire Wand levitating a box behind him. "Is Ryan in here?"
"Right here." Ryan said jumping up to his feet. "So where do I sign for this package?" Ryan asked walking up to Fire.
"No signage needed." Fire said as Ryan peered into the cardboard box. "Also have this for you." Fire said before pulling out two small purple boxes from a pocket in his armor. "Fancy Pants dropped these off."
"Thanks Fire." Ryan said as he took the two small boxes and placed them in the cardboard box.
"What's in the box Ryan?" Trixie asked as Ryan closed the door as he brought the box into the room.
"It's a secret." Was all Ryan said before he lifted the box down to his level of Trixie's room.
"Care to share?" Chrysalis asked as she followed Ryan down the steps to his room.
"I'd love to but unfortunately that'd ruin the surprise." Ryan said as he stashed the box under his bed. "Now no peeking."
"Or else what?" Chrysalis asked.
"Well you won't get a present for Hearths Warming." Ryan said a sly grin on his face before hearing a loud knock ring throughout the room. "Wonder who that is?"
"Yes Ryan is here why do you want to? HEY COME BACK HERE!" Trixie's voice rang out.
Before Ryan or Chrysalis could comprehend what was going on a green flash collided with Ryan's gut sending him falling back onto his bed.
"RYAN!" An all too familiar voice yelled out from where Ryan had been tackled.
"Lyra?" Ryan groaned out as he looked down at his gut to see the unicorn in question wrapped around his stomach. "What are you doing here?"
"I came to see you." Lyra said a happy grin on her face. "Whoa!" She exclaimed as she was slowly levitated off of Ryan by Chrysalis.
"Hello again." Chrysalis said getting Lyra to let out a scream.
"Ryan help me!" Lyra exclaimed.
"Lyra she's not gonna hurt you." Ryan said before giving a scowl to Chrysalis. "Put her down."
"Fine." Chrysalis said before dropping Lyra. "Oops."
"Chrysalis apologize." Ryan said as he helped Lyra back to her hooves.
"Fine. I'm sorry Lyra." Chrysalis said.
"There that didn't hurt much did it?" Ryan asked getting a roll of the eyes from the queen. "Lyra what are you doing here anyway?"
"As I said I came to see you. Well Bon Bon came as well but she's with the others."
"Others?" Ryan asked.
"Yeah. Twilight and her friends said we could tag along with them up to Canterlot." Lyra said flashing a smile that would make Pinkie proud.
"Wow that saves you giving them their gifts at a later date." Orion said getting Ryan to nod his head slowly.
"So where are the others then?" Ryan asked before Trixie walked down the stairs to their level.
"I'm to guess Lyra was the green blur that ran down here." Trixie asked getting a nod from Ryan and Chrysalis. "Good." Trixie replied before focusing her gaze on Lyra. "Your marefriend's here."
"Sorry about her." The voice of Bon Bon said as she appeared from behind Trixie. "Lyra you said you wouldn't go running off after Ryan."
"Sorry Bonnie." Lyra said her ears pressing down to her head.
"Good to hear. Now come on you can catch up with Ryan later." Bon Bon said getting Lyra to give a small nod a grim expression on her face. "Fine you can give him one hug."
"Yay! Thanks Bonnie!" Lyra exclaimed before wrapping her fore-hooves around Ryan's waist.
"Okay that's enough." Bon Bon said with a roll of her eyes.
"Okay." Lyra said before trotting to her marefriend's side. "See ya later Ryan!" With that said the duo made their leave.
"Hey Chrysie. Y'know where Stealth is?" Ryan asked.
"Yes. He's currently with Twilight in her guest room." Chrysalis said her eyes glowing slightly. "Why?"
"I need to see him." Ryan said as he pulled out the two small purple boxes from the cardboard box holding the Christmas hats. "Now then no peeking at what's in the box."
"Why not?" Chrysalis said as she lifted a hoof towards the box.
"Because if you do peek you don't get a present." Ryan said after seeing Chrysalis lower her hoof. "Now then I'll be off." With that said Ryan made his way out of the room.
"So Trixie you got a gift for Ryan?" Chrysalis asked getting Trixie's eyes to go wide.
"I completely forgot." Trixie said before flinching as Chrysalis' horn gave off a green glow before she was consumed by a green flame. When the flame subsided Chrysie Lovebug stood in Chrysalis' place.
"How about we go do some shopping then?" Chrysalis said getting an eager nod from Trixie.
Meanwhile in another part of the castle
"You really are the dumbest person I've ever met." Orion said to Ryan as he made his way through the halls of the castle.
"How?" Ryan asked.
"Well you for one didn't ask Chrysalis where exactly Stealth was. Y'know something a smart person would do."
"Well good thing I already know that I'm dumb as hell." Ryan said a grin on his face.
"Good point." Orion said before becoming silent. After a few more minutes of Ryan walking around the castle's corridors he came to a stop at a t-intersection of corridors. "Getting annoyed yet?"
"Very." Ryan growled before stamping a foot to the ground and bending his neck so he was looking at the ceiling. "PINKIE!" Ryan yelled out.
"What the hell was that?" Orion asked as Ryan relaxed.
"Lyra said Twilight and the others were here correct?"
"Yes. Why?"
"Because knowing Pinkie she heard that. And knowing her she's going to appear out of thin air." Ryan explained.
"Good point." Orion replied before a set of hoofsteps could be coming from one of the hallways.
"Something you need Ryan?" The voice of Pinkie could be heard from behind Ryan.
"Pinkie!" Ryan exclaimed before running up to Pinkie and pulling her into a hug. "You have no idea how happy I am to see you."
"Well it's good to see you too Ryan. But I sort of need to breath." Pinkie wheezed out.
"Oh sorry." Ryan said before letting go of Pinkie. "Hey Pinkie, you know where Stealth is?"
"Yeah. Just follow me." She said before gesturing for Ryan to follow her down the hallway she came from. "So what do you want to see Stealth for?"
"Something personal." Ryan responded getting a nod from Pinkie. "How have you been Pinkie?"
"Well it's been a tad bit boring without my favorite human around." Pinkie said her expression turning sour.
"Well don't worry. I'm here now ain't I?" Ryan said getting Pinkie to turn her head and give him a large grin.
"Good point." She said before coming to a stop outside a door in the hallway. "Here's your stop I hope Pinkie's guide service left you with a good experience." She said with a smile before bouncing away. "I'm going to go help AJ with the treats! Hope you give my guide service a good review."
"Sure thing Pinkie!" Ryan called out before placing a hand on the door's handle. "Hey Stealth." Ryan said as he opened the door.
"Oh hey Ryan." Stealth said as he stood a few feet from the door. "I've been expecting you."
"Really? How did you know?" Ryan asked before being struck by the answer. "Never mind forgot you Changelings have a hive mind."
"Good to hear I don't have to explain it to you all over again." Stealth said with a roll of his eyes. "So what did you need?"
"Well I've learnt that you can store magic in crystals and I was wondering if changelings can store love, or other emotions in crystals."
"Um we can. Why?" Stealth asked prompting Ryan to remove the two small purple boxes from his pockets.
"I need you to keep a secret. And if you don't keep it I'm going to rip you apart got it?" Ryan asked as Stealth eyed the boxes curiously.
"Okay. But I have to say this why would I go spilling your secrets? I have no reason to do it, you're probably one of my best friends Ryan. Besides I sort of owe you for setting me up with Twilight." Stealth said with a smile.
"Good point." Ryan said as he opened the boxes. "As for the secret. Well I've started a herd with Luna and Chrysalis, and I need your help in infusing the gems of these necklaces with my love for them."
"Okay then." Stealth said before carefully levitating the necklaces out of their boxes. "First thing I need you to do is start thinking about how much you love Luna and Chrysalis." Stealth said getting a nod from Ryan as he began to think about how much he loved the two mares. "Good. Now you may feel a slight tingling sensation." Stealth said as a green glow began to envelop Ryan's head.
After a few moments the green glow began to flow into the necklace's gems. After a few seconds the glow began to die down. "Did it work?" Ryan asked feeling the tingling sensation fade away. "Stealth?" Ryan said seeing the changeling's disguise drop.
"Yeah it worked." Stealth said as he took in a deep breath. "You can tell cause the gems are giving off a light glow."
"Cool." Ryan responded putting the necklaces back in their boxes. "Hey Stealth, why were you disguised?"
"Why do you ask?"
"Well you do know changelings are at peace with ponies. Stands to reason that you can walk around without your disguise." Ryan explained as Stealth reapplied his disguise.
"Yeah but I wanted to save the castle staff of a heart attack." Stealth said with a chuckle. "Now then how bout we go say hi to the others."
"Would love to but I got to go wrap some more presents." Ryan said giving Stealth a wave as he made his way out of the room.
The next day (Hearths Warming Day)
"So enjoying yourself?" Orion asked Ryan as he began handing the wrapped Christmas hats.
'Yes, yes I am.' Ryan thought back as he handed the final present to Lyra who gave Ryan a large smile her eyes filled with excitement and wonder. "Well you going to open them or not?" Ryan asked the gathered ponies as he took a seat in one of the seats that the castle staff had set up in the throne room. Celestia deciding it was the best place to hold the gift opening.
"You know you really didn't have to get me anything." Moonlight said her gaze focused on her own gift.
"Don't go saying that Moonlight. You're my friend and so you get a present." Ryan said getting a nod from the mare.
What happened next was the gathered group let out a round of surprised gasps as they opened the gifts to find the Christmas hats. "Well what do you think?" Ryan asked before finding himself tackled by Luna.
"It's wonderful!" She said, her magic placing the hat on her head. "But now you don't have one."
"Already got my own." Ryan said before pulling his green Christmas hat out.
"Why is it green Ryan?" Twilight asked as she adjusted her own hat.
"Had one just like this back on Earth." Ryan said getting a nod from Twilight. "Hey Luna you mind hopping off?"
"Oh. Of course, sorry about that." Luna said as she removed herself from Ryan.
"No problem." Ryan said with a smile before finding himself tackled by Lyra.
"LYRA!" Bon Bon yelled out as the mint unicorn nuzzled against Ryan's chest. "Ryan, I'm so sorry about her. I told her to keep herself contained." Bon Bon said walking over to remove Lyra from Ryan's chest before coming to a stop as Lyra was enveloped in a blue magical aura.
"Huh?" Lyra said confused as she was levitated off of Ryan. As her grip on Ryan was loosened she was spun around to face an annoyed Luna.
"I'd advise advise you on listening to your friend's advice Miss Lyra." Luna said in an annoyed tone of voice.
"Hey Luna ya mind putting Lyra back down? She doesn't mean any harm." Ryan said getting a moment of silence from Luna before she gave a slow nod meanwhile lowering Lyra back to the ground. "Luna has a point though. Maybe you should keep to Bon Bon's advice."
"Okay Ryan." Lyra said in an apologetic tone.
"Don't worry about it." Ryan said running a hand through her mane.
"Calm down Luna, you look like you're on the verge of falling into a fit of anger." Chrysalis whispered into Luna's ear as the duo looked on as Ryan was tackled by Pinkie Pie her saying something along the lines of, 'Free hugs from Ryan!'. "By the looks of it Ryan and the mint unicorn are merely friends. Although by the looks of her emotions she seems to have some sort lustful connection to him, but the connection only seems to be coming from the unicorn."
"And that means?" Luna asked as Ryan found himself having to give hugs to the rest of the mane 6, all the while Celestia and Cadance were looking on with amused smiles on their faces.
"It means that Lyra wishes for a more intimate relationship with Ryan. But there is something else that has caught my attention. That being Lyra's connection to the mare named Bon Bon."
"And that connection would be?" Luna asked raising an eyebrow.
"It is the same sort of connection that we have with Ryan. One of love." Chrysalis said as a smile formed on her lips as Ryan was pulled into a hug by Cadance.
"So they are marefriends?" Luna said getting a nod from Chrysalis.
"It seems so." Chrysalis said. "Now I think you should go help Ryan, as it seems that Cadance has gotten the idea of a line for hugging Ryan."
"A good point." Luna said before moving over to the front of the line. "Sister you don't mind if I steal Ryan from you?" Luna asked her sister as she was receiving a hug from Ryan.
"Sister I am sorry to say but that isn't me." Celestia said from behind Luna.
"Then who is?" Luna asked before a familiar laughter could be heard ringing throughout the room.
"Sorry saw that the line was only for mares so I decided to pull a Chrysalis and change into a princess." The voice of Discord said from the false Celestia, before a clicking sound could be heard as a flash covered Ryan. When the flash was gone Ryan found himself sitting on a small red throne.
"What the hell?" Ryan asked as he looked over himself to find that he had been put into a Santa suit complete with a fake beard and a pillow under the jacket to give the impression of being overweight.
"Santa what have you gotten me for Christmas?" A smaller more childlike version of Discord said from Ryan's lap.
"Well little Discord you're a very hard being to buy gifts for." Ryan said. "Besides I'm sure if you asked kindly Santa may have what you want in his gift bag." Ryan continued gesturing to the bag leaning against the chair he was sitting on.
"Well how about a shark that can shoot laser beams." Discord said giving air quotations as he said laser beam.
"Sure thing Dr. Evil." Ryan said before reaching into the bag. "Here you go." Ryan said pulling out a small box.
"Thanks Santa." Discord said before ripping the present open to reveal a small shark toy with a laser pointer taped to the top of it. "Thanks Santa! Just what I wanted!" Discord said before wrapping his arms around Ryan's waist.
"Um your welcome kiddo." Ryan said before Discord was gone in a flash. "Um who's next?" Ryan asked before finding his seat, the gift bag and the Santa suit gone. "Never mind."
"Don't worry Ryan, I'm sure that if you ask kindly Discord will give you the suit back." Celestia said concern in her voice wondering if Ryan truly cared for the suit.
"Nah it's no problem." Ryan said getting a nod from Celestia. "Now how about we continue with the festivities."
Later that night
"So Ryan, Chrysalis, how was your first Hearths Warming?" Luna asked the duo as the trio made their way through the castle's gardens.
"It was eventful." Chrysalis said.
"It was pretty fun. Although when I said that I would've loved a Christmas turkey you didn't really have to cook a turkey. I honestly don't think I'm going to be able to look Fluttershy in the eyes ever again. Hell I don't think I'm going to be able to look in any of Twilight's friends' eyes." Ryan said a disappointed look on his face.
"Yes well that situation could've been avoided if you chose to eat in another room." Chrysalis said with a roll of her eyes.
"And I did." Ryan said. "But I didn't expect the chefs to bring the thing out on a silver platter."
"A fair point. A bad choice on my part." Luna said with a sad nod.
"Hey turn that frown upside down." Ryan said wrapping an arm around Luna's neck. "I got one last gift for you two."
"A gift?" Chrysalis asked as the trio came to a stop in front of a stone fountain.
"Yep." Ryan said before pulling the two purple boxes that held the necklaces out of his pockets. "Hope you like them."
"What?" Luna asked before opening the box Ryan handed to her. "It's beautiful." Luna said as she levitated her necklace out of it's box and wrapping it around her neck. "What did you get Chrysalis?" "..."
"Chrysie, you okay?" Ryan asked before being pulled into a deep kiss by Chrysie.
"That my dear human is only a taste of what's to come." Chrysalis said before pulling Ryan into another kiss.
"I'll take that as a sign of you enjoying Ryan's gift." Luna said with a chuckle.
"Luna, if you could see what a changeling could see, you could see the true value in these necklaces." Chrysalis said gesturing to her and Luna's necklaces.
"And that would be?" Luna asked.
"Ryan, has put his love into these gems." Chrysalis said. "In a changeling's eyes this is one of the ultimate forms of affection."
"I see." Luna said before pulling Ryan into a kiss of her own.
"Best Christmas ever." Ryan said as Luna ended the kiss.
"Now Chrysie seeing as how Ryan has given us a surprise gift, let's give him his." Luna said her horn giving off a faint glow.
"Yes. Let us do that." Chrysalis said before the trio disappeared in a flash. |
Another human in Equestria fic | Foiling plans and Undergoing changes. | Two weeks after Hearths Warming
"And that's the last kid." Ryan said as he saw the last foal into Zecora's hut. "You going to be okay here Zecora?"
"Yes I shall the colt and fillies will be safe from Tirek while they are here." Zecora said before a loud explosion could be heard.
"Well I best get back to Ponyville see if I can give Twi a hand." Ryan said before igniting his gloves in a purple flame before running off back towards Ponyville.
"You sure this is a good plan? Just run in and hope that you manage to win a fight with an all powerful centaur." Orion said as Ryan made it towards the edge of the Everfree.
"Yeah just got to hit him with enough firepower and he's toast. Figuratively and maybe literally." Ryan said as he came to a stop to see Tirek firing blasts of magic at Twilight who did her best to dodge each shot.
"Holy crap. Y'know the show never really gave off a good impression of Tirek's height." Orion said as Ryan's jaw hit the ground.
"I have to say you have a good point. Exactly how tall is he?" Ryan asked as Tirek fired off another blast resounding in a large explosion on the other side of Ponyville.
"I'd have to guess around five storeys." Orion said before a large tree branch crashed into the ground a few feet away from them. "Well guess we know what the hell blew up. Twilight's house."
"I'm starting to have second thoughts about all of this Orion." Ryan said grimly looking down at his gloves. "I know I got some pretty potent magic, but I'm starting to have second thoughts."
"Coward." Orion said in a harsh tone.
"Sorry if it seems like cowardice but what would you be doing if you were in my place? Besides Twilight manages to beat him in the end. I'm just saying maybe we shouldn't go running into this one."
"Look you wanna help right?" Orion asked getting a nod from Ryan. "Well I have a plan. But I need to be in control."
"And why would that be?" Ryan asked before another explosion rang throughout the air.
"Because my plan requires intellect that you don't have. But I need you to trust me." Orion said getting Ryan to plant his face in his hands.
"Fine. But I swear to god if you run away." Ryan said knowing he had no other options left open for him.
"Thanks and don't worry I won't go running off. Now you going to knock yourself or not?"
"Wait I gotta do what now?"
"Well I can't take over your body unless your unconscious." Orion explained as Ryan took a seat on the ground. "What are you doing?"
"Making so when I do knock myself out, my body doesn't fall that far." Ryan said as he readied a knock out spell. "Hey Orion."
"Yeah?"
"For the love of god don't do anything stupid." With that said Ryan hit himself with the knock out spell.
"Too bad. Cause my plan is probably the stupidest thing I could do." Orion said as he felt himself take over Ryan's body. "Now then onwards to my dumbest idea yet." Orion announced before making his way into Ponyville towards Tirek.
'Holy crap Tirek really did a number on the place.' Orion thought to himself as he walked through the streets of Ponyville destruction all around him.
"Give up Princess Twilight! You are no match for me!" The voice of Tirek yelled out.
'Well then time to go help Twi out.' Orion thought as he made his way towards the source of the voice.
"Fine then. I'll give you the magic if you let my friends go." Twilight said as Orion rounded a street corner to see the two power houses come to a stand still.
"Fine then." Tirek said before having the small cages that the rest of the mane 6 were trapped in a short distance away vanished. "Now for your magic." Tirek said before sucking the magic out of Twilight. "YES! I CAN FEEL THE POWER SURGING THROUGH MY BODY!" Tirek exclaimed as he grew to double his size.
"Holy crap." Orion said quietly trying to avoid Tirek's gaze.
"Now then." Tirek said before snapping his fingers causing Twilight to be put into one of the cages that her friends were in. "Can't let the Princess go running off now can I?"
"Twilight!" Her friends called out as they rushed over to the cage trying to break her out.
"Tirek let her go!" Applejack said causing him to give out a low chuckle.
"Sorry dear farmpony but I can't go doing that. Seeing as how she said you could go free. Not her." Tirek said getting the mane 6 to hang their heads in sorrow.
"How about I make you an offer for her freedom then centaur!" Orion shouted deciding now was the time to make himself known.
"Well, well if it isn't the human that I've heard so much about." Tirek said. "Are you here to submit?"
"Not really." Orion said getting an irritated look from Tirek. "Tell me Tirek you would say you're an intelligent creature. Correct?"
"I would say I am above average intelligence." Tirek said. "Now if you could kindly make your point."
"Okay. My point is I challenge you to a game of chess."
"For your Princesses freedom?" Tirek asked.
"Nope. The game is for all the magic you've stolen." Orion said getting a mad chuckle from Tirek.
"And hypothetically what are the wages of this little match?" Tirek asked.
"Simple if I win you return the magic you've stolen." Orion explained.
"And if I win?" Tirek asked.
"Then I give you the magic that I have acquired and also tell you where you can find more." Orion said getting a nod from Tirek.
"Alright then. I accept." With that said Tirek began to give off a golden glow as he shrunk down to be only a foot taller than Celestia.
"Cool. Now you going to let Twilight go?" Orion asked getting a look of confusion from Tirek.
"And why should I do that?"
"Because right now I could shoot a fireball as hot as the bloody sun." Orion said pointing a finger at Tirek's forehead. "So then you releasing Twilight or not?"
"I know that's a false threat." Tirek said before having his breath caught in his throat as a blue ball of plasma shot by his left ear burning it slightly.
"You were saying." Orion asked with a sly grin. "I think it was something along the lines of releasing Twilight."
"Fine." Tirek said before clicking his fingers removing the cage from around Twilight.
"Well then get running you six!" Orion yelled out getting a nod from Twilight and her friends as they ran off.
"Well then let's get started." Tirek said getting a nod from Orion.
14 moves later into the chess match
"And that is check mate Tirek me old chum." Orion said chuckling as he saw the look of horror appear on Tirek's face.
"That can't be." Tirek said disbelief washing over him as he had been a single move away from claiming victory.
"Too bad. Now then you going to return all the magic or not?" Orion asked before having Tirek yell out in anger as he flipped the small table with the chess set that had been set up. "Well seems someone's a sore loser."
"You cheated!" Tirek exclaimed a mask of fury and rage plastered on his face.
"If that is so please tell how." Orion said his smirk never leaving his face.
Before Tirek could give an answer a magical blast crashed next to the centaur causing him to ready a spell to launch at Orion. "You dare attack me!"
"Wasn't me mate." Orion said holding his hands up.
Before Tirek could ask who it was a voice rang out from behind him. "GIVE UP TIREK!" The voice of Twilight called out.
"How?!" Tirek asked as he saw the mane 6 hovering a few feet off the ground as he turned to face the voice.
"The Elements of Harmony buddy. So you giving up or are we going to beat you up?" Dash said as her and the others continued to hover in place thanks to the power of their Elements.
"You tricked me!" Tirek said turning back to face Orion. "This was merely a distraction!" He yelled gesturing to the ruined chess set.
"I didn't mean for it mate." Orion said keeping his calm in the face of the angry centaur.
"Too bad." Tirek said his size growing causing Orion and the mane 6 to get away from his growing form. "NOW YOU PAY!" He yelled out as a yellow orb began to form between his horns.
"Oh shit." Orion said as a beam shot out of the orb straight towards him. Before the beam could hit Orion disappeared in a flash out of the way of the beam. "Man you're a crap shot!"
"STAND STILL YOU INSIGNIFIGANT BUG!" Tirek yelled his voice booming in Orion's ears.
"Why would I? I don't wanna die." Orion said before seeing Tirek lift his hand firing another beam at Orion. "Time to go." Orion said before he was gone in another flash. "Ya missed again!" Orion yelled out.
"Did I really?" Tirek asked as the bolt of magic stopped just short of the ground before turning to target Orion.
"What the..." Orion asked before diving to his left. "ARGH!" He screamed as he felt the bolt hit him.
"FINALLY!" Tirek yelled out in victory before being struck in the back of the head by a beam of magic.
"You'll pay for that Tirek!" Twilight yelled before turning to her friends. "Hit him with everything you got girls!"
As Tirek turned his focus to the mane 6 he was hit with a rainbow beam. "AHHHH!" He screamed out as the rainbow began to envelop him.
As this was happening Orion was trying to steady himself as his head kept spinning. All the while he felt a numb feeling in his right arm. "What the hell?" He asked as he looked down at his right arm only to see it missing from the elbow to his fingertips. "Oh my arm's gone. MY ARM'S GONE!" He screamed as blood began to flow out of the wound. "Okay gotta stop the bleeding." Orion said his heart racing as he looked around trying to find something to wrap the wound in.
"Ah ha!" He exclaimed as he found a stray piece of cloth from what he could guess it belonged to a window curtain. "There we go." He said as he wrapped the once white cloth now red as he slowed the bleeding down. "Oh shit." He said as his vision began to grow dark. "Well Ryan you got your damned wish. We got to Equestria, hope you had fun." He said with a chuckle as he fell onto his side.
"My Queen! I found him!" A familiar voice called out as a black shape rushed into Orion's fading field of view.
"Where? Oh no no no no." A frantic voice said as a larger blur joined the other one. "Don't you dare fall asleep on me!" She said just as Orion let his body fall into unconsciousness.
As Orion's body fell limp Chrysalis could swear she felt her heart be crushed into a thousand pieces. "My Queen." Stealth said shaking her slightly as she held Orion's limp body. "He may still be alive." Stealth said before beginning to shake Chrysalis more harshly.
"What did you say Stealth?" Chrysalis asked getting a breath of relief from Stealth.
"I said he may still be alive." Stealth replied before moving to Orion's bloody stump that used to be his fore arm. "But first we need to seal the wound." With that said Stealth began to spit out a green liquid onto the makeshift bandage.
"Good thinking Stealth." Chrysalis said as she lowered her head to try and hear Orion's heart. "He's heart is still beating thankfully. Has it set?" Chrysalis asked looking to the green goo.
"It has." Stealth replied before moving under Orion's body.
"Good let's get out of here." Chrysalis said as Stealth positioned Orion so he was slumped over his back.
"Chrysalis! What are you doing?" Twilight called out as her and her friends landed in front of Chrysalis.
"Getting Ryan some help." Chrysalis explained.
"But that's not Ryan, it's Orion." Pinkie said.
"Doesn't matter still Ryan's body." She explained before looking to her right to see Tirek in his weakened form his hands bound by purple handcuffs. "YOU!" She shouted before leaping at Tirek.
"Ahhh!" Tirek exclaimed as he found himself tackled to the ground. "Oh well if it isn't the bug queen."
"So you really want those to be your last words whelp?" Chrysalis asked her horn giving off a sick green glow.
"You can't hurt me." Tirek said.
"And why would that be?"
"They won't let you." Tirek replied gesturing to the mane 6.
"They don't look to be trying to remove me." Chrysalis said with a sick smirk. "Now then would you like to rethink your last words?"
"..." Tirek gave no answer merely giving Chrysalis a look of fear.
"No?" Chrysalis asked as she lowered her horn so the tip was touching Tirek's forehead. "Too bad." She said before sending a surge of magic into Tirek's head.
"What the?" Tirek asked as he could feel his heart still beating. "What did you do to me?" Tirek asked as Chrysalis hopped off of him. Before Chrysalis could give an answer Tirek felt a burning feeling in his horns, the next thing he knew his horns were gone in a green fiery explosion. "AHHHH!"
"CHRYSALIS!" Twilight shouted as she flew over to Tirek's side to extinguish the burning remains of his horns. "Why'd you do that?"
"Tirek's horns for Ryan's forearm." Chrysalis said before walking to Stealth's side. "Now then we'll be off." And with that said Chrysalis and Stealth were gone.
Changeling Hive
As Chrysalis and Stealth materialized into the hive Chrysalis was already moving as she removed Orion's limp form from Stealth's back as she made her way out of the room she had appeared in. "Medical bay team prep for incoming patient!" Chrysalis screamed across the hive mind.
"Of course my Queen." The voice of one of the nurses responded to Chrysalis as she ran through the halls of the hive.
"What do you need me to do?" Stealth asked as he kept pace with Chrysalis.
"Get a pod ready. I have an idea to help with Ryan's missing fore arm." Chrysalis said getting a nod from Stealth as he left her to perform her will.
"My Queen we're ready for your patient." The nurse said as Chrysalis came to the medical bay's door.
"Then let us get to work." Chrysalis said following the nurse into the room.
"My Queen, we'll take the patient off your hooves for you." A drone said as he approached Chrysalis to take Orion's body off her back.
"No you won't Drone #764. I have no doubt in your abilities but I shall be assisting you in this matter. Is that understood?" Chrysalis said getting #764 to back away slightly.
"Of course my Queen." He replied with a bow as Chrysalis moved to place Orion on a nearby surgical table that had been set up.
"Good to hear." Chrysalis said as #764 moved to her side at the table. "Now then first priority seal the wound properly. Then we prep for a replacement limb."
A few hours later
"And done. Drone #764, keep him under and prep him for a pod." Chrysalis said gesturing to Orion's still unconscious body.
"Of course my Queen." #764 said as Chrysalis moved to the medical bay's doors.
"Ah Stealth good to see you." Chrysalis said as she opened the medical bay doors to find him on the verge of opening those doors. "I assume that the pod is ready?"
"Yes it is." Stealth said with a nod before looking past Chrysalis into the medical bay. "Is he okay?"
"The wound has been sealed. He seems to be fine. But I need you to help Drone #764 with moving him to the pod."
"Of course my Queen." Stealth said moving past her into the medical bay.
"Stealth." Chrysalis said getting Stealth to pause and turn to face her. "I shall be in my chambers. Come get me when Ryan is in the pod."
"Of course." Stealth said with a bow. "So Doc, how'd the operation go?" Stealth asked Drone #764 as he made his way to the surgical table.
"Pretty good Stealth. Although having the Queen at the table with me wasn't helping my nerves." Doc said getting a chuckle from Stealth.
"Hey you're still alive aren't you so it didn't too bad at least." Stealth said before looking down at Orion's unconscious body. "He gonna be alright?"
"As far as I can tell yes." Doc said as he levitated Orion's body onto a stretcher being carried by two nurses. "We've never encountered humans before, so we know nothing about them. The fact that we've never seen their insides either didn't help." Doc explained getting a slow nod from Stealth.
"Well then let's go get him in a pod." Stealth said as he led the nurses and Doc too the room where he had set up the pod. "What the?" Stealth said quietly to himself as he could've sworn he saw a dark figure move across the roof of the tunnel they were in.
"You okay Stealth?" Doc asked as he noticed Stealth come to a stop.
"Yeah just thought I saw something." Stealth said before continuing on leading Doc and the two nurses.
Meanwhile in Chrysalis' chambers
"So you coming out or not? Or do you wish to think I don't know you're there?" Chrysalis said to the shadow that had somehow managed to appear in her chambers. "Well?"
"Funny I thought I was hiding my emotions from Changeling sight pretty well." Captain Moonlight said as she stepped out of the shadow.
"Well a random shadow suddenly appearing in my chambers is quite suspicious." Chrysalis said turning to face her visitor. "I'm to guess Luna sent you about Ryan?"
"Yes." Moonlight said with a nod. "Where is he?"
"He's safe. That's all you need to know." Chrysalis replied.
"Have his injuries been taken care of?"
"They have. Also before I request that you leave I have something to tell you." Chrysalis said getting a quizzical gaze from Moonlight.
"And that would be?" Moonlight asked.
"Tell Luna, that she won't be able to reach Ryan in the dreamscape."
"And if she asks why?" Moonlight asked.
"Because I will be performing a test to help him recover from his injuries." Chrysalis explained.
"What sort of test?"
"Can't say unfortunately." Chrysalis said with a smile. "But know this he'll be alright. Luna knows that I won't let anything happen to him." Chrysalis said raising a hoof to hold the necklace Ryan had given her up to her eye level.
"Alright." Moonlight said before stepping back into the shadows. When Chrysalis moved to investigate the shadow she found Moonlight to be gone.
"Seems that Luna was correct about her being the best guard she had." Chrysalis said to herself before hearing a knock at her door. "Come in. Ah Stealth I suppose Ryan's in the pod." Chrysalis said greeting Stealth as he walked in.
"Yes he is." Stealth responded before following after Chrysalis as she made her way towards the room where Stealth had set up the pod.
"Good to hear." Chrysalis said as she made her way down the halls a scroll floating behind her in her magic as well as a small object wrapped in cloth.
"Um if I may ask what's in the cloth?" Stealth asked as they approached the room where Ryan's pod was.
"Something that can help Ryan." Chrysalis explained as Stealth came to a stop in front of the room where Ryan was sitting patiently in his pod. "I must congratulate you on your pod making abilities Stealth." Chrysalis said as she entered the room admiring the pod.
"My thanks my Queen." Stealth said as Chrysalis began to approach the pod.
"Unfortunately I have to ruin it a bit." Chrysalis said getting a look of confusion from Stealth before tearing a hole in the pod where Ryan's stump of an arm was positioned.
"No problem." Stealth said as he prepared to repair the damage. A small voice in his mind cursing slightly at the damage inflicted to the pod.
"Good to hear." Chrysalis said before removing the cloth around the object she had brought with her, revealing what seemed to be a black dragon's claw.
"Um what is that my Queen?" Stealth asked eyeing the claw.
"A prosthetic arm for Ryan." Chrysalis explained before inserting the claw into the pod. "In theory all I have to do is re open the wound on Ryan's arm and then run a few nerves and veins from the prosthetic into Ryan's body." Chrysalis continued whilst doing what she had just said, running green veins from the claw into Ryan's body.
"Not to question you my Queen but are you sure that the arm will work? Seeing as how we know very little about his kind." Stealth said getting a slow nod from Chrysalis as she began to fix the insertion she made into the cocoon.
"A good point Stealth. But from what I've managed to gather from Nurse Redheart's files on Ryan, I think I've managed to make a very accurate recreation of his fore-arm." Chrysalis explained. "All we have to do is allow Ryan's body and mind to get used to having his fore-arm back."
"And how long will that take?"
"At best a couple of days." Chrysalis replied before leaning in towards the newly attached fore-arm's position in the pod. "Hmm?"
"Something wrong?" Stealth asked walking up to Chrysalis' side.
"Yes." Chrysalis said before reopening the pod to the slight annoyance of Stealth. "His body isn't accepting the arm." Chrysalis explained gesturing to small black veins under Ryan's skin. "These veins should be green until they fill with blood."
"Maybe his blood is black?" Stealth said prompting Chrysalis to roll her eyes.
"His blood is red. Redheart's files explain that in detail." Chrysalis said getting an understanding nod from Stealth. "His body's cells are causing the prosthetic's veins to deteriorate."
"So what do we do?"
"Something I was hoping no to do." Chrysalis said before pulling Ryan's body out of the pod.
"My Queen isn't there another way?" Stealth asked as Chrysalis brought her mouth to Ryan's neck.
"Unfortunately not." Chrysalis said before sinking her teeth into Ryan's neck, her canines digging into one of his main arteries. After a few seconds green lines began to form outwards from the bite causing Chrysalis to remove herself from Ryan's neck, the bite marks sealing themselves closed. "Now we wait and hope that our problems will be solved." Chrysalis said before putting Ryan back into the pod.
"I'll begin repairing the pod." Stealth said as Chrysalis began to make her way away from the pod.
"Alright Stealth." Chrysalis said before leaving the room to let Stealth do his work. "Hope you can forgive me Ryan." Chrysalis muttered to herself before making her way to the throne room to begin her duties.
A few days later
"Are you sure this is the place sister?" Celestia asked as her and Luna came to a stop outside a cave in the Badlands.
"I am quite certain Tia." Luna said before looking back to the group that had accompanied the sisters. The Elements of Harmony, Spike, Cadance and Shining Armor.
"So this is the entrance to the hive?" Shining asked aloud a shiver running down his spine as the thought of how many Changelings would be within the cave.
"As Moonlight said this is the place." Luna said getting a nod from Shining. "Can you feel it Twilight?"
"Feel what?" Twilight asked giving Luna a quizzical look.
"The amount of magic surrounding this place." Celestia explained.
"I thought I could feel something like that." Twilight replied. "But it feels slightly blocked."
"That's because it is." Luna said. "Unless you know what to feel for."
"So what are we waiting for?" Pinkie said before trotting towards the cave entrance.
"Pinkie wait!" Twilight called out to Pinkie.
"What's the problem Twi? It's not like anything bad is going to happen." Dash said before making to follow Pinkie before coming to a halt as a loud screeching sound could be heard emanating from the cave.
Before anyone could ask what made that sound a black form fell onto Pinkie as soon as she had paused under the cave's mouth. "Pinkie!" Twilight yelled out seeing the black form fall onto Pinkie. Before Twilight could charge a spell into her horn that would get whatever was pinning Pinkie to the ground off her a green dome formed around the group cutting them off from Pinkie.
"What the?" Shining asked his own horn glowing as he projected a shield spell around the group as ten black forms jumped out from the sands outside of Shining's shield.
"Hiya Mr Changeling." Pinkie's voice could be heard as the group saw what the black forms were. Changelings.
The only response that Pinkie received from the Changeling pinning her was a screech that sounded familiar to the one that had startled the group before.
This sudden outburst from the Changeling somehow didn't faze Pinkie in the way the Changeling expected, the only response it got was Pinkie's muzzle scrunching up before she spoke up once more. "Whoa, someling needs a breath mint." Pinkie said before reaching into her mane and pulling a mint out before offering it to the Changeling who eyed it curiously.
"I thought we were at peace with the Changelings?" Cadance asked Celestia and Luna.
"Apparently we aren't to these guys." Dash said as she began to stretch herself. "Seems we might have to fight our way out of this."
Before anypony could say anything else a blast of magic rang throughout the air. When everypony looked to the source of the blast they found a green glow from the shadows of the cave a faint green trail in the air leading from the green light passing through the space between Pinkie's face and the Changeling that was pinning her before finishing at a burn mark on one of the cave's walls. What followed next was a series of clicking noises from the green light.
When the clicking was finished the Changeling that was pinning Pinkie slowly slinked away from her. When it had removed itself it let out a series of clicks and chirps before the ten Changelings that were surrounding Shining's shield dived back into the ground, the green dome also disappearing when they were out of sight.
"Sorry about that." A familiar voice said from the cave as Stealth stepped out from the shadows.
"Stealth!" Twilight yelled out before diving towards the Changeling. "It's so good to see you again." She said as she gave him a hug.
"Sorry to interrupt this reunion but what the buck was that!?" Shining said as the group walked over towards Stealth and Twilight. Pinkie meanwhile giving the Changeling that had her pinned a few moments before a wave as he flew into the shadows of the cave's roof.
"That would be the hive's guards doing their job." Stealth said before turning to Celestia. "I'm to guess you're here to see the Queen." He said after a small bow.
"Yes we are. We wish to talk to her about Ryan." Celestia responded getting a nod from Stealth.
"This way then." Stealth said leading the group to a small opening at the back of the cave. "But before we do go in a few things. Number one I'm going to have to ask you to wear this Princess Cadance." Stealth said before pulling out a small necklace with a green gem set into it.
"What is it?" Cadance said as she inspected the jewelry.
"An emotion muffler." Stealth said. "Seeing as how you are the Princess of a Changeling's favorite food this necklace will keep you from being swarmed by most of the hive."
"Well thank you dear." Cadance said as she put on the necklace.
"Now onto the second thing." Stealth said before turning to Shining. "You are to wear this." He said pulling out a ring for Shining's horn.
"Why?" Shining asked eyeing the ring.
"Because if you have access to your magic the whole hive will be in a state of fear. It also keeps us from detecting any negative emotions you have towards us." Stealth said.
"So it's an anti-magic ring."
"Yes." Was the response that Shining got.
"And if I don't want to wear it?"
"Then you have two options. We can either force the thing on you which Hard Shell would love to do." Stealth said his gaze drifting to Pinkie. "That's the name of the guy who was Pinning you to the ground."
"Cool." She said before turning to the ceiling. "You got a really good grip." She said getting a click to emanate from the shadows above.
"He says thanks." Stealth translated before turning back to Shining. "Option number two is by order of Queen Chrysalis, you are to start walking back to Canterlot or the Crystal Empire, your choice."
"You can't be serious." Shining said.
"Shining just put the ring on we have more important matters to attend to." Luna said irritation in her voice.
"Alright then." Shining said prompting Stealth to put the ring on Shining's horn.
"Good now then if you'd follow me please." Stealth leading them into the opening at the back of the cave. "Also one last thing. Please try to refrain from using any magic."
"Alright then." Luna said as she could feel the tunnel they had entered begin to go further down into the planet. "So Stealth, have Changelings always lived underground?" Luna asked.
"Not always. We only moved underground when we realized how dangerous the Badlands truly were on the surface." Stealth explained as the tunnel became darker. "Don't worry about the lack of light just keep walking straight and you'll be alright."
"Alright then." AJ said before a light suddenly filled the darkness of the tunnel heat running through the tunnel
"AHHHH!" Stealth screamed out jumping to the ceiling as he looked around for the culprit who had decided to fill the tunnel with heat and light.
"You okay there Stealth?" Dash asked with a grin trying to hold back a fit of laughter.
"Sorry about that outburst." Stealth said as he dropped back to the tunnel's floor. "Just forgot to mention to not go starting any fire's down here." Stealth explained shooting Spike a glare as he saw the dragon's mouth open as he had a small flame ignited in his maw.
"Why not?" Spike said as he closed his mouth extinguishing the flame.
"Because a Changeling's worst fear is fire." Stealth said.
"But you've never had a problem in the past."
"That's because I've gotten used to it. But being in a small confined space like this sort of reignites that fear." Stealth said before continuing down the tunnel the group of ponies and Spike close behind him.
As the group continued down the tunnel it began to level out just as a light source came into view.
"Ponies and Dragon I would like to introduce you to the hive." Stealth said as the group came into a large chamber that had a large black spire filled with holes in the center of the chamber. Along the chambers walls were holes which the group could only imagine led to other parts of the hive as well as large green crystals which filled the chamber with light.
"Whoa." Twilight said as she looked around taking in the details of the chamber.
"The spire you're seeing is one of the support columns that are holding the roof above our heads." Stealth explained as he saw Twilight give an inquisitive look at the spire. "It also acts as a beacon that keeps some of the wildlife of the Badlands away from the hive."
"That's all well and good but where exactly is Chrysalis?" Luna said interrupting Stealth.
"Right here Luna." A familiar voice said from the group's right causing their heads to turn to see the Changeling Queen emerge from a nearby tunnel to approach the group. "It's good to see you again."
"That it is." Luna said with a faint smile on her face at the sight of Chrysalis. "Now I suppose you know why we're here?"
"That I do." Chrysalis said before turning around to face the tunnel she had just emerged from. "Follow me please."
"How is he Chrysalis?" Celestia asked the Queen as the group followed her.
"As far as I can tell he's fine." Chrysalis said before looking over her shoulder to look at Shining. "You alright there my dear? It looks like something's bothering you." She asked with a small smirk.
"I'm fine." Shining responded his tone harsh.
"Good to see that you're enjoying my hospitality." Chrysalis said getting an irritated glare from Shining.
"I wouldn't go so far as to say that." Shining muttered under his breath getting an elbow to the ribs from Cadance.
"Shiny, please." Cadance said getting Shining to shut up and be nice.
"Okay dear. So Chrysalis, how long until we get to Ryan?" Shining said.
"Funny you mention that because we've just arrived at his room." Chrysalis replied before motioning for Stealth to open the door. "Well then you coming?" Chrysalis asked as she entered the room noticing no one following her.
"Of course we are." Luna said as the group entered the room. "Now then where is he?"
"Over here." Chrysalis said getting the group's gazes to drift to where Chrysalis was standing next to Ryan's pod.
"That can't be." Luna said as she walked over towards the pod, the rest of the group frozen in place at the sight. "Why?" Luna asked Chrysalis.
"Because it's the only way to help him." Chrysalis replied.
"And if we were to remove him from the pod?" Luna asked as the pod began to give off a blue glow along with Luna's horn.
"Then the healing process would most likely be interrupted." Chrysalis explained before leading Luna back to the room's door. "Now then if you'll follow me I'm sure that you'd love a tour of the hive."
"Alright Chrysalis." Luna said a downtrodden look on her face. But before the group could leave a groaning sound could be heard emanating from the pod.
"Hmm. Seems that Ryan wishes to wake up." Chrysalis said before sending a wave of magic at the bottom of the pod causing Ryan's body to fall out along with what seemed to be a waterfall of green goo.
"RYAN!" Luna exclaimed before rushing over to Ryan as he began to vomit up green goo.
"Hold on there Luna." Chrysalis said before Luna could reach Ryan. "We don't know if that is Ryan or Orion."
"Then I'll find out." Luna said her and Chrysalis slowly approaching Ryan as he finished up vomiting the green goo. "Ryan?" Luna asked prompting Ryan to raise a thumbs up.
"Yeah it's me." Came Ryan's voice ragged from all the goo he had thrown up.
"Thank goodness." Luna said before looking to Chrysalis. "We were so worried."
Before Chrysalis could back that statement up the duo found themselves pulled into a hug by Ryan. Each of his arms wrapped around their necks. "Ryan you mind letting go you're starting to dig into the gaps in my chitin." Chrysalis said as she could feel small stabs of pain in her back where Ryan's new appendage was.
"Oh sorry." Ryan said letting go of the duo. "Didn't realize."
"My Queen you're bleeding." Stealth said from behind Chrysalis getting her to roll her eyes.
"I'm fine Stealth." Chrysalis said before turning to see Ryan looking down at his right arm seeing his new appendage for the first time the layer of goo that kept it hidden melted on the floor.
"What the heck?" Ryan said examining his claw.
"That my dear is your new arm. Tirek blasted your old one off, so I made you a new one." Chrysalis explained getting a slow nod from Ryan.
"So that's why you had him in the pod." Luna said getting a nod from Chrysalis.
"That and another reason." Chrysalis said prompting a look of confusion from Luna.
"Whoa Ryan that's a pretty cool claw ya got there." Pinkie said appearing in front of Ryan.
"AHH!" Ryan screamed out covering his eyes when he looked up at Pinkie.
"RYAN!" Luna exclaimed before teleporting Pinkie back to the rest of the group as she pulled Ryan into a hug.
"Darn I was hoping to introduce him to the small tweaks I made to him later." Chrysalis getting a glare from Luna.
"What tweaks Chrysalis?!" Luna asked a small amount of fury lacing her tone.
"I'll tell you after I help Ryan." Chrysalis said as she approached Ryan as Luna reluctantly let him go from her hug. "Ryan what happened?"
"Well when I looked at Pinkie a yellow light filled my vision. Sort of hurt when I looked at it." Ryan explained getting a nod from Chrysalis.
"Well then it seems our plan was a success Stealth." Chrysalis said getting a happy nod from Stealth.
"And what plan would that be exactly Chrysalis?" The irritated voice of Shining said getting Chrysalis' gaze focused on him.
"Well it wasn't really a plan more like a test I needed to do that I didn't want to do in the first place." Chrysalis said before turning back to Ryan. "I do hope you can forgive me for what I've done."
"How about you tell me what you've done first." Ryan said getting a nod from Chrysalis.
"Change that too you telling all of us Chrysalis." Luna said getting another nod from Chrysalis.
"Well then you may want to be taking notes for this next part Twilight, Stealth has told me how much you wish to know about us." Chrysalis said getting a nod from Twilight as she began to prep herself to memorize every word that came out of Chrysalis' mouth. "And before I tell you what I've done to you Ryan I need to explain something that Changeling Queens can do."
"My Queen you can't be serious." Stealth said knowing what Chrysalis was about to say next.
"I doubt it matters keeping this a secret anymore Stealth, they'd find out eventually." Chrysalis said getting a nod from Stealth. "As I was saying. An ability that Changeling Queens can perform is injecting a sort of poison into a pony that can turn them into a Changeling." Once Chrysalis uttered those words the room turned silent as the ponies looked at Chrysalis with a look of what could be described as disbelief. All the ponies and Spike in the room had that look on their face except for Luna.
"And I suppose you have done that to Ryan?" Luna asked getting a nod from Chrysalis.
"Yes I did. When I attached his prosthetic his body rejected it. And the only way I could have his body accept the prosthetic was if I injected this poison into him." Chrysalis explained.
"So I'm going to change into a Changeling?" Ryan asked worry lacing his voice.
"No. But your biology has been changed in a way that allows you not only access to having a new arm but also certain abilities that Changelings have access to."
"So that bright yellow light he talked about before. That would be..." Luna began, wishing for Chrysalis to fill in the blank she had left.
"That would be the color of happiness." Chrysalis said.
"So I can see emotions now." Ryan said getting a nod from Chrysalis. "Does that mean I can eat them?"
"At this stage I don't know." Chrysalis said with a shrug of her shoulders.
"Guess I got a lot to learn." Ryan said as he stroked his chin in thought accidentally poking himself with his new claw.
"Well I'll be happy to teach." Chrysalis said before taking on a saddened expression. "You do forgive me for what I've done?"
"Yeah I forgive you. How couldn't I my dear Lovebug?" Ryan said.
"AH HA!" Cadance exclaimed once Ryan realized what he had just said. "I knew you two had decided to get a bit too close to Chrysalis." She said pointing to Ryan and Luna.
"So we have." Luna said shooting Ryan a glare at the slip of his tongue. "Tell me Cadance, do you have a problem with the relationship Ryan and I share with Chrysalis?" Luna asked with in a grim tone.
"No not really." Cadance responded.
"Good to hear." Luna said before turning to Chrysalis. "Now then let's go get Ryan something to eat." Luna said getting a nod from Chrysalis and Ryan to give out a cry of joy before the trio left the room leaving the group of ponies to ponder and put together the pieces of what had just happened before following after the trio. |
Another human in Equestria fic | Returning to the Surface. | "And here we have the Dining Hall." Chrysalis announced as the group entered a large cylindrical cavern a large black dining table set in the middle of the room, black chairs flanking each side of the table. "Now then I'm to guess you're all a tad famished from your journey here?" Chrysalis said turning to Celestia.
"Well a bit of food couldn't hurt I suppose." Celestia said with a smile before moving to take a seat at the table as the rest of the group found their own seats.
"Celestia if I may ask exactly what have you told the nobles about your little visit?" Chrysalis asked as she took a seat next to Ryan and Luna. "I doubt they'd not notice your absence."
"I told them that we were coming here to further talk about how we can make Changeling integrations into Equestrian society easier." Celestia explained before a green flash covered the table revealing plates covered by metal plate covers.
"Beneath these covers lie your favorite snack foods. Before you ask how we know this, the chairs you are sitting on connect to your minds and search through it to find what your favorite food is." Chrysalis explained.
"Cool." Pinkie said before removing her plate cover to find a large chocolate banana split. "Awesome!" She exclaimed before grabbing a spoon that had appeared next to the plate as she began shoveling the dessert into her mouth.
"Um Chrysie I seem to be missing a plate." Ryan said the rest of the group already digging into their own favourite foods
"That's because you're going to be eating emotions." Chrysalis said before looking to Luna. "Luna dear you wouldn't mind thinking about how you feel about Ryan for a sec would you?"
"Of course not." Luna replied swallowing a mouthful of her food which Ryan could see as a cheesecake with what he could guess to be a blueberry sauce.
"Whoa." Ryan said noticing a pink cloud begin to emanate from Luna. "Um Chrysie what emotion am I looking at?"
"That would be love." Chrysalis explained. "Now then if you wish to eat it you merely have to use a bit of changeling magic to funnel that emotion into you." Chrysalis said getting a nod from Ryan.
"But I don't have my gloves." He responded.
"You don't need them. Not with the changes I made to you." Chrysalis said getting Ryan to look down at his new claw.
"Cool." Ryan said before focusing on moving the pink cloud towards himself.
"Ryan, a bit of advice, don't try to force the love towards you or else you may hurt Luna." Chrysalis said getting Ryan to stop what he was doing. "Maybe we should try some other time."
"No way I can do it." Ryan said before concentrating again Chrysalis' advice ringing through his mind. And then it clicked to Ryan how he could move the love towards himself, he began to remember scenes from the Star Wars movies when Jedi would use the force to pull something towards them. So raising his claw Ryan began to make small movements with his fingers getting the cloud to move closer.
When the cloud was close enough Ryan felt a sense of warmth spring up in his chest as he saw the cloud disappear into his chest. "Well how is it?" Chrysalis asked breaking Ryan's thoughts.
"It's sweet like chocolate but it has something else to it that I can't put my finger on." Ryan said as his taste buds began to pick up the flavors of love.
"Well I'm sorry to say but I can't go telling you what that extra thing is." Chrysalis said getting a look of confusion from Ryan.
"How come?"
"Because not even Changelings know what that extra taste is." Chrysalis explained getting a nod from Stealth.
"The Queen's right Ryan, no 'ling knows what that extra taste is. Many a 'ling has tried to figure it out but they've never been able to come up with an answer." Stealth said getting an understanding nod from Ryan.
"Maybe you haven't come across the right type of flavor to connect love too." Rarity said looking up from her empty plate which only a few moments ago had a small dish of Cheddar cheese and crackers which she had split with Fluttershy.
"A good point Miss Rarity. But my kind has searched far and wide for an answer to this question, over many generations if I may add." Chrysalis explained.
"Do you still pursue an answer to that question?" Celestia asked finishing her cup of tea.
"No. It isn't that big of a deal to my kind. So I don't have a real reason to divert most of my scholar's efforts to finding information about an unknown taste to an emotion." Chrysalis explained getting a nod from Celestia.
"Well enough about that." Ryan interjected his gaze turning to Twilight. "I've been asleep for a few days. So what have I missed?"
"Well Twilight's got a new place to stay after Tirek blew up her tree." Rainbow said a somber expression on her face.
"Tirek, blew up Golden Oaks?" Ryan asked already knowing the answer but wishing for more confirmation.
"Yeah he did." Twilight said a sad expression on her face. "But it's okay. No one got hurt and I also got a castle to live in now." She explained as Stealth gave her a hug cheering her up slightly.
"Anything else happen?" Ryan asked.
"Yeah we ran into a cult." Pinkie said finishing her split.
"Pinkie!" AJ exclaimed at Pinkie's response.
"What?" Pinkie asked getting an eye roll from the farm mare.
"We didn't run into a cult. We got sent to a small town in the middle of nowhere to solve a friendship problem and we found out that cutie marks weren't aloud there. So the leader of the town a mare named Starlight Glimmer wanted to teach us the town's ways, so she removed our cutie marks." AJ explained.
"Exactly why would a town not want their cutie marks? Because from what my kind has gathered you ponies see this mark as something that spells out your destiny." Chrysalis said getting a nod from the ponies in the room.
"The reason why no pony wanted their cutie marks was because Starlight had convinced the townsfolk that cutie marks made some ponies greater then others. She then convinced the ponies to allow her to remove their cutie marks and replace it with an equals sign to allow them to show that they were all equal." Twilight explained.
"Well I'm to guess you beat Starlight?" Ryan said getting a nod from Twilight.
"Yeah we did but she got away. We also helped the townsfolk see how cutie marks didn't make one pony greater than another pony." Twilight said with a smile.
"Well I'm sure you'll get her one day." Ryan said with a smile. "How about you Luna?" Ryan asked his gaze turning to Luna. "How's Canterlot been?"
"Boring without you around." Luna said with a loving smile. "You as well Chrysie."
"Well good to hear I haven't missed anything too important." Ryan said with a smile getting a nod from Luna. "So what exactly happens now?" Ryan asked turning to Chrysalis.
"What do you mean?" Chrysalis asked.
"Okay let me be a tad more specific. Am I aloud to leave the hive or not? Or do I have to stay here under observation?"
"Of course you're aloud to leave. As for observation I'll come with you to keep an eye on you, and to teach you a bit more about Changelings and our magic." Chrysalis said getting a nod from Ryan.
"Good to hear." Luna said before getting out of her seat. "Let's get going then. I'm guessing that Stealth will also be coming with us."
"If he wants." Chrysalis said looking to Stealth to have him give a happy smile and a nod. "Now then if you'll follow me I shall lead us out of here."
Later on the train ride back to Canterlot from Appaloosa
"So are you sure you should be leaving the hive by itself Chrysalis?" Twilight asked from her seat on the train. A note book and quill in her magical aura as Chrysalis told Ryan about the changes she had made in more detail. Twilight deciding then would be a great time to take notes.
"Yes I'm quite sure." She said shifting her gaze from Ryan to Twilight. "The hive can survive on it's own, if there are any problems that require my attention then I can be reached via the hive mind." Chrysalis explained getting Twilight to nod. "Speaking of the hive mind that leads me to your next change Ryan."
"Really what would that be?" Ryan asked as he looked up from Luna who was currently lying next to him with her head in his lap as he ran his left hand through her mane.
"Well it would be your connection to the hive mind." Chrysalis' voice said ringing throughout Ryan's mind.
"What the heck?" Ryan asked before seeing a slight green glow to Chrysalis' horn and eyes.
"Sorry do you need me to say it so everyone can hear?" Chrysalis said with a mirthful smile.
"Say what?" Luna asked sitting up slightly as to give Chrysalis her full attention.
"Just that Ryan's connected to the hive mind." Chrysalis getting looks of surprise from everyone in the carriage.
"Hey what'd I miss?" Pinkie said as she came walking back into the carriage.
"Just the fact that Ryan's connected to the Changeling Hive Mind." Spike said getting a sad look from Pinkie.
"Oh c'mon I go to the bathroom for five minutes and I miss that announcement. Oh what a world." She said before falling onto her seat next to Dash.
"Well then Chrysie anything else I should know?" Ryan asked.
"Well you can use magic like before with your gloves." Chrysalis said.
"Cool." Ryan said as his right hand was encased in what seemed to be an illusionary flame. "So I got my magic any other cool tricks?" Ryan asked.
"Well there is one thing. Disguising yourself as someone else." Chrysalis said a tone of uncertainty in her voice. "Although I doubt that you will be able to do more than change the appearance of your hand seeing as how you aren't a full Changeling."
"Well I can try can't I?" Ryan said before looking to his claw. "Now what do I do?" Ryan asked after a few seconds of looking at his claw causing a mirthful smile to appear on Chrysalis' face.
"Well it's quite complicated. Transforming is something that can't be explained easily to those who can't transform. To explain it try imagining your flesh morphing into something else." Chrysalis explained.
"Got it." Ryan said before performing the same ritual he did for the illusionary flames.
"But you must remember that this is only an illusion." Chrysalis said.
"So I'm basically making an image overlapping my claw?" Ryan asked getting a nod from Chrysalis.
"Basically yes. But you have to imagine your body changing to fit that image."
"Then why did you have to say that I have to remember it's an illusion?"
"Because I've seen times where Changelings haven't kept this thought in their mind when they change. When they would shed their disguise whether voluntarily or not, they would enter a panicked state at what lies beneath their disguise." Chrysalis explained.
"So they'd forget they're a Changeling?" Ryan asked getting a nod from Chrysalis. "Damn." Ryan said before looking back to his claw. "So no pressure then?"
"Not really." Chrysalis said with a smirk.
"Got it." Ryan said before closing his eyes and imagining his claw turning back into his hand. After a few seconds Ryan began to feel a warm sensation cover his claw. When he opened his eyes, he saw the flickering of green flames disappear from his newly acquired hand. "Awesome!" Ryan said before inspecting his hand.
"Wowie that's so cool!" Pinkie said before bounding over in front of Ryan before taking his hand into her hoof. "Just like the original." She said pulling a magnifying glass from her mane before inspecting it further.
"Yes it is." Chrysalis said admiring the hand. "Wouldn't you agree Luna. Or is further testing required?" Chrysalis said with a lustful tone.
"Yes I suppose." Luna said admiring the hand ignoring Chrysalis tone of voice.
"So that's a cool trick." Ryan said before seeing his hand disappear in a green flame only to be replaced by his claw. "What happened?" Ryan asked looking to Chrysalis.
"You need to concentrate on maintaining the illusion or else it shall fade." Chrysalis explained. "Besides if you wish to hold the illusion you will need to have a steady stream of emotions to feed off of."
"Good thing you have us." Luna said nuzzling Ryan's side.
"Good thing." Ryan said before looking to his claw. "I think I need to go get some air. Being stuck in a cocoon undergroud for the last couple of days has sort of made me appreciate air a lot more." Ryan said with a smile before getting out of his seat making his way towards the carriage door.
"You okay?" The voice of Orion said from within Ryan's mind.
"Yeah I'm fine. Why do you care anyway?" Ryan replied speaking out loud seeing as he was alone on the small platform at the back of the train.
"Cause you're the flesh bag that is carrying my consciousness around." Orion said getting a nod from Ryan.
"Thought it would be something related to your own selfish desires." Ryan said with a chuckle.
"Now that we've uncovered the truth behind my concern for your wellbeing we move to a more pressing matter. What's on your mind?"
"Nothing much. Just getting used to the idea of not having my hand." Ryan said looking down at his claw.
"So then come out here to talk to yourself?" A familiar voice said from above Ryan causing him to jump.
When he looked up he saw the amber eyes of Moonlight staring down at him. "Hey Moonlight. What are you doing out here?"
"Doing my duty." Moonlight said before landing on the small platform Ryan was standing on. "Nice claw."
"Oh thanks. Also what exactly are you doing out here? 'Cause doing your duty isn't much to go on." Ryan said getting a laugh from Moonlight.
"Well if you must know I go with Lady Noctis wherever she goes." Moonlight said.
"Well I sort of already knew that. But what I meant is why are you out here." Ryan said gesturing to the space around them.
"Keeping an eye out for danger." Moonlight said.
"Hey Moonlight can I ask you a question." Ryan asked getting a nod from Moonlight. "Cool. Do you have a helmet? 'Cause all the other guards I've seen have helmets except for you."
"What you have a problem with my hair or something?" Moonlight said with a grin.
"No not at all." Ryan said with a chuckle. "It looks great."
"Well you definitely know what to say to get a mare's heart beating." Moonlight said. "As for the reason of my lack of helmet is because I like the feeling of the wind flowing through my mane. That a good enough reason?"
"Yeah." Ryan responded. "That's a good enough reason."
"So what are you doing out here then?" Moonlight asked.
"Getting some air." Ryan responded.
"Cool. And if you don't mind me asking you were talking to 'Him' just then weren't you?"
"Him?" Ryan asked before realizing she was talking about Orion. "Yeah I was."
"Well if you want a change of conversation partner you got somepony standing right next to you."
"Thanks for the offer Moonlight, but I think I'm good." Ryan replied getting a nod from Moonlight. "Actually I think I will take you up on that offer of a conversation partner."
"Alright then. What'd you want to talk about?"
"I don't think I've ever asked you this, but it's something that's been on my mind for a while. Where exactly do Thestrals come from?" Ryan asked.
"Well I can't tell you how we came to be but I can't tell you when we were first discovered." Moonlight said looking up to Ryan. "If that's okay with you."
"Of course it is." Ryan said getting a smile from Moonlight.
"Good." She said before shifting her gaze back to the desert around them. "It was around a thousand years ago, in a place west of what was originally Ponyville, lay a village in the heart of White Tail Woods. The village's name was Hollow Shades."
"Is the village still there?" Ryan asked getting an irritated look from Moonlight.
"Yes it is but it's a lot larger than what it once was. Now if you'll let me continue." Moonlight said getting a nod from Ryan. "It was about a year after Discord had been defeated by Lady Noctis and Mother Sol, the great bear arrived."
"The Great Bear?" Ryan asked getting a nod from Moonlight.
"Yes it was a colossal Ursa Major, larger than any that had been seen within the Everfree Forest at the time. Some said it was a dark gift given to the land by Discord as a way of revenge for his imprisonment. Word of the Great Bear's destruction eventually reached the ears of Lady Noctis who going against her sister's wishes of letting a battalion of guards deal with The Bear, left for White Tail Woods. When she arrived she found a path of destruction, trees uprooted and local wildlife completely displaced. She then followed the path left by the Beast to Hollow Shades. When she arrived she found the village in near ruin. Mares and Foals running for their lives whilst Stallions had picked up whatever weapons they could get their hooves on to fight the Beast with."
"Luckily if it was not for the swift intervention of Lady Noctis, the Thestral race would no longer exist. With a blast of her magic and a swing of her halberd she defeated the Beast. When the Beast's body hit the ground any surviving Thestrals looked up the Beast's immobile form to find Lady Noctis standing atop it's body. It was then that the Thestral's threw themselves to the ground in praise of their savior. Since that day Thestral's have pledged themselves in servitude to Lady Noctis as thanks for saving our race." Moonlight said finishing her story.
"Whoa." Ryan said as he felt the train come to a stop nearly being thrown off his feet.
"You okay?" Moonlight asked as Ryan steadied himself.
"Yeah I'm fine." Ryan replied. "I gotta say that was one heck of a story." Ryan said getting a chuckle from Moonlight.
"Glad to hear that. Now then you best go and say goodbye to Princess Twilight and her friends. Because I doubt they're going to be coming to Canterlot with us." Moonlight said before giving Ryan a smile. "I guess I'll see you around." She said before leaping back onto the roof of the train car.
"Oof." Ryan said as he entered the train car having something collide with his gut. When he looked down he saw Pinkie wrapped around his mid section. "Hey Pinkie." Ryan said as he ran a hand through his mane.
"Hey Ryan." Pinkie said as she looked up at Ryan, a large grin on her face. "The girls and I are gonna be heading off now."
"And I'm guessing you couldn't wait for a goodbye hug?" Ryan asked getting a nod from Pinkie.
"You done yet Pinkie?" The voice of Dash called out from behind Pinkie. "We gotta head off y'know."
"Sure thing Dashie." Pinkie said before releasing Ryan. "Bye Ryan." She said before skipping away.
"See ya Pinkie." Ryan said before feeling something crash into his waist again. When Ryan looked down he found Dash looking up at him. "How'd I know you just wanted to clear a spot for yourself by telling Pinkie to hurry up."
"No I didn't, just want to get this over and done with. Gotta get home and make sure everything's how I left it." Dash said before releasing Ryan.
"Hey wait a sec where's everyone else?" Ryan asked only noticing that Celestia, Luna and Chrysalis were the only ones currently in the train car.
"Oh. They're out on the platform. Cadance and Shining said that they'd be here for a day before heading back to the Crystal Empire." Dash said before heading towards the train car's exit.
"You guys gonna come say goodbye?" Ryan asked the royal trio that remained within the train car.
"Nay, we've already said our farewell." Luna responded provoking a nod from Chrysalis and Celestia.
"Alright then." Ryan said as he walked towards the exit. "I'll be back in a few minutes."
"Take as long as you want." Celestia said fixing Ryan a smile.
"Got it." Ryan said as he made his way out onto the train station's platform to find the rest of the group that had made their way to the Changeling hive. "So then I guess this is goodbye for now."
"Looks like it." Twilight said when Ryan got close enough for her to give him a hug.
"Don't worry sugarcube we'll be sure to pay you a visit." Applejack said when Twilight finished giving Ryan a hug.
"Yes Applejack is quite right dear." Rarity said with Fluttershy giving a nod from Rarity's side.
"I'll look forward to seeing you then." Ryan said before turning to Cadance and Shining. "You guys going to head to Canterlot when your done with your tour of Ponyville, or are you heading for the Crystal Empire?"
"We'll be heading for the Empire. Unlike Canterlot there isn't a court of nobles to keep everything from falling apart whilst Shiny and I are gone." Cadance said with a chuckle.
"But hey if you ever wanted to come and say hi, the Empire would be glad to have you." Shining said getting a nod.
"Nice to hear. Might take Chrysalis there." Ryan said causing Shining to stiffen a bit, however this went unnoticed by Ryan as he had turned to say goodbye to Stealth and Spike.
"See ya Ryan." Stealth said.
"Yeah see ya around Stealth." Ryan said before turning to Spike. "Take care of Twi will ya."
"Sure thing Ryan." Spike said with a smile.
"Same goes for you as well Stealth." Ryan said to Stealth getting a nod. It was then that the sound of a train whistle rang throughout the air. "Well guess that's my cue to leave. See ya guys!" Ryan said to the group before walking back onto the train. . |
The Five: Into the Beyond | pre | Someone, save me.
She then shrieked loudly, hoping somepony had heard her. Suddenly Razor burst from the brush and slapped her over and over with the wooden switch. She screamed as loud thwacking sounds echoed through the forest. ===
Spike softly kissed Dinky on the cheek to wake her up. She moaned, wiping her groggy eyes. Spike got to his feet, practicing with his swords while Dinky woke.
Roseluck had woken them to tell them her findings. They had then planned to go the gate. It turned out both pieces were inside the huge wall.
Spike took the back once again. Dinky tortted next to him while Coco was in the middle. Roseluck took the lead.
They quickly reached the edge of the wood. All three except Roseluck gawked for ten minutes before Roseluck prompted them to move forwards.
They traveled through the plains for twenty minutes before the guards spotted them.
Ten guards galloped towards them. Spike had checked the tattered guide book earlier to see that these creatures were "Elephants."
The guards chained them up. The four immediately became worried as they were dragged to the city. they might be locked up soon, but at least they would be in the city.
The process was quick. The guards were silent the whole time. Twenty elephant guards pulled the giant metal gates open for the escort.
The guards, instead of putting them in jail, dragged them through the streets, towards the giant castle.
Soon they reached the castle, which had towering oak doors.
The guards hurriedly pushed them through.
They led them up innumerable swirling steps that led up. After a half hour, they reache da giant throne room. Two giant elephants sat on golden thrones, draped in purple robes.
"King Leather and Queen Mudhen, the intruders."
Spike stared up at the royals. King Leather's eyes were stormy with anger.
They were backed into a corner while the guards and the king and queen talked.
Dinky pulled the Finder out of her saddle bags and put it on, also pulling out the map.
The two items were in this very room/
Spike's eyes traveled up to Leather and Mudhen's heads.
Two matching crowns with shiny white pearls that had an aura about them sat on top of the jeweled wreath called a crown.
They needed to steal the two ruler's crowns. |
The Five: Into the Beyond | Chapter 17: Debris and Death | Coco trembled as the guards turned back to them. One snorted loudly, adjusting the strap that ran across his back. It held a giant wooden scabbard for a wicked sword that had several twists and turns along its razor sharp body.
She glanced up at the crowns. They shone in the noon light that was spilling through the stained glass windows . The time of day reminded Coco of the deadline.
Only a week left.
The guard with the wicked sword, who seemed to be the leader, approached them.
"I am General Quicksilver of the Elephantopian's army. Me and my compatriots will lead you outside the castle to leave the city. We are peaceful people, but are none to slow to fight back."
The giant scythe on his back shifted, giving the quartet a better view of it. Several of its edges were stained crimson.
"You will have this one chance-leave on your own accord, and never come back to these lands as long as you dwarfed beings shall live."
"And what if we decide to stay?" Coco asked. She quickly covered her mouth with her hoof. She hadn't had the intention of saying such a thing out loud-it had just came out invoulintarily.
"Well then," General Qucksilver said, his gaze like a wooden dagger carving out Coco's eyes. "If you decide to stay, you meet your fate in The Melting Pot." He pointed to a giant brass cauldron the hung in the center of the square outside one of the big stained glass windows.
The cauldron was full of burning hot lava that was tinged a light magical lavender.
"Oh, I forgot! It's time for that nasty thief Tuber to be executed!" He then ordered several of his men to stay where they were and guard the quartet until he got back. He then barreled down the steps, calling out to the four remaining of the five.
"This will show you why you want to leave NOW."
Coco was rattled. She looked up at the nearest guard. He stood straight and erect. He snorted in her face before returning to his stoic position. She glanced at the barbed spear that was draped across his chain mailed back.
"I'm hungry," Dinky groaned after twenty minutes. The stoic guard next to Coco glared at Dinky. The rulers still sat idly on their thrones.
"Noon Court shall soon begin, Guards Splat,Crane, Sedimentary, and Stormy. Escort the filthy intruders out of here the second the demonstration is over."
"Yes, Queen Mudhen," the guard farthest from Coco piped. He clutched a small sword in his trunk, and his name, Crane, was carved on the blade.
"Look," one of the other guards, who had been referred to as Sedimentary in an earlier conversation, said. "It has begun."
The four moved towards the window and looked out.
A large gray elephant, his legs hogtied together with chains, his trunk tied in several very painful looking knots, was standing on a wooden platform above The Melting Pot. He was shaking. The watched as General Quicksilver pointed to him and gave a short speech. Then several guards dressed in black armor took giant axes and began to cut at the platform.
The thief being executed, Tuber, screamed his lungs out as the guards gave one final chop. The elephant topped into the flames, his screams echoing throughout the city as his body spasmed in the burning lava before it sank completely, melting into it.
Dinky was clutching Spike tightly while tears leaked down her face. The death of Amethyst was still very fresh, and just glimpsing death made the floodgates break open for the poor unicorn filly.
Coco looked up at the ruler's crowns while they were escorted out of the room. If they left, Equestria and everywhere else would fall to the mysterious villain.
But if they stayed, they risked ending there lives by lava pot.
What were they going to do? ===
Amethyst felt like she was dead. She was fed, but just enough to keep her from dying. She was starving all the time, and her throat was always parched. Her hide was now surely scarred from the many beatings of the willow switch. Several times her plot had even began gushing blood.
She cried softly into her own shoulder. Soon she heard a noise.
She looked up to see a young fawn fall to the ground, pale and immobile, its eyes glassy.
Razor seemed to be becoming stronger. He was sucking the life out of everything around him. Hundreds of dead trees surrounded them, and innumerable bodies of lifeless animals were scattered around. He was quickly becoming stronger and bigger, but not in the rapid way Tirek had. No his seemed slower, like he was easing his way into the flow of energy. At beginning he had only chanced sucking life out of blades of grass and bugs, but know was doing so with trees and pony sized animals.
She whimpered at the thought of all the animals dying and her body became racked with sobs.
The switch fell across her hide and she screeched again as a plume of blood shot from the scarred area of tissue.
Amethyst looked at her plot while Lord Razor galloped over to a sapling to suck life out of.
Her one flank, her left, was free of scars and bruises since she laid on that one all the time. It was caked with dirt and mud.
But her right flank was a mangled mess of blood and body tissue. it was so messed up that Amethyst could barley make out her cutie mark any more. She began to cry once again, curling up into a ball, her chains clanking, in the place of death that she rested in. ===
Dinky trotted down the street with her three friends. All three were deep into an argument about to stay or to go. All three wanted to stay and go at the same time.
Eventually, with a few choice swear words from Dinky telling them to figure it out, the verdict was that they would stay.
The quartet cantered into a small side alley where a family of dirty rats ate from the rusty trash bins.
They were just looking for a place to talk when an old oak door swung open, its hinges creaking loudly, like a moaning pony with a belly ache.
A male elephant stepped out. He clutched a rusty iron trident in his trunk. His eyes met theirs, and he opened his eyes wide.
Suddenly movement could be heard outside the alleyway. The guards had realized that the four weren't leaving, and were on the search for them.
"Quickly, quickly, inside!" the elephant bull whispered.
The quartet had no idea what to do. With no other choice, they dived through the rusty door way after the elephant. the door slammed closed seconds before guards came clattering down the alley.
A hard rapping on the door could be heard. The elephant pushed them into the kitchen and hid them under the table in a corner before he opened the door.
"Head Armory Director Debris, have you seen any sight of these four?" The guard, who Dinky recognized as Guard Crane, held up a quickly sketched poster of the four.
"I'm afraid not, Crane. I bet Shire a little down the way might have."
"Thanks for the lead, Director Debris."
"No problem, Crane."
Crane and several other guards then plundered away down the alleyway befor eturning a corner and disappearing.
Debris slammed the door shut and moved towards the four.
"I think I can help you. You see, I have a score to settle with the Government here. Especially those haughty monarchs. And General Quicksilver. Quicksilver the most."
The four still cowered under the table.
"So you're no-not gonna turn us in?"
"Of course not. This is the thing I've been waiting for."
"What?" Spike asked.
"Help." |
The Five: Into the Beyond | Chapter 18: Hope and Haste | Debris had left several minutes ago to go to the royal armory and to recover their weapons and armor that had been imprisoned deep within its depths. Dinky rocked in a squeaky old chair, pristine blue leather covering it. Debris seemed high class, elite. Oh, and very rich, indeed, if the numerous gold and silver objects were any implication.
As soon as the guards had left, Debris had brewed tea for them(and hot chocolate for her and Spike.) He had pulled out a map of the hidden entrances and tunnels within the castle that he had received from his brother, General Quicksilver, who had led the party that had captured the quartet. But Debris had noted that the General was still entirely loyal to the two Elephantopian monarchs.
It was hard to believe the two mammoth creatures were even a little bit related. Quicksilver was sharp, harsh, and cruel, while Debris was the exact opposite. He was calm, kind, and cool.
Dinky got up from her chair, looking around.
Spike was passed out on a long, fluffy couch in one corner, snoring like a chainsaw. Roseluck was skimming through a few hundred page book, seeming to be searching for something interesting. Coco had found a needle and thread and some leather and had begun to make under armor for them. Basically they would wear it under their real metal armor.
And there were some spare gems and a sharp knife around. If Amethyst were here, she would probably be carving little jewel figurines for Dinky to play with. She was like a second mother to Dinky.
A small tear rolled down Dinky's cheek. She quickly dispersed it with a quick flick of her hoof, and went down a little hallway that led to what Debris had told them was his personal library.
She found the entrance easily. It was a set of giant white oak doors, figures made of pure emerald covering its surface. Large panels of glass in the middles of the doors let Dinky see in to a dust filled room with shelf upon shelf upon shelf. Spike would love it in there. It would remind him of home, at the library with Twilight-
But then she remembered that there was no more library, that it had been destroyed by Tirek's vicious attacks.
And then she remembered her mother, who must be out of her mind worrying for her.
She collapsed in a weeping heap, unable to hold back the wave of emotions.
Dinky had no idea how long she lay in that dark hallway, sobbing, her legs and mane splayed around her.
But then Debris came home, pushing open the door with a loud grunt.
Dinky wiped the tears from her eyes, hoping that her eyes weren't to terribly red.
Coco got to her hooves, casting the needle and thread aside for another time.
"What is it?" she inquired.
"We must make haste. They have detected you and my non allegiance to them. We must go. Now."
Coco, who was finishing up the last garment, quickly strung the thread through it and threw the armor at them. They slipped into it, then hoisting on their thick metal armor that Debris cascaded down upon them.
Dinky's heart leapt with joy when she saw her golden sword. She quickly took it up in her magic, cuddling it like a teddy bear.
But she gasped quietly when Debris held up Amethyst's armor and bow.
"Who's are these?" her inquired.
Dinky broke down once again, sobbing.
Debris frowned, and slid the extra supplies deep within a pack. He then retreated too the depths of his house.
"For my armor and weapon," he quickly explained.
He returned, dressed in his royal finery. Coco gasped, almost fainting.
His armor was pure, untarnished silver with millions of tiny branches of swirling gold covering it. His whole body was covered, even his stomach and tusks. The only holes were for his eyes and at the end of his trunk so he could breathe.
His trunk was wrapped around a giant spear. Its end sprouted over twenty bronze barbs that twisted this way and that. The elephant's armor seemed to be savage but more efficient than Equestria's weaponry.
"You seem ready to go to war, not to steal two royal crowns," Dinky muttered.
"Oh didn't I mention?" Debris inquired. "We are going to war. Now." ===
Amethyst was once again curled in a ball, suckling a hoof that had been badly bruised by the whip of Razor. Meanwhile, Razor had left several minutes ago to destroy more forest, beating her into submission until she agreed to stay put and not call for help like she had done several times before.
Loud hoofsteps could be heard nearby. The sounds were shaking the ground. It was Razor, now returning after having his fill of fun, destruction, and power.
But from the opposite end of the bushes, a shape tumbled out, its laughs echoing through the clearing.
It was young Archer, a pegasus filly Amethyst had seen more than once out and about around Ponyville. The adventurous filly loved and frequented the Everfree.
Then two words exploded across Amethyst's mind, shocking her.
Ponyville. Everfree.
She was in the Everfree Forest, just outside of Ponyville! No wonder Razor forced her to be so quiet, for they were so close to the little, yet rapidly growing, town.
Archer's countenance changed from one of delight to one of horror when she saw Amethyst laying there, her mane tangled, her body caked in blood and dirt.
"Run," she whispered.
Archer's eyes widened even further, and she skitted away, dashing through the undergrowth all the way home.
Suddenly Razor arrived, his whip drawn.
"Who was that?!" he asked, angry and snarling.
"Me, just little, petty me," Amethyst whispered, her voice coarse.
Razor roared and smacked his whip across Amethyst's cheek, eliciting a cry from his victim.
But this will be worth saving that little innocent filly. Amethyst thought as Razor struck again.
> Chapter 19: War
"Wha-what?!" Roseluck sputtered, her eyes full of fear and confusion.
"Yes, and it will not be just us. I have recruited almost two thousand bulls and cows over the past decade, and I bet we'll be able to rally another thousand."
"And how many soldiers do they have?" Spike asked.
"Over ten thousand," he muttered, as if it were an afterthought.
"WHAT!?" the remaining four shouted.
"Um, yes..."
"I wasn't so up and tootin' for war out of the blue, but going up against an army with almost seven thousand more soldiers?! That is just crazy talk!" Rosleuck shouted, glaring at Debris.
"Hay, you want to go back out there? Die, go in prison, get dumped in The Melting Pot?!" Debris shouted.
Roseluck and the others cringed at his loud comments.
"Let us discuss this further," Roseluck said before she, Spike, Dinky, and Coco made their way down the hall, stopping a few feet away from the doors to the library.
"No," was all Rosleuck said. She eyed the others.
"I don't wan to, and I know it's a big risk, but we have to, Rose. If we don't, we might lose out on the rest of our chances. Heck, the crowns, and in turn the pearls, could get destroyed!" Spike piped.
Roseluck nodded slowly. She understood, but she was stubborn, no matter how good the opposing side's views could be.
In turn, Coco and Dinky both agreed.
"Okay, but in case we don't get to the throne room, make him promise he'll give us the crowns as rewards or some other horseapples. We just can't tell him about the quest. He'll flip, and he'll probably put us back in prison if we did after he ascended to the throne." Roseluck said.
The quartet agreed, and made their way out of the corridor.
"We have reached a decision," Coco proclaimed.
"We have decided to join you in battle, but under one condition. We get the monarch's crowns as a prize for fighting in a war in a foreign country over politics that we haven't even heard of before." Roseluck said.
"Oh, and we have to be fighting together!" Dinky added.
Debris groaned, shifting from one massive foot to the other.
"Oh, all right. You better be some good fighters."
"We sure are!" Dinky piped.
They waited for a minute before they heard a light rapping on the door.
Knock knock knock knock. Knock knock!
Debris opened the door, and a soldier sprung inside.
It was the guard Crane, one of the four that had been with them while they watched Tuber's execution.
"The zebra villages have accepted our invitation for a little fun. They'll arrive, armed and ready to fight, within the hour," Crane reported.
"Good. Have half of them join me on the main invasion on the castle, a fourth go to the barracks, and the last fourth run rampant on the streets causing destruction."
"Yes sir!" Crane cried, saluting. He then rumbled away, his bronze armor clinking against his short sword.
Debris slammed the door shut, turning to the quartet.
"You'll be heading with me, to the palace, to invade. We need the best fighters there, and if you say you got here all the way from the fabled land of Equestria from calve's tales, then I think you're suited to fight against some bulky, leathery foes." ===
The zebra villagers had showed up earlier than expected. Now they dashed through the streets, causing mayhem and making havoc of the homes and shops of the citizens.
Coco galloped in the front of their small group. Behind her was a zebra named Tenfold, and then Roseluck and Dinky ran next to each other. Spike sprinted at the back with a young elephant bull named Mudslinger.
Mudslinger spotted a swarm of soldiers, about five by five thick, charging a smaller group of elephant soldiers rushing in the same direction as they were; towards the barracks. Their purpose was to hold up the soldiers at their dormitories so that it would be easier to penetrate the main castle.
The six sped over to the small fight, which had caused the death of a female elephant.
Mudslinger, true to his name , had a piece of cloth he used as a slinger. But he used anything he could get her hooves on as ammo. Currently he was shuffling through his saddle bags. He settled on two rusty daggers and launched them into the fray, piercing on bull's hide in a spray of red.
The skirmish was soon tipped to their favor when another group all zebras, joined the fight. The guards were overwhelmed and either fought to their final death or scampered away in surrender.
Tenfold broke away from their group to join the horde of zebras, proudly brandishing his mace for all to see. He then struck it into the side of a building which one of his compatriots set on fire seconds later. The flame engulfed the home and then sped down the line. Soon the whole street was a light with flames, almost like a giant Hearth's Warming Tree.
Elephants screamed and raced from their homes only to become engulfed in crowds of rebels. The streets had become total anarchy, and the rest of the city, especially the palace, was soon to feel the blunt pain of the wrath.
The four and Mudslinger sped to the barracks where their post had been assigned. Elephant guards were shooting from the rooftops with mounted bows and crossbows while a good one hundred rebels repeatedly smashed the battering ram into the front doors of the dormitory.
The four and their elephant compatriot were at the back of the sprawling force attacking the soldier's homes. They were playing a vital piece; if they failed, all of Elephantopia's army would be unleashed and the rebels would surely fail in their mission.
The elephant rebels struck the front doors again with their solid iron battering ram. The doors exploded in a flurry of wood shards that joined the rain of arrows down upon the small army below. Rebels steadily streamed into the building, and the sounds of singing blades and screaming, dying elephants echoed into the exterior of the barrack complex.
After most of the army had filed into the barracks, the four and Mudslinger were let in to fight. The last two hundred were stationed outside to keep guard. As Coco entered, she saw the limp bodies of the archers from the roof rain down. The rebels must have already stormed the roof.
The inside was total chaos. Dead elephants were strewn across the floor, and arrows and weapons flew through the air.
It was almost entirely impossible to find out who was on which side. A rebel could easily kill one of his own kin, and the same could happen for the soldiers.
But at least the four were safe from possible rebel murder. Their pastel colors stood out from the rest of the mottled gray and brown bodies, making the rebels know that they were friends.
But it also made them targets.
The four screamed as they charged forward. They stood by each other, but Mudslinger darted off somewhere or another.
The four galloped into the fray, swinging the blades around as they fought for the elephant's freedom (and their own.) |
Back from the Future | pre | "What happened to your mane?"
"My mane?" Rainbow looked up into her mane and her pupils shrunk.
"And what happened to you're cutie mark?" shouted past Rainbow. "Why are you impersonating me?"
"Uh, uh-" Rainbow no longer bothered to change her voice.
Suddenly, with a rush of wind, both Rainbows had taken off.
"Hey!" shouted past-Rainbow. "I'm talking to you!" She managed to tackle Rainbow Dash to the ground.
"Who are you, really?" she shouted into her face.
"Why, she's exactly who she says she is!" said Discord's voice. "She's Rainbow Dash."
"Huh?" said past-Rainbow, suddenly panicked. She looked up and saw that, sure enough, Discord was laying on a cloud and watching.
"Or should I say," he continued. "She's the better Rainbow Dash. You see, unlike you, she's my friend! And I am her friend!"
"What are you talking about? How did you escape, Discord? What are you doing in Ponyville?"
"Oh, wouldn't you like to know. Seriously, it's all rather interesting, but unfortunately for you, I can't tell you. As for what I'm doing in Ponyville, well, let's just say that I have the most interesting of plans.
"Oh yeah?" shouted past-Rainbow as she began to hoof at the ground. "Not on my watch!"
"And Rainbow Dash here," continued Discord, indicating future-Rainbow, "is going to help me do it!"
"Huh?" Past-Rainbow stopped and stared at her other self in shock.
"You see, I've learned a lesson since you imprisoned me," declared Discord. "I should make some friends!"
"That is not what that means and you know it!" shouted past-Rainbow with a stomp of her hoof. "You can't just force everyone to like you and call them your friends! And that Rainbow Dash is a fake!"
"Oh, I think you will find that my friend her is quite real," assured Discord. "You see, I need one of her... special abilities."
"What are you talking about?"
"Your sonic rainboom has a rather interesting power," said Discord, but suddenly future-Rainbow Dash flew up to him and slammed a hoof over his mouth.
"You can't tell her about that!" she hissed to Discord.
"Don't worry," he replied back to her from behind her hoof. "I know what I'm doing." He moved her out of the way and turned his gaze back upon the other Rainbow Dash, who was watching with even more confusion.
"The sonic rainboom has the fascinating power to inspire everypony around it, to remind them of everything beautiful in life," explained Discord. "And when my dear friend Rainbow Dash makes a sonic rainboom for me, everypony who lays eyes on it will finally see the beauty of chaos! They will finally see what they have all been missing, and nopony will even want to stop me! Muahahahahaha!"
"Well, that's not going to happen!" shouted past-Rainbow as she started accelerating toward Discord.
Suddenly her head collided with something.
"OW! What the-"
"Of course, I can't have you running off and telling everypony that my friend isn't the real Rainbow Dash now, can I?" said Discord as past-Rainbow stared horrified at the giant candy cane cage that she suddenly found herself in.
"Oh, how ever will you escape from this?" laughed Discord as the cage was lowered to the ground.
"Ugh!" grunted past-Rainbow as she bashed the candy cane bars with her front hooves with all her might, but they didn't even crack. "Ewwww!" she moaned as she realized that her hooves were sticking to the bars.
"Buahahahaha! Ahahaha ha ha ha HA!" Laughed Discord.
"Hahahahaha!"
"What are you laughing at?" demanded past-Rainbow as she pried a hoof off the bars and pointed it at the other Rainbow Dash.
"You look hilarious in there!" answered her double. "Hey, Discord, got any more film for this camera?"
"No problem, my friend!"
Future-Rainbow took the film and quickly exchanged it for the spent roll inside the camera, then snapped a picture of the Rainbow Dash in the cage. "Oh, I am never going to let myself live this down!" she laughed to herself.
"Hey!" shouted past-Rainbow as Discord and future-Rainbow turned and flew away. "Get back here! You can't leave me like this! Help! HELP!"
"Hi there Rainbow Dash!" said Pinkie Pie. |
Back from the Future | Now Let's Go Home! | "So, Discord..." began Rainbow Dash. "What you said back there about making everypony see the 'beauty' in chaos... That was all a lie, right?"
"Yes, it was all a lie," confirmed Discord. "Even if I had turned you into a beacon of chaos, which I haven't, ponies would still have to make the choice to actually like it. Of course, I could just force everypony to like it in the same way that I once forced you and your friends to be jerks, but I'm not that kind of Draconequis anymore. Although, if I had thought of all this before my reformation- Never mind," said Discord upon seeing Rainbow Dash's glare.
"How did you know I was in trouble anyway?" asked Rainbow Dash.
"Twilight and I sort of got into an argument. She doesn't trust me without you there. So I decided that it was time I find you again. Also, you had been gone for a long time."
"Oh," said Rainbow guiltily. "Sorry about that. So how does the rest of the plan go?"
"Well, we just go along with everything and hope it works out, of course."
"That's the plan you and Twilight came up with? She would never agree to that!"
"We didn't come up with a plan," said Discord. "Twilight didn't like any of my ideas, and she couldn't figure out anything for herself. I kept telling her to just let me do my thing, but she won't have it."
"But what was all of that, back there?" asked Rainbow Dash, slightly panicked. "My other self has seen us now and thinks that you're planning on brainwashing Ponyville!"
"And there's no taking it back now," said Discord. "For the record, it was you who let yourself be seen. I had to do some quick thinking. Now we have no choice but to go with it. At least it was one of my plans. I imagine Twilight won't be too happy about that."
"Hey, Discord? About what happened to Twilight in the future... and to us... Do you know why it happened?"
"Ah! Finally!" cried Discord. "I tried to warn Twilight, but she wasn't really listening when I tried to tell her how dangerous it was!"
"What?" cried Rainbow Dash in a confused voice. "How did they get here before us?"
She watched from above as Pinkie Pie and past-Rainbow Dash flung the front door of the library open and disappeared inside.
"It doesn't matter," said Discord. "Wait for them to leave."
"Twilight, we have a big problem!" shouted Rainbow Dash.
"Rainbow, there you are! Wait, why is Pinkie with you?"
"Twilight, Discord is on the loose in Ponyville!" cried Rainbow, ignoring Twilight's statement. "We need to get the rest of the girls together and figure out how to stop him!"
"Wait, you've seen Discord?" asked Twilight.
"Yeah I did. Right before he locked me in a cage!"
"Locked you in a cage?" cried Twilight in concern and confusion. "How did you get out?"
"Oh, that was easy!" exclaimed Pinkie Pie. "I just ate it."
"You... ate the cage?"
"Yep!"
"It was made out of candy canes," explained Rainow Dash. "Now, we need to hurry! Discord somehow made a copy of me and he's going to make her do a sonic rainboom, and everypony who looks at it is going to be brainwashed into liking him!"
"What!" cried Twilight angrily. "You saw the other Rainbow Dash?"
"No," said Rainbow. "That Rainbow Dash is just a fake! That's why she's helping him! I mean, who in their right mind would willingly help Discord do this?"
"I... I see," said Twilight. "Where did you last see Discord?"
"Right by Ponyville Lake!"
"Alright," said Twilight. "You two go and gather the others together and meet me there. I have to do something first."
"Twilight, this is important!" cried Rainbow. "What could be so important that you can't come right now!"
"I... I have to get the elements of harmony! They're all upstairs in my room!" said Twilight honestly.
"Oh yeah!" said Pinkie Pie. "I saw you carrying them earlier today! It sure is a good thing the Princess decided to give them to you today! It's almost like she knew what was about to happen!"
"Yeah..." said Twilight. "Now then, let's not waste any time! Go and gather the others!"
"We're on it!" cried Rainbow Dash before zipping through the door.
"You can count on us!" said Pinkie as she did the same.
"Ugh!" moaned Twilight.
Rainbow Dash appeared in the front door again.
"So, uh, is everypony else gone?" she asked.
Twilight stared at her uncomprehendingly for a moment, then quickly answered "Oh! It's you! Yes, it's just me now."
As Discord came through the door to join Rainbow, Twilight's face turned sour. "This is not what I had in mind!" she cried with a hoof-stomp. "You were supposed to consult me before doing something like this!"
"Hey, don't look at me," said Discord. Suddenly he morphed into a sign shaped like an arrow pointing at Rainbow Dash which read, 'It's all her fault!'.
Twilight looked at Rainbow expectantly. Rainbow let out a sigh and said "I accidently let my other self see me and Discord had to convince her that I'm not really her."
"Well, there's no stopping it now," said Twilight. "I just hope this works. I've already told the others to meet over by the lake. I have to hurry and meet them before somepony comes looking here. You'll be there too, right?"
"Of course," answered Discord. "Oh, and here. I thought I would save you a bit of trouble." Discord held out his arm and offered her the elements of harmony.
"But you only just- Ugh, never mind. Thank... you. Discord."
Twilight took the elements and opened up the door, but then hesitated. She turned back to Rainbow Dash.
"I just realized that this is probably the last time I'm going to see you for a long time," she said sadly. "Well, the future-you I mean... I'll miss you."
"I'll miss you too Twilight," answered Rainbow Dash.
"And what about little old me?" asked Discord with false-pleading eyes.
Twilight rolled her eyes. "I can't say that I will miss you..." she began.
"Well!" cried Discord, crossing his arms.
"But," continued Twilight, "I will admit it. You're not as bad as you used to be. Maybe our Discord deserves a chance too."
"He does?" asked Discord, surprised. "I mean, I do? That's... very kind of you, Twilight."
"Well, goodbye then," said Twilight, a little sadly. "And good luck." And then Twilight closed the door.
Neither Rainbow or Discord spoke for a moment.
Suddenly, Discord said "Hey, Rainbow Dash."
"Yeah?"
"Do you think that us being here has changed history? Or do you think that we've just made a new history?"
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"I mean..." Discord stopped to think about how to convey his thoughts.
"I was trapped in a statue on this day," said Discord. "I can't have remembered all of this. But you were here on this day. Do you remember me trapping you in that cage?"
"Oh! I see what you're saying," said Rainbow. "Actually... no, I don't remember that. And I don't think that that's the sort of thing that I would forget either."
"How interesting..." said Discord, mostly to himself.
"Yes, interesting," said Rainbow dismissively. "Discord, I don't know what your point is with all of this, but we have somewhere to be."
"Okay, okay," answered Discord. He snapped his fingers and a riding helmet with holes for his horns appeared on his head. "Let's go home!"
"Okay everpony, this Discord's last known location!" said Twilight. "Spread out and see what you can find!"
"Found them!" said Pinkie Pie, pointing up.
"Oh no!" shouted Discord in mock fear. "You've gathered up all of your friends and the elements of harmony!"
"There's no need for sarcasm, Discord!" said Rarity. "We already know what you're up to!"
"And we're going to stop you!" shouted past-Rainbow Dash.
"That's what you think!" cried Discord. "When Rainbow Dash here performs her sonic rainboom, nopony will be able to stop me! Are you ready, Rainbow Dash?"
"I'm always ready!" answered future-Rainbow before accelerating through the air with a burst.
"Quick, everypony!" shouted past-Rainbow Dash. "Let's hit them now before there's a rainboom!"
"Wait!" cried Twilight. Everypony looked at her confused.
"Um, we need to wait for the right moment!"
"Twilight, that fake Rainbow Dash is almost as fast as I am!" cried past-Rainbow. "Look at her! If we don't hit them with the elements now, it will be too late!"
"Okay..." said Twilight uncertainly.
Nothing happened.
"Twilight!" said Applejack. "Hurry!"
"I'm trying!" Twilight lied.
"Hurry!" cried the others in unison.
Twilight looked up at future-Rainbow Dash. 'Just a little bit longer!' she thought.
A rainbow erupted from future-Rainbow as she finally crossed the sound barrier.
"Twilight," screamed past-Rainbow, now in full panic. "We have to use the elements right now!"
"Okay!" said Twilight quickly. "I'm trying!"
Nothing continued to happen.
"I'm trying!" cried Twilight, now panicked. "What's going wrong? Why isn't it working?"
"Oh, Twilight!" shouted Pinkie Pie. Twilight turned to her, confused. She sounded upset. "I'm so sorry Twilight, I'm sorry, sorry, sorry-"
"What did you do?" asked Twilight in confusion.
"I'm sooooo sorry, Twilight! I looked at the sonic rainboom!"
"Uh, I didn't want to," said Applejack, "but I couldn't help it. I looked too."
"So did I!" added Rarity.
Twilight stood dumbfounded. Then she squinted in anger. "Discord!"
And then she lowered her head in defeat.
"This is all my fault," Twilight declared.
"Twilight, don't blame yourself," said Fluttershy soothingly. "It could have happened to anypony."
"No, you don't get it!" Twilight cried. "It's my fault that the elements aren't working! I've known that Discord is back all day and I didn't tell anypony!"
There was a unanimous gasp from all of the others.
"Discord gave me a bunch of hooie about how he's 'changed' now," continued Twilight. "He made up a phony baloney story about the reason that he was in Ponyville, and I believed his nonsense! But I see now that he was really just trying to make sure that we couldn't use the elements against him again! I don't know why I ever thought that he could ever be telling the truth!"
"Don't you worry about that, Twilight," said Applejack sadly. "We know that you couldn't help it. You were just under his spell. And now... we all are."
"And because of me," Twilight continued in despair, "Everypony in Ponyville will be singing Discord's praises and there will be eternal chaos!"
"But... I don't want there to be eternal chaos!" cried Rainbow Dash.
"I don't want eternal chaos either," declared Fluttershy.
"Nor do I!" wailed Rarity.
"But it looks like now we have no choice," said Applejack.
"Well, chaos is fun and all..." said Pinkie.
Everypony around her shot her a look.
"But I don't want eternal chaos either! It just makes everypony so sad!"
Twilight suddenly felt as if her heart had skipped a beat.
"Wait a minute!" she cried happily. "Discord's plan didn't work!"
"It didn't?" replied her friends.
"No! It didn't! Discord thinks that he can beat us by deciding what we think and who we like for us, but he can't!" cried Twilight triumphantly. "He may have had a sonic rainboom on his side, but he failed because he doesn't understand that a relationship in which you tell others what to think isn't a friendship at all!"
"Come on, girls!" Twilight shouted determinedly. "Let's send Discord back to where he belongs!"
"She did it!" cried Discord happily as he watched the wave of power emerge from the elements and rush toward him. "I knew that she could do it! Yes!" he shouted, magically amplifying his voice so that the element bearers below could hear. "Yes! Thank you, thank you everypony for your assistance! I will see you all again, very soon!"
"Brace yourself," Discord said to Rainbow Dash in a normal volume. "I'm not entirely sure what this will feel like, since I've only ever been petrified by it before."
All Rainbow Dash was able to do in response was grunt and continue struggling against the wind.
The wave of energy was still approaching.
"Hey, Rainbow, it looks like Twilight's aim was just a teensy bit off. Could you move over to the left a little bit? Yes, just like that, perfect. It really is taking it's time getting here, isn't it? I suppose we are rather high up. Oh, you know what? This is a perfect time for a selfie!"
Discord grabbed Rainbow's camera and pointed it toward Rainbow Dash and the energy wave, then positioned his head in front of it so that it was looking into the camera cheerfully.
*Click*
"Oh, this will be the best one yet!" said Discord excitedly. "I can just see it! 'And this is a picture of Rainbow Dash and myself about to be blasted in the face by the elements of harmony!' Nopony will ever be able to top that! Oh, here it comes, here it comes!"
"Bwhahahaha!" laughed Discord with in his magically amplified voice. As the energy of the elements of harmony finally hit the carriage. "Ahahahahahahahaha!"
The bearers of the elements of harmony watched from below as the energy fade away.
"They're gone!" exclaimed Applejack.
Everypony burst into cheer, save for Twilight.
Finally, Twilight said, "They're just... gone? Not turned into stone, but... gone?"
"Sure looks that way," replied Applejack.
"The one thing that I want to know," said past-Rainbow Dash, "is what kind of villian says 'thank you' and laughs like a maniac as he watches his doom approaching?"
"The crazy kind," answered Applejack confidently.
"Yeah," whispered Twilight. "The crazy kind."
Rainbow Dash watched anxiously as the rainbow of light around her began to fade away and she started to be able to see the sky in front of her. Then she frowned as she tried to figure out what the erratic blue thing filling her vision was.
*SPLASH*
There were screams all around Rainbow, muffled from the water around her. Rainbow Dash struggled to regain her senses, but it was too difficult after having hit a wall of water so suddenly.
Suddenly she felt the water around her fall below. There was a tremendous splashing noise. Now free of the water, Rainbow was able to regain her composure and pull herself and the carriage out of free fall. She slowed down to examine the scene.
There were dozens of pegasi scattered around Ponyville Lake, most of them coughing or wheezing, and all of them soaking wet.
"Oh, hey guys!" shouted Rainbow nervously. "I know that I said that I was busy helping a friend today, but I just thought I would swing by to see how you were doing with delivering that rainwater!" The ponies below were either too shocked to respond or were still trying to regain their breaths. "... Sorry for throwing everypony off like that... So, keep up the good work everypony, but I have stuff to do, see ya!"
"Bye everypony!" added Discord from the carriage as it raced away. "Have fun!"
"There she is!" cried Rainbow Dash as they neared the field where Twilight had set up the time travel experiment. She could just barely see that Twilight appeared to be running away from something. There was also a dull roar of buzzing.
"Wait, Rainbow! Not yet! Look!" cried Discord. "That's us!"
Rainbow looked and saw that, sure enough, there was another Rainbow Dash and Discord flying through the air with the time machine. Rainbow Dash decelerated and beheld the scene. She could now tell that there appeared to be thousands of blue specks flying through the air and chasing after both the other Rainbow Dash as well as Twilight.
Suddenly the air around the other Rainbow Dash began to take on a familiar conical form.
"Rainbow!" bellowed the other Discord, trying to be heard above the noise of the buzzing. "Don't do it! The time machine is-"
Suddenly a flash of rainbow was released, but it only lasted for a moment. The other Rainbow Dash and Discord had vanished without a trace.
"I told you that I tried to warn you," said Discord.
"I was being chased by giant blue bees the size of my hoof!" retorted Rainbow Dash. "You can't blame me for not listening to you! Now let's get down there!"
Rainbow raced toward the ground toward Twilight, who was now surrounded on all sides by the blue bees and had given up on running and was curled up on the ground with her hooves over her head and probably wishing that she was a turtle. Rainbow Dash and the carriage landed with a thud.
"WAIIIIIIT!" Rainbow screamed. The seemingly surprised bees lowered their enraged buzzing and looked toward Rainbow.
"Rainbow Dash!" shout-whispered Twilight, looking up. "What are you doing? Fly, you fool! Fly away before they catch you too!"
"Twilight didn't mean it!" Rainbow shouted to the bees, ignoring Twilight's statement. "If she had known that she was stealing nectar from your hive in that cave in Everfree Forest, she wouldn't have done it! We're sorry! We'll give it all back! Right, Twilight?" she finished warningly.
"What?" said Twilight slowly, dumbstruck. "I mean, yes! Yes, please! I'm so sorry! It won't happen again! Here!"
Twilight produced a single jar full of blue liquid and set it on the ground before backing up hurriedly and watching the bees nervously.
The bees started to buzz with anger again.
"Oh no!" cried Twilight. "They know that there's not nearly enough of it left!"
Suddenly Rainbow Dash was at her side. "Into the carriage, Twilight!"
Twilight didn't waste any time with doing as she was told. As soon as she was inside the carriage, Rainbow Dash rocketed forward, leaving the furious insects behind.
"You can outrun them, right?" shouted Twilight in panic.
"Yeah, I should be able to!" answered Rainbow Dash.
"No," said Discord urgently, "It won't work. You might can outrun them for now, but you will get tired sooner or later! And they will never stop following you until they get their nectar back!"
"Can't you stop them, Discord?" cried Twilight.
"Those are etherial bees!" replied Discord as he snapped his fingers to demonstrate. "Magic doesn't affect them!"
Twilight closed her eyes and her horn started to pulse. Soothing music began to play through the air.
She opened her eyes and, to her horror, the siren song spell was definitely having not affect on the bees.
"There must be something you can think of!" insisted Twilight.
A brick wall suddenly appeared in mid air behind them. Many of the bees were caught by surprise and crashed into it, but seconds later they were flying at the carriage once again, possibly even angrier.
"There's too many of them!" shouted Discord. "I don't have enough time to stop them all!"
"Then there's only one thing left to do!" shouted Rainbow Dash. Suddenly, she stopped in mid air and faced the bees before shooting forward, straight toward them.
"Ahhhhhhh!" screamed Twilight. "Are you out of your mind?"
"Apparently so," said Discord. "She must be doing something right then."
Rainbow Dash dived below the bee swarm before they could react and began flying inches above the ground. As she flew by the jar of blue liquid, she scooped it up in her hooves.
"Here!" she cried as she tossed the jar to Discord. "Use it! Get us out of here!"
"To what time are we going?" asked Discord as he popped the lid off and dumped the liquid into a tank on the time machine.
"Any time that isn't here!" shouted Rainbow.
Discord quickly hit some buttons on the time machine. "Okay, do it!" he shouted to Rainbow Dash.
"Wait a second," said Twilight. "What did you just-"
Suddenly Twilight was cut off as the time machine was engulfed in rainbow light. |
The Legacy of Ouija Star Part I: The Silver Soul Family | pre | (Liam POV)
I slowly pushed myself to my hooves, still holding onto Twilight. She let go as soon as she got a good stance. We jumped off of the engine into soft green grass next to an ivory apartment building. Oh, static land, I missed you so much.
It wasn't long before the Guard arrived at the scene with scores of them piling into each open door. We were approached by a high ranking Guard. He wore armor similar to a Roman Army Captain, but his was a purple color with a gold trim. His coat was white like mine with blue hooves, eyes and hair with varying tones of blue. Twilight noticed the soldier and immediately rushed towards him.
"TWILY!" he shouted.
"SHINY!" she shouted back. They pulled each other into a tight hug, crying over the recent incident.
"I'm so glad you're safe."
"What about you? I thought you were with Cadance on your honeymoon in Baltimare?"
"Duty calls; Celestia, herself brought me here the moment I found out you were on a runaway train. Luckily it stopped before the whole thing did the highest swan dive in Equestria's history."
"Well, I wasn't the only one who stopped the train."
"Really? Who?"
She gestured in my direction and a look of surprise grew over his face. He seemed overjoyed at the revelation.
"You were the pony that stopped the train?"
"Yes, sir," I simply said, wiping my nose, lightly chuckling.
"Thank you," he bowed, "Not only for saving the other ponies on board, but for saving my little sister as well."
"Oh, so you're Captain Shining Armor?"
"That's correct. Captain of the Royal Guard. Mind if you accompany me and Twilight to the castle and tell me what happened?"
I nodded, following the Captain down the clean brick road. Twilight instead decided to go back to the train to get Spike. Poor dragon must be traumatized from this whole shitstorm. Many ponies in the town were fancily dressed and...wait, what? Oh, great; I'm in a town full of rich stuffy ponies. I can feel the negative judgment radiate off their intense stares at me. Bad enough that I used to get that back on Earth, but thankfully nopony threw holy water at me or told me how much I needed Jesus, but I digress. These may be just looking at my burnt jacket
"What's wrong, Mr...?"
"Silversoul, Liam Silversoul," I said in a James Bond voice. Too bad my Sean Connery impersonation sucks.
"Liam, you seem tense, anything bothering you?"
"I should've known that I would be crashing into a town filled with rich flankholes."
"Yeah; they seem to be judgmental if you aren't rich, but they widely respect ponies from the Military, especially ponies that go out of their way to save multiple lives from certain doom."
That reasurement worked, since my tense muscles started to loosen up and my heart started to slow down to its normal pace. I calmly sighed, feeling like an ass for assuming things.
"You seem a little young to lead a whole division."
"Well, I enlisted when I was 17, so this is my 10th year."
"How long were you Captain?"
"A year, got a boost of morale from the troops when me and my wife stopped an invasion a few days ago."
"What the hell happened?"
"Well, I was going to marry Princess Cadance, Alicorn of Love."
"Fitting. The sex life must be better than with a Succubus."
"Anyways, these creatures, Changelings tried to take me away from my wife on our wedding. Our love ended up throwing them out of the kingdom. Speaking of events, how long were you here in Equestria?"
"Believe it or not, it's my first day."
"Hell of an introduction to the country. Where were you before Equestria?"
"I have folks in Griffonstone."
"Really? I didn't know there were ponies in Griffonstone."
"You learn something new everyday, like finding out you're Twilight's older brother."
"How did you meet Twily, anyways?"
I paused for a moment, thinking of a convincing story.
"I can't remember how I got here, but I woke up in her home. She told me I had a nasty bump on my head. Since she's Princess Celestia's student, she figured that the Princesses can help me out with my memory loss."
"Can you also tell me what happened on that train and why you're jacked up to oblivion?"
"Okay," I began my story, "It started out as a normal ride, and then the car behind us blew up, which shocked the flanks off us and there was an announcement on the train's intercom. Those unicorns in combat fatigues or what's left of them hijacked the train. Their leader and Lieutenant jumped ship before the train hit the tunnel. I got jacked up fighting both of them."
"Good job. For the capture of those terrorists and saving those ponies, I think the princesses will give you a generous reward."
"Wait, if we're heading to the castle, where's the hospital so I can get fixed up?"
"No need; they'll understand. They could close those gashes with magic."
"I know; I'm lucky to be alive, though."
We came up to the castle gates where two gold-armored guards were stationed. The gates themselves were massive. Grey and dull-looking, but massive. The guards had lances to match as well, the flags of the kingdom's crest blew in the light wind. I approached the doors, but they swung their lances in front of me, blocking my entry.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Shining Armor said, quickly intervening, "Cool it, men; he's with me and the Princesses are expecting him."
"Yes, sir."
They returned their weapons to their stance and saluted their CO. The doors clicked and slowly creaked open.
I was deeply moved by the beauty of the castle's interior, well at least the lobby, of course. The floor had a square diagonal checkerboard feel to it. A red carpet with yellow trim ran down through the center of the room with a yellow star in the middle with the traditional North, South, East and West directions. Looking onward, I spotted two glass pane windows atop the half-flight of stairs. The right looked to be a painting of the day sky where the pane next to it was the opposite; the night. Uncertain of direction, I turned to Shining Armor for support.
"Where's the throne room?"
"Well, if you go up the stairs in front of us and take a right up those stairs, there, we'll go in a straight line and we'll see it in plain view."
"Thanks."
I trotted up the stairs, only to stop at the top and looked behind to see the Captain still standing there at the threshold.
"You ain't coming along?" I asked, echoing across the open room.
"I'm waiting for Twily and Spike. Besides, it's best not to keep the princesses waiting."
"Thanks again for direction."
The hall was surprisingly dark for it belonging to the Alicorn of the daytime, but I digress. She must've set that up as a means of me making a proper entrance. I wonder if she really is omnipotent. That would explain how she conveniently knew how and when Twilight would solve all those problems during the first 2 seasons of the show.
I emerged from the dark hallway to a bright long room, bordered on glass panes. As I walked down the center of the hall, looking at each one, bearing familiarity with each major event in the show. From Nightmare Moon and Discord's defeats to Shining Armor and Princess Cadence's love trumping an invasion of changelings.
I stopped dead in my tracks when I first laid my eyes on the Sun Princess, herself in the flesh. She sat there, looking at me, smiling. Luna was also beside her, smiling as well.
"You can step forward; I don't bite," she reassured me. '...hard.' I heard her thought and blushed. Luna noticed my sudden shift in my stance and informed her sister.
"We think he heard thou thoughts, sister," she reminded her of my thought-speech spell, "He possesses the same gifts and potentials we have."
"I took notice. So, can you tell me why we have decided to make you an Alicorn...Liam Silversoul, was it?"
I put a hoof to my chin, pondering the thought, but came up with no answer.
"You know, I never really put any thought into it. Why have you done so? Maybe it had something to with the fact that I saved lives in the past and put an uneasy soul to rest?"
"That's not the only reason," Luna added, "Sister? Care to tell him?"
"I received a vision about the upcoming events that are about to unfold. After what happened half an hour ago, that has confirmed my suspicions on the matter. Can you give us a brief on what happened on the train when you were with my student?"
"To make a long story short, the terrorists are apart of a Unicorn Supremacy group led by a Stallion who calls himself, Herureiza or Hellraiser in Equestrian. Turns out that they are merely a branch of something darker."
"And what might that be?"
"I don't know the details. I snagged a letter of their orders on a piece of paper, but it was mostly burnt. The only thing I could make out was that they were ordered to kill everypony on the train and collect their souls as well as creating a crash to cover up their traces of sabotage."
"Then my fears were right," Celestia deadpanned, slumping deeper into her throne.
"Your guards could get more information off of the terrorists I didn't kill, if they're willing to spill the beans on their plans. I don't think this scrap is enough to warrant damning evidence on who's responsible for this whole mess, even though it seems that Herureiza's the one pulling the strings, it's a gut feeling to me that I think he's only a level 2 goon; the real mastermind is out there, somewhere."
"Either way, you stopped the terrorists, saved everypony on board, including my faithful student and her assistant. I'm more than thankful for what you have done so far."
"This is not the only reason for my visit, though."
"I know; preparations for bringing your family over here to Equestria."
"I'm guessing I'm returning to Earth the same way Luna has found me?"
"Not quite," Luna corrected me, "We simply found you by chance and have observed thou for a reasonable length of time. We needeth thou memories for thy journey to thou old dwelling."
"I vaguely remember what my old home looks like, but I remember the street name. Is that good enough?"
"Yes; we can work with that."
"The easy part is getting there; the hard part is convincing my old man to join us here."
"We'll never know until we try."
"Okay, but I must warn you; my did is a little troubled."
"We can subdue him if he should ever become violent towards you."
I got close to Luna, looking her dead in the eyes.
"He never strikes his family."
"Then it's settled. We're ready when thou art."
I cracked my neck, preparing for the dimensional jump. Luna placed her horn on mine and lit her's up. I done the same, letting her connect her magic with mine. The same tingling warmth flashed over my body when I was human, my vision flashing white and then...nothing. |
The Legacy of Ouija Star Part I: The Silver Soul Family | The Silver Soul Family Part I | Chapter 7: The Silver Soul Family: Part I
The light faded and I fell flat on my face onto the cold dark road. I stood up and rubbed my muzzle in pain. I looked up to see Luna ease down onto the ground with her wings.
"Don't bother trying to joke about my blunder; it will fall flat on its face," I joked.
Luna lightly chuckled. I looked around my surroundings. I was back on Earth, no doubt, but nowhere near my old house. We appeared at a four-way intersection in the same development I grew up in. Luna grew curious but had a good way of hiding it. I could only sense her curiosity by secretly reading her mind.
'So this is what Stone's neighborhood looks like,' she thought, 'The colors and architecture are very depressing, though.'
"Now you know how I felt every time I laid eyes on this place."
Luna jumped at my sudden display of empathy.
"We didn't know thou can read our mind."
"I'm getting the hang of this whole magic thing. It's almost like I was born for it."
"We should talk to Celestia about it, then," She suggested, "When you convince your father to join us and return to Equestria, we can help you solve that mystery."
"Until now, let's find my dad. He should be at my old home."
"Where is it?"
"We're on Lunar Drive, so if I remember correctly, the number 666 should be on either one of the mailboxes and/or on the front door."
"Okay; let's go."
We continued down the middle of the street. Thankfully in the middle of the night, there is practically no cars on the road and everyone must be already in bed, so they won't see two colorful magical Alicorns prancing around in the middle of the street. As we went down the rows of look-alike houses, the address numbers decreased from the 1500's down. We eventually made it to 666 and noticed a light protruding from one of the windows. We walked up to the door and stopped.
"Do you know an 'unlocking the door' spell?"
"Of course," She said, beaming with joy over that knowledge, "Just stand back."
"You're not going to kick in the door, are you?"
"No; why would you think of a silly claim like that?"
Her horn lit up and pointed to the keyhole. The lock loudly clicked and the door opened with ease. I'm relieved she didn't go for the loud Rambo approach or use her traditional Royal Canterlot Voice. I swear she would make a decent Dragonborn Cosplay.
I closed the door behind me, to keep suspicions at a minimum as I'm only here to get my dad to Equestria. I have some concerns, though. I wonder how a 21-year Marine Veteran with PTSD would react to a world filled with cutesy ponies. I would laugh if he would like it and accept it.
We made it to the room where it was the only lit place in the house. A middle-aged man in a military officer's uniform, sleeping at his desk with the lamp still on. The desk itself was unorganized, the papers, pens, and folders were all over the place. I also noticed my obituary cut out from a newspaper at the corner. I levitated it to my level to read it:
Collin "Elliot" Stone
1997 - 2016
Collin Stone 18, passed away in his sleep at Charming Medical Center on November 14, 2016, in Charming, Pennsylvania a month shy of his 19th birthday. He was born on December 14th, 1997 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
He moved to Charming when he was 11 following his parents' divorce. Stone enjoyed music, especially when it was from Marilyn Manson. He had a girlfriend named Madelyn Archer, who died of suicide a year prior to his death. He graduated from Charming High School months before his death.
Survivors include his father, Captain David Stone of the USMC, his mother, Aki Stone, his younger brother, Timothy Stone and his younger sister, Tiffany Stone.
He was preceded in death by his family. His cause of death was of Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia. He was expected to live for another year but tragically passed away early.
Funeral services will be held on November 16th.
My head sank low, looking away from the depressed Marine. Luna walked in and I handed the paper to her. She read the whole obituary, getting more depressed the more she read.
"You didn't convert my body, did you?" I asked her, slightly upset.
"I tried to use your body, but it was too badly damaged."
"So, you lied to me!?" I growled, inching closer to her, backing her into a corner. I sighed and turned my back when the thought of it left my mind, "There's no use in arguing about it, now; it should be water under the bridge, but what about this body?"
"What art thou getting at?"
"Is this what my soul really is, or did you randomly select some random victim to have me possess and turn his appearance to my likeness?"
"What about the dreams you had when you were in the hospital?" Luna referenced my final months on my deathbed, "You were able to use magic in the Astral Plain as well, way before you gained an Alicorn body."
I looked at her in astonishment. I never told her about my ability to go into the Astral Plane.
"How did you know about that?"
"Well, we were able to reach this world through the Astral Plane. We saw a separate reality that held your dreams and the people whom you saved held their dreams as well."
"That's how you were able to reach me in the first place. That means that Herureiza was able to cross over into Equis using the Astral Projection and Soul Manifestation. That's how you were able to create a physical body made out of my interest in your world for me."
"Yes, but to create a physical body for another reality except for your dream world reality, the projector must sacrifice his old one and create a new physical body to suit that world. So, those terrorists were able to cross over from your world into ours. Collin, you have a gift; do not abuse its potential. Promise me you will only use it to cross over your family and only your family."
"I promise. Now, let's go and wake this old bastard up. Go and hide, now."
Luna hid around the doorway while I tip-hooved to his desk and pushed over a vase. I dove over into a dark part of the room before it crashed down onto the hardwood floor. He shot up from his alcohol-induced slumber and spun around in a 360-degree motion in his wheelchair, aiming his gun in all directions.
"Who's there, you son of a bitch!?" he yelled out into the darkness, "I know you're there you slimy, twinkle-toed cocksucker! You ain't stealing my shit you-"
"Dad, calm down!" I called out to him from the darkness, practically scaring him half to death, "It's just me, Elliot!"
He screamed in terror, pushing himself out from the room.
"Dad! Get a grip! I am not dead."
"Yes, yes you are; I saw you at the morgue! You can't be here if you're dead!"
"I'm not; I just...inhabited another body."
"I knew it! You always had a thing for that Satanic magic book!"
"It's not the dark arts; it's...it's...oh, for fuck's sake. Here; let me show you."
I slowly walked out of the darkness, revealing myself in the light of the fireplace. He had an expression on his face that showed both fear and confusion.
"What the hell am I looking at? You look like one of those little horses from the show you watched at the hospital. This can't be happening!"
"Oh, but it is."
"No, it IS not! I. AM. DREAMING! You can't tell me otherwise."
"Then do that trick where you can dislocate your elbow and relocate it."
He quietly nodded and jerked his wrist in a weird direction and angle, the only sound in the room was a quick pop of a joint.
"ASS! PISS! BITCH! FART! FUCK! BOB SAGET!" He screamed in pain, jerking his elbow back into place. A few moments passed and he screamed bloody murder again.
"THIS IS REAL!?"
"That's what I tried to tell you," I said, shaking my head. Dad moved closer to me back into the light of the room but still kept a distance from me.
"Collin?" he said my name, tears welling in his eyes, "Are you really alive?"
I smiled at the mentally drained veteran.
"I am; gave death the finger-uh, hoof."
"You've gotten...shorter."
I pulled his face close to mine, pointing another hoof at his chin.
"Just because I'm short don't mean I can't kick your ass."
"Relax; I just wanted to confirm it 100% that you're my boy or colt."
"Glad you hadn't changed a bit, old man," I complimented, smiling.
"Your mother and siblings are here in Pennsylvania from California."
My ears shot up at the bombshell he dropped. Were they here to blame dad or really attend my funeral?
"Where are they?"
He looked at the fire, thinking.
"I believe, if I'm not mistaken, they're in the Moonlight Hotel."
I raised an eyebrow at his answer.
"Isn't that a romantic hotel?"
"No; you must be thinking of Redmoon Hotel."
"Oh, yeah."
"You're not thinking of going over there, are you?"
I stalled for a second. I had to tell him of my plan. I hope he goes through with this.
"Dad, there's a reason why I look like this and how I'm back here on Earth talking to you."
The smile on his face slowly disappeared and went to an expression of uneasiness.
"What are you getting at?"
"What if I told you there is a way to give you a fresh start; a second chance and being able to walk again?"
His eyes grew wide. I could hear the pace of his breathing pick up.
"Are you able?"
"Look at me, it's obvious I don't have cancer anymore. I think it would be best to show you what I mean. Luna?"
She entered the room with her wings folded and the light shined off her mane, making it look like she was wearing a layer of glitter.
"Who is this? Your marefriend?"
Both mine and Luna's faces grew red.
"Nonononono!" I quickly corrected him, "We are friends and she's the one who gave me my new body in the first place!"
"Allow me to introduce myself," Luna said, spreading her wings, "I am Princess Luna: Co-Ruler of Equestria and Alicorn of the Night and the Dream World."
"I can see why my son likes you," he complimented, "Now, what kind of proposition is my colt, here talking about?"
"Collin was able to live a second life by giving up his old body and a new one manifested when he entered our world," Luna explained, "All ailments, both physical and mental are alleviated upon semi-reincarnation."
"So what you're saying is, if I agree to have my soul put into a ponified version of myself, I would be able to walk again?"
Luna nodded, confirming his prediction. He beamed with joy.
"If I'm able to walk and be with my son again, sign me up!"
"Hold on, pops," I halted his excitement, "There is a catch, though."
"What kind of catch?"
"Mom, Tim and Tiff must come along for the ride."
He sank deep into his chair, his excitement crushed like a cube of garbage.
"I don't want to come along, then."
I scoffed, slightly offended by him declining my offer.
"Dad, this is the only chance I'll be able to offer this to you," I persuaded him, "After that, I won't be able to return to Earth again."
He looked back at the fireplace and loudly sighed.
"Very well," he deadpanned, "But don't expect me to successfully patch things up with your mother."
"Thank you, dad," I said, pulling him into a hug with my forelegs. We broke the hug and noticed Luna's horn glowing.
"Before we reunite with Mom and the others, you will be in Equestria in your new body, but you'll be in a magically-induced coma. When we return with the rest of the family, I will reverse the spell, understand?"
"Sure, I've experienced weirder shit in Iraq, anyways."
"When you do go to sleep, it may feel like a moment has passed, but really it will be just less than 10 hours."
"It will take only that long to make me a new body?"
"Meh; magic bubble, magic babble. But in all seriousness, yes. You ready?"
"You're talking to a 21-year-vet; I think I would be able to handle a little out-of-body life experience."
"Eh, I would beg to differ."
A white wispy light engulfed my dad in a bright haze. The light grew brighter and then, POP! The light was gone and all that was left was his .45 handgun on the seat of his wheelchair.
"Will Celestia know who he is?"
"Yes; she will place him in the medical wing of the castle until you return with the rest of your family."
"Alright. Can you teleport us to the hotel? I don't want to risk anyone spotting us."
"Of course, just hold thine breath."
I exhaled, bracing for the jump. A tingling sensation grew around my body and with a loud crackling pop, we stood in the lobby of the hotel. The interior design was moon-themed, piquing Luna's interest in the room's design.
"I know; beautiful, isn't it?"
"We agree."
"C'mon; let's look for them."
We walked up to the empty front desk. Thankfully, no one was in the lobby nor behind the desk. With a quick flap of my wings, I quietly bounded to the other side of the desk and powered on the computer next to the wall. After sitting through all the logos and company stings, the password screen came up.
'Ah, shit,' I exclaimed in my head.
"Anything wrong?" Luna asked, concerned.
"It's nothing; just a minor obstacle."
I thought of computer code and password manipulation until the screen lit up in the color of my magic. The dots filled up the empty space of the text box and hit "Confirm." After it went to the desktop screen, I thought of names, codes and transaction histories until the command prompt came up where it showed the list of names of the people who are staying in the hotel and the numbers of their rooms. I scrolled through the list, looking for anyone who held the last name "Stone."
To my surprise, I found, "Aki Stone." What surprised me, even more, was that she never went back to her maiden name, which perplexed me since my parents weren't together for 7 years.
'Alright; I found them.'
'What room do they temporarily reside?'
'Room 404.'
As we arrived on the 4th floor, we came across the door to room 404. The lock on the door was electronic, so I could easily trip out the magnetic reader for the card key by giving it a little shock. I tapped my horn on the receiver and gave it a little electricity. A puff of smoke spurted from the card slot and the ding sound echoed in the empty hall. The door clicked open, slowly shedding light on the sleeping mother and her two kids.
There they were, all nestled on two beds. My mother was of Asian descent whereas my father was of Irish descent. If I were any whiter, I would make Vanilla Ice look black. She had short ebony hair where my dad had blonde, almost gray hair. I got my dark hair color from my mom, obviously. My little brother and sister are fraternal twins, looking much like my mother.
All of a sudden, we both jumped at the loud beeping from the alarm clock on the nightstand. The woman stirred awake, tapping the snooze button on the clock, seizing its noise. She stretched her arms out and opened her eyes to see a cartoony pony in front of her. It took her a couple seconds before screaming and recoiling backward from me. My younger siblings shot up and frantically looked around the room.
"What's the matter mom?" they asked in unison.
"There's a horse-thing in the room!"
"Uh, correction; I'm a pony."
My little sister then realized what I appeared to look like.
"Hey! He looks like one of those little ponies I was telling you about, mom!" She observed.
"Yeah, but he looks like a rejected villain," my little brother bluntly said about my appearance.
I scoffed at his accidental insult.
"Really? Is that any way to talk to your older brother?"
They all jumped and held onto each other, not saying another word.
"Oh, for Luna's sake! It's me, Collin."
"That's impossible," mom protested, "Collin died; you can't be him."
"It's raining," I said, pointing a hoof to the window. The rain was pelting against the roof of the hotel and the window, creating an interesting sound.
"I was hoping we wouldn't get soaked at the funeral," Tim complained, "Why does it rain here constantly!?"
Now was my chance. I had a saying back then, and it's now to prove my identity to my long lost family. I took in a deep breath and deeply exhaled.
"It can't rain all the time," I reassured his concern.
Their eyes grew wider than Steve Carell on shrooms. Mom lets go of the twins and got out of her bed.
"Collin?" she said, inching closer to me.
I lightly smiled, tears formed in my eyes. She slumped down to my level, tears formed in her eyes as well.
"Mom?"
"You really ARE alive!"
She pulled me into a bone-crushing hug. It felt like my eyes were going to pop out of my sockets.
"M-mom," I strained, "Choking; not breathing."
She let go with a sheepish smile of embarrassment across her face.
"Sorry. How did you end up looking like a little girl's toy?"
"That...is a long and strange story. You got any gum?"
After I was finished with my past events leading up to this moment, the rain stopped and the sun shone through the window. I left out the Unicorn Supremacist group and the soul gathering parts for fear of turning them off from joining me in Equestria.
"Wow," Mom complimented, "Where is this Luna? Is she with you now?"
"We art right behind thou."
They spun around to face the moon princess, who snuck behind them to observe their reactions to my story.
"Princess Luna!" Tiff exclaimed, rushing to hug her. She blushed and returned her hug.
"We art flattered by thy honor of our night."
"Wait, how is this possible?" Mom asked, "If she's a part of a TV show, how are you and her real?"
"Well," I began, "Ever heard of the multiverse theory?"
"Yes."
"Well, apply that to the Astral Plane and you get multiple realities of endless possibilities. You could get one where that world would be a TV show here, but there, it's as real as our reality."
"How did you get that body, then?"
I gestured at Luna and they turned to hear her explanation.
"We simply used our magic to extract their consciousness and build a body of their choice to suit the world they'll take refuge in. It is then their soul will leave their old body and inhabit their new one and they will enter their world."
"Well, how is Collin still a pony if he's here on Earth?"
"Magic works in mysterious ways, but in all seriousness, his original body was too damaged, that was the main reason we gave him a new one."
"But why choose him and not anyone else out of the 8 billion humans here on Earth?"
"Because he is one of few that hold a special gift of utilizing a grasp on otherworldly rules and powers."
"Is that the only reason? Because I sense that you are keeping us in the dark."
"Collin, your son, is a reincarnation of a lost soul we've been looking for for more than a millennium."
"Wait a minute," I interrupted Luna, "You never told me about that. Was that another reason you brought me to Equestria?"
"Yes; we deeply apologize for not telling you beforehand."
"Water under the bridge. Anyways, my resurrection and return to Earth to see you three is not for the shits and giggles."
"Watch it, Collin," Mom scolded my use of language.
"Sorry. I'm here to make an offer to you three; a choice at a second chance, if you will."
"What are you getting at?"
"I'm asking you to come with me."
She gave me a look like she got hit over the head with a shovel.
"Excuse me?"
"This world is heading towards oblivion; I'm asking you to join me in my journey back to Equestria. You will be given bodies of your choosing, but it will have to fit into the world's rules."
"Is your father already in Equestria?"
"Yes."
"Good; I want to be able to talk to him, catch up on things and all that."
"Are you planning to make things up with dad? Considering all that happened over the course of 7 years?"
"If it means to give up my body and get a new one to claw my way to another world to bring my family back together, I will be going along with you."
Both twins cheered in gleeful excitement.
"Just hold still and Luna will bring us there, ready?"
They nodded and closed their eyes. Luna's horn lit up once more and surrounded us in the same sickly wispy white light.
POP! Home at last. |
The Legacy of Ouija Star Part I: The Silver Soul Family | The Silver Soul Family Part II | Chapter 8: The Silver Soul Family: Part II
We arrived back in Equestria safe and sound in an infirmary wing in the castle. I looked over at Luna and doubled over on my knees, dry heaving.
"We warned thou to hold thy breath."
"Forgot...about that little...detail," I gasped. Nausea passed and I pushed myself to my hooves. I noticed most of my family sleeping on beds, not transformed. It made me curious.
"Hey, why are they not transformed yet?"
"We're waiting until they wake up," Luna quelled my suspicions, "When they do, we'll ask them for a form for them to transform into."
"Where's dad?"
"Asleep in the other wing; Celestia already asked him what form he'll be taking. He'll be the one with the green fur and black mane."
"What species?"
"Pegasus."
"Really? Didn't expect that. I thought he was going to be a Dragon or a Griffion."
"Go see him for yourself."
I nodded and left the wing in search of where my Dad slept. I zoomed through the halls in a full gallop, the clopping of my hooves echoed in the empty corridor. For about five to ten minutes I roamed, unsure if I was going in the right direction.
'Should've asked for a map,' I thought, annoyed.
'Are you lost, Stone?'
'No...yes.'
'From where thou art, take two lefts and then a right. Head straight until you hit a door at the end of the hall.'
'Got it. Thank you for the directions.'
'Anytime, Stone.'
I took the route laid out by Luna and made my way to the other end of the hall. I opened the door to see Celestia standing next to the bed where the army green pegasus rested.
"Will you do the honors, Stone?" she gestured towards the sleeping stallion. I nodded and used the spell to reverse the sleeping spell's effects. He slowly came to, shutting his eyes painfully from the bright lights. He opened them again and looked at me with those same colored eyes from when he was human. He smiled at me, possibly from the fact that he has legs again.
He got out of the bed but fell flat on his face from attempting to stand on his hind legs. He shakily stood up and cracked his neck.
"Well, dad, how do you feel?"
The smile grew on his face to the point where he could rival the Jack Nicholson Joker.
"I feel like the same way I was the day you were born," he said before jumping backward out of a window, shattering the thick glass. I rushed to the open windowsill to see my dad already knowing how to use his wings. I scratched my head in confusion as he did all manners of tricks from the loop-de-loop to the aileron roll. I swear he could give Rainbow Dash a run for her money. He was obviously overjoyed as I heard him whooping and hollering as he flew by the open window.
"He seems grateful for his new gift," Celestia pointed out.
"Obviously. Haven't seen him this happy when he jumped his motorcycle over Bare-Ass Beach years ago."
"What's a motorcycle?"
"It's like a bike, but it has a motor that spins the chain around to make it go faster than you can peddle."
"Interesting," was all she said.
"I'm just glad he can fend for himself one-hundred percent of the time again."
He flew back in through the window and chuckled.
"You look as if you have had those things all your life."
"Well, I had some practice in that dream world you once told me about."
"Surprised to hear that; never thought you would actually try that."
"Speaking of which, where's everybody else?"
"They're asleep in another medical wing," I pointed outside the room, "They weren't converted yet."
Celestia cringed and had a worried look on her face. She stumbled a bit but caught herself on the edge of the empty bed. I rushed to help her back up and looked more closely at her face.
"Celestia, you alright?" I asked, "You seem a tad bit paler than usual.'
"I sense a disturbance is about to unfold. Where is Twilight?"
"Princess Celestia!" Twilight called out as she burst through the door with Spike on her back. She stopped as soon as she seen my dad.
"Liam, who's this?"
"Oh, this is my dad,-"
"Uh," he stalled.
'Dad, do you have a name?'
'How are you reading my thoughts?'
'Don't dodge the question; do you have a name?'
'Yes.'
'Then say it!'
"My name is, Mustang Silversoul."
"Pleased to meet you," she curtsied before letting Spike off her back. He looked at dad, then back to me, then back to him. He held a claw to his chin, thinking.
"You two have the same mane color and eye colors, are you Liam's father?"
"Why yes I am, and you are?"
"Spike; Twilight's assistant."
'And a Dragon,' I mentally added to him.
'Dragons exist in this world?'
'Yes.'
'Kick ass!'
"Well, what now?"
"YOUR MAJESTY!" A guard stormed into the room, panting heavily and slightly stumbling from exhaustion.
"What seems to be the problem, Sargeant?"
"Few members of the Guard just brought back a few bodies," he gasped, "Few were burnt to a crisp and most of them had round wounds all over their bodies. We extracted brass cylinders from the wounds, but we haven't figured out what kind of weapons killed them."
Didn't take long until the next problem reared its ugly head. I walked over to the Guard to gather information from him regarding my potential escaped target.
"Did any of you catch a glimpse of any potential suspects?"
"There was a small dragon," he explained, "About four times the size of that little one, there. He wore some kind of armor and a large battle axe."
"Tell me that ain't it?"
"There was a stallion in a military uniform with black sunglasses accompanying him."
"Herureiza."
"That was the same pony we fought on the train," Twilight reminded me.
"The same pony you let get away," I growled.
"He was luring you into a trap!" she retorted, raising her voice at me. My anger quickly faded, knowing she was right.
"Yeah," I agreed, "I'm reckless; sue me."
"Uh, Liam?" Dad asked, "What the hell happened while you were here?"
I sighed in frustration as I retold my whole story uncut this time.
When I was done, all he did was a nod at me with a puzzling look.
"Liam, may I have a word with you?" Celestia pulled me to the less crowded area of the room to get my full attention.
"So, did you find anything out about the Kentucky Fried Guards?"
"Yes; their bodies were found next to the waterfall at the base of the mountain. I fear they might be making up for their failed mass murder attempt."
"When can I and dad deploy?"
"I have been informed about his experience in this "Marine Corps," just be sure you two come back safe and be sure to capture them without killing them."
"Your Majesty, with all due respect but, why the hell would you want them alive?"
"I want them to be brought to justice and be held accountable for 26 accounts of First-Degree Capital Murder of Equestrian Royal Guards, Hijacking a train, 4 counts of attempted murder, Reckless Endangerment, Robbery, Grand Theft and High Treason."
I thought over my two choices. Killing them would ensure they will not harm another soul and scatter the rest of the terrorists. Capturing them and holding a trial could leave Celestia and Luna vulnerable for a surprise attack, but if all goes well, their execution will set an example for the rest of them to turn themselves in or die to fight.
"However," she went on, catching my attention once more, "If it should come to it, use lethal force as a last resort."
"Understood."
I walked past everypony and out the door, Twilight and the rest followed suit. The gang caught up to me in the hallway, wondering what Celestia told me.
"Liam, what's going on?" Twilight wondered.
"Okay, turns out the rest of the ponies that were thrown off the train are regrouping at the base of the mountain to march back up to attack Canterlot."
"Interesting, so what's the plan?" Dad questioned with curiosity.
"We capture the two suspects, the rest will scatter. Dad, since you're more skilled in flying than I am, I need you to provide me aerial support. We can contact with each other with a one-way Thought Speech Spell."
"Reminds me of nano communications."
Halfway to the castle gate, a muffled boom shook the castle, knocking everypony off balance except for me and Dad. We looked at each other and ran to the window to assess where the noise came from. Outside above the city were two pirate ships held up by massive balloons.
"Well, shit," Dad nonchalantly observed.
"Change of plans. Dad, can you fight alongside the other Pegasi guards?"
He lightly chuckled and flared his wings.
"You even have to ask me?"
He leaped into the air and rocketed off through the window into the fray, shouting random profanity. Spike scratched his head in confusion.
"Don't ask," I insisted them, "He's just excited to have his legs back."
As we made it into the lobby, we noticed scores of Royal Guards racing through the main gate. Shining Armor was standing at the top of the staircase in full gear, observing every soldier leaving the castle. He noticed us and held his hoof out at us.
"Hey! You four need to get back into the throne room," He commanded, "We're under attack!"
"I ain't backing away from this; I got unfinished business with a couple of these bastards."
"Okay, but stay away from the front lines; leave that to us."
I turned to Twilight, holding both her shoulders with my hooves.
"Twilight, you and Spike protect Celestia while I find Herureiza."
"No; It's too dangerous!"
"How many times have I done this?"
She fell silent and looked away, hesitant on supporting my plan.
"Okay," she gave in, "Just don't get too hot-headed."
I gave her a quick peck on the cheek and followed the rest of the Guards in the lobby out into the urban chaos. |
How Luna Adopted a Hatchling (Against Her Will) | pre | Princess Luna's morning started like most ponies' mornings, staring blankly into a cup of black coffee, waiting for the blasted thing to cool enough so she could guzzle it down in one go, all the while wondering if she should just call in sick for work.
The only problem with that was that she only had one other co-worker. One who worked in the same home as her and Luna had already used up her sick leave for the next thousand years.
She was not by nature a morning person, but not for the reason some ponies thought she was. Some pony's assumed that as the princess of the night, she would be nocturnal, a princess of the moon rose with her charge, right? But of course that was silly, if that was the case, how would she work her dream magic? Would she be asleep by day and in a transient magically engulfed state of mind by night? How would she ever eat or bathe if she was effectively asleep both day and night?
How would she have any real relationship with her sister or anypony at all for that matter? Who would wait until three am to come to court? No, Luna was, like most other ponies, diurnal. She woke with her sister's sun and did her job in seclusion as she liked best. Then, at night, she worked the dreamscape in her own lucid sleep. Scouring her charges dreams and searching for negative emotions, and traumas. Such was her way.
Though to add some credence to the rumour, she did in fact sleep later than her sister. Having to raise the moon and meticulously redesign the sky by night meant she was up at least four hours longer than her older sibling. That made mornings rather difficult by default.
She slept little compared to the average pony, but she didn't mind, she was an artist, and this was her passion. She spent her mornings planning the new constellation out on paper. She knew her purpose, the moon and stars were her children and a caring mother she was to them, devoting half her time to them thanklessly and the other half to the ponies underneath them. Leaving none for herself.
Despite this however, she had no wish to change her life as it was now, she saw her beloved sister every day once more, she had a purpose once again and she had her life back, free from misguided bitterness and hatred, everything was perfect.
Well...almost perfect anyway. She had been gone for nearly a thousand years now, and annoyingly things like 'progress and change' hadn't waited for her to come back, in fact, it seemed like they had kicked open the door and threw all she knew out the window the moment she landed on the moon.
It was hard enough learning the history of a thousand years gone by, let alone the social changes. Then there was that blasted new-fangled thing they called technology. Tinkering with metal in ways that pony kind should have left well alone.
Her eyes drew subconsciously towards the box with the hole in it, the one that had been called an "electric quill sharpener" and narrowed them with a look of deep suspicion. Its voracious metal maw had already devoured three of her favourite sketching quills without mercy. She had tried to rescue them, but its avarice would not be sated, her quills never stood a chance. But, it would be a cold day in Tartarus if it thought she would give it her fourth.
They called things like that progress, but she remembered what her grandfather had warned about progress. 'Progress just means bad things happen faster and you bloody well outrun it before it bites your tail off.'
She understood the meaning all too well these days, even though she had to admit, he was never very good with sayings unless they were "charge for glory and death!" or "fight me you coward son of a donkey!" Oh, how she missed him dearly. They didn't make stallions like him anymore.
Yes, some things stayed very much the same, things like her sister's free-loving peaceful ways that made her want to gag. The castle itself also hadn't changed much either; even her room had been practically untouched, her sister had found it too hard to go in there, and the guilt of that still stung at Luna now.
Oh and also the whispers, those damned whispers had never left.
Not those of her other half, her bitter side, the Nightmare. No, it was the whispers of her charges, the whispers ponies made behind her back, the gossip, the nicknames. It had been a thousand years, yet already they had caught up to her, but now in a new fashion.
This time, instead of hearing these slights from the noble class, worms that they were. These whispers had been boldly printed out and put into something they called a newspaper.
One of them just the other day had called her 'The Princess of Snoozing,' another had read 'The One Who Guards Us Behind Her Blanket,' and of course the classic, 'The Sleeping Beauty.'
Gossip columns, that is what Silver Tongue said they were called, wretched rags was her preferred term. Some of them she would have called straight-up treasonous. One of them dared to accuse her rump of being too big!
How dare it, her rump was made of steel, she had trained daily with her squires just last... thought after reading it she had idle and only because she wanted to herself, glanced back at herself then made a mental note to trot down to the training yard later that day.
She also made a mental note to have words with these so-called journalists, preferably right next to a large pit filled with snakes. If she could just get her sister to sign off on that idea somehow...
The first one on that last big list would be the very worst of these papers. The one they all seemed to hold in high regard, The Canterlot Express.
Her gaze fell upon the paper right in front of her, which read 'Should We Be Governed by Bigots?' The picture that accompanied was of her on stage at that stupid ceremony just a few days ago in that barren desert they called Griffonstone.
The words bigoted, speciesist, and separatist were used liberally in the article. She had had to look up what that had meant in the dictionary, they were new-fangled words, invented in the last one thousand years, and frankly, she was utterly shocked by their use.
Not by the meaning, no the meaning was fine, she had no problem with that. But what utterly shocked her was the negative connotation they seemed to convey. It seemed to denote that they were "bad words" and "bad things to be." Apparently, in the last thousand years she was gone, it was now seen as "poor form" to be wary of one's enemies.
When in Tartarus's name had this happened?!
She had been staring down at the article all morning, unable to make sense of it. It was like finishing a puzzle only to find out the picture wasn't the same one on the box. It made no sense at all.
Surely it was no secret, the griffons had been fighting her people for hundreds of years, thousands even, they had been a war-hungry, barbarous species. Her grandfather, father and even herself, had had to fight hoof and horn in bitter, bloody wars for the sovereignty of her kind. Had every pony simply forgotten this?
Had they forgotten the sacrifice of their ancestors so that they were free to make up these stupid rags? So they could make up these stupid names to sully the fallen patriots that littered the fields of battle? Did they know what it felt like to stare at a light hawk brigade plunging down from the sky? With talons raised to gouge out your throat. Let them see that and then let's see who calls who a bigot!
She slowly shook her head, sometimes it seemed as though she had still not quite awoken from the nightmare. Bad enough they could move freely in her lands, free to spy on her government, but worse that she had to suffer the indignity of 'playing nice' with those people in their quagmire of a country.
Suffering through their prattle, ears ringing with their harsh sounding made-up words and sat with their 'iron willed' Emperor. The only iron she had seen was in his spoon he held at dinner and even then he had needed help lifting to his beak.
But her sister had begged her and she was devoted to her family and her people. So she played nice, all the while her teeth clenched and her stomach turned, but she had done it, hadn't she?
Now they had dared to call her a separatist, to insinuate that she had not been pleasant enough, what did these rags want from her, was she supposed to kiss their filthy paws?
How frankly embarrassing, that she would have to placate ponykind's most bitter enemy. Her of all ponies, who had lost so much to those rodent chasers, who had lost her-
Luna let out a startled gasp as hot liquid coating her hooves, glancing down she noticed the remnants of her white coffee mug now in pieces against her desk. She realised she crushed it in her anger, black liquid seeped over the aligned papers on her desk and onto the floor.
She gave a tired sigh. Oh, it was going to be this type of morning it seemed. She rose from her seating pillow to find one of her servants to clean it up. She had not gotten a few hooves away from her desk however when she stopped, as something odd caught her attention.
It wasn't a thing per say, nothing jumped out at her, Nothing moved beyond her peripheral, no shadows shifted across the wall. In fact, it was that distinct lack of movement to the room that caught her attention. That heightened understanding of stillness and quietness was not something a normal pony would have noticed. But a ruler of a disaster-prone country developed the habit of spotting the one pony standing still in a moving crowd, the one staring at you and you alone, holding a knife behind his back, or worse yet, a document to sign.
Luna's brow crinkled, yes her room was far too quiet, she flashed her gaze around it, but could not see anything out of the ordinary. The curtains had no hooves sticking out from under them. The lampshades did not mysteriously sprout hair and sneeze suspiciously when you walked past them and there was no pony under the bed, she had made sure of that moons ago when she commanded the legs to be removed, she was not going to fall for that old gag again. Her assassins would have to try harder than that... assuming she still had assassins, sadly she probably didn't.
It said much about the state of a country when a monarch did not have to worry about assassins, fields this country was falling to the dogs.
Then suddenly she heard a scratching sound. Her ears flicked in that direction at once towards the sound at the corner of her room. Across from her towards the walk-in wardrobe, a noise perforated through the two dark blue doors.
She stayed there poised to strike, but all she could hear then was silence. Then after she almost convinced herself it was nothing, the sound came again, this time louder than the first. Followed by another unusual sound, this time between a grunt and a moan. It wasn't something a stallion could make, nor a mare, it was too soft, too quiet, it was too...
Too cute?
Luna, her spilled coffee now forgotten, trotted towards the closet, her mind entirely focused on what the sound was. Clearing the distance to the doors, she leaned forwards against one of the frames and pressed an ear against the wood listening intently. A flicker of hope burned in her chest.
After all, sun and moon be praised, it could still have been an assassin?
When no sounds of blades being unsheathed came from the closet, she finally lit her horn and opened the doors, only to be greeted by another altogether unusual sound.
This one was unmistakable. It was the sound of a high-pitched giggle. Luna recognises it at once, it was a giggle only a foal could make.
Luna's eyes almost bulged out of her sockets. There was a foal in her closet!
"What in the fields above?" She mutters to herself.
The thoughts of how, what, where, and why, sprang instantly to her mind all at once. How did somepony sneak an infant into her room, what was it doing here of all places, where did it come from?
And more importantly, why her?
Not that she was as disturbed by that last part. It was no secret she loved foals. They never whispered behind her back or talked endlessly of taxes, they were candid, demanding, and sometimes rather brutally honest too. Traits she admired in a pony. She was many of those things herself after all.
Though on the subject of foals, it had to be said she was quite frankly shocked by their lack of education, the fact that a foal could reach the age of ten these days without even picking up a spear was frankly cruelty in her eyes
But at that moment the idea of why she was in her undergarments was more insidious.
Lighting her horn, the doors of her wardrobe opened softly, Luna peered into it scanning the pitch-black room.
A dark sky-blue dress flickered outwards catching Luna's eye, pulled off the rack the dress crumpled over a tiny bassinet obscuring her view of the foal inside. It seems that the possible infant had pulled it down on itself as it played with the hem. She could assume that by the small bumps coming from the dress as the foal pushed up from underneath it.
Briefly, she questioned whether or not it could have been one of those 'bring your progeny to work days.' There would have to be questions raised about boundaries in the not-too-distant future.
She moved softly so as not to startle the infant. Luna decided against magic and spoke softly, "There, there little one, tis okay, we are here now." Luna whispered in a cooing fashion.
The laughter stopped and soon enough there was something like a whimper. Luna chuckled softly, a warm smile on her face. "I understand we would be upset as well if we woke up in someone's undergarments," Slowly she peeled back her crumpled dress only to feel the resistance of the foal who was still clinging to it, apparently unwilling to give up its new expensive blanket.
"Ahh tis a strong little one indeed!" Luna joked as she teased the blanket away playfully, "A fine warrior you will be little one, but we require our clothing back, or Ms. Rarity will not be too happy." Luna cooed as she tugged again gently, "If you relinquish this to me little one, I know a my first disemboweling spear that would be just right for you to play-," she stopped mid-sentence as a ripping sound echoed through the wardrobe, then a playful squawk, then she caught sight of tiny claws appeared through the fabric.
Luna flinched backwards at the sight, ripping the light fabric away from the infant's clutches in the process. The shock and force of it caused the thing inside to begin crying all at once, the sound echoing through the chambers.
But by then, Luna could barely hear it now, as she stared at the creature in her basket. Trying with all her might not to scream.
In a stunned daze, she backed away from the basket, colliding with the doorframe in her haste to move away as fast as possible all the while her gaze was fixed on the flailing infant. Its razor-sharp paws and claws scratched at the air as it wailed.
Her breath became quick and rapid, her mind retreating as memory flooded and took their place. She felt the phantom touch of the claw against her throat, felt those eyes staring death into hers, felt the pain as the blade cut across her cheek.
A shudder went through her very soul as her hoof flailed for the doors of the Wardrobe finally slamming them shut.
She stood there room blurring then lifted up a hoof, and promptly smacked herself across the muzzle. It seemed to work, the muddy field in her mind's eye was replaced with the palace once more. Torn and burning tents returned to cotton and feather-down bedding and the wailing of soldiers turned back to the wailing of an infant.
Though that latter one was not much better.
A figure burst into her room. Luna turned, watching it stumble on the edge of a carpet, despite one not being there before, watched as she slid across the room on it then promptly spun into the air and onto its muzzle. The sounds of a squeaking like a rubber ball being squeezed echoed through the chamber in place of a thud. Luna stared at the figure, at the mare with lipstick smeared into a jester's smile and, a maid's skirt up ended over her head revealing a cutie mark of a smiling and frowning mask stuck together.
The maid got up frantically, her eyes widened almost impossibly big as she locked eyes with Lunas, "oh uncle's going to kill me." she muttered in a high pitch whine. Luna recognised her instantly, it was one of her dear sisters' maids.
Luna's left eye twitched as blind rage tapped fear on the shoulder and told it to take a hike for a while. Seeing red she turned on the spot and stormed toward her balcony doors, nearly ripping them off their hinges as she stormed onto the veranda. There was only one pony that would dare have the audacity to do this to her.
The cool air did little to stem the inferno in her body, she knew in her heart that this had only one response.
She felt her royal voice form in her throat as she bellowed out the castle window.
It took several minutes to quiet down the crowd, Celestia stood there patiently, she had to admit to herself she was perhaps enjoying this a little too much.
When you reached your second millennia of age, you had to get your kicks where you could. After all, she had done almost everything else. But for some reason, shocking and pranking ponies still tickled her pink. It was one of her few little vices, besides stuffing her face with sugar.
This one though, the reaction to a thousand ponies all collectively picking up their jaws from the floor simultaneously, she had to admit, this was going to be hard to top.
Still, the questions flew at her, rabid for more information.
"How long has the princess been pregnant?"
"Who's the father?"
"When were you planning to make this public?".
"Has this been a royal cover-up, the people have a right to know?"
"Is the tax increase going to fix my potholes?"
But like all things, the high came too quickly and left too fast. Celestia finally raised her hoof to the sky and the crowd slowly began to settle once more. "My fellow ponies, I understand that this has been as much of a shock to you as it was to me when my sister came home with my new niece."
After another bout of questions, Celestia calmly spoke over them. "As you all know, my sister has been lost to us for nearly a thousand years." She left a dramatic pause, this one was genuine, "in which she spent on the moon alone, absence makes the heart grow fonder and over those years she had felt an ache not simply to be back home but to have what she thought she might never have, a family to call her own, an heir."
She stared meaningfully into the crowd, "Being a member of the royal family means sacrificing our personal lives for duty. We do not bemoan this, we are proud to serve, nay, honoured to serve. But despite it all, we are still ponies at heart, we want what everypony would want, safety, happiness, love and family, though not all of us have the time for this."
Unless you're Cadence, she thought, which reminded her she really needed to start pushing the paperwork downstream a little. "The heart wants what it wants," she said, reiterating something she had seen on the back of a postcard, "she had confided in me that she had been planning this for a long time, though it was still I will admit a happy shock to see it done so quickly." She mentally thanked Silver Tongue for that assistance, for a stallion of his size he sure moved quickly or at least employed people who could.
More questions followed, but now most of them were simply listening, enraptured by the little insight into the ruler's lives not many knew of. Even if it was mostly fiction, Celestia glanced down at the speech, this would determine everything, not simply her life for the next one hundred years. But all the lives of everyone she knew. If this worked she would spare not simply one country but two from a disastrous fate.
"In her travels, she met many griffons, some royal, some simple folk, a lion working at a lumber mill, a mare who operated the clouds in conjunction with Couldsdale. All of them had left an impact on her. But none had as much as one single young cub bereft of a mother and a father tragically lost to her." She let that pause simmer for a moment.
"This cub, living in an orphanage had nothing in her life save the kindness of strangers caring for her," a pang of sympathy shot through her at that moment, she knew what it meant to be orphaned, but at least she had her sister, speaking of.
"To lose a loved one is no easy thing to bear, but to be so young, to have only just come into the world and have that which binds you to it, what brought you into it taken. That is the story that my sister heard, that is the story that fermented in her heart that the time to start a family was here and now. My sister is not a mare to let something like this pass her by."
"Princess Luna, my sister is perhaps too brash at times, I am sure that some of you know this." Once more she could see the nobles and some of the Royal guards sharing knowing glances. "Perhaps, this is not enough of an excuse for her actions in Griffonstone, but please if you do not forgive her for what you might have heard, then at least understand her plight. After all, adopting a young foal is hard enough," She paused then allowed herself a genuine giggle, "Well in fact that is the incorrect term as my sister has in fact adopted a hatchling." Silently out of the corner of her mouth, she muttered, "against her will."
Several hundreds of mouths sucked in a breath at the same time, reporters' quills broke against scrolls and in the noble stands, there was a tinkering of glass as several monocles fell into brandy glasses.
Celestia's smile was serene, but inside she was rolling on the floor in a fit of laughter, "I understand the confusion my little ponies, I too was stunned, when I heard the news myself." Stunned into a murderous rage, by sisters' actions, more accurately but stunned nonetheless.
"But I have spoken for far too long," She added quickly before more questions could be asked, any one of which could bring down this house of cards before she had even built the base, "I am sure you are all eager to see your newest princess, my sister has graciously allowed me to bring here hear today, though I ask you all to please keep your voice down she is still only young after all." She said looking back towards the curtains of the stage.
A guard behind her saluted and pulled back the curtains, all eyes fell upon a small table on which stood a basket, not unlike one might use to pick apples. Inside the bundle, there was a blanket drawn over the top covering the opening.
Celestia's brow raised slightly as she stared at it. Perhaps at that moment, she should have noticed something was wrong, for instance, Silver Tongue's niece should have been with the basket for a start. But she was nowhere to be seen. What's more, the blanket was still over the basket and a neat bow had been fixed on it, like it was a gift box.
Celestia fought back an uneasy smile as she glanced back towards the crowd, "it seems my little niece is shy." She joked, there was general laughter from the crowd. "If you would bring her to me please." She said, indicating from the Dias to the guard who had pulled back the curtain, he saluted and moved over towards the basket.
There were the sounds of thousand necks craning upwards to see, followed by some of the more desperate ones flapping their wings, even some of the guards, the less subtle ones were staring at the corner of their eyes.
The guard in question moved towards the basket and lifted the blanket up. Then after a moment, to everyone's surprise, Celestia's most of all, instead of taking the basket to her, he put the blanket back down over it and marched back towards her.
The crowd began to mutter as Celestia lent down, extending an ear towards him. The stallion, usually a stern man by nature, leaned in and in a cracked voice said, "Um, She's not their princess, in fact, there's just a... cake."
Celestia furrowed her brow, looked back at the basket, then back at the crowd all of whom had gone deadly quiet, "Nothing to worry about everyone, I'll only be a moment, she's playing hide and seek it seems."
Celestia did her best not to run as she made her way to the basket, she tried her best to block the view with her body as she lit her horn and moved the blanket away. Instead of her niece, there was indeed a cake, with pink frosted writing that said Congratulations on the new baby Lulu.
Celestia didn't have time to feel fear, didn't have time to feel panic. Because in that nanosecond before the world around her exploded. She had just enough time to look upwards and remember in that instant that she was not the only immortal being out there that enjoyed getting a rise out of others. Then, after that nanosecond had passed, a voice of pure vengeance punctured the sky, loud enough to somehow shake the very clouds themselves.
"SISTER GET THINE ENORMOUS BEHIND OVER HERE, NOW!"
It seemed despite their best efforts, Luna had already met her new daughter. |
How Luna Adopted a Hatchling (Against Her Will) | A Little Family Squabble (Part One.) | It was safe to say, Golden had not been so scared in all her twenty-five years of life. Not even after the great circus fire that had her permanently banned from the clown guild. One that she had absolutely nothing to do with and Rosey Cheeks was lying through her fat muzzle if any pony said otherwise.
But at least in that instance, she had not upset an ancient and powerful monarch. Well... At least not in her own bed chambers, as far as she could remember anyway.
The last ten minutes had been a blur, she hadn't remembered running into the closet or barring the door with an unusual array of battle axes, cannons, and a battering ram. All of which were inexplicably inside Princess Luna's closet, next to her disused gala dresses.
But there was no time to contemplate that. As she huddled deeper into the walk-in wardrobe. Because even now she could hear the cracking and thudding of flying furniture outside. All of it swirling about in a magical maelstrom caused by one Alicron who was having something of a bad morning. She winced as what sounded like a makeup table smashed into a wall, praying that the wardrobe doors would hold.
It took Golden what courage she could still muster up at that moment to gaze through the slit in the doors. When she pressed her eye to the slit, she felt a chill in her bones, cutting through her body like a frozen gust in the depth of winter night. Despite the gentle rays of the early morning sun, it had grown darker somehow in the room, all light was being absorbed into a black mass in the shape of an Alicorn.
Working with the princesses every day, one might be forgiven for forgetting just how powerful they were; The fact that the sun and moon were theirs to control notwithstanding. Not only were they some of the most powerful magical users in all of creation. But for whatever reason, if that all failed they still had the natural strength to arm wrestle a dragon, oh, and a foot-and-a-half-long spear in the shape of a horn, conveniently attached to their heads.
To make matters just that little bit worse, below Golden another princess was giving out in her own way, tail, and talons outstretched as she cried. "Shh,'' Golden shakily cooed towards the wailing little griffon in her forelegs who ignored her. Golden couldn't blame her, she wouldn't have minded doing the same thing right now.
Then suddenly, the sounds of breaking furniture ceased. Moments passed in silence which Golden took as a good sign, perhaps the princess had finally calmed down? Well, that, or she had run out of things in her room to break. Golden had a sudden and worrying feeling in that moment that the only thing left that qualified for that in the room was her.
She glanced once more through the slit and almost wished very much that she hadn't. The princess wasn't there anymore. The room was empty, the cacophonous crashing replaced by an eerie silence. It felt at that moment like one of those horror novels, in which she would only have to blink and one of the Princess's eyes would be staring right back at her from the other side of the door.
In moments like this, which happened more often than she would have liked, she often wondered if all this was worth it, fighting against her cutie mark like this. Say what you like about clowns, preferably at a safe distance from a custard pie. But they never had this kind of danger.
Before she had started, her uncle had told her that the most notorious incident that had swept through the castle, was when one maid had blasphemy put a salad fork in with the fruit forks. That scandal had been the worst event for almost a year, and then she had shown up.
Now she was facing danger every time she was put on the frilly dress and bonnet. Compared to right now she would almost take being a clown again, almost. Having a bucket of water land on your head or being fired out of a cannon didn't sound so bad compared to an ancient Alicorn's wrath.
Golden reached for the doorknob, all the while the little lioness squirmed in her hooves. She gave a gentle push with her hooves to open the door a crack, but she needn't have bothered. The gilded door gave one long loud groan, like the death wail of a woolly mammoth and collapsed with a loud bang onto the floor. She winced, waiting for... well, something bad to happen. But nothing in the room moved. She gave a grateful sigh of relief, perhaps the princess had left. Finally some good luc-
"You...jester, a word." The voice behind her was otherworldly. Calm, but with a weight of danger to it. Golden felt a primal fear then, one that her ancestors might have felt when they first lit a fire in the cave, only to realise they were not the only ones who occupied it. But were the only ones that didn't eat meat.
Golden spun round, "Oh, h-hello Princess, didn't s-see you there, I was j-just, you know...cleaning." She said to the towering princess.
"Tis an interesting feather duster you have?" Princess Luna said slowly, eyes glowing in a blaze of dark blue magic. What Golden could make of her pupils were glancing down at the hatchling in Golden's hooves.
Oddly enough the hatchling had stopped her cry somewhere in the exchange. Instead, she was now watching the larger princess intensely, her small prehensile tail flicking from side to side like a cat spotting its next potential snack.
To her credit, Golden didn't break eye contact and run. Instead, she broke out a fake and uneasy grin instead. "W-well it's a little louder than a normal duster, b-but you have to admit the wings certainly hel-"
"Silence!" The princess snapped suddenly, Golden did her best impression of a plank of wood, fighting her foreleg not to snap to a salute, a reptilian brain response to a natural commander barking orders. The princess watched her for a moment, then her voice grew softer again, but no less menacing for that reason, "Who put you up to this?"
"Up to what princess?" Her brain had decided to play the fool. It was the role she was born for after all and the only defence mechanism. That tactic had been used all across the history of jesters and clowns. Her great-great-great grand uncle had often been asked by the court to deliver bad news to the Count of Briddleton. He had been rather successful at it, right up until one day when he had accidentally and unfortunately woken up to find himself staring down a hooded figure, a choppy block, and a particularly sharp axe.
"Was it my sister?" The princess demanded, moving closer. "Her sick idea to prank me?" The growl that followed made Golden's fur stand on the back of her neck, "or was it that fool Discord." She spat the latter name like a snake might have spat venom, "or perhaps it was all of you servants, mocking me from my behind?"
Golden gulped, "I-I've never once made fun of your behind princess, I-I barely even look, I swear!"
The princess of the night continued her advance with the swagger of a jungle cat that knew its prey had nowhere to go, "Do you think that this is some sort of a jest? Do you think that because I am the younger sister, because I do not know the modern world, that I am fair game as they say?" Golden felt her flank hit the wall, she pressed up against it all the while the Griffon wriggled in her grasp to get free, at that moment Golden didn't blame her for that either.
"I-I don't play games princess, I had to give that up with the red nose years ago." Oh why did her brain have to be witty now, why couldn't she just grovel like the rest of the maids?
Princess Luna's shadow engulfed the pair of them, "You know, there was a time that being a princess meant having your subjects show you some respect. Our grandfather was partial to the carrot and stick method, particularly the stick." She spoke the last part slowly and with deliberate emphasis, there was a flash then and Golden could swear she saw her pupils become almost reptilian slits. "It was one of the few things we disagreed on. But now, perhaps I think maybe he had the right idea." Golden's gulp was audible, "Perhaps we could give you a demonstration?"
Golden opened her mouth to disagree but felt her lips were unable to move from sheer terror.
"Yes," the princess continued, "we think so, perhaps with a pit, filled with snakes. How does that sou-oof!"
There was a thud then, not a heavy or particularly loud one, it was almost like the gentle thud of a pillow being thrown onto a bed. Luna stopped, the threat dying on her lips as she blinked and looked down at her chest. Golden's eyes followed her gaze. They were all momentarily stunned by what had latched onto her chest, or more accurately who.
The little lioness's beady eyes stared up from her stepmother's chest with a look of inquisitive determination. Her tiny wings flapped wildly as she clutched onto dark blue fur, a questing claw was already haphazardly trying and failing to touch her ethereal mane. The room lapsed into a palpable silence save only for a tiny strangled gasp that left Princess Luna's throat and a gentle rumbling noise from the little cub that sounded oddly enough like purring.
There was always a silver lining in these things if you looked hard enough. For one the little lioness had probably been aiming for Princess Luna's face, but hadn't quite been high enough to reach it, thank the fields above. The second was that at least Golden was going to see something cute before this all ended in disaster. It wasn't much of a silver lining actually, more like a speck of iron shavings in the miners-pan.
Luna's mouth opened and closed several times as her brain seemed to have shut down from all rational thought. Her horn lit up almost of its own accord and the hatchling levitated in a ball of magic up towards her face.
The little cub blinked owlishly as she spun around to face the Alicorn. Then, completely oblivious to the situation, she let out a playful giggle, lifting her arms up trying to reach in vain for Princess Luna's star-lit mane once again.
Golden's body acted before her brain could tell her to flee. Taking the initiative, she shot up, snatching the little princess from mid-air and ran. "Wow look at the time, I'm going to put your daughter to bed now princess!"
The little cub gave out a mewing cry of protest as Golden galloped for the door. It seemed the little cub at least was having something of a good time and was not pleased by it being interrupted. Golden wasn't paying attention though, all she could hear as she ran was her thudding of her own heart in her ears.
Princess Luna's mind seemed to snap back into reality all too soon. A reality Golden could see was not one she was pleased by. "What did you just say, daughter?" Luna barked out, anger and confusion sharp across her features.
Golden was already at the door, thinking of where she could hide, her room was out, so was most of Canterlot. Perhaps Mexicolt? Was that far away enough to outrun an Alicorn? It was at least warm this time of year, maybe if she could somehow change her name, fur colour, and cutie mark?
But all of her plans came crashing down around her when suddenly, much to her horror, the door opened of its own accord. She watched with bated breath as another shadow eclipsed her.
"Ah there you are Golden, thank the fields above, I thought I might have been-" the large figure paused as she glanced at the damage around the room. Somewhere behind Golden, a chandelier crashed onto the ground. "...Too late." She finished lamely.
Golden winced as the sound of marble cracked under Princess Luna's hoof like ice. "Sister," she hissed, horn and eyes flaring with magic once again. "Thou had best start explaining thyself," she growled through gritted teeth, horn radiating with magical energy. "Otherwise we will not be responsible for what we are about to-" whatever potential threats of snakes and pits the princess was about to say next were quite literally extinguished. Before she could finish a small pink magic bubble engulfed Luna's head and drowned out all noise.
The night Alicorn stood in momentary stunned silence as the magical bubble quickly engulfed her whole body in its pinkish hue. She recovered quicker than before though as her brow furrowed and she lashed out with a spell. But the bubble did not so much as wobble.
"What was it you told me all those years ago, when you beat me in the training yard? If you have to act, act, don't yammer on about it," Celestia said with a smile. Golden was somewhat of an expert on smiles on a genetic level, but you didn't have to be an expert to see it was a deeply strained one.
Golden watched as Princess Celestia's gaze turned back towards her niece, who was still fussing in Golden's hooves. "Oh look at you, I'm so sorry little one," She moved over towards her and scooped the infant up into her forelegs hugging her to her chest, "My little brave lioness, there-there, please don't cry." She spoke in a soft infantile voice, one that Golden did not think the princess could possess. Golden watched as Princess Celestia sniffed the air and leaned back slightly and added, "Oh no, does someone need a diaper changing?"
"I-I'm not quite sure yet princess, I'll let you know when my legs stop shaking," Golden said with a pained wince, as she watched Princess Celestia's horn light up and produce a dummy.
She offered it to the crying lioness, who stopped her squirming long enough to open her eyes and stare at the thing. Golden wasn't quite sure if griffons could even hold pacifiers in their mouths, what with them not having lips in the traditional sense, and was amazed when she latched onto it with her beak and claws. Only to begin tearing it apart peck by peck.
"Well..." Celestia said slowly, blinking down at the sight. "That's not entirely what I had in mind, but I'm glad to see that trick still works regardless of the species," She smiled, more genuinely this time as she watched her little niece attacking the dummy in earnest. Strangely out of everything, Golden noticed the little hatchling did not show even the slightest bit of interest in her auntie's mane.
Finally, Princess Celestia tore her gaze away from her niece and back up towards Luna, who was still attacking the bubble with her horn, hoof, and magic, all to no avail.
"That's not going to work Lu, it's not pony magic." She said producing a small black obsidian stone with a wave of her horn. Golden could see runes inscribed on the stones, but she didn't recognise any of them at all. "It's Griffon's stone, from Griffonstone," Princess Celestia said to Golden with a wink, "they're amazing at rune crafting, but sadly they've always been lacking in the names department." (1)
Princess Luna was literally glowing now with rage as she lashed out at the bubble, Golden took a step backwards behind Princess Celestia who simply rolled her eyes. "You can do that all day and expect the same results sister, I understand that you are upset, but if you promise to keep things civilized I will dispel the rune."
The thrashing continued for a few more moments. Then reluctantly, there was a long moment of silence as Princess Luna's eyes narrowed to dangerous slits. Slowly, almost imperceptibly, she nodded her head.
Celestia watched her for another moment, then slowly the glowing stone in her aura began to dim until it was just a rock once more. She turned, handing the baby hatching back to Golden. Composing herself for a moment, then turned back right as Luna's horn lit up. A stool, perhaps the last undamaged piece of furniture in the room, flew in the direction of Celestia.
Golden opened her mouth to warn the princess, but before it could even reach six feet from her, it exploded into smithereens. Celestia staggered slightly, then glared at her sister, "Now that was childish."
Luna snorted like a bull, stamping closer, "Thou had had thine fun sister, now get thee gone!"
Celestia fixed her with a deadpan glare, "Oh, I very much doubt this is fun, for any of us," she paused as laughter peppered those words and glanced behind her, "well maybe for one of us," Celestia said, as Golden watched the cub giggling at the magical fireworks with great enthusiasm.
"Get that thing out of my chambers and extricate that look from thine face, before so help us we will come over and do it for thou with the back of our hoof."
"You're speaking in the old tongue again Lu," Celestia said in an exacerbated tone, she massaged her muzzle with a tired hoof, "Look, this wasn't how I wanted it, but I suppose now is as good a time as any for you to meet your daughter."
A crack of energy burst from Luna's horn and was barely deflected by Celestia's own magic as it crashed through a window elsewhere in the room. Golden couldn't see where it landed, she was too busy using Princess Celestia's legs as a riot shield at that moment.
"Do not use that word, break this farce at once, we have had enough of this!" Luna bellowed, her eyes dangerously narrowed.
Celestia exhaled, she looked then, at least in Golden's eyes every day of her many years of life as she turned back towards Golden. "Be a dear and take our little bundle of joy out of the room for a while please Golden."
Golden didn't need to be told twice, she snatched the little princess from Celestia's hooves and nearly skidded across the marble floor in her haste to escape. But as she turned to lock the door she caught Princess Celestia's face. Any lingering serenity was gone, in fact in that moment she looked just as terrifying as her sister had been.
"I think it's time we had a good long talk sister," Celestia said, igniting her horn. |
How Luna Adopted a Hatchling (Against Her Will) | A Little Family Squabble (Part Two) | If asked, it would be a safe assumption that most ponies would have guessed Princess Luna to be the more hot-blooded one of the two sisters.
After all, she was the one that had historically led the charges on the front lines in her past. She was the one often sent for hard-nosed diplomacy. Which was about the only sort of diplomacy she considered worth doing.
But also because she naturally did what most ponies had to be taught in prison to do on their first day. She treated life like it was the biggest stallion in the yard, and walked up to life with the intention of knocking it unconscious to assert dominance before it had the chance to do the same to her. Incidentally, this was also why she was still barred from most taverns to this day.
But because of this, ponies often forget Princess Celestia also held a terrifying temper of her own. After all, Celestia was the mistress of the sun and there was nothing that burned hotter than its rays. Whilst she was Gentle and serine in places she could be scorching and mercilessly unforgiving in all the others.
It had been a very long time since anypony had ever seen this other side of the princess of the daylight however. Even Luna had forgotten it, which was why she did not expect what happened next.
"Good riddance." Luna spat as she watched the maid and that creature flew from the room. She turned towards her sister once more. "Now then, dear sister, prepare yourself for swift retribut- gah!" Luna stopped her speech mid-sentence as she was lifted into the air. She hung there for a moment, suspended by her tail before she was pinned up against the wall upside down.
Her limbs clamped against the wall in magical bindings as her horn scraped against the floor. Shaking the shock from her mind she tried to move, engulfing her horn with magic to break the hold. But felt her magic ebb away, silenced by the pink bubble once more.
Suddenly her vision was engulfed by the white fur of her sister's hooves. She glanced up then quickly realised she was upside down and glanced back downwards to see an irate face glaring down at her.
Her sister's eyebrows furrowed and her mouth fixed into a wide smile. It took another moment for Luna to realise that she was still upside down and her sister's smile was in fact a very prominent scowl.
"Are you quite done, dear sister?" Celestia growled. It had been a long time since she had heard that tone spoken. All at once Luna's anger cracked slightly, it didn't shatter but there was definitely structural weakness and leaks were quickly forming.
She hadn't seen her sister mad at her like this in nearly fifteen hundred years, not since she had placed her hoof in a bowl of hot water, while she slept in the grand duchess's new bed. Or even when she had replaced the conditioner with hair removal cream the day before a national address.
She had not even seen her that mad during that dreadful night when the Nightmare had taken over and had thrown both their lives into disrepair, if anything her sister had just seemed lost.
Luna opened her mouth but Celestia hoof covered it, "I think you're done talking, maybe you would benefit from listening for a change?" She whispered, teeth bared like a wolf's snarl. "Perhaps you would like to hear a story instead, about how Silver Tongue and I pulled your flank out of the fire you so gleefully lit under yourself in Griffonstone."
Luna raised one brow slowly, Griffonstone, she was hearing a lot of that dreadful name lately, what had she done so badly in Griffonstone?
"I bet you're thinking, what did I do in Griffonstone?" Celestia said.
Luna blinked then shook the surprise from her face, but they both knew she was lying.
Her sister exhaled slowly, but the fire still burned in her eyes, "You know, I'm so happy you're back Luna," she said though she looked anything but, "I don't think I was ever truly happy in all those thousand years you were gone, I thought the only thing that could make me happy was seeing you safe and home again, but by the graves of our ancestors you really test that sometimes Lu."
"What are you talking about," was what Luna tried to say, but all that came out was a muffled mumble.
"Do you know in the two years you've been back I've had no less than seventy-two complaints from foreign dignitaries, can you guess from how many countries?"
Again Luna tried to talk but Celestia cut her off. "One country, one! Odd I thought, she gets on well with the minotaur's, despite those border disputes in the past? Zebrica, she's practically their strongest advocate, in spite of the fact I remembered she strongly advocated for a scorched earth policy when their tyrant queen's skirmishes spilled into our lands." Celestia said, scratching her chin in mock thought.
Luna didn't actually remember that, she remembered something about a dispute of course. But she had never advocated for a scorched earth policy? A slightly singed one perhaps, medium to well done at the most extreme.
"But the Griffon delegation, well she wouldn't even meet them, despite the fact they're technically our oldest Ally. I know she has her problems with them, but she is the one that always talks about duty to our country first and foremost. She always drones on about how the monarchy should be above pettiness and stand strong, a symbol to all. So perhaps she will behave herself? Especially since they are so pleased to be the first country to host you since your return, they are very big on royalty after all."
Luna was already starting to tire of this, the words, "get to the point!" Was on the tip of her muffled tongue. Ponyfeathers, her sister should have taken her own advice about monologuing.
"So imagine my surprise when our poor friend Silver Tongue came back and said that Luna committed what would in most cases be a declaration of war."
Ah, there it was, the reason for Celestia's anger perhaps? Luna's eyes widened at how casually her sister used that word. War? With the rodent chasers? Over a few jokes?
Luna felt her sister's hoof lift off her mouth and wasted no time speaking, "What in the seven rings of Tartarus are you talking about Tia, I did no such thing!"
Celestia cocked her brow at that. "Really? So you didn't insult the whole of their royal family, called them rodent chasers, unfit to govern themselves, and then smash their sacred staff on the ground, none of that happened, yes?"
Luna's mind flicked back to that day. It had been a bit of a blur in all honesty, she had remembered cracking a few jokes at their expense sure. But she did that with the minotaur's and they didn't seem to mind, they communicated with headbutts after all! A few little words were hardly going to affect them. It wasn't her fault if those bird brains could not take a little ribbing.
Odd though, she didn't remember breaking any staff. Come to think of it, she didn't remember much after taking the stage. Only seeing the sea of twisting snake-like tails. Hearing that incessant squawking, those pointed beaks sharp as daggers, those razor-sharp claws that could dig into skin like knives...
Luna felt a shiver of revolution snap her back to reality. She shook the thought from her mind, "Whatever lies you've been told, the truth is we, I mean I did not declare a war. Nor did I break their pathetic little stick!" Luna said, trying to match her sister's gaze which was hard to do when she was staring up at her chin. "So get this business out of your head, if any war has been declared it is by their hoof, not mine. But if they want a fight so badly, I will happily oblige them."
"Oh?" Her sister said, almost innocently, "With what army, pray tell?"
Luna blinked, staring up at her sister, "Well... the royal one obviously?"
"Ah, that one." Celestia said with sarcasm dripping off every word, "The one that has not existed in over six hundred years?"
Luna's jaw opened and closed like a cow chewing its cud, "What! You are pulling my tail are you not!" It sounded like a joke, she waited for the punchline, but it never came, "you're serious, why am I just hearing about this now? This... this is downright treasonous, how do we defend ourselves?"
Her sister stared at her like the teacher staring at the slowest pupal. "Well it's pretty simple actually. You would know this if you didn't throw all your financial scrolls in the bottom of the waste basket." She said sternly. Luna had the grace to at least look momentarily embarrassed. In her defence, she never thought Tia would find out about that.
She had tried to read them. But every time she had started, she had found her brain skipping to the end in an act of self-defence against numerical poisoning.
"Simply speaking. After you left, other nations attacked us, thinking we were weak, well, we were weak really, without you." Celestia looked down for a moment, then seemed to regain her composure. "By the time the dust cleared, we were flat out broke, I was desperate for any Ally, so I went to Draconian and brokered a treaty, they get a tenth of our natural gemstones annually and..."
"And?" Luna said, as her sisters eyes shifted nervously.
"I also sold our family jewels to the dragons for gold and support, enough to kick start our economy again."
Subconsciously, Luna's eyes flickered to her tiara sitting on her bed. Her sister seemed to catch her gaze. "I got them back!" Celestia said quickly, "they had a ward on them making them indestructible." She paused, "and indigestible," then quickly added, "just...don't ask me how I got them back."
Luna opened her mouth then closed it, she decided she really didn't want to know how she got them back.
"The point being, Instead of building up our military again, I lent the surplus to other nations who weren't so lucky and gained more allies. It got to the point where it was more beneficial to befriend us than fight us. Now, if a nation attacks us, we simply call in their debts, hard to fight us when we pay for their army, weapons and food." Celestia continued on, in that smug way ponies employed when they tried not to sound smug and somehow ended up sounding more because of it.
"But, but what about our enemies!" Luna said a note of almost pleading in her voice. They must had to have some left, right, they couldn't be friends with everyone?
"Actually we don't, not any national ones. Why do you think I've been so very pushy with friendship all these years?" Celestia spoke like a teacher addressing a student, "Not only is it good for the soul, but for the wallet as well. Wars are dreadfully wasteful and expensive things. Trust me, I was the one that had to deal with the logistics of them all, while you sauntered off with the soldiers."
"I refuse to believe this," Luna growled, "this is an outrage, you disbanded our military! Grandfather would be spinning in his grave, have you no shame sister?!"
Celestia fixed her sister with another deadpan glare, "You do realise it was grandfather that brought most of those wars on us. I loved the stallion, but he was quite mad towards the end."
"That is utter slander!" Luna protested. "He was not mad, he... he just had a lot on his mind is all."
"Sister, in the last decade of his life he declared war on Canterlot Castle itself, a cloud that blocked out the sun during a ceremony, and on the squirrels of the palace gardens for stealing his acorns."
Luna stuck up her chin, which had the opposite effect intended upside down, "And have you noticed a distinct lack of nut-related insurrection, hmm?" She said proudly, but deep in the back of her mind even she had had a hard time defending those decisions.
Especially the cloud one, she was still trying to work out why he had sentenced it to death by stoning of all things. All it had accomplished was a few holes in the cloud along with twenty one ponies injured and hundreds of bits of property damage.
But she would be damned if anyone was going to insult the founding father of Equestria in her presence. "You dismantle our army and now you besmirch grandfather's good name with this revisionist dreck, you've changed sister."
She watched her sister messaging her temples slowly, "Yes Luna, perhaps I have, I have had a long time to think in your absence. Now I see our grandfather's flaws and our family's flaws echoed in you. Ones that I had tried to rid of myself so very long ago," Celestia said with a worried expression marring her face. "You do not need to cling to the past Luna, we can forget our grudges and or slights, we can build our own future anew."
Luna scoffed, "Honestly sister, your over-exaggeration does you no credit. Our family has endured because of our traditions and our heritage. We do not forgive or forget, that's what makes us strong."
Luna watched as her sister brought a hoof to her forehead and muttered, "Fields above, was I also this stubborn?" Before Luna could comment though her sister added, "Let us put this another way, thanks to your traditions and slights, we now have to come up with a way in which to placate those affected by it. Not just the griffons, who no doubt will be looking for reparations, rather costly ones I might add. But also from our subjects, you know the ones who keep us in power?"
Luna scoffed, "We are the rightful princesses," she said, "since when did we care what the plebeians think?"
Celestia gave her sister a deadpan glare. "You seemed to care a great deal during nightmare night."
Luna opened her mouth to retort but found her brain drawing a blank on an answer. Damn it all her sister was good at wagging that tongue of hers. "Oh alright, fine, very well, if this is all that is needed, I will get somepony to write up an apology to send to those-" She paused when Celestia gave her another pointed look. "-Griffons saying how very sorry I am, for allegedly breaking their little walking stick, etcetera etcetera. Now will you please let me down from here, the world is begging to spin."
Celestia shook her head. "I'm afraid that won't cut it, Luna. You don't know how serious this is. Think of it this way. Would you take a half-hearted apology, if someone broke your crown?"
Luna snorted, "I'd like to see them try it!"
Celestia rolled her eyes, "Luna, the public won't just let this slide. We have griffon citizens, we are the country that tries to spread the message of peace and acceptance. That doesn't work if one-half of it crosses the road when they see a lion walking by."
Luna furrowed her brow in thought. Though mostly she was thinking about how all those griffons had snuck into her country. Stronger border patrol was needed immediately! But she doubted her sister would like to listen to that proposal at this time. "What more could they want Tia? Tell them I'm sorry if you must, but I am not going to grovel or kiss anyone's claws." She mentally retched at the very idea of those dirty talons near her royal mouth.
Celestia paused then, Luna did not like the look her elder sister was giving her. "You don't need to kiss anything. But if we are speaking about griffon placating. Lucky for you, there seems to be only one that might need this and a pacifier does the trick."
Silence reigned for a long moment as Luna waited for the punchline that never came. "That's not funny."
"I'm not joking," Celestia said, an edge to her tone now, "if I was joking I would not have announced it this morning to half the city."
"YOU WHAT!" Luna screamed, so loud that the hairs on her sister's face bristled from the impact of the air.
Celestia winced slightly as the hurricane blast of indignation passed around her. "Do I need to use the silencing rune again sister?"
"How dare you?" Luna roared.
"How dare I?" Celestia asked, brow furrowed, "how dare I what? How dare I stop you from ruining your reputation?"
Luna could not believe this, she refused to believe this was real, "This goes too far sister, have you so little disregard for my feelings on the matter?"
"Perhaps if you ever told me about your feelings!" Celestia snapped, frustration clear on her face, "You tell no pony how you truly feel, you bottle everything up, you think talking about problems is some sort of weakness."
"And you think blubbering about them is a strength?!" Luna snapped back, glaring up at her sister, "I am no fainting maiden, I do not feel the need to cry about every slight. Did you hear grandfather talk endlessly of his woes?"
"No," Celestia said slowly with a deliberate sharpness to her tone, "but do you not think that might be why he went mad? Perhaps bottling your emotions up until the well is so full, that they come bursting forth in a torrent of rage and anger is something we both want to avoid?!"
They both lapsed into silence once more. It didn't need to be said what her sister was talking about, they both knew all too well. "This is irrelevant," Luna said, breaking the silence, "I do not see how this has anything to do with you thrusting some overgrown chicken into my life and proclaiming it to be my heir no less!"
"You didn't exactly give us time to come up with a better plan!" Celestia said pacing now, "I was trying to save you, you worked hard to revive your name, turn it into something ponies can be proud to hear."
"And you thought me playing wet nurse to a field's damn griffon would do that, how exactly?" Luna exclaimed.
"Well, perhaps it might open your eyes to see that they are just the same as we are. Plus it sends a message of acceptance, that we would care for a small cub as if she was our own child. If nothing else at least there will be one less orphan in this world." She said in an exacerbated tone, "Besides we both know you always wanted to have a foal, you always moan when I talk of my foals."
Luna rolled her eyes, not this again, "I moan because you show me endless paintings of yours every time we talk, it's exhausting." Luna said.
Celestia paused mid-step and turned, a slightly hurt expression crossing her face, "I thought you liked them?"
"The first thirty times perhaps," Luna muttered.
Celestia gasped, placing a hoof against her chest, "What's wrong with my foals, they're adorable."
"Sister, the youngest one is nearly ninety years old for feather's sake!"
"Not when I had the portrait made." Celestia chided, folding her forelegs across her chest, "you know what I think, I think you're just jealous that I actually had foals and they were cuter than yours would have been."
Luna gasped, the audacity of this female diamond dog, "I am not! When I do have my own foals, they will be twice as beautiful and thrice as adorable as yours are."
Celestia gave her a sideways glance and scoffed, "Oh, and pray tell, when will that happen?"
"In my own time, I thank thee very much." Luna retorted, huffing as she glanced away.
"It's been about two thousand years, you're not exactly getting any younger," Celestia muttered.
"You hag!" Luna roared, "I am just as beautiful and fertile as the day I turned two hundred."
Celestia gave her a slow methodical appraisal with her eyes. Then lifted up her hoof swaying it side to side as she mouthed, "meh."
Luna felt her cheeks redden and not simply because all the blood was going to her head. "Well perhaps I was waiting for the right stallion or mare, we don't all go rushing into the first one we see, like the royal pool stallion for instance."
This time it was Celestia's turn to blush, "That was one time seventeen hundred years ago!" Celestia said though it seemed even that length of time didn't dampen her embarrassment much.
"Oh yes, and that family tree is still going strong I see." Luna said with a vicious smirk. "Speaking of which, I spotted my great great grand nephew the other day."
Celestia leaned in towards her, eyes narrowed. "Do not bring that up to Prince Blueblood, he's very sensitive about his family's lineage."
Luna didn't have to answer, her smirk said it all.
Luna watched as her sister leaned back, closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, before looking back down at her. "Regardless, all of this is beyond the point. The dye is cast, like it or not she is your legal heir, what's done is done."
"I won't do it." Luna felt the blood boiling once more, "I will not raise that thing."
"You...will not have to." Celestia said with downcast eyes, "I will do it, that poor dear deserves happiness and I know she will not get it from you. But I need you to at least play along with this for the time being."
"Why, what is the point, everyone will know, I will not sully myself with the likes of them."
Celestia closed her eyes for a moment, a tired sigh left her nostrils and her whole body seemed to sag as she sat down, "Why do you still hate them so much, sister? It has been a thousand years, can you not let whatever happened go?"
"I will not!" She roared, burning ire in her eyes, "You do not know what it was like sister."
"Then tell me." Celestia said, softly moving closer. "Let me help you sister."
Luna turned away then, unable to meet her sister's gaze. Pride and shame slithered into a sickening concoction inside her chest all at once. She did not need reminding of that time. It was in the past. What was done could never be undone. "I don't need help, what I need is for there to be less of those creatures in my life."
Celestia rubbed her eyes, she looked older than, at that moment, "Please sister," she said slowly, "please do this for us, for this country at least, make up a reason if you need to, but you must at least appear to be that lioness mother."
There was no authority behind her sister's tone, it was something else, like a pony pleading to another to step away from the ledge.
"What will you do if I say no?" Luna asked, her tone more curious than threatening.
Celestia stared long and hard at her, then she closed her eyes and looked down towards her hooves, her long white horn ignited and Luna felt herself being slowly lowered back down to the ground.
"Nothing sister, I would do nothing at all. Believe me or not, everything I have done, I have tried to do to help you. Perhaps my methods have not always been to your liking, but all I ever wanted to do was to see my baby sister safe and happy."
As Luna brought herself back up to her hooves, she wanted nothing more than to play the stubborn adversary, she really did. She was the type of mare that collected grudges like medals and this one was a really doozy.
But as she looked into her sister's crestfallen expression she knew her answer. Her sister had done so much for her and never asked anything in return. Despite the fact Luna knew that this would only end in utter disaster, she found her lips moving before she could form the thought in her head.
"Fine," she said after a long ponderous moment, "fine, damn you, I will play along with this idiotic pantomime...for now."
Something close to hope ignited once more in sisters eyes as Celestia smiled, a soft thing, but it was enough that Luna felt the fire in her chest simmer somewhat. "Really? That's all I ask Lu," Her smile took on something more playful for the first time since yesterday,
"This is only a temporary thing, you understand." Luna said, rubbing life back into her hooves. "Do not think that this means that I will take this thing on as my child or even as as an apprentice. I will have nothing to do with it outside official business and I will not be near it unless I have to be. Also I want it thoroughly sterilized before any contact, I do not want this mange or rabies I've been hearing about."
"Umm." Celestia said, her smile faltering somewhat she looked as though she was about to say something else. Then seemed to think better of it, "O-kay, I'm sure we can work something out." Ever the diplomat her smile rallied in the face of overwhelming odds, "I'm sure you'll have a lot of time to work things out with your two months off."
Luna blinked, "Time off?" she said, glancing back at her sister.
"Yes...I maybe, sort of, perhaps, announced you'll be retiring to Cloudsdale Manor to better bond with your daughter, for the next two months."
"You are, banishing me again?" Luna said, eyes narrowing suspiciously.
Celestia shook her head, "I hardly call relaxing in our old family mansion a banishment, I wish I could go."
"You are more than welcome to." Luna said sardonically. "You make a punishment sound like some holy day sister."
"I told you it's called a holiday now, Luna, and I guess that's why I was always the politician and you were always the general." She smirked more honestly now as she let her wing slip around her sister's shoulders. Luna felt the urge to shrug it off. But she had always found her sister's wing comforting, even if the thing it was attached to was certainly not.
"It will only be until the news dies away Lu. Trust an old hoof in this matter, ponies' attention spans are never long. Besides, who knows, you might even have fun?"
"I very much doubt that," Luna grumbled. "But fine, I suppose I could catch up on some of my old hobbies, perhaps take up fencing again, I am a bit rusty." She did like the idea of that, working up a sweat, the feeling of steel in her hoof once more. "The mansion is big enough that I shan't have to look at that griffon at leas-" she paused as she felt her sister's wing contract that little bit tighter against her waist.
"Oh, that reminds me, just one more thing." Her sister said with a sudden hardness in her eyes that surprised Luna. "Whilst we are on the subject of our little cub, regardless of your personal opinions, that lioness is now family. She is now our flesh and blood, understand?" she said, pointing a hoof none too softly onto Luna's chest. "Whether you like it or not, she is ours to protect and care for."
Luna glanced down at her sister's hoof digging into her chest, "Yes Tia, you have made that demonstrably clear, I am aware of how our family works, even if she is nothing more than a little unsightly twig on the family tree, I'll be sure-"
It wasn't so much the fire inside reflecting in her sister's eyes that stopped her, it was more like a volcano. "No I don't think you quite understand the meaning, I want your word, Luna." She said, her wings squeezing that little bit harder, her voice going that much harsher, "She is under our protection, she is under the family oath, remember?"
Luna stared into her sisters' violet-coloured eyes, seeing a steely resolve she had not seen since she had stared at her own mothers.
Luna did not need reminding of her family's unofficial oath, it seemed despite her sister's boosting of shedding her family's traditions, she had not shed all of them. There was a saying among the royal family of Canterlot.
'Grex Herdum Cornu Meum' ~ 'My herd for my horn.'
That, of course, was the more royal and regal way of saying it. The real way it was often understood was more along the lines of 'touch any of my children and expect a bloody great big horn charging at you at mach-ten and that's if I decide to be merciful.' But unfortunately crest makers found that rather hard to fit onto a sigil.
But the point, (pun intended) still stood. The sisters were willing to do anything for the sake of their kin.
Luna met her sister's steely gaze and despite how much it pained her she gave a begrudging nod. It might not have been much. But to the two Alicorns, it was a pact sealed tighter than any treaty. She would keep this griffon safe.
Even if she had crossed her primary feathers behind her back when she did so. |
How Luna Adopted a Hatchling (Against Her Will) | A Nice Relaxing Vacation | "Silver, what is it doing now?"
"Just smile and wave princess," Silver Tongue muttered through his clenched teeth. His face contorted into a forced, cheerful, and wholly fake smile. They both stood on the hastily erected stage, off to the side as he and the princess waved woodenly towards the mass of onlooking ponies, all gathered at the station to see Princess Luna's departure.
"I am trying, but it keeps assailing me with its claws." She growled back through her own forced smile, her right eye twitching every few seconds. In front of her, laying inside a little sling around Luna's neck was the newest princess of the realm. Who was playing with the mane of her stepmother.
Despite never being able to actually touch it, she seemed wholly engrossed by the sight of it. Every few seconds Silver could hear a giggle as she stuck her tiny claws inside and tried to grab at the stars. Totally oblivious to the roaring and cheering crowd gathered around the train platform.
"This was not part of the deal." She said, a shudder passing through her back as claws clutched her fur. "No pony said I had to be this close to this gah unruly creature, I bet it's not even been thoroughly washed!"
Silver could see the usually smooth hairs on Luna's back had all stood to attention, a barely contained shiver of revulsion rippled through her as one of the lioness claws went wide and lightly grazed her neck.
"Forgive me," Silver said, his fake smile forming now into something close to a real one. "I couldn't find a stroller in time." He said, enjoying the sight and finding some sort of cosmic justice in the role reversal of their situation only a week ago.
Outside the usually calm train station, ponies were clambering over one another for a better view of the newest edition to the royal family. Some were even trying to shoulder past the small retinue of guards who were valiantly holding back the tide of multi-coloured onlookers, like a breakwater against a tropical storm.
Silver even noticed one stallion with a scar across one eye and the tattoo of a heart with the words 'muther' misspelled and etched rather poorly on his foreleg. He gave an unimpressed look at the stage and everyone on it, only to meet the little hatchlings' gaze for just a moment. Whereupon the stallion let out a rather high-pitched scream and swooned backwards, dragging three ponies behind him onto the floor in the process. It seemed despite the haste and the mystery, or perhaps because of that mystery, the little princess was already quickly winning the hearts and in that case, brawns of her new subjects.
It didn't help that she was practically made for the royal stage, aloof, brash, and wholly comfortable being in front of a crowd. Fields above, she really was her mother's daughter.
It was nice to know that at least some pony was warming up to the new situation. Silver on the other hoof, despite the moments of satisfaction at seeing Luna uncomfortable for a change, was shaking and sweating profusely. Not just because he naturally did that whenever he had to stand for longer than a few minutes. He knew right now this facade was all balancing on a knife's edge. The sooner he got those two out of the public eye the better.
"It is with a fond, if slightly melancholy feeling that I bid my sister and my niece a fond farewell for the next coming months. I wish them only the best and I already await their return." Celestia announced loudly, from behind a podium on the other side of the stage. Normally he loved hearing her make a fine art of his speeches. But for once in his life, he wished she would just cut to the end already.
None of his nerves were helped by the fact that he had never been more tired in his life. Even after the impromptu return of the alicorn standing right beside him, he had not had to work so tirelessly. I thought it could get no harder than nearly a week without sleep.
He had bribed every troublesome reporter he could find. He had done every back door deal with the nobility he could meet, and had set up as many press conferences as he could fit in a day. All the while lying through his teeth to the point he was almost wondering which parts were actually real anymore.
But now there was nothing left for him to do but to let fate drive on and hope it didn't decide to take a 'U' turn on the fly.
But so far, everything was working.
The ambassadors of Griffonia had seemed placated. They had, at least for now, ben willing to accept this new turn of the night princess's leaf. Despite all evidence to the contrary. Griffons where even more proud of their royalty than the Equestrians after all. So having a native-born lioness in the pony royal family went a long way towards sweetening any apology. Silver had been betting on that very fact after all.
Well, that was if she was in fact native to Griffonia. The griffons certainly wanted to believe that and Silver certainly did little to dissuade the notion, happy to let the ambassadors think whatever they wanted. But in truth, neither he nor the headmistress of the orphanage had any idea really. As far as she knew the little lioness, had simply turned up one day in a bassinet on the doorstep with a single note that simply read 'Pride Novabane,' not even a name or anything else.
Sure she technically might have been found in an Equestrian orphanage, but the griffons didn't need to know that part, it was practically on their borders anyway. It wasn't exactly lying. Every public relations advisor worth his salt knew that no one really wanted the truth anyway, the truth was sort of like paprika, nice if used sparingly but often sickly if too much got into it. It was the idea of it that was important.
Yes, he also supposed it might have helped that a sudden mysterious change of mind regarding the trade policy which now surprisingly favored Griffonian exports had somehow come into effect conveniently at the same time. But Silver wasn't going to let Celestia take all the credit.
All he had to do now was make sure someone didn't cock it up in the time between now and stepping on the train. Which was why he was at this moment sweating profusely. Because despite all of what had happened. This was the one thing he could not have planned for, this was the part he could not control, Princess Luna.
He tried to focus back on Celestia and the crowd when a gasp startled him and he turned to see a swaying paintbrush tail sticking out of her mane.
"Silver, what is it doing!" Luna squealed, looking like she was somehow trying to crawl out of her own skin. Silver glanced down at the cub, who had somehow wriggled her way out of the sling and was nestled into Luna's mane.
"I believe the term is playing." He said as the cub crawled further onto her back. She certainly was a wily one, they had practically sown the lioness into the swaddling, but somehow she had snaked through it all.
"How much longer do I have to suffer this, can't you hold it?" she said, her left eye twitching as the Cubs stared out at the crowd for a moment from the top of her mane.
"Hold her" he corrected, "She's your daughter, Luna, please at least act like you care for the cameras." He pleaded, "I told you before we started, they need some photos of you and her together. It's only for a few more minutes, then after that, the other maids can handle the little princess. But for now, try and at least look content."
"I'd like to, ah, see you look happy with eight daggers sticking into your blubber." She growled, eyes twitching as the little princess clapped her claws together excitedly, before diving back into Luna's corporeal mane.
"Now my dear sister would like to say a few words before departing." Celestia's voice announced with that practiced sly smile that Silver admired so much. The mare could have fleeced a fox out of its burrow with that smirk of hers.
"Finally!" Luna exclaimed, just loud enough so that only most of the audience heard it. Silver leaned forwards and whispered into her ear, "Just read what it says on the paper Luna, then we can depart." He added hastily.
Somehow Luna actually managed to scoff whilst also grimacing, "Please Silver, gah, I have been doing this since you were not but a sparkle in the postman's aye!" She turned towards Golden who seemed to wince as they locked eyes for a moment, then Luna lit up her horn and lowered the cub towards her.
"But... my father wasn't a postman?" Silver said, scratching his thick jowls as Luna reached the podium.
The little Lioness looked confused for a moment that she wasn't amongst the nebula of stars anymore. But then seeing who was holding her, promptly latched onto Golden's face with a happy squawk. Silver winced at the sight, even if his niece said she didn't feel it, having a face stretched out like a slingshot was not a pleasant sight. He wondered if that was something hatchlings did often. If that was the case, griffon mothers must have been pretty tough indeed or at least had several eye patches on standby.
The roar of the crowd slowly dimmed as they watched Luna ascend the podium. If Celestia projected grace and elegance of the throne, her sister was the one that projected the strength and nobility of it. He knew she was not as seasoned as her sister was at this game, but she was right in the sense that she was used to this as well. Though she would probably have felt more comfortable dressed in armor and brandishing a sword. Thankfully Celestia had vetoed that idea a long time ago.
"My fellow ponies." Her tone was soft but somehow projected throughout the crowd, "tis heartening to see so many of you come to bid me farewell on my departure." She paused as a wave of cheers washed over the stage. The loudest came from a mare holding a sign crudely depicting what looked like a chicken with a cat's face on it, with hearts dotted all around. Silver raised a puzzled brow, either that was a badly drawn griffon or she had mistaken this for the Basilisk appreciation society. (1)
"I am grateful not only to my sister." It was only a testament to Silvers's familiarity with the princess, that he could tell her cherry delivery was somehow also laced with contempt, "for taking this burden while I spend time with my..." She paused, her smile dipping down just a fraction, as she squinted down at the paper again. Silver gulped, he knew this would be the hardest part.
"My beautiful daughter...who I am blessed to have in my life?" She said quizzically, shooting a lightning-quick glare back at Silver. Mercifully she recovered quickly, forcing out a strained smile, in the same way one does when they were expecting a wristwatch from their grandparents, only to revive a poorly knitted sweatshirt. Not that Silver had an experience with that of course.
"I think this is going rather well," Celestia said by his side.
Silver flinched, fields above when had she moved there? Oh, he needed sleep. Silver didn't turn, his eyes fixed on the potential disaster, liking watching a speeding train hurtling towards him. But he nodded hesitantly. Things were transpiring something close to smooth, but in his profession, it did not pay well to rest on your laurels, despite the fact he had a rather large laurel to rest on.
"I'm still waiting for the stage to catch fire." He muttered, eyes flickering from the crowd to Luna and then to the little lioness who was now running around in a circle on Golden's back, chasing her own tail.
"I'll have a pony with a bucket brought out just in case." Celestia said with a smile, which seemed to morph into concern as she gazed at him, "Silver... When was the last time you took a vacation?"
Silver blinked the sleep from his eye, "What year is it?" he asked.
"If you were asking the Panda's, they would say it's the year of the platypus."
"Then three wombats and one snake ago, plus seven years."
He caught her worried gaze from the peripherals of his vision, "Everyone needs their rest, my dear friend, even you."
Silver rolled his eyes, his idea of rest was dealing with something simple, like an affair or a public indecency claim. "I'll rest when I'm... oh fields above she's going off script again," he muttered through his hoof as they gazed back at the night princess.
"-and it is with thus, on the topic of foal care, that we put forward the motion that every foal be taught not simply quail and paper but spear and mettle. As my grandfather once said, when he valiantly charged the great library of Zebraca, 'by Jove we will give those weedy quill pushers a proper thrashing!'" Luna roared, much to the consternation of both Silver and Celestia.
"Sometimes, it's as though grandfather never left..." Celestia shook her head softly and turned back to Silver, who was dabbing the sweat with his necktie. "If you won't take vacation time, then would you consider taking time to plan the next move in the countryside."
Silver raised his brow, "I don't do country, too much grass, animals urinate on it you know?" He said, taking the slightest pride in not having touched anything green in over ten years. But then the suspicious part of his brain, which was bigger than most other ponies by nature of dealing with the nobles for a living, began to kick into gear. "Wait... you're asking me to accompany Luna, you want me to be the royal babysitter now?"
"Hardly." Celestia said, chuckling, but her laugh was just the slightest bit too forced for his liking. "A babysitter is not required, your niece has already kindly agreed to look after our little one as per your recommendation. All you would have to do is kick back relax and-"
"-Keep Luna from doing anything else to cause a political scandal?" Silver finished his eyes narrowed in a deadpan glare.
"I was going to say keep an eye out for her," Celestia said, but they could both read between those lines, "But it's just a precaution, she can hardly get up to that much trouble so far from hom-"
"-Thus all free-loving ponies can rise up, each having a fundamental right to bear halberds against any invading foe, such as the founding father of Equestria would have wanted. Any foe will have to take them from our cold dead hooves!"
Celestia sucked in a breath, as Luna snatched a spear from one of the guards and held it over her head. "H-How about I throw in my personal chef to accompany you?" She added quickly.
Silver blinked, "You mean the one who makes those Fig leaf pies, the ones with the frilly bits on the crust?"
"The very same," Celestia said with a touch of resignation. He knew that must have been hard on her, going two whole months without her Achilles heel. That was the same as saying she had finally agreed to go on the diet.
Silver stuck his tongue into his bottom lip and hummed. "Fine-fine, I suppose it's the most prudent plan. I can work better at the epicenter, but only so long as I can come back the moment something happens... when something happens."
"Agreed," Celestia said far too quickly for his liking. "It will be good for you Silver. You should try to relax, the hard work is done."
"You of all ponies should not be the one telling me that princess." He muttered.
She gave a tired but well-meaning smile, "Even I have to let go and trust in fate sometimes Silver. If I tried to micromanage every little detail of life, I would have pulled my mane out years ago."
Silver furrowed his brow as he stared up at Celestia's mane. He had often wondered why both hers and Luna's were so, for lack of a better term, magical? Both Princess Cadance or Twilight manes were normal. Though now that she had put the image of a bald Celestia in his mind that was suddenly all his tired brain could think of, as he stared into her translucent mane.
And it was exactly because of that thought that he caught what happened next. As he glanced through her hair draped around her neck and towards another princess. One who had at that moment forgotten about chewing on her little paint brush tail and was instead, now entirely focused on something floating right in front of her beak.
Something that to Silver's eyes looked exactly like a Death's Head moth.
Silver had very little time for hobbies, ones that didn't involve outsmarting the chief's defenses in the royal pantry and raiding the kitchen by candlelight. But there was a time he had remembered being fascinated by nature as a foal. In the same way, others are morbidly interested in understanding what terrified them, like the ocean or small talk in elevators.
He knew a thing or two about butterflies and moths; he still had his Canterlot Wildlife monthly magazine collection somewhere at home. But there was no mention of the winter Death's Head moth in any of them. Because they had gone extinct hundreds of years ago, around the same time the royal red squirrel had mysteriously vanished from Canterlots castle gardens.
So what was it doing here and now in Canterlot, out of season and more importantly, out of time?
It seemed he was not the only one who had taken an interest. The little lioness turned on Golden's back and was watching it intently, her tiny little wings were slowly opening out, her back arched, front paws down, and back side raised much like a puppy who was ready to pounce. All at once an ominous feeling slithered through Silver's rotund body.
"Are you alright Silver, you look like you've seen a ghost?" Celestia asked, a puzzled frown on her face. Even Golden was looking at him with a worried expression, behind the giant red lipstick smile.
Which was why neither of them noticed the little lioness as she jumped off of Golden's back and towards the moth. They both fluttered in mid-air as it slipped through her claws and onto the stage curtains.
The cub claws caught on the red curtains of the stage not a moment later. She dangled there for a moment before righting herself with her paws. Spotting the moth just above her she clawed her way up with such speed she would have started a Cheetah.
"That is why," Luna continued, shuffling her scrolls, "as a newly, emm, loving mother of a..." she squinted her eyes at the scroll and cursed under her breath, "proud and wondrous people that I hold in high regard, oh fields above."
"Oh fields above," Silver Tongue gasped as he watched the Lioness scaling the curtains.
"I grant you it's not the most convincing speech," Celestia said, eyeing her sister on the podium, "she was never very good at selling points, but it will all come out well in print."
"Not that!" Silver muttered pointing towards the stage curtains. No sooner had he pointed towards the chick, the lioness had already made it to the top with frightening speed. He watched in horror as the moth took that second to flap away into the open air knowing what would happen next.
Silver swore he heard sniggering laughter coming from that very mouth. But it was the last thing he was focusing on.
It all happened so fast that, before Silver could even suck in a breath to shout, she had already lept into thin air. Her tiny wings flapped as she stayed in the air for half a second, before she plummeted downwards.
As with many things in a dramatic narrative in Equestria. Time, that unusual and metaphysical construct that it is, chose that exact moment to slow. Well, not so much slow, time itself was consistent; it could only move ponderously in a horizontal line. But that did not mean that it could not expand upwards on the graph, and expand outwards into all other timelines.
Often, when this happened, it had the same effect as slowing down time just... Wobblier.
Fortunately, as time stretched into the endless possibilities of all the other horizontal timelines, Silver, wired up on enough coffee to power a small town, had just the right amount of time to get Golden's attention.
Unfortunately for Silver, in this section of the timeline, none of them were hyper-fast light-bending creatures. So instead of having a chance to catch the little cub, they could only watch in horror as the lioness flew downwards and landed claws first into the rounded rump of her new stepmother.
There was another second of silence, a slight pinging in the air of real-space as time seemed to contract back into itself and then causality and chaos took the reins once more.
Princess Luna did not so much scream, she wasn't really built to scream, she roared. Her front hooves reared up as she gazed furiously around and confused as her daughter clung on for dear life. She thrashed around for a moment dropping the spear but recovered quickly. She lit her horn up and pulled the hatchling up towards her face and not for the first time stared in confusion and incomprehension at the Cub staring right back at her.
"Why you-" Luna snarled her words slowly but building up to a tirade that Silver knew would sink all of them. Thankfully at least in this time line though, Silver and Golden were both Earth ponies.
Whilst Earth ponies were not hyper-fast light-bending creatures. Their evolution had taken on something more of a practical element to their natural defence mechanism. For instance, besides the ability to shatter rock with their hooves which was indeed a plus. They had developed a lesser-known skill, passed down from their ancestors to understand one another on a deeper level beyond words.
Instead of being able to fly or teleport, Earth ponies had an uncanny ability to read facial expressions and body language better than any other creature. After all, if they had to wait until language was invented before they could warn others that a giant dragon was coming down from the sky. The whole subspecies would have been a black smear on the sidewalk before they could invent the phrase, "doesn't that bird look awfully scaly to you?"
It was because of this, that Silver was able to turn to Golden and have a full conversation in the space of three seconds, which went something like this.
"Golden I know I promised I would never ask you to do something like this again but-"
"-Oh no, no please uncle, I told you I gave that up."
"Golden, listen to me, this is an emergency, Princess and country are on the line!"
"But it's embarrassing and besides I'm out of practice."
"Do you want all of us out on the streets? Because that's what's going to happen if Luna finishes that sentence, Golden please I'm begging you here!"
"Uncle..." but it had been decided, Golden winced but her hooves were already moving.
"-Little stinking son of a-"
Before Luna could finish her tirade, Golden leapt forward towards the stage. Somehow perhaps a trick known only to red-nosed practitioners of comedic magic, a banana peel materialised in her hooves. She threw it in front of her. Then with subtle acrobatics of an expert gymnast, she slid across the stage on one front hoof balancing her body upright.
"Wow, ahh, help," She said, delivering the line in an almost painfully embarrassed tone, as she spun towards the podium. The whole crowd quietened down in stunned silence and watched as Golden's hoof let slip of the banana peel. Then, with the precision that would have put a veteran stunt pony to shame, tucked her head between her legs, rolled and promptly crashed into the podium.
It broke apart sending the microphone and wood hurtling off the side of the stage, and more importantly away from Luna's mouth. Luna's words died on her tongue as she flinched backwards and then glanced down at the maid in front of her.
"Oh hi princess," she said wiping away the chips of wood from her curly green mane, "Have you seen your daughter around anywhere?" She blinked owlishly up at the cub as if she had only just noticed her, "Oh there you are!" She said, slapping her cheek as though she didn't already know, "gosh you gave me such a worry."
She jumped up and brushed her maid's outfit lightly, plucking the lioness from Luna's magic. "Oh you are such a little troublemaker," she said softly towards the cub who simply giggled. Then Golden looked around at the damage she'd done and the thousands of stunned ponies in front of her, all silent now.
"Oh..." she said slowly as if she had only just noticed what she had done. Silver had to hoof it to her, she was convincing at playing a fool. "Whoops my bad princess, were you in the middle of something?" She said with an aloof smile, "Guess this little one just wanted to say hi to Mommy." She said holding up the hatchling who was already looking back at Luna, arms stretched out towards her mane.
Clowns weren't inherently funny, but they have the effect of uncomfortable laughter which is far more powerful. Some of the more clued-in ponies or perhaps the ones with lingering Coulrophobia began to nervously chuckle. This sent a ripple along the sea of denizens, until the whole crowd began laughing and cheering.
Silver watched as Golden made her exit with the little princess. Luna quietly seethed as she glared at her rump. There was nothing firm to Silver's frame, his body rippled like water, but somewhere inside, something relaxed.
"Somehow... I don't think this vacation is going to be very relaxing," Silver said sardonically back to Celestia.
Celestia, who had been watching the scene play out with a wide open jaw, gave an uneasy smile. "As some of the youth say today, no Take-sees back-sees."
Before Silver could argue that no pony had said those words in at least twenty years, Celestia was already moving towards the stage to bring the ceremony to a close.
Silver swallowed as he gazed from the disgruntled Luna, to his niece who was already picking out bits of splinters from her mane. Then to the Cub who was already fussing and looking for the next thing to entertain her. Silver wondered to himself, if he had made the greatest PR move of his life, or the worst.
Canterlot crowds had a knack for finding entertainment wherever they could. It was like a sixth sense for the city. Be it a celebration, festival, or magical world-ending disaster, entertainment was entertainment. It seemed this had been a combination of all three. As such, most of the citizens of Canterlot were trotting away from the princess's speech with the excited and hurried tones of ponies who had watched a train wreck unfolding in front of their eyes, and couldn't wait to tell everyone else all about it.
But high above, in a distant clock tower overlooking the station, three hooded figures watched the spectacle with utter contempt and disgust.
"Look at 'em chief." One of them said, pointing down towards the stage in the distance. "Can you believe this chief, can you? We should go down there right now and show 'em all." He thundered, his voice booming like a summer storm.
"Ye-ah, look at them. Makes you sick, walking along parading one of ours as one of their own!" Another one sneered, with that snivelling cocksure type of voice that seemed to imply someone who would flee from strength, but attack weakness without mercy added. "We should go down and teach them a lesson."
"Shut up, you idiots," The last figure snapped, this one was tall, gaunt, and dower. Slowly he lowered the telescope from his vision and snapped it shut. "What are you going to do, walk down to the two most powerful creatures in the land and snatch the cub. You'd be a black smear on the floor before you could even get ten paws away."
The other two considered this for a moment, but not for very long. Concepts like 'planning' weren't much use to them, evolution had deemed them to be what you would call natural henchmen. Things like independent thoughts simply got in the way of other important things like robbing and bludgeoning.
"So then, what are we gonna do, we can't just stand here and watch," the wedeling voice complained, "and also, why do you get to be the one who holds the 'make things far away appear bigger glasses.'" He said, eyeing the telescope with a greedy stare. "I want to see."
The tall figure turned slowly and regarded him with patient and lifelessly dark eyes, "Sorry, who's the leader here?"
The smaller one flinched back. But before he could speak, the one with a voice like an avalanche knitted his meaty brows together in deep concentration. Then, after a moment asked, "You are?"
"Correct Ulf," The tall one said, not breaking eye contact from the weakest of the three. He leaned over and prodded his chest, "and who was assigned to lead this task?"
Another long pause as the few remaining neurons went into overdrive at this complicated conundrum, "...You were?"
"Correct again Ulf, do you know why?" The figure asked, but this time he didn't wait for an answer. Asking three rhetorical questions in a row was likely to short circuit Ulf's brain. "It's because I'm the one who gets things done, I'm the one they call when others are too scared to do the dirty work and I know you know what I'm capable of... right Hendrik?" The tall one said.
Hendrik felt a sharp pain in his chest, a single razor-sharp talon dug into his plumage. It lingered there, threatening to dig in a heck of a lot further with only the minimal amount of effort, if the owner so wished.
"Y-yes chief, s-sorry chief." Hendrik pleaded quickly.
Those black eyes lingered for a moment longer. Then with an almost gentle smile the sharp pressure against Hendric's chest subsided, but the throbbing pain stayed as a reminder.
The leader frowned as he watched the cub being brought towards a large train billowing with steam. He narrowed his eyes as that damned sun witch kissed the cub on the head. "Trust me, I will make these weak leaf-eaters pay for stealing one of our own and parading her about like a trophy, but now is not the time." He cocked his head slightly and spat off the roof, smirking as somewhere below him a pony yelped.
"Yeah," boomed Ulf loyally, "they turned her into a performing umm, a performing umm, what do you call them, those hairy things with long arms that eat bananas?"
"Fruit bats?" Hendrik said, rubbing his chest.
Ulf, who had never been a fan of books, unless he was hitting someone with one frowned, "They don't have arms, do they?"
Hendrik blinked, but not to be outsmarted in this sort of thing added, "Yes, 'course they do, in um, The Crystal Empire, they're attached to their wings."
"They are?" Ulf said, taken aback, his tail flicked with consternation, caught unaware and not very happy about it, "Great Emperor, what kinda' thing has arms and wings?"
There was a moment's silence where irony passed them by like a bad smell in the wind.
"Enough," the leader said, shaking his head and wondering what he had done to deserve such early-hatched dunderheads as pride mates. "We will wait for the right moment to present itself, find a time when the night princess is alone, then we will strike."
"But she ain't never alone," Ulf added, "besides I hear she is a famous warrior and she never sleeps."
"Everyone sleeps." Hendrik snapped.
"But...how does she raise the moon then?"
Hendrik thought about this for a moment longer. "She obviously sleeps during the day, she is the night princess after all."
"But...Why is she up now then?"
The leader messaging the bridge of his beak, the sooner he could get this over with the sooner he could deal with these idiots and take the reward for himself. But for now, these fools were useful, as cannon fodder if nothing else. "She has to sleep and when she does, we will be ready. She might have been a warrior once, but these weaklings don't even have an army, we're trained warriors are we not? Are you afraid of some mare?"
"No!"
"No?"
The figure allowed himself a smile as he touched something against his chest, a stone etched with the ancient runic carvings of the shamans. "Alicron or no, we will be back in Griffonia with that cub before the end of the week."
Though he himself had no intention of going back. Griffonia would be too dangerous once they had finished, what with the enviable war that would be raged after the disappearance of pony kind's newest princess. But these idiots didn't need to know that part.
"Right," the other two said in unison. The leader smirked, spreading out his wings to take flight. But before he could take off, Hendrik said, "Hang on, is that some sort of cat chicken?"
They all turned back towards the empty stage where indeed some sort of chicken-like creature with a scaly underside was walking up the stage stairs. This was strange enough, but what was more odd, was the plastic cat ears stuck poorly onto its head. It pecked at the ground several times, then, for no reason that either of the three could fathom, it belched fire onto the curtains.
In the distance, a mare holding a makeshift sign began to cheer. |
How Luna Adopted a Hatchling (Against Her Will) | Manors and Mirrors. | "Tis...different from what I remember it being?" Luna said to no pony in particular as they all rounded the hill and glanced down towards the cloudsdale manor.
Golden couldn't help but agree with the sentiment. Despite the bright sunny day, the manor itself looked as though storm clouds should have been hanging over it and a voice should have been loudly proclaiming "it's alive!" From the depths of its gloomy facade.
She had seen paintings of the ancient manor in the halls of Canterlot castle, right before her head had been accidentally launched through them following some "humorous accident." From what she had seen, (at least in the brief moments before she had destroyed priceless historical artefacts,) the manor had been a shining beacon of stately homes, regal and elegant, crested with ivy and surrounded by luscious green hills flanked by fields of daisies.
Often though reality was very different to a painting. Which was to say, it was an out and out lie.
What white there was left was mostly chipped onto the floor or peeling off the walls to reveal a dirty moss covered stone. Ivy had not so much crested the walls as it had kicked in the doors and windows, put its toothbrush in the bathroom, taken half the fridge for itself and settled for the long hall on the coach.
They walked on, past the crumbling facade and creaking iron gates into the front garden. Golden trod around the holes in the gravel path, and glared at the scum filled fountain which bubbled ominously like a prehistoric tar pit. She glanced up at a statue of an alicorn with both front hooves missing. Its mouth open, presumably to spray water into the fountain, had rusted brown. As she passed by, Golden could hear a foreboding rumble somewhere in the depths of the piping inside.
All in all the artist who had painted that picture had either taken great liberty or was more likely blind.
The royal retinue, which followed the princess consisted of herself, her uncle Silver Tongue, a small army of maids and a hoof full of interchangeable guards, Golden could never work out which ones (1) and a stroller containing a little princess. Said princess had been up all night causing chaos to everyone on the train and was now sleeping it off in a push pram until the next reign of terror could commence.
The journey had been less than pleasant, the little hatchling princess seemed to possess infinite energy, like a self propelling machine it seemed the more she ran the more she couldn't stop. It had taken golden and three other maids just to corner her in the caboose of the train and three more to put her into a stroller.
Golden was hoping for a chance to sleep in a nice bed and if anything experience the countryside outside the mansion. But it was starting to look like she was going to experience it from inside the mansion as well.
"Any chance we made the wrong turn?" Golden asked hopefully, as he looked back to her uncle who was frowning down at a map. His Specialized Wellington boots squelched as he glanced flicked from the grass to the map with suspicion.
"There's only one manor in Briddleton...unfortunately." Silver answered, his chins forming into a prominent frown. "Strange, it wasn't like this a year ago?" He mused.
"Well," Luna said with a look that screamed best of a bad situation, "let us not dally, I am eager to see my old stately home." With determination forming on her features she took a step forward.
No sooner had her guided horse shoe taken another step on the gravel, the door to the manor, what was left of it anyway, flew open and slammed against the walls.
They all watched, in various states of shock as a minotaur, a rather elderly one judging by the white beard, a walking cane and only marginally enormous muscles stormed outwards, directly toward them.
What left the mountain of bull's mouth and nostrils was a stream of snorts, growls and guttural throat noises that sounded like a deranged steam train going off the rails. Both Silver and Golden took a step backwards on instinct. But Princess Luna just stood still, her only movement was a slight raising of her eyebrow.
"I think you are quite mistaken, good sir," she said back to the Minotaur, apparently understanding the hulking mass of muscle barely contained inside a black suit and tie, "Tis my lawn you are standing on and who are you to claim otherwise?" She asked without a trace of fear.
He took another step closer, letting out another grunt and a series of snorts. Golden had heard Minatorian around the castle, but even by their standards this seemed aggressive. This was only compounded when she saw him kick up gravel with his hoof and lower his horns towards them. (2).
"Do not worry, this is just a simple misunderstanding." Luna said calmly, "we will handle this diplomatically."
Golden waited for the princess to speak but instead she scuffed the dirt with her front hoof for a moment much like the bull had. Then nodded to herself, lowered her head a fraction and charged.
Golden watched, mouth half open as the two launched at one another. Golden, somewhat of an unwitting expert at head collisions, winced as an immovable object and an unstoppable force collided head first into one another. The sound was like two melons slamming into concrete but hopefully without the same mess.
Both of them flew backwards. Everything from the princess horn to her tail shook like a bowl of jelly. The Minotaur fared little better. He stood there stiff as a board for half a second, then collapsed like a felled tree onto the gravel.
All at once they ran towards the princess, who was gazing around like a pony on the wrong end of drunk.
"Luna are you okay?" Silver asked, concern marring every chin and Jowl.
"Hah please! W-we haf s-s-seen c-calf's who s-strike h-h-harder Silver." Luna slurred, still vibrating.
"Umm, I'm over here princess." Silver said.
Luna furrowed her brow, "Presh Silver sh-op m-m-multiplying, tis hard to talk with sho m-m-many of you at o-o-once." She said looking everywhere but at him.
A thick and heavy groan brought all eyes back to the Minotaur who slowly sat back up. On cue, the royal guards formed a protective spear tip around the princess. But to Golden's mind, it looked more like the perfect triangle of pins for the bowling ball of a bull.
But to everyone's surprise he simply sat there blinking slowly. "That headbutt, could it be?" With awe blazing in his voice, he reached into a coat pocket. With two fingers he pulled out a pair of thick rimmed glasses.
"The night princess, it really is you?" He said squinting through the lenses at princess Luna.
"You recognised her from head butting her?" Golden asked.
"Oh course!" He boomed, a smile etching his snout. "The night princess's headbutt is legendary across the whole of my homeland. They say that it is like colliding with the densest mountain. I am so honoured to receive it."
"Who dares call me dense?" Luna said shaking her head, her eyes slowly focusing once more back in place.
"Princess, the tales are true, you are as strong of neck and skull as my ancestors foretold." He said, kneeling down and offering his hand to the princess. She blinked down at it then smiled and offered out her hoof in return. "I am truly honoured to touch horns with one as thick of forehead as you."
"Oh stop please, thou art exaggerating," Luna said, in a tone of voice that seemed to suggest that he continue for a lot longer.
"To think, I would finally meet the mare who defeated my great great ancestor Ugrah and pressed his family into eternal servitude."
Luna blinked, furrowing her brow. "Wait a moment, you are a descendant of Ugrah Skull Crusher?"
"The very same." He said, his giant chest puffed out proudly. "You defeated him in a duel of head butts and then spared his life so long as he and his herd swore to serve you for all eternity." He wiped a tear from his eye, "we still raise a glass of milk to you every day before chewing our cud."
"Is that... true?" Silver asked as they all turned to Luna.
Luna blinked, clearly trying to remember that day, "Tis... true that we bested him in a duel. Every pony who was any pony, was sparing opponents and pressing them and their progeny into eternal servitude. 'twas all the rage back in the day. But it was just something you said," she shrugged as though ruling others and making them serve you for all eternity was indeed just one of those things. "No pony actually did it, maybe one summer at best, but I did not think for a moment old Skull Crusher "the great betrayer" would actually take us seriously."
The Minotaur nodded his head knowingly. "It was a moral conundrum your grace. You see, by pressing him into service his greatest act of betrayal was in fact to not betray you at all. It was the only way of saving face."
Golden rolled that around in her mind a few times, but each time it seemed to make less and less sense the more she thought about it.
He rose back up to his impressive height and bowed deeply, "Welcome ma'am." The Minator said, his rugged frame smoothing to somewhere between a prized butler and a prized bare knuckle boxer. "My name is Iron Hoof, I am the head butler of the household."
"Charmed." Luna said with a smile. Golden watched her for a moment. There was no sarcasm behind the statement, no distrust in her eyes. She supposed it really was just griffons that she didn't like.
Iron Hoof turned to address the rest of them, but as he opened his mouth his eyes locked on Golden, or more accurately, the stroller that Golden was pushing.
"Who is this?" He asked.
"It's the princess daughter-," Golden paused, already feeling Luna's deadly glance aimed at the back of her skull, "-adopted-daughter," she amended.
"My word." The minotaur said, "may I see her?" He leaned forward before Golden had a chance to stop him.
"Wait!" Golden cried out, but it was already too late. There was a squeaking sound, then the Minator moved his head backwards, now with a cranky cub attached to it.
"Ha!" He said his voice slightly muffled from a mouth full of feathers. "A feisty one I see, a true heir of the night princess as I live and breathe."
"It most certainly isn't, I have no such feist!" Luna snapped, in a tone of voice that didn't help her cause.
"Are you okay?" Silver asked, wincing.
"Haha, no, I'm actually in tremendous pain." He said with a smile, "but you have to let the little ones have their fun." With a gentleness that Golden didn't expect from such a giant frame, he lifted her off him by the scruff of her neck with two fingers. The cub in question blinked a few times then giggled.
"I'm so sorry, she does that sometimes." Golden said, though by sometimes, she meant all the time.
He shrugged his massive shoulders as he smiled at the little princess. "Well a healthy cub is bound to do those things. Winder was the same way when he came here. Always leaping at things, it's how they play." He said gently placing the cub back into the pram.
"Winder?" Golden asked,
"The groundskeeper. He's been in this manor nearly twenty years now." He nodded towards the back of the stately home. "I hate to admit it, the manor itself has fallen on hard times. But the garden still rivals any of the land. Even Buckley manor, those self righteous low life scoundrels that they are," he said, turning towards the horizon, "Yes, you'll get yours someday," he muttered, eyes narrowed to slits as he stared into the distance.
Golden and Silver shared a puzzled glance at one another. Mutually agreeing without speaking that it was best not to ask.
"Oh simply astounding, yet more griffons, there goeth the neighbourhood." Luna groaned. "Might as well sell the property now, no getting rid of them once they've nested in." She said, shaking her head at the sorry state of it all.
Iron Hoof turned away from whatever vendetta he had been muttering about and bowed deeply once more. "Where are my manners, please your grace, right this way." He said moving with a proffered hand, guiding them towards the ancient weather worn doors.
The Inside of the manor was not much better than the outside. The floorboards didn't so much creak as ominously threaten to cave in with a great groan. Ancient spiderwebs dangled from all four corners of the cavernous entrance, hanging like tapestries. Dust lay as thick as carpets under and over the furniture, almost pulsating. What had once been gold furnishings had turned a faint sickly orange colour. It said a lot to Golden that somehow even the gold had begun to rust.
She pushed the stroller forward and nearly jumped bodily backwards when she saw four long, thin chitinous legs the size as a large dog curl backwards into one of the webbed masses.
"I sincerely apologise for the lack of upkeep ma'am." Iron Hoof said knowingly. "I'm afraid it's only me looking after the manor. We've had a devil of a time trying to find good help since Lord Snap Case."
"Who?" Luna asked.
"The old proprietor of the property." He said, "the manor was given to him to care for by your sister as a reward for his years of patriotic support. But unfortunately he lost his fortune and sanity down the years and last year he disappeared without a trace, and with it went the upkeep of the manor." He sighed.
"I was unaware that the manor had changed hooves?" Luna said, "what happened?"
"Strangest thing really?" Iron Hoof said scratching at his chin with an idle finger. "No one is quite sure, some of the local villagers blame the ghost that haunted the house for generations. Others on the supposed Zebra burial ground under the floorboards."
"G-Ghosts?" Golden said, glancing around nervously.
"But my money is on Lord Snap Case's rampant obsession with collecting occult objects from all over the world. I tried to tell him, I said sir you can never just stop at one, everyone knows once you start you can't stop collecting ancient powerful artefacts, but did he listen?" Iron shook his head sadly. "Now I'm afraid the basement's positively flooded with the damn things."
"That, or perhaps it's the fact that old Snap Case also never learned that you're supposed to go under twenty one in Blackjack." Silver whispered knowingly to Luna.
"It's all a sorry state really." Iron continued, "I've tried to do all I could, but I'm getting old and there's only so much these hands can clean." He said with a dejected sigh.
Luna walked over, placing a wing over his shoulder. Which took an effort considering he was three feet taller than her and three times as wide. "Do not worry about a thing my good bull. We have highly skilled maids for just such a problem." She gently guided him towards another room. "You leave that to them, We have more pressing matters." She leaned in conspiratorially. "Can we ask you a question, do you fence Mr. Hoof?"
The old Minatorian blinked, then slowly nodded, "Of course your grace, national sport of my homeland, I practice every day for two hours, helps keep my wits about me."
For the first time in over a week, Golden saw Luna give a genuine smile, "Ahh, I thought as much, we think you and I are going to get along famously, my good bull." She said, leading him away from the group.
Golden watched them go, thankful at least that the princess had been distracted. She hadn't been too comfortable around her lately, what with being threatened into a pit of snakes by said Alicorn not more than two days beforehand.
Silver turned to the retinue. "Okay everyone, we know our jobs, guards secure the area, maids..." he turned to watch a dust bunny the size of a tumbleweed roll past the group. "Eh, good luck."
As if in cue one of the maids, a stallion with half a cigar burning in the corner of his mouth stepped forwards. Armed with a scar across his cheek and a frilly attire complete with a bonnet and pink bow he gazed at the rank and file of the maids, "alright you heard em fillies, pick your weapons."
Golden watched as he lay out an assortment of feather dusters, brooms, mops and other cleaning devices. "I won't lie to you mares," he said, pacing up and down the line of stoic maids, "this mission is like nothing we've ever faced before." He eyed the room like a general surveying a battlefield.
The mare's faces were all set with grim determination as they nodded in unison. "Some of you might not make it," he continued, "but I just want to say, it's been an honour to mop and brush by your sides." He turned, blowing smoke ominously out the other corner of his mouth then took a deep breath. "Glory to the first maid to fall!" He roared and all as one they charged into the heart of darkness.
Golden watched them go, feeling like she should do something. "Umm Uncle, what do you want me to do?"
He turned back to her as if he just reminded she was there, "Oh Golden, yes um, perhaps you could take our little princess around the garden for a while, come back in an hour" he grimaced as a maid tackled a swarm of dust bunnies bodily. "Maybe two."
"Don't you want me to help clean up?" She looked at the other maids. Most of whom were savaging the spider webs and monstrously gelatinous dust balls that seemed, despite all evidence to the contrary, to be fighting back.
"Hmm?" Silver said, turning back again, "oh um, I don't think that will be wise." He said slowly. "We need all experienced hooves on deck here. Code red, you understand right, Golden? Besides, you're much better at looking after the princess."
She wanted to protest, but she could read between the lines of what he was really saying, you're less trouble looking after the princess.
"Yes uncle." She said dejectedly. Just another acknowledgment that she was in the wrong line of work.
Slowly, she pushed the stroller back towards the doors. Ducking forlornly under a maid who was thrown back by a spider the size of a small Labrador that hissed at her menacingly.
"Ha, I've tackled bed bugs worse than you before breakfast, come get some bug boy!" She gave a roar that would have made a Valkyrie blush, clutching a feather duster like a dagger as she dived boldly at the arachnid.
Slowly, somberly, Golden shut the door behind her.
"Come on little princess, you have to eat something!" Golden slumped down by the side of the water fountain gently rocking the little Griffon in her hooves. She pushed the bottle towards her beak only for the lioness to push it away with a mewing protest.
"It'll make you grow up big and strong." She cooed to the cub. Though the idea of the lioness getting any stronger or faster was a frankly terrifying concept.
She sighed as the lioness pushed it away again and set the bottle down on the stone of the fountain rim. Just one more thing she was failing at.
Was this going to be her life, botching up one job after another? The only thing she was good for was the one thing she had no passion for at all. She glanced down at her cutie mark and sighed.
Trying to distract herself from her current predicament, she gazed around the gardens of the manor. Huge primrose bushes of almost every colour were lined around the width of the old disused fountain like a wall of vegetation. Whoever cared for it had truly gone the extra mile, not a leaf was out of place.
"Glad to see some pony out there's found their calling." She muttered to herself.
"Har du det bra?" Asked a voice directly by her ear.
Golden screamed, nearly launching the cub in the air as she flung herself from the bench. She stumbled backwards over the lip of the fountain. her back hit against the statue of the broken alicorn.
Something burbled ominously in the pipe inside it. Golden froze as she glanced behind her. The rumbling filled her mind with the image of a bowling ball being pushed through a straw.
The statue began to vibrate violently, then suddenly... it stopped.
Golden caught her breath, glanced at the lioness who was still in her hooves and gazed back at the voice.
The figure that had scared her was looming over the fountain edge. Its face was covered in a protective bees hive netting obscuring its features in shadow. Its legs were covered by two long thick gloves and ragged boots worn and tattered.
"Don't you know how dangerous it is to scare a mare when she's holding a cub. This thing is fully loaded you know!" She said holding up the cub who held her talons up towards the stranger making a grabbing motion.
The stranger cocked its head eerily slowly to one side, towering over them. Golden wasn't a small mare, but the stranger still easily had a hoof or two over her. Well used muscles flexed under grey fur and mud. Golden glanced at the ominous figure, unmoving and unresponsive.
Suddenly Iron Hoof's words about curses and occult ghosts didn't seem that silly anymore.
"W-who are you?" She asked the imposing figure, it breathed ominously behind the fabric mesh of the helm.
It seemed to ignore her question and instead turned back towards the bottle, and opened the top.
"H-Hey, that's not yours!" She said as the figure brought the bottle up to the mesh around its face, sniffed it and then, much to Golden's astonishment, began to walk away with it.
She scrambled upright instantly. "H-hey get back here!" The little cub wrangled in her hooves as if even she couldn't believe the audacity of it.
Stealing milk for a baby, even for a ghost that was low! Golden slid back up to her hooves and followed the apparition as it moved through the garden.
Leaving the stroller she sprinted out towards it, only catching glimpses as she passed the tall walls of cut hedges.
Whatever it was, it knew the maze of bushes inside and out. She turned a corner just in time to see the figure strolling down a pair of rickety cellar doors and into a basement below the manor. "Hey I'm talking to you, do you know who this cub belongs to? You're in big trouble mister!"
Her response was the cellar doors slamming shut.
She raced forward, pulled the handles back and stared downwards towards the black abyss below. Water dripped forbiddingly from the ceiling, pooling by the slimy stairs that lead into blackness. The only light was an ominous red glow somewhere in the distance which was somehow worse than total darkness.
She thought about cutting her losses then and there. But what was she going to tell her uncle? 'Sorry I lost the princess milk and bottle because some ghost snatched it and walked down into some creepy hideout.' As if he would believe an excuse like that...again.
He'd probably give her that knowing smile and pat her on the back. He would be understanding and he would have that look in his eye that would say, she did the best she could given what she was.
Golden but her lip, glanced down at the caller and then at the hatchling nestled in her foreleg, "if anything happens go for the face okay." She whispered to the cub who simply giggled in reply.
Slowly, she walked down the moss and bracken covered stairs. Below her she could hear the clinking of glasses and a tuneless humming ricocheting off the walls.
Golden eyes adjusted to the sanguine red of the light. It took her a moment to see what was making it. Or rather, which of the many were making it.
All around the basement lay a motley collection of ancient and ominous items. Like a junk yard sale for the possibly deranged and definitely evil. Skulls and spiked balls lined the walls, books flapped open and hissed when she moved too close to them. An Onyx lock box levitated on a pedestal, surrounded by chains and began to glow an even darker shade of red as she passed.
She gulped, clutching the little princess against her chest. Why did these types of things always happen to her? Why couldn't it just be a regularly haunted old cellar in a mansion. She winced as something moved in the shadows.
It was the stranger, its forelegs moved up and snatched a single jar from a shelf. A collection of what must have been hundreds of jars and beakers each containing white, green and yellow powders, dried fungi, roots and other items Golden couldn't make out surrounded an ancient workbench it was huddled over.
She watched him, as the ghoulish figure took out a table spoon and began to mix some brown powder into the princess bottle.
Despite herself Golden yelled out, "Caught you red hoofed." She strode forward, anger and tiredness taking over her fear. "Attempting to poison a princess in the act, you just wait until the guards hear about this, ghost or no your in deep now." The figure froze, then slowly turned to face her. They stared at one another, well she stared, whatever it might have had for eyes where still hidden behind the mask of netting.
She gulped as it moved almost silently towards her. Only then did she notice that it had something in its arms, a pair of garden shears.
All at once Golden realised she probably should have stayed silent. She turned, moving backwards, "stay away, I'll, I'll" but before she could finish thinking of a threat something caught her leg.
The figure lunged at her, "Vente!"
But it was too late, something engulfed her. A heavy cloth covered her vision and she screamed. There was a swearing sound and she found herself struggling against what had engulfed her.
"Help, I'm being kidnapped!" She screamed. Coughing at the dust that was filling her mouth and eyes. She struggled for a few frantic moments, then shee felt something tug at the other side and suddenly she could see light again.
Slowly through the haze and water in her eyes she looked up from her back to see the figure standing over her.
Not a ghost, but...another Griffon?
"Are you well, little pony?" It, or rather he asked.
Rubbing the dust from her face she caught sight of sky blue eyes staring down at her.
"You're not a ghost?" Golden said, in the tone of voice that was trying to be reasonable while madness was breaking down the door with a cleaver.
"Not since last I check?" The now very obvious griffon in front of her answered.
"What just happened?" She asked.
"I trying to warn you, thought you spoke Griffonian, you walk backwards into mirror and snag paw on canvas cover. It fell on you."
"Oh..." she stared back at the moth-eaten canvas cloth on the floor. That made more sense now that she thought about it. Though that still left a lingering question.
"Oh heck, where's the princess!?" She said, getting up and glancing around the room.
On cue little white and brown plumes of feathers popped out from behind the large grey griffons head. Black eyes sparkling in the red light glowing light.
"Hatchlings like to ride up top." He said knowingly as the little princess chirped excitedly, flapping her tiny wings.
Golden shook the stars from her eyes and snatched the princess from the top of the strange Griffon. "Wait a minute, don't think I forgot, I saw you put something in her drink."
"Yes." He said without hesitation.
"Ahah, not even going to deny it, conscience weighing heavy already?" She glared at him, "I don't know where you get off dressing like a ghost and scaring ponies and trying to put poison in baby bottles!"
"Not poison, protein." He said laconically.
"Call it whatever you want, you're going away for a long time!"
"It help her grow." He said with a carefree smile on his face, "protein." He said with a helpful nod.
"Protein, what's that, some kind of Griffon word for poison, I ain't falling for it buddy." She watched as the Griffon moved back to the brown jar, took a claw and moved it into the dust, then put a trace of it into his beak.
"Pony food not enough for growing Griffon." He nodded sagely. Golden watched him for a long moment, waiting for him to start frothing at the mouth and collapse. But instead he held the bottle out to her with a gentle smile.
She took it conspiratorially eyeing the contents. Nothing seemed to bubble ominously from the top and it didn't smell any different from the regular milk they had used.
Maybe being around Princess Luna for so long was starting to make her paranoid.
"Okay, maybe it's not poison," she said slowly, "but I'm going to try it and make sure." The Griffon seemed indifferent about the matter.
The milk tasted no different, warm from the magically heated bottle, a slightly earthy taste to it, which was probably this so-called protein. All in all it wasn't actually that bad. Didn't taste poisonous to Golden anyway.
"Very good yes?" He said with a nod, "I pick and grind fresh from soil."
"What is it, some kind of plant?" She took another tiny sip, the taste was just strangely moreish.
"Earthworm." He said smiling.
Golden's eyes bundled and she spat the contents out. Nearly throwing the bottle in the process. The grey Griffon snatched the bottle and the cub fearing Golden would fall again.
Golden gagged as she tried to scrap her tongue with a hoof. The Griffon shrugged and offered the milk back up towards the cub who sniffed it, then, eyes widening, made a grabbing lotion for the bottle.
He smiled, placing the nipple back into the bottle and watched as the cub latched into it sucking down the contents greedily.
"Fields above, why?" Golden wailed at life in general.
"Not to everyone's taste." The griffons said knowingly, "my bror Thorfin like crickets, but he always fussy."
"Is it safe?" Golden asked, still a shade of green.
"Oh yes." He said, "my dear mor would feed to me daily, high in protein, make strong, you do not feed your cub this no?" He asked.
"She's not mine, she's Princess Luna's daughter." Golden said, finally able to catch her breath. She offered out her hoof. The Griffon handed her back the cub, who let go of the bottle only to burp loudly before going back to it hungrily.
"Ahh, what is name of her?"
"Well..." That was a damn good question actually. Golden blinked for a moment, looking down at the Griffon who was now pecking at the bottle tip. "Her mother's, um...a little picky with the names." She probably couldn't decide between rodent chaser or flea bag. "She's not decided. But I'm thinking of calling her-"
She baulked as the Griffon put her claws over her lips. "Hey!" She protested, moving back, "watch it buddy, I don't even know your name."
"Winder." he said casually, "Pony should not name cub, hatchlings imprint on mothers with names, is very bad luck to name her before mother does."
"Oh," Golden blinked, looking down at the cub again who was now swaying her tail happily, her eyelids growing heavy once again. There was so little she actually knew about griffons or their culture.
Slowly once the bottle was finished, she placed the little princess on her back. She seemed to sit nicely there. Her claws gripped the fur as she lay her little head on the base of her mane and slowly started to close her eyes.
"Is there a manual with you guys?" She said in a joking fashion.
"I do not think so." He said looking down in thought, "every pride different."
"Boy it would help, if you did have one then Bob's your uncle." She said with a soft chuckle.
"My uncle is Gelert Sternclaw." He said with a confused look.
"Um, No I just meant that it would be easier." She said slowly.
"So I must write this book, to ease you all because Gelert Sternclaw is my uncle?"
Golden gave him a deadpan glare, "You're... very literal aren't you?"
"Sorry, I am not used to jokes and metaphors or pony sayings. I was how you say, born without a funny bone."
Golden blinked, "luckily you, my whole body is a funny bone." Golden said sardonically, "you are welcome to take some of mine."
"Sadly it would not work," he tapped his head, "it's up here." He tapped his head, "I can't visualise humour. I think it was because both my parents were inventors."
Golden stared at him for a long moment and then said. "Oh by the way, My name is Golden Brightnose Boffo Smile."
"Greetings." He said, extending his claw and showing not an ounce of a smile.
Okay so maybe he was telling the truth. She'd never met another creature who didn't snigger at her unfortunate name.
She deflated slightly. "Yeah, lucky that's me, Just call me Lucky Larry."
"But I thought your name was-" the words died on his beak as a flash of ethereal light made them both turn. Golden caught sight of what the cloth canvas had been covering, it was an enormous mirror, its surface radiating and rippling with magic.
She took a step backwards as it flashed blinding bright and then all of a sudden Golden was staring at a red stallion. One who was walking through an alleyway.
"What the heck?" Golden muttered to herself.
"Oh hey a bit!" The stallion in the mirror said, bending down. As he did so, a lead pipe missed his head by inches and hit the wall. The figure holding it, wearing a balaclava, staggered forwards.
"Four!" Another voice screamed somewhere in the distance. A golf ball went over the bent red stallion's head and hit the mugger square on the forehead. He went down like a sack of bricks.
"Wow, what a lucky find." The red stallion said examining the coin and continued on completely oblivious to everything.
Golden blinked, then turned away from the mirror and towards Winder, "Who is that?"
"I guess, this is Lucky Larry."
"What?" Golden said.
"Is magic mirror. Lord Snap Case's prize possession, before he went mad." He gestured towards the strange items dotted around the basement.
"If it was his most prized possession, why did he leave it down here?" Golden asked, gazing back towards the mirror.
"I do not question the mad." Winder said sagely.
"So, what does the mirror do?"
"It shows your reflection."
"No, not the mirror part, the magic mirror bit."
"It finds things and shows them to you." He shrugged
Golden bulked, "What, anything?"
"Within reason." He said, "I had seen Snap Case use it once or twice, to find the great mysteries of the universe and his house keys."
Golden gazed back at the mirror, "Can I...try it?"
Winder shrugged. "Not mine."
"Um... okay then, magic mirror show me, Silver Tongue."
The mirror flashed and then all of a sudden her uncle appeared. He was shuffling papers around a desk. In the background what looked like a large tentacle monster made of dirt, detritus and dust at least three stories tall roared and flung a maid from its back.
Its giant tentacles lashed around in the air as it demolished a wall. Another maid, this one with the cigar in its mouth, clawed his way from behind its head and shoved a bottle of what looked like bleach into its fanged maw.
"Hey dust." He growled, throwing the cigar into the dust monster's mouth, "get busted!" and leaped off. There was a pause as orange balls of fire flowed inside of the monster's stomach, then the window exploded with grey slime.
Her uncle frowned at the ripples in his tea cup from the vibrations of the explosion, glanced around, shrugged, then went back to his papers.
Golden sat there mouth wide open, "It actually worked."
"Indeed, I am surprised, I did not think bleach alone could explode." Winder said curiously.
"Not that," she said, "I mean the mirror, she turned back to it with a smile, "Um, okay, Princess Celestia."
Again the mirror shifted in an unfathomable light of magic.
A large white Alicorn sat in her study. She placed another scroll against a mountain of others and sighed. Then after looking around for a moment, produced a bottle of wine and a large iron goblet.
She poured it into a glass and brought it to her lips.
"Princess Celestia, come quick something's happened!" Someone screamed banging on her door.
Celestia spat out the contents of red wine all over her muzzle. She blinked several times then lowered her head onto the desk and started banging it against the wood.
"This is amazing." Golden said slowly moving towards the mirror, small beads of lighting humming from its rippling surface which seemed to draw closer towards her hoof. Winder moved fast, slapping her hoof away.
"Ouch, what did you do that for?!" Golden yelled.
"Mirror is occult magic, ancient magic, if you touch, there would be no telling what will happen, might take you place, no telling where, or when even."
"Oh...Right, that sounds bad." She glanced again at the mirror. Above her the cub gave what sounded like a hummingbird's snore (3). Golden glanced up at her then at the griffon.
"Could it...find her real patients?" Golden asked.
"If you know their names?" He said
"I...don't." She said with a sigh. Shaking her head, oh well it was worth a shot at least. "All I know is her um, what do you call it, pride name, Novabane, does that ring a bell?"
"I do not have a bell?" He answered.
The mirror flashed a brilliant shade of blue as lights danced off of Golden's features, it spun until it landed in the middle of a Forest. Golden leaned forwards squinting, which was probably what saved her life. She felt something skim her mane and wedge into the wall just above her.
It took her a moment to understand what she was looking at. As she stared at the long wooden stick vibrating, feathers coming out of the end.
Lucky for her, Winder seemed to know almost immediately, he grabbed her from behind and dragged her back behind the workbench.
Golden "What's going-" but didn't get any further because for the second time that day she was staring at another mysterious figure coming down the basement.
Another one came after. This one huge, almost the size of princess Luna and as wide as Iron Hoof. The small one grabbed a hold of something the giants was holding and lowered it with effort.
It whispered harshly in a language she could barely hear or understand towards the hulking behemoth. Who muttered something back, although by my muttering, it was more like shouting but with a filter on.
She managed to unglue her gaze from the two figures and towards Winder who lifted a single talon from her mouth and moved it up towards his beak.
Golden didn't have to ask what that gesture meant she already knew the answer.
There was more noise as the two figures seemed to search through the basement, knocking over the artefacts as they went.
The smaller one, took a step forward in their direction. Inching closer towards the cabinet that Golden and Winder were hiding, Golden held her breath, praying that this was not the moment her comedic curse would strike.
The shadowy figure peered in through the jars and Golden was sure it was looking right at her. But before it could lock eyes with her, a long haunting whistle permeated through the basement from somewhere outside.
Both of them moved together. They crept back up the stairs and out of view. Golden felt a pain in her chest. Realised she hadn't been breathing in over a minute and exhaled.
"Who were they?" She asked, long after she heard their steps vanish off into the distance.
"Trouble." Winder said solemnly.
"Thanks captain literal, I mean do you know them?"
The Griffon shook his head. "No, but they seemed to know her," he said, pointing towards the sleeping lioness.
"How can you tell?"
Winder turned and looked at her solemnly, "They said the phrase, find the cub."
"Oh," Golden blinked, staring back towards the arrow embedded three inches into solid wood, one that had only been two inches from her face and muttered. "So much for a quiet vacation." |
How Luna Adopted a Hatchling (Against Her Will) | A Discordant Night. | Most ponies would not believe that pigeons are spiritual creatures. But pigeons are one of the most pious creatures on Eques.
They believe that if they've lived the life of a perfect pigeon, which is to say, cooing sufficiently loudly whilst ponies tried to sleep. Nest on only the most important statues in any given land and excreted on others whilst they wore their Sunday best. Then they will earn a place on the Great Blue Perch. Which they would be carried to by the great talons of the messenger.
Currently one of them was praying on the side of the old manor near the tree it had been nesting in, sending droplets of the divine down onto a spiky horned creatures in a black suit, which cursed angrily.
It pecked idly at one of the loosened tiles wondering where it was going to find its next meal. Then suddenly out of the sky something fell onto its head. It flapped its wings, flew backwards and cocked its head towards the ground.
A fluffy piece of what smelt like corn was slowly rolling down the tile. Idly it pecked at the thing, as was taught by the great white dove, "all-eth thingy's shouldeth be pecked-eth at lest-eth three timeys as is right-eth and proper." which meant everything, even rocks, train platforms and other pigeons.
Then having pecked sufficiently, it tasted something it could not quite fathom. The pigeon pecked again and swallowed.
What little synapses of intelligence its brain occupied flooded with euphoria as the taste of this exploded corn, this banged grain as it had decided to call it hit its taste buds.
Even as it was pecking it, the pigeon wondered if it would ever taste anything quite so sweet again. When suddenly the sky rained with banged grain.
The pigeon could hardly believe its luck. Twisting its head up to the sky to give thanks to the Great Perch it noticed a cloud just above it on the roof, a scaly tail and fluffy paw was dangling lazily from one side of it.
It started up in wonderment. Surely this was the Great Talon of the messenger, it had come down from the cloud and bestowed a bit of feed from the very Perch.
If the pigeon was capable of higher contemplation, it would have noticed that this was different to all the other stories of the great talon. This usually happened out of nowhere, grabbing you mid-flight in a flurry of screeching feathers and blinking confusion and dragging you off, presumably to the Great Perch, though strangely, no pigeon could actually confirm this to date.
But that didn't matter, what was important was that it told all the flock. It would tell all the tale of the talon's appearance and the exploded corn. The pigeon took off, ready to preach to its flock to create a schism in the orthodoxy and start a cult that would last a thousand clutches. But then it spotted a worm crawling out from a pile of leaves and took off after that instead.
Pigeons after all, are not the brightest of creatures.
Meanwhile in the less important world of pigeon deities, the emissary of the Great Perch, also known as Discord or "The avatar of chaos and disharmony, the reckoning of peace and tranquility," to his friends, was having one of his best days yet.
He stuffed another paw into the popcorn bag and barely had a second to chew, before it came spilling out in a fit of giggles and belly laughter. As he glanced down at the show below him.
This little plan was turning out to be one for the books alright. He would have to save a whole page, maybe even two for his scrap book of chaos, heck maybe even a collage?
Even he couldn't believe it was still going. He had thought when those abominable sisters had finally had that little talk, that would be the end of all his fun.
But somehow they'd agreed to the idea? Somehow that stubborn mule of a mare had actually convinced that other stubborn mule to look after the little cub she hated.
It was like they had wanted to keep this going as much as he did. The best part was, they had been so busy dealing with their own mess they hadn't even bothered to find or come after him. He thought for sure the moth was pushing it a little too far. But no one was even the wiser.
He had to admit, begrudgingly of course and if anyone else ever found out he would deny it. But this 'patie-' this 'patien-' sigh, this 'waiting around instead of doing something.' was actually working out!
But that wasn't even the best part. The best part was that he had not even thought about all the other little branches of chaos that had grown from the trunk of it all.
Speaking of which, he was missing the show.
"Uncle I'm telling you, there were these strange figures in the basement, they shot at me with some strange wooden thing." The pony with the clown make up and frilly maid outfit whined.
"Sorry, was this before or after you met the ghost that turned out to be the grounds keeper and followed him into a cryptic basement full of, what was it? Magical occult items?" The fat, but Discord had to admit, impeccably well dressed pony asked incredulously.
"Uncle, you're doing it again." She said somehow managing to scowl through those bright red lips.
"What?"
"You have your 'I'm trying to pretend I believe you, but actually I think you're lying through your teeth' client voice on."
Discord watched the fat pony chins formed into a frown, it was like watching sheets of snow collapsing down the side of a mountain, "I don't have that voice, do I have that voice?" He asked rhetorically. "Look Golden, I think we've all just had a very long day, why don't you take a break, I'm informed that the rooms are ready now, why don't you go take a nap."
The clown stamped her hoof on the ground, making a sound of a rubber ball. "I'm telling the truth uncle, there's something not right with this place."
"Okay then Golden, tell me where they are, where did they go?"
The mare raised her hoof as if to point out the direction then deflated slightly and said, "I...don't know."
"And where is this gardener you met?" The fat one said, raising his brow questioningly.
"He took off somewhere... but he said he'd be back." She added hesitantly.
Discord watched the sharp dressed stallion nod sagely. "Look Golden, my dear I think-"
"-Your doing it again, you're going to lie to me and say everything is fine aren't you?"
"Golden?!" He said in a slightly hurt tone, "when have I ever lied to you?"
"Yestur-"
"-Metaphorically speaking," he added quickly, "look, if it puts your mind at ease, I'll ask the guards if they can put in an extra patrol, now did you put the princess to bed?"
"I...yes." The clown said dejectedly.
"Good, then let's just put a pin in it today and tomorrow we can have a look at this basement and these strange sightings, I promise."
"But...okay uncle." She said sagging like a deflated whoopee cushion.
"Relax, Golden let me handle things," he said, patting her on the back, "Honestly you act like the very clouds are waiting to strike."
Discord couldn't help it he let out another laugh.
"Did you hear that?" The impeccably dressed, rotund one said, glancing upwards suspiciously.
"What?" The clown said dejectedly.
The stallion gazed around frantically then smiled uneasily. "Nothing, it just sounds like someone's been laughing at me all day."
"Welcome to my world." She answered, sullenly trotting back towards the mansion.
Discord watched them go, then fell backwards into the cloud once more, sighing contently. "Ah, it's like my birthday and the apocalypse all rolled into one." What a lovely week it had been.
But even through his giant pink sunglasses he could make out the moon creating the horizon. Signaling the end of a day, but more importantly to Discord, the end of fun.
Damn and he was just getting comfortable too. He had found the right cloud, the right camouflage, got his chips, dips and assortment of fizzy drinks and was settled in to binge through the latest 'ponies do the stupidest things' season seven thousand. But now he would have to sit through the twelve hour commercial break called night time.
Now what was he going to do?
"Stop being defeatist Discord,"
Discord blinked, then glanced around.
"Down here boss." He glanced down at his shoulder as another tiny version of himself materialised. "There has to be something going on right?"
"Oh, hello me, no it's no use, these ponies and their intolerable sleep."
The little him nodded sagely, "Well, maybe instead of whining, we should be proactive?"
"I can't, I made a..." he swallowed a bit of bile, "promise."
"We did, really!?" Little Discord said, taken aback slightly, "well...let's have a look around, there's always chaos out there somewhere, you have to be proactive as well you know."
"Yeah." Discord said slowly, flicking off his sunglasses "You're right!" He sat up straight, brow furrowed in determination, "gosh me, you really know how to cheer me up."
"It's what I pay me for." He said with a hopeful smile.
Discord paused and glanced pointedly downwards. "Pay? Who said anything about pay!"
"Hey we got rights, we have a wife and six kids to feed."
"Sounds like a you problem." Discord said, flicking the tiny version off his shoulder, as he grinned manically. Yes, waiting had its purpose it seemed. But there were times when a proactive measure was needed.
Perhaps that was inconsistent from what he was just thinking before, Discord hoped so.
He took off from the cloud, flying across the garden. What had that clown been talking about, ghosts with arrows or something? Well if that was the case he had to find out where they were, he wanted a piece of that action.
It didn't take him long, only a few minutes into his flight he spotted something moving towards the back of the manor. Two figures dressed in hoods. Each of them skulking through the undergrowth, ducking and just narrowly dodging out of sight of the guards posted around them.
Discord fanged smile gleamed in the moonlit night, bingo. There was only one thing that strange figures at twilight wearing hoods would be up to and if that was the case, he wanted in.
He might have thought it strange that just by chance he had conveniently happened to find them. But Discord was the type of...well he wasn't quite sure what he was really, but whatever that was, he was the type that always saw the funny side of life.
You had to see the funny side of things, it was either that or go sane. Who would want to be that, he had seen what so called sane creatures did, they were nuts! War, taxes, lawyers...You had to be truly crazy to call yourself sane and still think those were a good idea.
He followed them inside, becoming one with the shadows. The smaller cloaked figure was trying and failing to pick at a lock against the back entrance. Discord rolled his eyes as he glanced at a patrolling guard who was just about to turn the corner and spot them.
"Must I do everything?" He asked, and was about to snap open the door himself, when the larger one shouldered the smaller one aside and bent the large metal handle inwards. Using only his arms.
Discord blinked, "Well, someone's been drinking their milk." He mused to himself as the two scurried in.
Sweeping through the halls, he watched as the two covertly stuck to the shadows, ducking behind furniture and into the shadows, away from passing guards and the occasional maid.
Periodically they opened doors, seemingly at random, but despite the huge one having a large sack over its shoulder neither one of them were stealing anything.
Not that there was anything to steal, any price of value in this wretched manor was long past its sell by date. Discord could have bought everything in there with the lint and candy in his pocket, and still had enough lint to eat after.
The answer came rather suddenly when they turned the corner and stopped, Craning their necks around the bend, they glanced furtively towards the room at the far end of the hall.
At the other end two guards stood stoically in front of a door. A door Discord recognised almost instantly.
"Oh this is getting better and better." He said watching as one of the griffons took something from their robes. A sort of flat bow with a handle on it and slotted an arrow into it.
"Nei" he whispered harshly. "Ikke her."
Discord frowned, then turned his ear like a dial,
"Bzzz"
"-No."
"The person you are trying to reach is unable to take your-."
"-No."
"Congratulations on being our one thousandth caller, just enter your credit card details to win big-"
"-Not falling for that one again, Aha wait, there it is!"
His ear spun round until it locked into place and finally set itself on the language of those two figures. The harsh sounding syllables of the figures turned from noise into words turning from, griffonian to eques.
"Don't." The griffon said, moving the bow away.
"Why?" The large one rumbled.
"Because you miss all the time, you almost got us caught half an hour ago." The smaller griffon growled.
"What do we do then?" The other one who despite whispering might as well have been attached to a fog horn asked.
Discord watched the figures exchanging words to one another when something in the window caught his gaze.
But before he could even lift his fingers, there was the sound like a bowstring being loosened and something jammed into the backside of one of the guards.
"Ouch!?" The first guard who had been struck in the rump yelped.
"Shh." The other older pony growled
"Something just bit me?" He said, craning his neck to his backside.
"What part of shh do you not understand?" The other growled again.
"I'm serious, hey is that... oh my god I've been poisoned!"
"Listen sonny i've been in the game too long to fall for the old. "I've been poisoned by a dart trick,' you think I was born yesterday, you ain't getting out of night duty again, just shut up and stand still."
"I don't feel so..."
"Nice try, I'm still not-" The older one finally turned as his fellow guard clashed to the floor, "-what the heck?!"
Before the guard had time to look around, the large griffon moved, faster than Discord thought something that size could move. It lifted up his massive foreleg and brought it down on the helm of the older guard. He stood there, as the sound of metal rang through the halls like the bell of a boxing match, then slowly the older guard collapsed onto his partner like a plank of wood.
"Idiot l told you to keep it down." The smaller one whispered harshly, though that was hardly needed now.
"I did, I didn't yell any battle cries or nothing."
"That's not what I, bloody heck, let's just get going." He growled, opening the door to the room.
Discord would have chuckled at the sight of that. Slapstick was an underrated part of the chaos family. But at that moment he wasn't paying attention to them. His gaze was still fixed towards the open window at the far end. He caught a figure in the distance moving away.
He had not even seen the third one, if it hadn't been the glint of metal reflecting off that dart. He would not have even known he was there.
Something about that made him feel strange, like someone had played a trick on him instead of the other way around. He was not a person who appreciated being the but of the jokes, it was damn unprofessional for one thing and he was still gunning for the employee of the century.
True, he was the only employee and also the C.E.O. But that was no reason to slack off!
He turned, glancing back towards the two ponies on the ground. It didn't look fatal, but when they woke up they would both probably wish they were.
Discord slipped through the door; the room itself wasn't much better than the others, old decrepit, practically macabre. It looked more like a crypt than a bedroom. But instead of a coffin in the middle of the room, there was a small soft navy blue crib, a tiny crescent moon painted on the front.
"There she is, finally." The small hooded figure growled.
"What do we do now?" The larger one rumbled.
"Stuff her in the bag and let's go."
"Okay..." he said, then hesitated, "wait, what?"
"Put her in the bag." The smaller said slowly.
"But she's a cub?"
"It'll only be for a minute."
"Shouldn't I make holes in it first or somin?"
"What?" The smaller griffon scoffed, "She'll bloody fall out."
"But... mum always told me, 'Ulf don't put others in bags.'" He said slowly.
"That's oddly specific?" The smaller one said, "And what did she say about hittin' ponies round the 'ead so hard they ring like gongs?" The other asked incredulously.
"Oh she was fine with that." He said puffing up his chest with pride, "she always said 'Ulf hitting others is all you'll ever be good for.'"
"...Huh, that would almost be sad, if you didn't know any better." The other one said, shaking his head, "Just, give it 'ere." He snatched the bag from the meaty claws of the other griffon.
Discord watched them move towards the crib. He glanced at the bag then at the sleeping cub. For a moment he thought about leaving it at that. This all seemed suitably chaotic for his liking.
But as he turned to leave he felt himself grimacing. Something inside his chest gave a sort of twisting feeling, like the time he had eaten a thousand ghost peppers on a dare. But somehow it was worse.
"Oh no," he said slowly, "not this again." He'd felt that feeling before, after he had betrayed Fluttershy and he supposed the rest of her annoying companions. That feeling that felt a lot like guil-
No, no wait. He could rationalize this, it wasn't gui- guil, it definitely wasn't that. Obviously it was umm... just too easy!
Yes, that was it, this was too easy. If he let those thugs take the cub then the game would be over. Obviously these foolish ponies would never be able to find her again and then the chaos would all be over. He was simply assisting chaos by helping. Of course, that was it, he was an unlawful abiding agent of mischief after all.
Someone had to be.
He watched as the griffon leaned down towards the crib then with a smirk one that Discord mirrored. He snapped his fingers which pushed the chaotic energy through the very molecules in the air. It spun across the room, bouncing off old porcelain china, ancient books and art pieces and finally hit the sleeping cub's pillow. All this did was give the gentlest most inconspicuous nudge and then...
Even Discord had to wince at what came next. The flurrying of feathers and claws was bad enough but-
"-Ahh!" The small griffon screamed, "oh emperor, it's in my eyes!" He flew backwards, his face replaced with a tiny cub who was latched onto it for dear life. Like a cat that has climbed too high up a tree and was regretting its life choices. "Get it off, get it off!" He ran flailing up and down the floorboards.
"I got it!" The slab of a griffon bellowed, holding out his claw.
Discord snapped his fingers again, and a marbles appeared on the floor, the griffon's paw landed on them and slipped, the momentum sent the little cub flying off of him and right into a convenient fortress of pillows.
The griffon himself was not so lucky. He flew forwards and collided into the bigger griffon, sending them both flying backwards into a grand old bookcase.
Normally that would have been the end of it. Most bookcases that size were rather sturdy. But wouldn't you know it, it was one of those poorly built bookcases, the type that wobbled Ominously over the heads of dazed griffons who found themselves peered up slack jaws as a book titled Ms Willow Marks 'How to kill insects' (all one thousand pages of it) flew downwards onto the huge one's head.
Then, purely by chance, all the rest of the books fell moments later.
Discord grinned, he guessed some folk were just unluckily. He turned back towards the cub who was clawing her way out of the pillow cases and staring indifferently around the room.
She gave a small yawn, arched her back then started right up at Discord and chirped.
Funny, he was pretty sure he was fully cloaked and hidden. He lazily flew to the other side and watched as her eyes followed him.
She chirped again.
"You can see me?" He asked, the cub chirped a third time and flapped her little wings as she walked towards him.
"Well, this is awkward." He had sworn he had that camouflage down. Even the princess had trouble detecting him. Perhaps that was the problem though, young creatures always seemed to see things older ones overlooked. It was how the Boogeyman under the bed had been getting away with things for far longer than Discord had. Not that he was still bitter about that or anything.
Slowly he picked her up as she latched on to his paw playfully.
"Now what to do with you?" He said, looking around the room. "Any suggestions, I'm looking for something really spicy here."
The griffon just chirped, smiling up at him.
Discord shook his head. "No, I mean that's good don't get me wrong, but it's a bit of an old gag at this point isn't it?" He tapped his finger to his chin as the cub sat there smiling, her tail flicking side to side. "I mean, I suppose I could do it again, it did work out well the first time." He grinned slowly.
Minutes later, Discord strolled through the mansion like only a lord of trickery could, which was to say he strolled normally. But with a twist to it, it was all in the hips really.
On his head sat the little griffon, wings flapping as she gazed around at anything and everything.
"Next stop, Chaosville." He sang upwards as the cub mewed excitedly. He hoped over a pile of battle weary maids. Nearly tripping over a mare who was sleeping side by side with a giant spider, both looking rather worse for wear.
"Now if my chaos radar is anything to go by, it should be right about..." He tapped at the device in his hands and frown "Stupid thing, this is the last time I shop at Wallmar- aha!" He stopped just before turning a corner and peered around it. Two more stallions stood watch outside a door very much like all the rest of them.
Unlike those two idiot griffons. That wasn't much of a problem for him. He snapped his fingers and the two stood quite still, very still indeed, almost statuesque. Mostly because that's exactly what they now were, for the twenty minutes anyway.
"That wasn't cheating right?" He said looking up at the cub. "I mean it's not breaking any promises, they were just going to stand there anyway, right?"
The cub had very little to say in the matter as she was at that moment two busy chewing on the end of her tail.
"My thoughts exactly," he said smirking, "you know it's nice not having someone so judgmental around." He walked right past them and towards the door.
Slowly, as carefully as he could he slid the door open a crack and peered inside. "Alright, you know the plan?" He whispered up towards the cub. She glanced down at him slowly, blinking.
"Oh come now, I told you six times already." He said with a sigh. "Well no time for that, guess it'll have to be improv." Discord muttered as he snapped his fingers and the cub vanished from his head. "Knock em dead kiddo." He yelled sotto voce to the room at large, shutting the door behind him.
Now then one more thing to complete the plan, then all he needed to do was find the cloud and sit and laugh.
Hell if he didn't love his job.
Hendric staggered out of the room, clutching the swollen lump on his head with a claw. "Damn it all, where did she go?"
This was what happened when you tried going for a grand plan. Should have just stuck to cutting purses. Living in the gutter weren't so bad compared to dealing with whatever mess this was turning out to be. Stuck between an idiot with the strength of ten idiots and a chief who he weren't sure was even griffon. Didn't see much but blackness in those eyes and was pretty sure he wouldn't know a soul if he tripled over one.
The stories he had heard about the chief stories made even some like him shudder. Bad stories, black stories. But what was he supposed to do, tell some griffon like that to stick his plan where the talon don't reach?
Hendric was desperate, but he weren't suicidal.
Besides Hendric weren't much good for nothing else than making the wrong choices in life, at that he was an expert. On the bright side, a side the griffon often found himself on the opposite plane from. If he made it out of this he would be stinking rich. Enough that he could buy the gutter and the street it was on when he got back.
That would show the bloody lot of them, payback for throwing him out to the wolves. He just had to find this stupid cub and-
He stopped halfway around the corner of the hallway and stared at an effervescent light. No, not light, lights. A lot of small ones all clumped together. Bright enough that for a second Hendric thought the sun had somehow made its way into the manor as he shield his eyes.
No candle made that kind of light before. He blinked as his eyes adjusted to the lighting. "For a good time, and the cub (I guess) go here?" He read aloud slowly.
He moved closer to the flashing lights, a faint annoying buzzing coming from them and touched one with his claw. It made a tapping sound like glass and it was hot to the touch.
"Emperors beak, I hate these damn ponies, they're all nuts down here." He muttered to himself.
He glanced around, spotting some statues of guards. Looking far to life sized and far too close to real life for his liking.
Then he glanced at the door the lights were making an arrow towards. An unassuming door, could have been to anything. He knew he should have called it quits then, damn the cub and the money and his chief and this awful place full of stupid rotten ponies.
But damn it all he needed the money. Hendric lifted the empty sack over his shoulder, shook the dizziness from his vision and stepped inside the room.
He had always been his own worst enemy. |
How Luna Adopted a Hatchling (Against Her Will) | Through Beady Eyes. | "I just cannot believe the sheer audacity of her, she's always been like this you know?"
"Hmm."
"She was always Fathers favorite. Everything was hoofed to her on a silver platter. I did not even get a personal butler until I was ten, ten! Can you imagine the indignity of that?"
"Indeed."
"But twas I who had the last huzzah, 'twas I that got Grandfather's tutelage." Luna said, shining a prideful smile at the stallion across from her. "Yes he might have been a little old fashioned," she admitted, "yes he had a traditional view of mares. But once I impressed upon him my skill in fighting, leadership and my lack of them in the kitchen and for raising foals, he slowly came around."
"Right."
"And while we are at it, let me tell you now. If it twas us that were in charge we would not be beset on all sides by ancient foes every week. Forced to use six mares with no combat experience. I tell thee what, if it had my old brigade in the crystal empire, those bugs would have been little more than flattened cockroaches on the... are you listening?"
"Sorry?" The stallion in question quickly snatched his gaze away from the cabinet across the room he had been eyeing for a while now. "Please continue."
Luna leaned up from the coach she was lying on."Honestly, you call yourself a quack of the mind, yet you allow yours to wander aimlessly." Luna chided, shaking her head.
"Umm, I'm a therapist actually."
"Dress it how you wish." Luna said, batting away the new-fangled word as she had many others, "call yourself whatever makes you feel better."
"Right..." he said slowly. "Sorry princess, this is all a little strange for me, I'm not used to ponies, especially royal ones invading-" he glanced once more towards the cabinet and then around the pink walls of the room-"my personal time in this way."
"It's quite alright you are forgiven," she said laying back down again, "I wasn't doing much anyway, it's been a rather quiet night." She said gazing back up at the pink roof and shrugged.
"That's not what I meant but..." he seemed to rally himself, leaning forward on his desk, "look um, I would like to go back to something you said earlier?"
Luna sat up slightly, from the long couch she had been lounging in and turned to him, "Touch on what? Do you wish me to tell you more of my sister's transgressions, like perhaps how Celestia absconded with my dress and wore it to the gala, even though we all agreed that yellow makes her hips look like that of a yawning hippo?"
"Actually," the therapist said, wanting to stop the tirade of sibling rivalry that had been going on for the last two hours now. "I was more curious about what you mentioned, about the cub, your daughter."
Luna crinkled her muzzle at the unpleasant reminder, "Oh yes, that thing." She sighed and glanced back up at the pink ethereal roof then at the strange dangling contraptions above her, a lot of straps and chains, but to what purpose she could not tell. "One more stain to add to my lineage."
The stallion leaned back into his chair, that strange black underwear he had been dressed in rubbed harshly against it. Luna wondered if that was what they all wore, it seemed rather impractical. but then this was the modern time for you was it not? "From what you were saying, I get the impression you're not comfortable around her, yes?"
Luna scoffed, "would you be comfortable around something with a sharp beak that eats meat and carries daggers around instead of hooves?"
He blinked slowly, "I seem to recall from the papers that she's only a year old?"
"Who can say," Luna shrugged, "they all look the same really, I suppose it is young. But they spoil fast."
"If you say so princess, what I mean is that, a lot of ponies I have treated before who have a fear of-
"Who says I'm afraid?" She snapped, sitting up from the coach, her eyes narrowed dangerously at the stallion who once again gulped and tugged at that peculiar black spiked collar around his neck.
"Apologies, what I mean is, in my profession, ponies who lean towards heavy um, what's the word, biases such as yourself, they don't tend to stem from learned facts. More from a personal experience with them. Both good and bad."
"What, like when you see one stealing from a store, or raiding a village, or running around in gangs harassing upstanding citizens?" She said, "yes I keep abreast of the news, there's no end to their savagery really."
The therapist blinked, then slowly tapped his hooves together. They also made a rubbery squelch as the shiny skin tight fabric connected together, "Let's take a different approach, have all of your experience with griffons been bad?"
Luna chuckled heartily at that, "oh, good one my dear quack. Most humorous as if there would be good ones." She let out another chuckle, hitting her hoof loudly against the couch.
The stallion blinked, "Okay, I'll take that as a yes, but out of interest have you had negative interactions with other species though correct?"
Luna tapped her chin in through bad experiences, bad experiences hmm, "Not particularly. Oh... Wait, I do remember this one time I fought off a zebra assassin, he had a ward that encased his body in magical armour," she smiled at the memory, "He was most skilled, but no amount of armour or skills can prepare thee for an ample kick to the testi-"
"-Okay okay, I understand." The therapist said crossing his legs, "*Ahem* so that was a traumatic experience then?"
Luna raised her brow, "No, not at all, twas a most enjoyable battle, nothing gets one awake and ready to face the day like fighting off your first assassin before breaking fast."
"So you don't hate all Zebras for that experience."
"Of course not, that made me respect them more, you should have seen the assassins Celestia used to get, pitiful little things, hardly even worth waking up for."
"You don't find that a bit of a contradiction?" He said, brow raised.
Luna rolled her eyes, what about all this was so hard for others to grasp, "Why do you make it sound illogical, look it's simple. Have you seen griffons, they have the highest crime rate, all they do is fight and the amount of illegitimate fathers, they're over-following their offspring that the taxpayer has to pay to raise. I don't see why we don't all hate them quite frankly."
"I thought griffons mated for life?" He said his soft expression furrowing slightly.
Luna leaned in conspiratorially and whispered. "They just say that to sound good, but come on, you've seen their women right?" Luna gave a dirisive snort. "Who thou wish to sleep in that bed forever."
"Okay, this isn't working." He muttered to himself. "Let's take it further back, you said your grandfather taught you, what did your grandfather think of griffons?"
Luna chuckled, "savage mongrels he used to call them." Fields above that stallion had a way with words. Then, before she could stop herself she added, "but..."
The therapist pursed his lips, "but?"
Luna blinked, unsure of why she had said that. But felt compelled to add, "well... he did not much care for any species." Which was true enough, she was not even quite sure if he liked his own kind towards the end. "But if you lived as long as he, everything would get on one's nerves." She added loyally.
The therapist nodded, leaning forwards now, "you speak very fondly of him, it's safe to say you looked up to him correct?"
Luna felt a prideful smirk from her lips as she sat upright. "Who wouldn't, he founded this country, wrested it from nothing and brought about a utopia with his own bare hooves."
"I take it you were close then?"
"Ye-" she paused again, furrowing her brow slightly, "well, not close-close not like I am to my sister perhaps. Our role was that of student and mentor rather than flesh and blood family."
He took up a quill and jotted something down, something about that made Luna slightly uncontrollable. He looked up again and said, "And as a mentor, how was he, was he kind or demanding?"
"Hah!" Luna scoffed, "Certainly the latter, you do not know the meaning of the word. I have never been tested so hard in all my life as when I was under his mighty wing. He would broker no failure. Do you know, he once had me stand upright with a Melon on my head for three days."
"Three days?" He said with genuine surprise on his face.
"Well, twas meant to be merely two hours. But he might have forgotten, he was a very busy stallion. Still, I proved my mettle." She beamed at him. But the stallion seemed even more blank faced if that was possible.
Luna felt the need to continue, "You see, everything that did not live up to his standards was deemed a failure and grandfather deemed most everything to be 'not up to his standards.'"
The therapist tapped his rubber bound hoof on the table thoughtfully, "did he at least praise you for this accomplishment?"
Luna thought about it for a moment, her lips pursed as she gazed back through hundreds of years of memory. "He... um, he had his own way of praise." She said tactfully. "He did not say it out loud," then she quickly added, "but we could tell from his eyes that he was proud." She smirked, yes that was enough, that was how a monarch should praise another.
The therapist nodded, but she could see that he did not hold the same conviction as she did. "And when you couldn't meet his expectations, what was he like then?"
Luna frowned, she was not sure why they were talking about this. She had come to complain about her sister, that was all, why all of a sudden had they started to talk about herself and her grandfather? "I do not think this needs treading on, tis not relevant, instead let us tell you when my sister broke the royal cookie jar and blamed us unjustly for it?"
"We can," he said though his face had not changed from that neutral worryingly soft expression that she was already growing to dislike. "But just humour me for a moment, please I'm just trying to paint a whole picture here."
Luna sighed, she did not like talking about this. "Well if you must know he would get very quiet and would not speak directly to us."
"How do you mean?" He asked.
"He would say thing aloud to others in our presence. At court, at dinner, things like, 'if only he had been blessed with grandsons', or 'what had he done to deserve such a weak line of heirs.'"
The therapist's face remained blank, save only for a slight pursing of his lips, "And how did that make you feel princess?"
"I do not follow?" Luna said, somehow feeling hotter despite the fact that this was impossible in her current state.
"At the times when the stallion you respected and wanted love from the most would demean you. Did it make you feel less than? did it make you feel like a failure?"
Luna felt her throat going dry for a moment at that word. "Of course not. He was right to think so, it just made me strive harder to be what he believed I could be, to meet his expectations."
"And what about the times when you couldn't do that?"
"W-what?" Luna asked, feeling fake sweat form on her brow.
"How did you feel when you couldn't meet his expectations?" He asked softly.
Luna swallowed. Thoughts of blades and horns sounded around her. Thoughts of scowls and disapproving faces at court. Staring at her with that look of condemnation and shame pointed at her, such terrible shame.
Whilst the stallion turned to adjust the strange fabric on his foreleg, Luna horn lit up and a clock emerged from the walls. It phased in through the blurry pink of the undefined walls jangling against a set of straps against a wall. "Oh, look at that, I have over extended my stay."
The therapist blinked slowly, then looked up at the newly emerged clock, "Oh? Um, of course princess."
"So much to do, I can't believe you detained me this long." She said, hopping down from the couch far too quickly. "One subject cannot demand our entire attention, other ponies need help too, you know."
"Um, actually you came to me princess, I don't recall asking for help, actually, Why did you come here at all?"
Luna paused, glancing backwards at him, "Well, I heard all the screaming and groaning and thought you must have been having a nightmare." She said glad at least to change the topic back to work.
For the first time in the whole time she had been there, the stallion's face shifted from neutral to something close to embarrassment. "Oh right, yes well um, thank you, I guess."
"Yes it was most curious," Luna continued, eyeing the subterranean room. "Most of the nightmares I deal with don't tend to have dungeons so... pink." She walked up towards the cupboard he had been eyeing and opened it. She lifted up a flat blue paddle board, "this is rather ineffective piece of torture equipment I must say. Tis much too flimsy for flogging, you would hardly get any sort of confession from this."
The therapist threw himself towards the closet placing his back to it "Oh, I don't know, depends on how you ask I guess?" he chuckled uneasily, nudging it closed with a wing.
Luna frowned thoughtfully. Then turned and trotted towards a stainless steel table and lifted up another device. A purple knotted rope with a rubber ball in the middle of it, "My tis is a fancy gaging device, in our day we simply made due with a bit of cloth and string."
"Oh," he said, not meeting her eyes, "You don't say?"
She stared down at him, wondering why his demeanor had suddenly changed so much. But she had more pressing matters to attend to. "Well, we shall be off then, I thank you for your time,'twas an interesting distraction if nothing else. I shall now dispel this nightmare."
"W-Wait!" The stallion said suddenly, Luna froze as the stallions shifted nervously. "Um, what if...you didn't?"
Luna stared down at him, her face blank. "You...want to stay in the nightmare?"
"If it's not a problem?"
"But," Luna said slowly, "you were on a rack, they were about to..." Words seemed to fail her at that moment.
"Well um, might as well see where it went." He said his eyes shifted nervously.
She stared at him again for a long moment. Well this was awkward, she had never in all of her one thousand years of dreamwalking ever had anyone want to keep the nightmare going. No one sane at least. "If that is your wish, does that mean you want..."
"If you could?" The stallion said, in the same awkward tone.
Luna blinked slowly, then ignited her horn. The door to the side flung itself back open. She watched the torturer saunter back into the room. Though as far as torturers went, it wasn't exactly the fear-inducing hooded figure she was used to.
Instead of the usual robe and saddlebags filled with instruments of pain. The stallion wore a very skin tight pair of garments around his hips and a rounded cap made of the same shiny material the mind quack wore. The rhinestones shone against the black and spelled in cursive 'Ride em cowboy'' on it.
He walked past Luna and gave her a suggestive wink. Then picked up the strange flogging device as he whistled at the therapist, who shyly trotted back to the rack Luna had found him on.
Luna at a rare loss for words ignited her horn. Another door appeared in front of her and she opened it up to leave. Just as she was about to step away, curiosity got the better of her and she turned to look one last time, realised much to her chagrin what the paddle was for, and promptly shut the door behind her.
She blinked a few times, letting normality settle back into her thoughts. Heck if dreams were not something she would ever get used to.
Caring for others dreams was no easy task, dealing with the subconscious, dealing with the hopes and failures of other ponies manifested into monsters and whatever the heck that just was was something you couldn't prepare for.
That was what those vile rags had never understood, what those deplorable nobles failed to comprehend, dream walking was hard work. Ponies woke up from dreams and within minutes forgot they even happened.
Luna had to carry that image with her for life.
She had a thousand years of experience with the Dreamscape. But she would never describe herself as its ruler, or even an expert. She was not so arrogant. The Dreamscape had been around far far longer than she had and would continue to be around long after she was gone. She was a warden of sorts. If a warden could call themselves a warden whilst not having a clue where she was going half the time.
Dreamspace did not follow the conventions of reality. It was ever shifting, ever changing. But despite that, that was not to say that she did not have her shortcuts.
She strode out of the stallion's dream and into a long white corridor. What she called her Nexus. She had created it many years ago. Long before her banishment. After a thousand years away from the realm, she had found it in major disrepair. Without her conscious will to shape it, the Dreamspace had contorted her neatly trimmed garden of dreams in a wasteland of weeds that would take a machete and a set of matches to set right again.
Doors connecting to ponies she had once known had folded in on top of one another. Where one door led to a baker she had once visited. Now it led to the dreams of an eldritch sea god, who by the way, was excessively rude and who's bread she nowhere near enjoyed as much.
It was a mess and it would probably take her another thousand years to fully sort out the way she liked. But she had made some progress. The one corridor she was now standing in for instance was more or less back to how she had planned it in her mind.
One down, seven hundred thousand more to go.
Stretching out in a long corridor was all the dreams of those close to her and those who she had come to know since her return. It made things far easier when all her loved ones, friends and close associates were in one hallway.
To the left she could see young Twilight's door. That like-able, if perhaps slightly manic princess, her cutie mark etched onto it in purple. The arch around it glowing a soft white. Indicating a pleasant dream was being had.
Luna never entered a dream when it was going well. That was private. She would only step in during a nightmare or if called upon.
Next to hers the other mares close to Twilight, an apple, a rainbow, a pie etc... All of them glowing a soft white. Next was a quill and a newspaper, Silver Tongue's dreams. Fields only knew what he was dreaming of. Her sister had once described him as anal-retentive, Luna did not know what that had mean't and at this point after what had just happened, she was afraid to find out.
She walked on until her sister's door came up. Again it was soft white, much like the mare herself. She was about to walk past it, when suddenly she stopped.
She looked around, despite the fact that there would absolutely be no pony around. Then slowly, smirking, she lit her horn.
"What was it again?" She said to herself, tapping her chin in thought. "Ah yes, that was it." her smirk took on an evil twist as she held up her hoof. Not a moment later a bucket appeared in it. She glanced down at the croaking noises emanating from it and then slowly, carefully, opened the door just a fraction, and tipped the bucket into the dream.
She waited for just a moment, her ear flicking to the crack in the door.
"That is why, my little ponies. I will be implementing a tax on all pies, baked goods and confectioneries. One in every thirteen will be sent to my door every day. We will call it... a Celestian dozen." Celestia spoke, "furthermore, to go back to the wine tax, I will be... What in the? Are those, Ahh, frogs, help, get them off me, ahhh!"
Luna quickly slammed the door shut, holding up a hoof to her mouth and chucking until her face had turned a shade of red. That would teach her to meddle in her affairs. "See how you like it, when you face what you fear, sister." She said triumphantly. Then after a moment paused.
Did she just think she was... No, it was a slip of the tongue, she was not... Of course she wasn't, of those mongrels? That was impossible. That quack had simply messed with her mind, that was the first and last she would listen to one of them again.
She had only gone out of boredom, a place to vent her anger. That and they were supposed to keep a secret under pain of death... or something like that anyway.
She continued on and turned the corner. Coming face to face with a dark blue door, a crescent moon etching into it and several chains across it.
Her door.
She frowned at it and lit her horn to test the lock, until she was satisfied it was still closed. She was about to turn, to be away from any more unpleasant, but unpleasantness was more than happy to come find her instead.
"What in the name of tartarus is this!?" She roared.
A small door with a single brown feather on it was directly next to her door. She stared long and hard at the door. Waiting for an explanation that she knew was already there waiting for her like a tap dancer clicking his heels on her desk.
"You cannot be serious!" She furrowed her brow, lighting up her horn and watching as the little brown door disappeared from her sight. "Can I not get a moment's peace from this?" She grumbled. Bad enough that it happened in the day. But to come while she was working, that she would not forgive.
She turned to storm out, happy to see the back of this place when she felt something shift under her hooves for a moment. There was a sound like a pop, then she turned back, the door was there once again.
"Oh no-no-no, Tis not happening!" She lit her horn once more, and the door vanished. She would not accept this. Pop
Luna scrunched her eyes closed, putting more power into the spell than needed and closed the door once more, there was a half second of nothing then.
Pop.
Luna's eyes narrowed, "Tis how you wish to play this?" She asked the door that stood there, small but oblivious to her violent threat. "Fine, we have all the time in the world."
An hours later, Luna leaned against the wall of the Nexus, huffing and wiping sweat from her brow. "Ready to quit, you swine?" She exhaled shoulders rising and falling in quick succession.
The door did not respond, its brown painted front stood indifferent to her threats. Mocking her with its silent aloofness.
She leaned her head back against the wall. What was she doing? She already knew this was a fruitless effort. If the door was here, that meant that it was already a part of her unconscious mind. The Nexus was like a social family tree sprouting from the closest sibling to the most distant associate.
Try as she might, her mind knew that even if she did not accept it, the unconscious part of her brain could not help the fact that technically speaking, that thing was her adopted heir.She could deny her thoughts. But changing one's subconscious thoughts was a different matter.
It was a technicality of course. But try convincing a metaphysical Dreamscape that!
She glanced in the direction of her sister's door. Perhaps one bucket had been too merciful.
She shook the thoughts from her mind. This was becoming intolerable. She had to get rid of this griffon somehow. She could not put up with this for the next... actually, how long did those birds live for anyway?
Regardless, she had promised her sister that she would care for it. She couldn't just discard it on some other poor fool's doorstep.
Or could she?
Luna shook her head, no her sister would know and then there would be no end to her moaning. She would probably employ sarcastic, perhaps even satirical about the whole thing. Luna shuddered at the thought, anything but that.
No, she had to think about this carefully. What could she do, what could she...
The thought came to her like a baseball bat to the cranium. Fields above, it was so simple, the solution had been staring at her this entire time.
What had Silver and her sister said, that griffons was an orphan?
Had this been a proven fact? Maybe, but if it had not, if for instance someone could produce a living relative, of which she had no doubt there would be hundreds, because of course there would be, those egg laying cretins breed like rabbits.
Well then if such a relative could be found, she would be morally obliged to give it back would she not? It would be her duty to return that thing to its own kind where it belonged.
They would laud her as a hero and more importantly she would be free from any and all responsibility.
Slowly she smiled at the door, when life gives you lemons, unwanted lemons that have fur and feathers in all the wrong places, you throw that lemon back at life and demand a proper fruit field's damnit!
She felt her hoof touching the doorknob, easy all she had to do was open., But that was where the trouble only began. She frowned down at her hoof, which seemed unwilling to obey her instructions. She knew why she was hesitant, the door was glowing white, it was dreaming, she was about to break one of her sacred rules. She did not interfere with another ponies' dreams.
But, it wasn't a pony was it, it was just a Griffon they didn't count...right?
Still she found herself forcing her hoof to settle on the door knob, "Oh for the love of, get ahold of yourself." She said to herself, grabbing her hoof with the other and forcing it onto the door knob.
She pushed the door open, staring at the blank white expanse. This was a whole new event for her. Dreams were a different thing to nightmares. Infant dreams might as well have been calculus.
Infants had no real concept of horror on a conceptual level. Often the scariest thing they dealt with was a round of peek-a-boos gone too far or a particularly vicious pinch of the cheek from an over eager aunt.
Infants did not dream like older foals. Their brains were not developed yet for such conceptualisation. They had no understanding of metaphors or symbolism. As such Luna could not manifest herself as a reputation of her own real form like she could others. Because they had no internal concept for such a notion.
If she was to do this, She would have to see the dream as the infant saw it. Though their eyes, experience it as they did, no inhibitors, no control. It was as if she and the infant would be one and the same and unable to leave until it was over. Like sitting inside the middle of a crowded theatre and only realising you were in the wrong play twenty minutes in. One was stuck there, helpless, stranded and at the mercy of the actors.
An infant's dream was more like watching a tapestry come to life or like one of those spinning wheel things with the lights that made a still picture move. One that Luna was still not convinced was the work of wicked alchemy of the most vile order.
But what else was there to do? She had to do something. She regained her composure, closed her eyes, then stepped through the threshold.
Blinding lights engulfed her for a moment then all of a sudden, she opened her eyes and found herself looking up at a constellation.
The stars spun around a little wooden moon that dangled across from Luna's gaze. It had been painted a soft white the four or five stars had looked hoof crafted and the little chips on the side had suggested they were old.
It took Luna a moment to realise that she was staring at her mobile. Well, not her, this Griffon. She watched it spin softly over the crib, then tiny claws lifted upwards towards the dangling wooden stars. So close but never quite in reach.
Luna felt a deep longing to touch the stars, feel them, taste them even. She wanted to giggle.
Suddenly Luna saw enormous claws moving downwards from over the bars. Talons blurred her visions from the stars and suddenly her vision was filled with the face of another griffon.
Its beak was curved into a warm smile. Luna winced at the sight of it but she gave a mewing burble of sounds, at the familiar and alien face. The wave of the chick's euphoria hit her as though it was her own mothers smiling at her.
The arms of the griffon latched around the stranger as it spoke to Luna. Clearly it was the mother or perhaps a grandmother, it would have been hard for Luna to tell on a normal day. The females had almost a harsher voice than the males did.
She couldn't tell what the mother was saying, even if she had spoken their intolerable gibberish language the little griffon couldn't understand it. It sounded like a distant trumpet.
The vision swung gently as the female griffon rocked her gently back and forth again. Much like Luna's father had done to even up until her fifth name day.
Luna couldn't help it, she felt her eyes grow heavy once again.
Slowly the vision blurred.
When her eyes opened next it was as it had been before. But hot, the temperature was boiling, there was a stinging smoke in the air and everything tasted of ash. The thatched roof now danced with embers, the stars and moon swayed erratically around the crib.
There was a sound of screaming. This one also hit Luna with a nostalgic tinge. But nostalgia was not always a good thing, sometimes it was a feeling of something you wanted before, but now wanted nothing more than to forget.
Luna let out a burbled cry, wanting nothing more than to be away from the heat and the smoke. Something grabbed at her frantically. Talons, bigger than before, firm and rugged. They were not as gentle as before.
She saw another figure, another griffon panting hard, its face scrunched in worry, parts of its feathered face was matted with something she couldn't make out, black in places but also wet with something in others.
Luna let out another wail, longer now and more frantic. The figure seemed to try and coddle her as best it could. But it was rushing, moving at the same time. It held her in an iron grip against its chest.
The world around Luna moved. Orange glow of fire, the black mass of smoke and then finally after it felt as though she would never feel cold again fridge ice air.
The dream moved on.
The burning heat went to a sudden chill so cold, it felt as though nothing in this world would ever thaw. As though numbness had become part of her and she would never feel warmth again.
She caught sight of the moon and stars. The real ones this time, a brilliant galaxy of little lights and brilliant nebula Of untold thousands of glistening lights.
She let out another whimpering mewing sound as her claws reached up to touch it, the stars and moon so bright in the sky. So close but never quite in reach.
This time, there was no crib and the dream stretched on until Luna worried that this was all there would be when suddenly another face blocked it from view. Cold and upset she started to cry again. The stranger, this unusual being that didn't have a beak or feathers on her face. But a rounded snout and something on its head that didn't look like feathers frowned down at Luna.
"What are you doing down here little one?" It asked. Luna had to fight to make sense of the jumble of words that formed from the ponies mouth. "Oh fields, how long have you been out in the cold?" It picked her up, Luna felt the warmth against her tiny form. She had been so cold.
It glanced down at her, smiling, "It's okay little one, where's your mommy and da---"
Before the mare could finish the sentence Luna felt herself being sucked backwards. She flew not away from the dream. But away from the Dreamscape. Lights and visions passed her by in a blur a thousand thousand dreams passing by in seconds around her. Then, suddenly she blinked.
She was staring up at a decrepit old roof. Chipped white ceilings staring down at her. She gasped as she felt herself once more. Feeling her body merging with her consciousness once more. The images of the cub and the sensations were as real as if they had happened.
She shivered as if the cold was still all around her and she was slick with sweat from the heat of the fire on her body. But most of all she felt dazed and utterly confused.
She tried to piece together what she had seen, a cub living in some thatched wooden hut, a mother, maybe a father, a fire, screaming, then...
Slowly Luna became aware of something else, another sensation. This one was more physical than before. There was something warm pressed onto her chest. Not hot like fire, but like that of another being to her. She had not felt like that comforting warmth in some time.
And especially not in her bed.
She glanced down to a lump under the quilt moving around as if it was a burrowing mole under soft grass. It paused when she moved her body slightly. Slowly, with care Luna peeled back the sheets and found two inquisitive beady eyes looking back up at her.
The cub chirped softly, its little chest rumbling like a tiny steam engine exhaling a purring noise as it nuzzled into her.
She heard something sucked in a breath as their eyes met for what felt like an eternity. Perhaps because she had been staring right through those eyes herself not a moment ago. Luna felt herself calm, rather than filled with utter revolution and shock like she had before. But she simply started there, blinking down at the thing.
That was, until she noticed that someone else was sucking in a deeper breath and she knew it had not been her. Because the ache of her chest told her she was still holding in her own.
She glanced slowly to her side, and there she spotted a figure, clad in black robes, holding what looked to be a heavy canvas bag.
Again she gazed into black eyes. Only these ones were not filled with an inquisitive and playful stare. These ones looked like they had stared into a cave and seen the face smiling back with far too many fanged teeth and it could have been right to think so.
"Oh dritt" it cursed, its beak opening as wide as its eyes.
Oh dritt indeed, Luna thought as she slowly reached for the rapier under her pillow. |
How Luna Adopted a Hatchling (Against Her Will) | And Then... (Part One) | "As far as I'm concerned," Silver began, his voice projecting to the back of the room. "The only Indecent exposure that I can see, is the one the media has perpetrated against my client." He slammed his hoof on the desk and stared intently around the room.
"I ask you, good mare and stallions, where does it say that a stallion can't imbibe on a hot summer's day, whilst holding a pet?" He shuffled the scrolls in front of him meaningfully. "Personally, I believe that the law has resoundingly over exaggerated the matter. They bandy about terms such as 'menacing others with an unlicensed animal' and 'misappropriated funds with the intent to overthrow the government.' for what is clearly just a misunderstanding.'" He shook his head sadly.
"But I ask you good ponies, tell me, which of you has not cast the first stone? Who hasn't wanted to." He glanced down at the report, his brow furrowed in concentration, "eh, Hmm, really, with a zucchini?" He blinked as he read further, trying and failing to rally himself, "W-What I meant to say is, what about the rights of the common pony, what about the integrity of, the integrity... oh who am I kidding, he probably sold that for the cat."
Silver let out a deep groan. He just couldn't conjure up the energy today. He leaned back in his chair, the imaginary reporters in his mind's eyes vanished and in their place, sat a dilapidated empty room, his room. The howling wind outside replaced the clicking of cameras. The scraping of the branches on the glass, the reporters questions.
He stared at the three small boxes in front of him on his desk. Each with a placard engraved in wood labeled, 'bribe box,' 'blackmail box' and 'bribe with the intention of blackmailing box.
Silver threw the scroll in the blackmail box and leaned back in his chair. Most ponies in Eques spend their evenings curled up with a book, playing scrabble or thinking up some get rich quick scheme. Schemes that often ended with guards being involved and sentences like "what do you mean illegal? I pay my taxes!" And other phrases that sound bad out loud and worse on paper.
Doing this helped him stay sharp. Even after thirty years in the field it could always surprise you what ordinary ponies or in this case failed nobles were capable of. Like for instance, threatening a crowd with a cat, blind drunk and naked, (which was to say, shaved below the waist) and trying to incite a revolution. You couldn't write that stuff, let alone prepare for it.
It wasn't often that one of the nobility tried to take over the government. True, nobles, like most opportunistic predators, lived in a constant state of one-upmanship. Scheming occupied about sixty five percent of their brain capacity (1). But actually overthrowing the monarchy was different. You couldn't vie for the throne when you had not one but two powerful and immortal monarchs. Pony nobles had to think outside the box, or in this case, outside of their fur.
Silver was starting to consider that maybe he was coming to the end of his career. Back in his hay day, he could have come up with a daring and full proof campaign on the spot. But now? Now it seemed as though the spark was fading.
Admittedly, a lot of that had to do with the predicament he was in now.
True enough, Luna's name was out of the dirt once more and now she was one of the most talked about mares in the world eclipsing her sister. His PR stunt had swept through Canterlot like fire, though thankfully not in the literal sense.(2)
He had already received about thirty messages from publications asking for a one to one interview. Including but not limited to The Canterlot Express, Cloudsdale Herald, Wings, Manes and Horns monthly, Fisherman's Weekend and most curiously of all, Udders magazine.
That last one gave Silver pause, not just the name which Silver had many questions about. None of which he actually wanted answers to. But most disconcerting of all, was that it was apparently published daily. Was there that much demand to see and read about udders?
But sitting in a dower, dark, decrepit and all the other horrible words beginning with 'D' manor in the middle of
nowhere. Silver was starting to realise that all he had really done was create a temporary PR ceasefire.
He had to face facts. Luna was not going to get over her biases in two hundred years, let alone two months and sooner or later, ponies were going to notice that.
Then there was the cub to consider. As it stood right now, she was fine. Well, actually she was almost as disaster prone as her step-mother seemed to be. But she was still too young to know what was going on. She hadn't gotten old enough to start asking awkward things like, "why does mommy look like she's sucking on lemons whenever I walk into the room?"
Silver did his best impression of a turtle retreating into its shell as he slumped into his chair. Safe to say this was about as forward thinking as the pony who would look at a spot of land called Tornado Alley, nod his head and think "wow look at all this free real-estate, what idiot would pass this up?"
The more he thought about it in this sober light. The more he realised that it would take either a miracle or a disaster, to get those two together, though to his mind the two were one in the same to Silver.
He glanced towards his bed, feeling utterly drained. Perhaps he simply needed sleep. He always got dower when he pulled too many all-nighters in a row.
After all, he supposed he was technically speaking on vacation. He still had two months before the hammer would fall, two months before he was tarred and feathered, proverbially and the way things were going perhaps literally.
He had managed to get himself halfway towards his bed chambers when he heard the door handle to his room rattling hard. A muffled and panicked curse emanated from outside the thick wood a second later.
"Yes?" He said slowly, then added, "Doughy if that's you? Just leave the pie where it is, I'm... I'm not hungry at the moment." He said much to the horror of his own stomach, which burbled angrily at this lie.
Again he heard the desperate rattling and more muffled profanity. Rolling his eyes he moved cautiously towards the door and slowly undid the multitude of locks. You had to lock doors in his line of work. The princesses treated knocking as something that happened to other ponies.
No sooner had he slid the door open a crack, a figure stormed inside. Silver stumbled backwards, watching as the hooded form entered and slammed the door shut, pressing its back firmly against the door.
"What in Tartarus?!" Silver yelled at the shadow, it took a moment to notice that it was a griffon. It took him another moment to notice the strange smell of smoke emanating from him.
A loud bang echoed through the room as something punctured through the door like a knife stabbed into butter. Both Silver and the griffon flinched. A feather from its head glided down gently onto the floor and drew both of their eyes up towards the long, thin piece of metal jutting through the door an inch from the griffon's skull.
It made a springing nose as it vibrated. To Silver's eyes, it looked a lot like a fencing sword? He didn't have time to ponder how this had just happened though. The griffon gave a strangled yelp and ran towards Silver's desk dragging it across the room towards the door.
"H-hey, you can't do that!" Silver yelled. But if the griffon heard or even noticed him, he didn't care. Silver's ears flipped back over towards the door. He could hear something, a howling sound, like tundra wind clawing against the door and getting closer and more intense with every second.
The stranger dragged the desk in front of the door and gave a gentle whimper as he walked backwards and stumbled into Silver. He turned on the spot and saw Silver presumably for the first time. It took a moment for Silver to notice that the griffon had no eyebrows, black soot all across his face and the tip of his tail was smoldering.
Silver spoke fluent Griffonian, but even if he couldn't, the terror in the griffon's eyes would have spoken volumes.
"Help me."
Before Silver could respond, a rumbling filled the room. Bit's of plaster fell from the ceiling landing in clumps around them. The griffon flinched and moved backwards, his eyes never leaving the door.
"It's coming." He muttered his lower beak trembling. His panicked gaze flickered around the room and landed on a window overlooking the garden.
"Listen," Silver began, his gaze caught between the door and the griffon, "I don't know what this is, but-"
Suddenly, the sound of the noise outside stopped, replaced by an eerie silence. The griffon muttered some sort of prayer, as his eyes now fixed on the window.
Slowly, ever so slightly the handle turned inch by ominous inch.
"Oh Sod this!" The griffon screamed, diving towards the window.
"Wait-." Silver yelled only to grimace at the sounds of smashing glass. "-the window's locked," He finished lamely.
Silver ran towards the window. Staring out towards the figure that had crashed into the bushes below and was now racing through the gardens. Silver had just enough time to remember the presence at the door when everything exploded.
He threw himself onto the ground as chunks of wood and splinters rained down around him.
"What in the great fields above is going on!?" He yelled over the melee.
Not a second later Luna came into view, this wasn't the Luna Silver was used to seeing. A dower set of eyes affixed with a scowl of grim determination on her muzzle. Her horn was pointed in bayonet fashion as she surveyed the detritus of the room with a look that would have launched a thousand screaming barbarians back home to their mothers.
Actually, in many ways it was exactly the same Luna Silver was used to seeing. But the effervescent magic and frost flowing around her in a maelstrom was new.
"Oh, Silver, good you're here." Luna said in an astonishingly casual tone. "Have you seen some bestial griffon skulking around by chance?"
Silver struggled back to his hooves. "Have you lost your mind!" Silver yelled with utter bafflement, "Why did you blow up my doors!?"
"They were in the way." She said, walking past him, eyes still searching. "Besides they were not you're doors,"
"They were in front of my room, you can't just do that!" Silver yelled.
"Silver please, you are being hysterical. Tis not the time for talk of petty door ownership." She said, flipping over a desk with shocking ease, "We have been assaulted in our own bed!" Her scowl was sharp enough to cut through Diamond, "A griffon has snuck into my personal chambers, probably trying to ravage our innocent and fragile form in a fit of animalistic fervor."
Silver stared at the 'fragile and innocent form' in question towering over him with swirling winds of permafrost, glowing blue eyes and the bits of thick wooden door around her hooves. For once in his life he smartly declined to comment.
"Still, that's no excuse to destroy my room!" Silver yelled but Luna was hardly listening at this point.
"Where is it, I saw it scurry in here?" Luna said, her eyes scanning Silver's demolished room, "Where did it-" she paused as she noticed the window, or the now lack of one.
Luna's eyes narrowed. She turned without comment and strolled over towards the now open hole.
Silver took a moment as life seemed to fork again, he knew the smart thing to do was to just ignore all this, find another room and wait until it was all over, then report back to Celestia.
But then, if he had been smart, he would have shut the door on the face of that smiling white alicorn when she had strolled up to his humble office one day and proposed a "simple" and "easy" job for him all those years ago.
"Wait." He yelled, stumbling after her.
"Running shall only delay the inevitable!" Luna yelled through the window. "Come out and we promise that thine retribution shall be swift and only mildly excruciating!"
"Luna I must protest, you can't just tear down the manor." He beseeched, but it was like trying to tell an Earth shattering comet that it was being an inconvenience.
As if to solidify this point, Luna lit up her horn and all of a sudden the window, its frame and at least six hooves of wall went with it in an eruption of mortar, bricks and dust.
Silver gulped and stepped backward. Perhaps she could just tear down the manor. "Wait Luna, there are proper ways of handling these things, let's get the guards at least."
She turned towards him, eyes narrowed, "Silver, let us part some advice for thee, if you want a hated enemy vanquished properly then you can't coddle them with meager threats of-," she stopped suddenly, as a shiver ran down her spine. Brow furrowed, she glanced back at herself. Her eyes widened for a moment as though she had only just remembered something, then she lit her horn.
From inside her billowing ethereal mane. Something brown and white was levitated upwards and then into Silver's hooves. He blinked and stared down at the little cub, who looked back up at him inquisitively.
Silver looked down at the cub, then up at Luna. Somehow, somehow with more questions than he had before, if that was possible.
"What?" Luna asked incredulously. "Do not give us that look, she was skulking inside our chambers." Luna turned away from Silver, drawing her chin up flippantly. "See to it that she is better kept on her leash or whatever it is you use."
Before Silver could ask what the heck was going on for the seventh time in the space of five minutes. Luna spread her wings and lept from the hole in the wall, her outline silhouetted in the full moon.
Silver glanced down towards the little hatchling who was staring cross eyed at a snowflake on her beak.
He watched for a long moment in utter silence, even as Luna's horn lit up and bits of the garden blew up in thunderous displays of frost blue light. About approximately, seven thousand six hundred and twenty two questions flew through his mind in the span of about six seconds. But despite all of them the only one that left his lips was.
"Did Luna just refer to you as she?" He said, utterly baffled.
The little Cubs' only answer was to sneeze as the snowflake flew from her beak. It seemed as good of a response as any, Silver supposed.
With little else to do except go find help, he walked back through the trail of distraction inside the manor. At least a thousand bits worth of, let's face it, improvement to the old manor stretching all the way down the hall.
He walked out of what remained of his room, hoping to see if he could find a guard and more importantly his niece. He had to know if she was okay. But he didn't have to look all that far, because all at once he saw her slide from around the corner and come running towards him as though her life depended on it.
"Oh thank goodness," Silver said, "Golden are you alrigh-" the words died on his lips. Silver glanced just above her head and thought for a moment that a silverback gorilla was behind her. But they did not usually have beaks and wings or shouted blood curdling battle cries at the top of their lungs.
"I smash you good!" It roared from behind Golden.
"Ru-un!" She yelled, front hooves flailing violently as they all raced right for Silver.
Silver didn't need telling twice, his hooves, used to a lifetime of nothing but fighting gravity and just barely winning, finally saw it's moment to be of use and took over his mind. He turned on the spot, clutching the Cub against his amble chest.
And then...
And then Winder glanced down towards the patch of ground and frowned. He was frowning because he was pretty sure there was supposed to be a bouquet of carnations here and not a giant crater.
He was also almost sure it wasn't meant to be on fire. The reason he wasn't one hundred percent was mostly down to working with mad Lord Snap Case, who had thought it was a good idea to plant pots of dynamite in the garden as a cheap alternative to security and fireworks.
Winder had secretly dug them up and disposed of most of them. But perhaps he had missed one?
But he quickly realised that that was not the case, because contrary to most fire's, this one was being cold and blue. Most ponies would not have believed their eyes at the sight of that. But Winder did, he always believed what he saw, after all, if you didn't trust your eyes, whose could you trust?
Griffons had excellent eyes. It was what made him such a good gardener, able to catch a mouse in the act of chewing out his crops, or Lord Snap Case who was digging a moat at midnight to stop the supposed pixies from stealing his sock.
Or the giant explosions ripping his beloved garden to shreds. Admittedly that last one was hard to miss.
He had followed the trail of distraction, through the Impossible Maze, which now that it had a straight line burned right through it would have to be re-named. Then he followed it through the Field of Dreams, which was now the Field of some Dreams but mostly ash and through the hedge of Exploding Gezalias. Which despite everything to the contrary, were somehow perfectly fine.
Everytime he moved towards another stretch of the garden he'd seen another explosion of blue light appear on the end of it. Whatever was doing this was moving fast.
He had just turned a corner towards the front courtyard when a single blast went wide and struck the rooftops of the manor. Winder watched, as one of the last gargoyles clinging desperately to the aging hanging finally flopped to the floor.
Winder felt no great sorry for that gargoyles, he had not liked their leering stone gazed as a hatchling and liked them even less when they had been infected by one of Snap Cases occult artifacts and spent one summer catcalling down at him, snidely commenting on every mistake and loudly singing in the night. Only to go back to stone whenever Winder had tried to inform anyone about it.
So he was not that upset to see it go. But what had struck Winder was the shadowy outline of a figure next to it and the pinkish light that flashed in and out of existence.
By all rights anything that has been on the roof should and had been blown from sub-atomic particles into plus-atomic particles, (which is the same as subatomic only adding a touch more total annihilation into the mix.) But the figure sat there, unmoving and untouched.
Strangely, even with Winders eyes he could not make out the figure. It seemed almost cloaked in its own darkness. Separate to the night. But it was the pinkish hue that confused Winder most. He had seen that light many times before. His mother and father handled that very light since he had been a cub.
"Griffon stone." He uttered, awe laced into his voice. But that couldn't be right, to hold such a large amount? Winder knew even a single shard of it was worth more than he made in a year. Enough stone to block out an attack like that could run a country like Eques for a week, even with the faucet running and the oven on overnight.
Winder spread his wings, ready to take flight and investigate further. When suddenly something flew past him. A black ragged cloak and the smell of burnt fur and feathers, a voice yelling as it ran. "Leg it, every griffon for himself!"
Winder recognised him instantly as the one that had been in the basement. But that begged the question, where had the large one gone and more importantly what had been chasing him?
Questions like that never needed to wait long to be answered, as no sooner had he turned back in the direction the griffon had run from he caught another towering figure step around the hedge wall.
"Ahah?! Finally accepted your doom griffon, stopped running I see?" Something growled to itself.
Winder stared up at the night princess. Flowing with energy. Her eyes blue blurs of magic, her brow arched downwards and dangerously furrowed.
"Oh, Greeting night princess, I hope you are having a good-" was about as far as he got before a shard of flaming ice sailed past his face leaving a shallow gash in his cheek.
All at once he found he had pretty much every answer he had wanted and some he really hadn't. This had something to do with that ancient pony proverb he had heard that, "the curiosity killed the cat."
As with a lot of pony phrases this was obscure and abstruse, Winder preferred the griffon line which was much easier to understand which went as such, "curiosity killed the griffon who decided to walk down the alleyway while dangerous thugs smiled at you and whistled innocently with spiked big clubs behind their backs." Unlike ponies, griffon saying didn't bother with interpretation.
Winder didn't waste time talking. He always believed his eyes and they were telling him, like his brain and his legs to get out of here and fast before an irate princess of the night flattened him like his Mors famous beatle pancake.
He took two quick paces backwards, and dived into a bush right as shards of flaming ice flew towards him.
And then...
And then Golden threw the bookcase down as she ran. It had the same effect of slowing down the charging griffon as throwing a stick in front of a tsunami.
She made it back towards Silver's side as he whined, grunted and wheezed through the corridor. It had only been twenty seconds of running but already her uncle looked as though the phrase "go in without me." Was on the top of his tongue.
If they survived this, she would have to consider that maybe her uncle could stand to lose some weight.
They both turned the corridor corner. Well she turned, her uncle, led by unstoppable momentum, hit the wall and like a pinball, ricocheted off the wall and convincingly back in the direction they were running. The little cub clinging to his back let out a mewing giggle as though this was just some wild ride in the cart.
"W-What *wheeze* do w-we do." He muttered through his ragged breath.
"Keep running." Golden yelled, she would have thought that was obvious.
"Where are all these *gasp* griffons coming from?!"
"You remember those 'ghosts' I told you about?"
"Y-Yes?"
"Turns out, technically you were right, they weren't ghosts at all, or the gardener, they were worse."
Silver glanced over his shoulder, as the behemoth gave another gut churning roar. "You know *huff* I've n-never wanted to be m-more wrong in my life."
Golden would have liked to have been wrong as well.
All she had done was get up for a glass of water in the night and to check up on the little princess.
That was when trouble had sprung. Or rather had already stepped in, taken a bat to the shelves, the crockery and the front door before walking out with a jaunty whistle.
She had found the little princess room utterly destroyed and the room empty. At least she had thought it had been empty. Before she could even shout for help a hulking figure had lifted itself up from the pile of books like a tectonic plate shifting up from the crust of the Earth.
It had taken one look at her, then bellowed something in Griffonian, loud enough to crack the glass around the room and charged at her without warning.
Which more or less brought her back to the predicament she was in now.
"Gi meg den ungen!" The Mammoth yelled, knocking over a table like someone would knock over an inconvenient can in the street.
Golden turned a corner and spotted two guards running forward in their direction.
"Thank the fields, we're saved!" Golden said, waving at them, "Help over there, some maniac is chasing after us." She said pointing, her hoof towards the bowling ball of muscle.
The two guards snapped to attention, both of them grabbing at their spears as they ran past Golden and towards the hulking griffon.
"Halt," one of them yelled, spear at the ready. "In the name of the princess, I order you to-" was as far as he got, before the griffon lifted him up with one claw like a rag doll. Then slammed him onto his partner, Sending them both sailing towards the wall.
Golden watched the event play out in a matter of nanoseconds, gulped and yelled. "Never mind, keep running!"
They got about as far as the end of the corridor before her Uncle collapsed. His fur slick with sweat and cosmetic products. "Golden... I can't keep running."
Golden glanced around, looking for something, anything to save them. Most ponies experience life through their work. For example Architects saw the world as one big blueprint. Mathematicians saw the world as one big problem that would have been easily solved a millennia ago. If not for all those blasted variables, (which is math talk for other ponies) would stop existing and Golden, unfortunately for her, saw all problems as one big joke.
As such, the first idea that came to her mind was not something that would have come to a guard. But then, she had seen how well that had worked.
Golden slowed down and grabbed at silver plates and candelabras on some random cabinet in the hallway.
"Golden, what in the fields are you doing?" Silver asked.
"Something I really wish I wasn't." She said, and then slowly, item by item, she started to throw them upwards and into a circle and began to juggle.
Clowns magic wasn't quite like other magic. Most got theirs through the elements or through loosened patches in the trouser fabric of reality. Clowns got their power through extorting chuckles and uncomfortable cheeriness in others. In many ways clowns were just vampires without the teeth.
Though if you asked any sentient species who has been subjected to ten minutes of honking horns, eye bleeding colours and custard pies or vampires. Most would be rubbing their necks gleefully without a second thought.
By overbearing their audience into uncomfortable forced laughter they can go to higher extremes of clownishness. Why this has not been used to take over the world, comes down to the simple rule. Whatever power is taken must inevitably be returned. In simpler terms clowns are often taught at pratfall university, whatever pie was thrown upwards must also come back down presumably onto the face of the thrower.
To most it was the rule of cosmic irony. But to clowns this was known as Dr Sod's law (3)
Despite all logic, Golden began to juggle, throwing more and more objects in the line as she ran backwards, picking up more dinner plates as well as picture frames, a mouse trap and the confused mouse next to it, who had just been ready to chow down were now somersaulting air with his lunch.
The charging griffon, whose relationship to imagination was to occasionally use his left fist to pummel others instead of his right, had not expected this. It halted for a moment as perplexed as Silver had been. In his experience, when he chased things they ran in terror, they didn't stop to put on a show.
Slowly his massive head cocked sideways. The smile forming on his beak was almost childlike. Which was marginally better than murderous rage moments ago.
More and more objects flew into Golden's spinning circle, until finally she reached the pinnacle of her skill. When she could juggle no more objects, she allowed her hoof to thrust up even harder than she should have done and braces for impact.
An ornate vase went flying upwards, pinging off of something on the ceiling. Then landed on her head with a crash. Golden stumbled backwards as the objects around her clattered to the ground. The typical cosmic stars and birds swarmed around her head.
The griffon let out a bellowing chuckle. "Stupid pony." He boomed in broken Eques. Then seeming to finally remember why he was here, he took another step forwards towards Silver. Which was exactly when the chandelier collapsed on top of him.
After all, any clown worth their nose understands that cosmic irony worked both ways after all.
Golden collapsed backwards onto the floorboards, she was vaguely aware of a voice in her ears and the shaking of her shoulder. "Golden are you alright?" Silver asked.
"I told you officer I didn't know where the wig and glue came from, I was only trying to clean the windows." Golden slurred back as slowly her uncle came back into view.
"Snap out of it girl." Silver said, shaking her shoulders. The sounds of squeaky toys rattled around somewhere inside of her as consciousness slowly came back to her.
"Huh?" Golden said, sitting back up and blinking slowly, "what happened?" She asked.
"Golden, that was amazing. How did you know the chandelier would fall?" Her uncle asked.
"What chandelier?" Golden asked, looking at the now prone griffon, "I was just hoping the juggling would distract him long enough to think of something to stop him, I didn't even see a chandelier."
"Oh..." her uncle said frowning, then he shrugged, "well at least that's all sorts-"
Before she could stop him from uttering those dreaded words, words like, "all's well that ends well," and "everything worked out in the end." And all the other taunting saying, that was to fate what painting your flank red and waggling it into the face of an irate bull was to assisted suicide. Golden heard the groaning of the mammoth griffon who was already slowly lifting himself back upwards.
Golden turned, spotting a room just around another bend in the hallways. "quickly inside while he's still down!" She yelled shouldering her uncle and the cub through the door. Slamming the door shut behind them.
"Okay," she said between gasps. "We should be safe inside here for now." It took her a second to realise what she had just said and already she felt fate's cold and vengeful hand on her shoulder. In the form of a shadow that fell across the three of them.
Golden cursed her big red lipstick mouth as she gazed upwards.
And then...
And then Luna horn ignited. A shower of ice shards as sharp as a spear tip flew towards the griffon. It ducked behind a wizened oak tree just as the shards embedded into the tree which caught fire in a blaze of blue embers. She narrowed her eyes as she watched him dive through the hedge wall and away from her.
"You can run, but we will find thee!" She roared, though this went without saying. In fact if she so wanted to, she could have simply teleported in front of him, or even levitated him towards her with a flick of her horn and ended it all right then and there. But what would be the point of swift retribution? That never taught any pony anything.
Luna was a fan of executing her monarchical right to cruel and unusual punishment. After all her sisters had written it into her constitution.
Well, okay, perhaps it did not say that exactly. Perhaps if one was to look closely enough. If one really squinted hard at the text, one might find a few nor's here and maybe an against there. But only if one was pedantic enough to look at the fine print (or even the thick print.) But who really had the time to read the whole thing verbatim?
The nobility and peasantry certainly didn't, they seemed to argue its meaning at court every day. So why couldn't she interpret her own meaning?
Luna chased after the overgrown feline. Thus what precipitated was a game of "unstoppable ball of monarchical righteous vengeance... and mouse." To its credit, the griffon was smart enough not to fly. Perhaps he knew that if he had, it would have led to the most one sided game of clay pigeon shooting, since the dragon Lord Storm Scale had taken the phrase 'shooting fish in the barrel,' and applied it to an Aviary.
She glided over a hedge just in time to spot the griffon's gloved talon flapping behind a cedar tree. Smiling, she muttered, "the games is over." as she blasted it with a powerful spell of pure liquid fire.
She watched as the tree evaporated into a molten puddle. "A good try, but your time is up griffo-" she paused as she noticed the rubber glove, and the distinctive lack of a griffon attached to it in the puddle of tree bark and goo.
Blinking, she glanced around, just in time to spot it dashing off behind her towards the front of the gardens. "Cleaver lion." She muttered, eyes narrowing as she continued to give chase.
"Stop, please, I am just gardener." He yelled over its shoulder as he ran, his eyes widening as Luna lifted up an entire hedgerow root and all over her head.
"Ha, a likely story." She roared charging forward. "We have heard every excuse before, face your doom assassin!"
This was true enough, she had heard just about every excuse from an assassin's lips. Such as one pretending to be a maid who had only been trying to fix her dress, only to later try and stab her from behind. Then there was that overly enthusiastic tea salesman who tried to poison her in the streets. The latest one had been the sneakiest, a so-called 'photographer' who was 'looking for the bathroom.'
And no, just because that last one had led to a court case that Luna had 'apparently' lost did not prove anything. No pony had given sufficient evidence to suggest that his peculiar picture box for frozen images hadn't been trying to steal her soul.
She threw one last bolt of blue flame just over his shoulder, engulfing one of the exits to the gardens. The griffon gave a yelp and instead flung himself towards the front gate of the house. There, now Luna knew there was nothing but an open court and a fountain there.
Nowhere to run, Nowhere to hide.
She skidded around the corner as bits of cobblestone and granite were sent flying in her mighty hoof prints. Horn cocked and loaded she aimed down the barrel of her horn tip.
And stopped.
In front of her was a curious sight. Instead of one griffon now there were two of them. The one she had been chasing and the one she quickly realised was the one that had been in her room, the one with a cloak over his body. The griffon that had been in her room was holding a knife to the one she had been chasing neck.
It seemed shaky, its knife arm vibrating unsteadily against the other griffon's neck. As soon as she came into its view, it barked something at her, in its foul native tongue.
"We do not speak your gibberish words knave, speak in proper Equestrian if you wish to address us." Luna said, stopping only to see where this circus was going next.
The griffon, the one who's robes now resembled an erratic loin cloth with extra steps furrowed its brow, turned to the griffon, this so-called gardener it was holding hostage and barked at it instead.
"H-He is saying, drop spinning magical ball of blue fire or I get it." The so-called gardener translated, then he turned slightly and spoke to the griffon that growled something else at him, "and by it, he apparently means my death."
Luna snorted derisively. "What makes you think I care if two assassins are taken care of together? How about I dispense with the choice and end you both?" She sneered.
The gardener considered this for a moment and spoke back to the knife wielding griffon, who seemed unsure of what was going on, this was probably the last answer he had expected. No doubt in his experience hostage holding didn't make you feel less safe.
"I cannot speak for this griffon, but I would consider it a great blessing if you did not dispose of me, besides a great many reasons, the top being that I am a faithful tax paying citizen and the second being that I have not finished planting the sunflowers." He said so laconically that Luna wondered for a second if the griffon had been making fun of her.
"Nice try." She said slowly, "we do not know what you are trying to pull, but we shall not fall for it."
"I am not pulling anything, Nothing to make you fall." He said gulping audibly as the knife pressed further into his neck. "I am just gardener princess. I only out here trying to find the other griff-" he gulped as the other griffon growled at him pressing the knife closer to his throat.
"Cut out this pathetic charade." Luna yelled. Though she had to admit her conviction was wavering somewhat. This griffon was a convincing liar. "Tell your comrade to release you otherwise there will be repercussions. If you do this now we shall be sporting, you will receive ten seconds head start before your total annotation." She said with a self satisfied nod, that was more than fair she thought.
The harsher smaller griffon yelled something into the place where Luna supposed an ear would be, it gasped as the knife was held closer to the neck, sharp enough that it cut through some of the tops of its feathers.
"What is he saying now?" Luna asked.
"He is saying enough talk, he is saying if you let him go with the cub, you can save your ponies."
Luna's eyes narrowed, what did this have to do with that little thing or her staff? "What does it mean by this?"
The gardener spoke to the griffon, who gave away a sickening smile, one that was mixed with satisfaction and fear.
"Oh dear?" The gardener said.
"What?" Luna asked.
"Oh no." He said, his eyes widening.
"I demand you tell me this instant!" Luna yelled.
"He is saying that there are two more of his group here. Trained killers, one of them is prideless." He continued to translate his face fixating into a horrified mask as he spoke the griffon's words. "He is saying that if you do not give us the cub you will lose everything. He is saying that his chief will take all you hold dear." The gardener's gulp was almost audible. "He is saying that his chief has no heart and no soul, that he has no mercy, he is also saying that only if you give him the cub can he possibly spare you from a fate worse than death."
Luna looked from the griffon to griffon. Brow raised, "Is this right?"
The gardener continued on. "Yes princess, He is saying that even now they are rounding up your maids and servants, that there will be reckoning, that you will not make us slaves. That his leader will make your kind wish they had never been-"
There was the sound of a high pitched squawking and then the gardener was let there standing. The only thing that remained in place of the other griffon was a few loose feathers and the knife which dropped softly onto the floor by the gardener's talons. The so-called gardener blinked a few times then turned to see the knife wielding griffon, who was now lying prone against the fountain behind them.
Slowly he turned back to face Luna.
"What?" Luna said incredulously, as the gardener stared back at her with wide accusing eyes, "do not look at us that way, it would have gone on forever. We have heard those threats a thousand thousand times." Luna said, she rolled her eyes. "Burn down your homes, crush your armies, hear the lamentations of your mares, et-cetera." She muttered waving her hoof. "Honestly do those cretins not have an editor?"
"But-" the gardener began, "-he was about to explain his plan, if you had kept him talking, then we could have worked out what they were doing next. Then-"
"-we heard enough," Luna interrupted, "two more of his kind to deal with in the manor, he wishes to hurt my friends and servants and my," she caught herself before something else could slip from her mouth and instead added, "my sister's little experiment, that is all the information we needed." .
Blast it, she knew she should have been more careful in that dream, that little rodent chaser's dreams were still infecting her mind it seemed. She had to be more careful in the future. She shook the thoughts away as she turned and began to walk back towards the manor.
"Where are you going?" The gardener asked.
"Back to the manor, to root out this infestation." She said curtly not looking back.
"What about chief. The prideless lion?"
"What about him?" She said with a disgusted snort. "He will be dealt with in the same manner as the rest of them. First we shall offer him the branch of diplomacy, then we shall beat him thoroughly with it." She said turning away again.
"Princess please, prideless griffons very dangerous." He said following behind her. "He has powerful rune."
"Whatever little pebbles he thinks will protect him are no threat to me, what could they possibly do that would hurt me." She scoffed, lighting up her horn.
It went without saying that Luna was a firm disbeliever in karma or destiny. She was of the belief that one was in control of their own luck and destiny. Unfortunately someone had forgotten to tell them that.
Just after the words left her lips, she felt something clip her horn. It felt for the briefest of moments as though one of her six senses had been switched off. (4) She stood there immobile, senseless, then she almost collapsed, staggering she caught a tree branch and barely kept herself standing.
"Jeg hater dere dumme ponnier!" a voice yelled horsley from behind her. She turned, her gaze blurred and unfocused, and could just about make out the sight of the griffon she had just blasted.
Like her, he was swaying and holding onto the fountain with all his might. His other talon gripped a weapon of some description, a sideways miniature bow that was aimed at her. The bow string vibrated as if it had just been fired.
Luna lit her horn, magic flared ready to reduce this miserable ball of feathers to mulch when a crippling pain inside her skull made her gasp. The magic built up from her horn, went wide and struck the fountain rather than the griffon.
Luna clutched her forehead. What felt like a convention of blacksmiths banging hammers wildly in her brain, she slumped barely staying upright.
She could see then the faint outline of that griffon smirking as it drew another arrow from his side and knocked it into the flat bow. He lined up the arrow aimed at Luna's chest.
"Si dine bønner måne heks!" He spat aiming the bow at her chest.
"Noo!" The griffon gardener yelled out. Jumping in front of them both. Luna watched as he shielded himself in front of her.
"What are you doing!?" She growled pointedly, still clutching her head.
"Shielding you from arrow. Is obvious no?" The griffon whispered back defiantly.
"Thou does realise that I am several hooves taller than you and all it would have to do is lift that weapon up an inch to hit us?"
The griffon considered this a moment then added in a slightly deflated tone, "Ah, you have point."
"We shall both have points in us in a moment." she growled through the pain. She had to focus her magic. But it felt as though all her magic was blocked somehow. Not like what her sister had used, that had felt like it had flicked a switch. This had felt as though it had violently yanked out.
The cloaked griffon sneered, his trigger talon twitched and then suddenly everyone froze. The only thing that was still moved was the ground itself.
A gurgling sound rumbled under them. It was like the sound of a bursting dam being squeezed through a mouse hole.
"What is this, an earthquake?" Luna yelled over the rumbling.
"No, worse... bad plumbing." The so-called gardener said as the other griffon staggered, dropped his flatbow and held on tight to the alicorn statue.
Then suddenly it seemed to stop. There was a sound, like water being sucked down a drain and then all three of them stared up at the alicorn state.
It all happened so fast that Luna had to take a moment to realise what she was looking at. One moment the griffon and the statue were there. The next moment he and the statue were about three hundred hooves into the sky.
She could only tell it was him because of the screaming. She watched as it flew into nothing and then, almost half a minute later she caught the parabola of water arch back down towards the earth.
She would be among the last to show sympathy to a griffon. But even she had to grimace as she watched it crash through the roof.
Though the grimace was mostly because of the pain around the base of her horn. She staggered nearly slipping onto the ground then felt something grab a hold of her and keep her steady.
"Are you alright princess?" The gardener griffon said, barely holding her upright.
"Unhoof me!" She yelled, staggering away, the shiver of revulsion lingering where those claws had touched her skin, a familiar and holy unwanted feeling. "Keep those dirty talons to yourself." She growled, far louder than she had meant to.
If the griffon seemed perturbed by that outburst he didn't show it, "You should take rest, that arrow likely tipped with griffon-stone." He said.
Luna, tired, in pain and irritated, grabbed the griffon by the chest feathers and heaved him up to meet her eyes. "How do you know this griffon-stone?" She growled
She had only just heard of it from her sister a little while ago when she had ambushed her. The power had shocked her, but she had been assured it was a rare and extremely costly material. Nothing some simple brigand would have access to.
"My Mor and Far were rune makers." He grunted out hurriedly, "I know from watching them, griffon-stone feeds off magic, like battery, it must have taken magic stored in your horn."
"So not content to steal my land or privacy, you griffons steal my magic as well. Is there no end to thine avarice?" She said her muzzle centimeters from his beak.
"Is temporary thing princess." He assured her, "but you must rest, otherwise could have long lasting effects."
Luna opened her muzzle to tell him exactly where he could stick his rest, when a cracking sound made them both turn. What sounded like the swan song of a wounded mastodon flooded the air. Feeling rather than hearing sounds of floorboards crashing inwards from somewhere in the manor.
Luna's eyes widened, thoughts of the danger to her charge galvanized her and she pushed away the pain and disorientation in her mind. She turned slowly back towards this mysterious griffon. Wanting nothing more than to tie him up to a tree until she sorted this business out.
But....
"Fine." she growled, against her better judgment she lowered him back down to the ground. "You want to help, then you shall assist us for the moment, until you are no longer needed and if I find out that you are lying then..."
The griffons cocked his head. "Then?"
"Then things get rather difficult for you." She said with a genuine smile. She had quite enough with these griffons for one day. She stumbled, righted herself, aimed her addled body towards the mansion.
And then... |
How Luna Adopted a Hatchling (Against Her Will) | And Then... (Part Two) | And then Iron Hoof turned around from his desk and spotted two ponies and the little cub inside his room. One of them panting hard. The princess looked as though she was having the best time of her young life and the other, sharp dressed one, looked as though he was on the brink of cardiac arrest. Although based on what Iron had seen of him, the larger stallion seemed to have that look simply standing around.
He would have preferred someone knock. That was the gentle bull way of things. But he supposed perhaps standards had changed. He had been away from Canterlot for nearly twenty years after all. It was strange having ponies back at the manor. He had spent almost a year now with nothing but rats as company.
They were certainly cleaner and better organized than his usual visitors. But they were rather poor in the way of conversation. "Squeak," could only get you so far at the dinner table and their talk of setting up a utopia of the common working rat under the crushing bourgeoisie oppression of cats was becoming rather tiresome.
He lifted the candle up towards them, "ah the young Silver, and the younger Princess, how may I help you two today?"
"There's a big griffon trying to kill us!" A maid, one in rather too much make-up to be healthy, yelled at Silver side.
Iron Hoof stared at them with a deadpan glare, then slowly he started to chuckle. "Oh, you must mean Winder, he's no harm at all, unless you're a weed, I keep telling him to not wear that bee-mesh indoors, he's going to scare the dickens out of someone someday."
"Forget about dickens, this guy's after us, some big monster, he's destroying the manor and he's trying to take the princess' daughter."
Iron hoof blinked, his face forming a deadpan expression, "Really? That doesn't sound like something Winder would do?"
"It's not Winder! It's somepony else." She said pointing towards the door.
Iron furrowed his brow, stroking his snout with thought, it couldn't be true, who would dare wreak havoc when the monarch was home who could... and then realisation dawned. "This someone," he said slowly, pointedly. "You said he's trying to steal the princess?"
"Yes, he was trying to take her away somewhere."
"And he was destroying the manor?" He asked, mounting suspicion growing in his voice.
"Well he wasn't fixing it much." She said, in what might have been sarcasm if her bubbly voice was capable of anything but saccharine sweetness.
Slow dread crept down the old minotaur back like a tickle fight with the grim reaper. There was only one friend who would steal the princess daughter out from his snout and destroy his manor. Only one dastardly evil in this world who would sink that low.
Iron hoof swallowed, he had been preparing himself for this day all his life. "So the time has come, has it?" He muttered looking back at the mirror, he had hoped that he would not have been this old before his final destiny would come to fruition.
But time waits for no bull.
"What, do you know about this?" Silver wheezed out, finally catching his breath.
"Fear not little ones, I have trained my entire life for this moment." He said drawing himself up to his full height. The two ponies stepped back as he cracked his neck muscles and fingers.
"Wait, how could you?" The maid asked. "You haven't even seen him yet."
"Oh, but I have seen them in my dreams. I have fought this evil all my life. There is not a day I visualise them."
"What do you mean you saw them in your dreams who are you-"
"Those damn Buckley manor stooges!" Iron Hoof roared over Silver. The name as usual left a sour taste on his tongue. "The rival manor in the next village! Of course they would strike now, steal my finest accomplishment of hosting the newest princes of the realm."
He slammed his fist into his palm, of course it was the only thing that made sense.
"Um... I don't think it has anything to do with-" Silver was about to say when the maid placed a hoof over his jowls.
"Oh yeah," she said, nodding her head vigorously, oddly the sounds of a squeaking toy emitted from each nod. "You're right, of course it must be them, that would explain why he was saying you couldn't polish silverware to save your life and your table manners were lousy."
"Lousy?!" Iron Hoof yelled, lifting himself up so quickly that the stool and table flipped upwards and crashed somewhere in the distance. "Oh that does it!" He growled. He reached for the hem of his nightgown and ripped them off in one fell swoop.
There was a pause, as the two ponies stared blankly for a moment, then slowly the maid placed a hoof over the hatchlings eyes.
"Eh?" Silver uttered.
"What?" Iron Hoof asked, looking down at them.
"Why are you wearing half a suit?" Silver said tactfully, placing his hoof over Golden's eyes.
"It's the state of the art combat butler suit, I designed it myself, butler in the front, flexibility in the back." he said with a proud nod.
"But it doesn't have a back, in fact it barely has a front?" He said.
Iron Hoof looked down at his suit, it had everything required in a black tie event. Well it had a black tie and a white shirt and waistcoat... Okay perhaps he had gone a little overboard on the function side over everything else.
He sighed, putting on some pants and then said, "Do not worry, we shall take care of this rabble before the midnight brunch." he said, pulling the little stocking caps from his horns. "come my dear lad, watch how the mighty Iron crushes his foes.
They walked out into the hallway, Iron eyes glared around the hallways, bit it didn't take long to find the culprit. Even with his poor eyesight it was hard to miss a screaming brown boulder of a griffon charging towards him.
"Trying to take the manor by force, aye?" He said to the charging smudge of brown in his vision. "Couldn't handle being second best after all, you dastardly swine!" He said adjusting his tie, "I always knew you would come."
"I crush you big cow." The griffon spat in broken Eques, its neck veins looking like snakes under his plumage.
Iron Hoof let out a calm breath through his snout and then took a crouching stance, arms forward as though to stop a rampaging wagon. His fingers wiggled as he placed his palms in front of him. Then he lowered his horns.
The griffon charged at the same time Iron Hoof did. braces for impact, collided onto him, the Minotaur smashed into the griffon. The two locked into a titanic clash of brawns.
Sparks flew as talons scraped against horns. The griffon was strong but he was just that. A weaker bull might have buckled under the pressure. But Iron Hoof held his ground, one did not work in the friend of noble customer service without developing a will strong enough to make a veteran mercenary tilt his head in mutual respect. (1)
They lunged at one another again, Iron Hoof grunted, overpowering this griffon was like trying to overpower a brick wall. Instead he traded blow for blow. "Stupid cow, I break you," the griffon growled, his talons balled into a fist and struck Iron hoof across the face.
Iron Hoof's response to this was the age-old response of any well educated Minatour. He leaned back and slammed his head into the griffon beak. Unfortunately, unlike every other time he had done this. It did not seem to stagger the griffon at all. It was starting to become clear to Iron Hoof that the only thing inside of the griffon's skull...was more skull.
The griffon fist struck Iron hoof in the stomach and buckled him over. Legs shaking he tried in vain to stop the tirade of blows from hitting him. But the griffon just kept coming. He hit the ground.
The griffon gave a chuckle that sounded like thunder rolling through a summer storm "weak little cow." He boomed, then Iron hoof watched as it balled its fists up together ready to bring it down onto his back.
Iron hoof could only stare upwards, his mind flickering back to the best moments of his life, buffering the silverware, serving tea, polishing the giant silver peacock statue... Truly a life well spent.
At least he would go out giving those damn Buckley's a thrashing. Make his father proud, and he could sit at the great China shop in the sky and look his great ancestor Skull Crusher in the eye and headbutt him with pride.
It was by gazing up in that moment waiting for the final hammer to fall, Iron hoof spotted something peculiar. For half a nano second, he thought he could see the floorboards above him breaking open. In the next nanosecond he spotted an image of a griffon, face pulled back in terror and g-force holding onto what looked like the alicorn statue that had been in the front garden.
Then Iron Hoof blinked. There was an ungodly sound of distraction and splintered wood. When he opened his eyes the large griffon was gone. As were most of the floorboards in front of him.
He had only another nanosecond to steady himself, to see the glow of those accursed artifacts in the basement. Then slowly he heard a cracking sound.
He had just enough time to turn back towards the two ponies and the cub behind him and say. "The floor, it's about to collap--"
And then.
And then He watched Hendric fall through the roof.
He couldn't help it, He smiled. He'd always had what others described as an odd sense of humor. For instance, when He had laughed himself to tears at his drunken excuse for a fathers funeral. Or when He had gone to work in the slaughterhouse at the age of ten and two and watched those stupid animals line up for what they thought was dinner.
Well in a way it was, just not theirs.
He'd made attempts to be "normal" once or twice. He had tried to smile and be pleasant when some big named old crone of a chief had come to visit his pride. It wasn't his fault that his smile was the same one you saw on a crocodile, when the buffalo came too close to the watering hole. That, or the smile of a snake when the mouse wanders too close.
It wasn't his fault that when he smiled, others made excuses about leaving the fire on in the hut or pretended their grandmother was calling them. Despite the fact the old hag had been pushing up daisies for the past three winters.
After a while he'd give up pretending. Life had gotten so much easier when you stopped pretending to be what you're not. When he had stopped hiding the fact he felt no remorse for anyone else. When he stopped caring if someone got hurt. When he started caring about hurting others...
Yes, life had gotten easier. Richer too, though he had no real use for money, that was just the way to keeping score. He walked over from the vantage point in the roof and stared down at the new hole in it. Well life had gotten so much easier for him anyway, for poor stupid Hendric, not so much.
He had to admit, this wasn't his best work. This was not exactly the plan he had come up with. But then when you hired fools to do the work of a real professional, you had to work with some contingencies.
He knew in his line of work you got what you could take. He hadn't wanted thinkers, not that thinkers would do a job like this in the first place. He wanted meat shields and that was exactly what he got. He didn't want thugs that asked questions, the only questions He was used to hearing went something along the lines of, "if I give you all my money can I keep my leg?" and that sort of thing.
And anyway, someone had to take the blame, wars didn't start themselves. If nobody knows who threw the first punch. In that regard these idiots were practically overqualified for the job. Nationalist, patriotic dullards. All he had to do was say the word 'damn (insert species) taking all our (insert job of said species) next they'll be coming for our own (insert species female pronoun)' and they practically lined up to be his expendable arrow-fodder.
He watched the ponies, griffons and minotaur as the floor collapsed. Watched as they screamed and the dust obfuscated his vision. Then yelling stopped, only the gentle glow of red could be seen through the mist.
An ominous sight, a symbolic sight he might have noticed, if he had not been too busy suppressing his laughter.
Frankly he could have packed his bags up now and gone back to his employer and considered the whole job complete. But he was a professional and a professional never left a job half done, or a war half started. After all, those ponies would do just about anything for their peace and harmony.
But if their princess was stolen, or worse, well... even for them, peace had its limits.
He glided down through the gaping hole in the roof, down past the layers of floors that the statue had torn through and into the basement.
He glanced around at the damage. Most of the debris had fallen around the ponies and not on them which was a shame. Perhaps those artifacts had protected them from damage. One glowing mirror stood, practically untouched erect in the middle of the room. Its reflection showing some random forest in the middle of its swirling light.
He ignored it, he had no interest in magic in his line of work, he liked to do things the personal way. He turned at the sound of a wheezing cough and spotted the fat pony in the ludicrous suit wheezing and barely coherent on the floor.
Idoly, because of how his mind worked he wondered how protective that blubber actually was. He felt his talon itching at the thought. He always liked impromptu science experiments from time to time. He saw things in a different way to others, as in, he saw others as things.
That's why his pride had named him as prideless, why they had cast him out. But he always introduced himself as a mover. He moved things, yes sometimes those things were other species and it was generally to the bottom of a river bed or into a hastily dug hole.
He liked his job. It was easy, Like stealing candy from a foal, or a worm from a cub.
Speaking of...
He had just moved away from the downed stallion, when he caught a little whimpering from somewhere in his vicinity.
He turned to see something small and brown on top of the fat stallion. The cub. It seemed that she had been practically shielded from any of the damages. The stallion was like a walking waterbed. His fat was sort of protective armour for her.
She was letting out a cry as she placed her tiny claw on the stallion's unmoving muzzle. He chuckled, others would have found it quite touching perhaps, but he just found it amusing.
His claw kicked aside a small pebble as he approached. The little cub's head turned to face him. The two of them locked eyes. The looks she gave him reminded him of the look a rabbit might have given, when he aimed the flatbow at it, or the dog, or Mr Featherweights last month. Those dewy and wet eyes that prey often got when they spot the end of everything staring back.
"Don't you worry, I won't hurt you." He said, flashing his reptilian smile. Sadly for him, it seemed that even a one year was not buying that. She scurried as fast as her little legs could, hiding behind the fat prone stallion, crouched behind his jacket.
He couldn't blame her, if even his mother couldn't trust his face, then what shot did he have with a hatchling? He moved closer as she buried her face deeper into the fat stallion side. Her eyes glistening and just barely visible over his tuxedo.
Finally instincts took over and she tried to run. But it was far too late for that. He snatched her up by the back of the neck. The cub gave out a whimpering hiss trying to lash out at him with her tiny claws. "Little rabbit has claws I see." He smirked, he liked it when the prey fought back. It kept things interesting.
"Oh come now, I'm not going to hurt you now, I have standards." He said, leaning back from her claws. "I can't speak for later though, when my employer gets a hold of you, she even scares me." He chuckled to himself. Then paused as something grabbed ahold of his ankle.
"Let...go of her." A groaning voice announced somewhere below Him. He frowned, glancing around then down at his back paws.
He glanced downwards spotting the clown half hurried in the detritus of the collapsed floor. "You're hurting her, put her down now!"
He made a show of considering that for half a second, "hmm, no." He said, trying to shrug her off. But she was stronger than she looked.
"You..won't get away with this." She groaned.
He closed his eyes and let his smile break across his beak. Oh it just never got old. Every time, every single time, that feeling of hope or defiance. Bless them, it made his job so much more fun.
"Say it again." He whispered almost to himself.
"W-what?" She said, her defiance cracking slightly.
He reached into his robe and pulled out the loaded flat bow, and in one swift motion, pointed it at her forehead. To her credit she didn't shy away, he had to admire that. "I love when they say that. Say it again please?"
"S-screw you!" She cursed but there was doubt on her muzzle now.
"No-no, stop pretending to be brave, it's not the same, say it again, come on with feeling." He said then an idea came to him. "I know, how about some motivation?" He said, some inspiration always got the best out of others his mother had always told him, he drew the bow slowly away from her and pointed it at the dangling cub.
The reaction he got was priceless.
The mare's eyes opened wide, even trapped under the floorboards she fought to free herself as she screamed "Don't!"
"Then say the magic words." He said, leaning down at her, Tatarus, he could almost taste her fear.
"The princess will come and then you'll be sorry." She said, trying desperately to dislodge herself, her panicked eyes still not leaving the cub.
"Oh don't worry about her, I got my own way of dealing with that one. This is about me and you right now. Stop stalling and say the magical words." He said, growing a little inpatient, he felt his talon twitching on the trigger, one little flicker, one little bit of muscle contracting and it would all be over like that.
"Say, the words." he hissed.
"Fine then." A voice boomed from behind him. "You shan't get away with this." The voice carried dread like the sound of ice cracking under someone's heels in the middle of a frozen lake.
He turned right just in time to see a bolt of ice aimed for his head.
And then...
Silver looked up at the great fields above feeling rather short changed. For a start they were not green but a sort of moldy sickly seaweed colour. Second of all, instead of the ever glowing sun that others had preached of, all he could see was a sanguine red like a nightlight for the criminally deranged, and it was starting to make his eyes water.
Oh and there was something else. Something important... oh yes, he was also in a tremendous amount of pain for some reason. If this was the great field, frankly he was already considering summering in Tartarus.
As he stared up half dazed, he could hear voices in the distance.
He turned his gaze towards the noise. Spotted something strange. It was for all intents and purposes a griffon. But something about it seemed off. It was as though it was a griffon. But also something more. Like he was staring at the outlines of something, like it wasn't there but its shadow was.
Then he spotted the little princess, dangling above him. Clutched in the talons of the shadow griffons claws, pecking at each sharp scaly digit with an indignant look on her face, that almost reminded him of Luna herself.
Then out of nowhere. A bolt of blue fire lashed against the griffon. Simultaneously another burst of brilliant pink exploded out to block the bolt. But the force of it flung the griffon backwards.
The little princess suddenly now suspended in the air by nothing but her tiny flapping wings lingered for half a second in the air, before landed, on something soft. Much to Silver's chagrin it was his stomach.
He let out a wheeze as the little lioness landed claws first onto his already aching chest. It went so far to say that not just cats landed on their feet. Sadly Silver had always been more of a dog pony.
He tried to rise but found himself pinned against something. He was about to call out for help when without warning something pulled him and the princess out of the detritus like a toddler pulling a rag doll from under the sofa, he blinked and when he opened his eyes he was face to face with princess Luna.
"Find the others and get thee gone." She commanded, "we shall deal with this."
"But," he said then stopped as he gazed at her, Luna looked almost worse than he felt. Her legs shaking, her vision unfocused as though she had no more understanding of what the heck was going on that he did.
"Did my voice broker argument?!" She wincing with pain, an arrow flew past in between the two of them and she flinched back, then flung a spell towards the edge of the room.
The griffon weaved in and out of the shadows. Moving behind artifacts that hissed at him and in the case of one book tried to bite him. A shadow drew over the two of them and Luna launched Silver and the cub away, just as a chunk of rock landed where they had both been standing.
"Flee you fools!" She roared. Silver could see the pink and blue light set across the harshness of the red around the chunk of brick that had come between them.
"Luna, Luna!" He tried to yell over the noise of the battle raging between them, eyes watering from the ancient dust obscuring the room.
Something grabbed him from the side. Another griffon, but unlike the others, this one wasn't trying to kill him at least. "We must leave. This mansion is unstable, you must take little princess away."
"Who are you, Golden, where's Golden?" He managed to croak out, as the cub crawled onto his back and chirped, staring fixedly around the slowly collapsing room.
The griffons didn't relent. "I am Winder, I find them, you must go."
"I'm not leaving without her!" Silver yelled, he couldn't remember the last time he had truly yelled. He'd bottled every bit of emotion away, but now they were bubbling up in him.
The griffon opened his beak when suddenly the mansion gave a sickening crunching sound. A great shudder passing through the foundation. One of the artifacts began to float upwards. Clearly even powerful occult artifacts didn't want to deal with this mess.
"Come out and face us, coward." Luna's voice roared from somewhere in the melee. Pain was fueling her rage, in the distance a Column containing a book smashed against a wall.
Silver turned, he had to find his niece now. He pushed through the debris as the battle raged on. He caught flashes of magic and books flying literally off the shelves leather pages flapping like a bats wings. His eyes flickered nervously as he grew more desperate until he was almost ready to consider the worst.
"Over here!" Winder yelled, Silver turned on the spot and saw Winder clutching onto his niece. "Thank the fields above!" He muttered to himself as he saw a ragged looking Golden emerging from what was left of a wooden beam.
Her mane was a curly mess of tangled knots, her make up sneered into white panda dots across her muzzle and her maid uniform was torn and tattered. All in all, except for a bit of dirt, she looked practically untouched from her usual self.
More importantly she wasn't hurt. Silver ran, which was to say he moved his legs and his weight threw him forwards towards her like a Newton's cradle.
"Golden, are you okay?" He said, pulling her into a hug.
"I'm fine uncle, where's the princess?" She asked, her answer came when the cub jumped from Silver's back, latching onto her face. A series of chirps and little wing flaps as the cub purring form nuzzled Golden.
Silver was not an emotional pony, but he felt himself choking back a stifled tear as he watched them. It didn't last long. "Where's princess Luna?" Golden asked through a muffled mouth full of feathers.
As if on cue, a radiant blast cracked through the dust, a beam of pure blue energy. They all shielded their eyes bracing themselves as the blast struck against a bubble of pinkish hue.
The two figures locked into a tight struggle, Luna grimacing as she forced all her energy into the blast. The griffon holding the rune upwards in both claws, smiling as he did so.
"å nei, we have to stop her!" Winder said at his side.
"What's going on?" Silver yelled through the cacophony.
"Griffon stone, it is absorbing her magic, like battery!"
"How is that a bad thing?" Silver asked, "Griffon stone isn't a weapon, he can't do anything with it can he?"
"Weapon is one thing." Winder said, shifting his gaze around the room. "But occult artifacts power by magic. Grow stronger for magic. If connected to battery then..." he didn't need to finish the sentence.
Silver suddenly became aware of all the mysterious and potentially dangerous objects around that decorated the room. Actually it was easier to say that they were the room and the four walls were just the technicality.
"Oh dear." He said with the sudden realisation of the mouse that had seen the free cheese on the strange wooden board in the middle of the room, only to hear the metallic clicking sound a second too late.
"We need to tell the princess, we cannot." Winder didn't finish the sentence. Luna let out one final roar, flinging all her magic into a blinding light towards the griffon.
The griffon had no choice, he shielded his eyes with one wing and Luna charged. His eyes went wide for half a second as he pulled out the flatbow and fired. The bow struck her side but she didn't seem to even notice. She roared as she charged, smashing the rune aside with her wing and grabbing a hold of the griffon. Lifting him into the air with one hoof.
Everypony watched as the Griffon was lifted boldly, his claws wrapping around Luna's hoof, everypony watched, everyone waited, well almost everyone.
Silver, having trained his senses to detect disaster in every format and with years of dealing with princesses, who court disaster as though it was the last stallion before the bar closed. Stared fixedly at the rune as it slipped like a stone against water across the room and landed almost lackadaisical against the leg of something.
Silver, with that mounting dread that left every hair not glued down with a tub of mane gel standing upright followed the embroidered legs up towards a mirror. Glowing softly in the center or of the room. Showing a stretch of green forest inside of its ripple surface.
There was an almost imperturbable sense of quiet as though fate was cracking its knuckles and lifting up its arms to conduct the final orchestra note.
Then the rune grew almost incandescent as pinkish light seeped its way up the legs of the mirror and all of a sudden the room exploded with light.
What followed next was like a tempest in a teacup. If the tea cup was a moldy basement and the tempest was an arch of unknown, unquantifiable amount of magic power. Actually, now that he considered it, to Silver, it was more like a stick of dynamite in a Porter potty.
Magic tendrils flew out from the mirror spiraling like a hurricane of magic and, with the same irresistible pulling power. Chunks of brick and mortar not stuck down flew from the aging walls and were sucked into its ethereal maw.
Silver, even with his venerable mass, found himself being pulled towards the swirling vortex. He grabbed a hold of bit of rusted popping rooted to the ground.
Every pony scrambled. He watched as temporarily distracted, Luna turned to face the portal, eyes wide. When she turned back the griffon was ready. Both legs lifted and he kicked hard into her face. Luna stumbled backwards, weakened, she tried to right herself, wings flapping.
Then behind Silver somepony screamed. He turned and spotted Golden. "Uncle!" She wailed, her hooves flailing.
He reached out and by sheer luck grubbed her hoof, the two suspended in the air, as though they were flying.
"Hold on!" He roared over the whipping wind of magic.
Golden's panicked eyes focused on him, then towards her back. The little cub was holding on to Golden's mane, but her tiny claws were slipping.
All at once her grip failed. Golden glanced back for only a second at Silver. As an Earth pony, it took only a split second for him to read her face.
"Golden, no!" He yelled, just as she let go.
She caught the cub in mid air. Her hooves pulling the cub against her chest. Silver watched helplessly as the two flew through the air. Just as Luna took another step backwards. Her unfocused gaze could only register shock as the two of them knocked into her. What little balance she had left was gone. She crumpled as all three of them sailed into the air and then into the irresistible pull of the eye of the portal's storm.
There was the briefest of flash and then all three of them were gone.
Silver gasped, as he tried to keep his grip on the pipe. Tried to find away out from this. He saw others being pulled into the portal. That griffon that had attacked Luna held on longer, but as close as he was to the portal even he couldn't hold on forever. He vanished into its spiraling vortex.
Winder gave out a panicked squawk as a piece of the wall he had been holding onto broke off sending him flying backwards. Next the mountain of a griffon, still unconscious, flew wordlessly into the portal, stuck there like a stubborn bit of toilet paper on a horseshoe before being sucked in. Then Iron Horn in much the same way.
Silver couldn't look anymore. He felt the piece of brick and mortar loosening in his hooves. He had to think, he needed to get out of here. Get out, find Celestia, yes that was a plan. Find help, any help he could, he just need to hold on, he needed to-
"Ooh, I did not see this coming, this is a much better plan than I had!" Something spoke by his side. Silver turned spotted a pair of mismatched legs, arms, well frankly mismatched everything.
"Discord?!" Silver yelled, utterly bewildered at the sight.
Discord stood there watching it all, sipping casually with a glass of chocolate milk in his paw. As though he was taking a stroll through a park.
No, this was good, Silver considered. Use every opportunity one could find, he could use Discord, make his way back to Canterlot, tell Celestia and then.
"Geronimo!" Discord yelled, throwing the glass over his shoulder.
Silver watched in as all his plans suddenly took a leaping dive bomb into the air, summer salted and then vanished into the portal.
He really, should have seen that coming.
He felt the concrete losses again in his hooves. More and more of the floor was collapsing around him and being sucked into the portal, falling into a magical mirror being sucked into fields knew where?
Slowly, but by bit his hoof slipped until the brick came loose. He watched himself falling away from the wall, watched the ceiling finally collapse around the cellar, crumbling. The full red light vanished along with everything else.
Bright blinding light infused his vision, his life flashing before his eyes. Scrolls and scrolls tied in need ribbons of lies.
Even now, his mind making every deal and back door hustle it could to whatever deity was listening. He survived this, he would be a new stallion, he would workout, he would give away his money to poor unfortunate animals, pet the poor, whatever it was ponies where supposed to say at this time.
He would never tell another lie again.
Of course that was a lie, but at this point it was worth a shot, right? Silver closed his eyes, feeling the tingling of magic all around his fur all around his legs and mind.
And then...
End of part one. |
How Luna Adopted a Hatchling (Against Her Will) | Noblemares and Nightmares | Ahh, Finally, it's been sooo long!
How have you been, have you missed us? I missed you, I thought about you every year, every month, every second that we were not together.
But it seems you don't feel the same? You hardly visited us, once a month perhaps you'll glance our way. Then you would be gone without so much as a second thought.
WHY?!
Sorry, I didn't mean to yell like that. I just missed you, I care too much, that's all. But don't worry, we're not mad at you, it's not your fault. We know who to blame. Who will get punished.
This isn't exactly how I planned for this, it's all progressing faster than I hoped, but you know what they say about the best layed plans of mice and gods.
Oh but what's this? You're being sooo rude, when were you going to introduce us, two whole weeks and yet you haven't bothered to present us to your new daughter. My, you have changed haven't you. You used to tell us everything. But I see you haven't even named her yet have you?
Well, don't worry, we have a name and I'm sure she and I will be getting to know one another so very intimately. I know you say you don't want me anymore.
But obviously, you don't mean that.
Once we're done, we'll be together again, just like old times, one big family. My precious moon-child.
But since you're here now. Since we have all this time, let's take a trip down memory lane, for old times sake. A reminder of why you needed me. Hmm, what to pick, there's sooo much to choose from. Oh I know, how about this one, after all that's how this whole thing got started isn't it? How about one a night until we see each other again?
What, no you don't want it? Is it too painful?
TOO BAD!
Anyway let's begin, how did it start again... oh yes, I remember...
Part Two
"Luna, Lu, are you okay?"
Luna cracked open one tired eye, she had just been having the strangest dream. Dreams of manors and young infant griffons. Overweight stallions and maids dressed like jesters. If she was being honest the whole thing was a bit too strange and convoluted for her tastes. Whoever had woven that dream desperately needed an editor. But still, there was something important about it all, wasn't there, something to do with...
"Lu, wake up, now!"
Luna groaned, eyes still closed, she needed to find out what it was she was forgetting.
There was an impatient growl somewhere above her as whatever had been calling to her stomped away, followed by blessed silence. Luna let a smile cross her face, soon replaced by another dream. This one was of cheering crowds, she sat in front of a parade of ponies in a guided throne of onyx, sapphire and black marble. The empress of the world, yes this was a much better dream.
Her sister sat next to her, joint empress. Albeit in an equally impressive, if slightly smaller, more humbling throne. Just to make absolutely sure every pony knew the real score.
But instead of feeling the anointing oil, which to be honest smelled suspiciously like last week's leftover cooking oil. Luna felt a blast of Ice cold water splashed across her muzzle. She gasped, sitting bolt upright. The bright sunlight burned into her gaze.
"What in the blazes!" Luna roared, tried to anyway. Caught with water in her nose and at that awkward age where the voice went from high pitched, to an octave that made dogs come running, instead she screeched out, "W-we shall see we thee tarred and feathered for this." Then halfway through another line of threats she stopped.
She had not expected to see her sister, towering above her. Nor the weaponised scowl that was pointed like an arrow tip at her. But she had really not expected to see was tears brimming around her narrowed eyes.
"Where have you been?" Celestia growled, hoof stomping on the grass, "I have been looking for you for nearly two days, I had to petition the guards across the whole city to look for you." She said, wiping a tear away with one hoof and jabbing Luna's chest with the other.
"I- we, what?" Luna mumbled, looking around. That was an excellent question. She didn't remember where she was or what had been happening. Last thing she could remember was snippets of a dream, she was in some ancient manor, her sister had sent her off there perhaps? But that couldn't have been right, her sister was standing right in front of her.
"You had me worried sick." Celestia chided, jabbing Luna hard enough to send her inching backwards. "I haven't slept in days, worried you'd gone off to play adventurer and gotten hurt. Then I find you sleeping under a tree, covered in, what is that watermelon?"
Luna, whose grasp on reality at the moment was tantamount to a mountain climber who was dangling from a fraying rope and quickly realising that a buy one get one free deal isn't always a good bargain, glanced down at herself.
"What...melon?" She said, spotting red flesh and seeds across her fur. The floor around her was dashed with the green carcass of the giant fruit.
Two thoughts bumped into one another at the same time, tried to cross, got mad and began fist fighting in her mind. One yelling that she had someplace important to be, that something about all this wasn't right. The other, louder one yelling something entirely different.
Sudden dreadful realisation did not so much strike her as climb to the top of the rope, cupped one ear to the crowd then dive elbow first towards her mind.
"Oh no." She muttered, staring at the massacred fruit. "Oh no, oh no-no-no." She said scrambling onto the floor.
"It's too late to prostrate yourself sister." Celestia said, folding her legs in front of her chest and sticking her chin into the air.
Luna grabbed at the flesh of the melon, trying to put them back together like some bizarre vegetarian jigsaw puzzle gone horribly wrong.
She grabbed what might have been the top of the Mellon, or the bottom and began to mush the red flesh back into the rind. Which only amounted to small mounds of fruit flying onto the mud, her white toga and onto one ant who couldn't believe its luck.
Celestia let her muzzle down a fraction as she opened her eyes a fraction and then glanced puzzlingly at Luna. "What are you doing?"
Luna, who's own eyes were now wide and frantic, grabbed her sister's shoulders, "where is grandfather!?"
"Walking the gardens last I saw him, that is hardly the point Lu-"
"-Walking the gardens! Whereabouts?" Luna interrupted with that manic look that one might get when they cut a wire on the bomb and see the countdown start to go faster.
"Lu' stop, you are hurting me." Celestia winced. Before Luna could continue, something blocked out the very sun. Icy shivers tap danced down her spine as she turned to see who it was.
He didn't speak, he didn't have to. His one raised brow spoke volumes, the omnipresent frown on his thick grey beard added at least three more chapters to that collection. The slightest twitch of sunken wrinkled head had the same effect as a slap to the posterior of a misbehaving little foal. In many ways, despite being nearly a hundred, Luna was very much still a foal in the eyes of this stallion.
It would have been bad if it was just him. But Luna could see behind him his ever present accompanying Arch-lords, the stallions who made the world. It went without saying that no mares were in this parade of council members. (1)
"It seems that my granddaughter cannot stand still for more than twenty minutes?" The imposing stallion, the founder and king of Equestria said. Not to Luna, he never talked directly to her when he was angry. He spoke as though she wasn't even there. "Stuck in her own little dream world perhaps?"
"Mares minds often wander sire." Said a well groomed stallion next to him. The Arch Chancellor, the loathsome little worm that was, as ever, glued to her grandfather's side. "They say it has something to do with that new fangled 'science' thing the alchemists are always talking about. Mares brains are uncannily like magpies apparently, hence the obsession with preening and Jewelry." He smiled softly, looking over Luna's shoulder towards her sister at Celestia who scowled back at him.
Oftentimes, such "facts" spoken by the mysterious "they", usually came from deeply ironic sources, such as politicians that complain about crime rate, whilst stealing everything not nailed down to their desk. Or the religious figures that condemn certain sinful practices and then are later seen fleeing these sinful practices hastily down a drain pipe, at night, half naked.
In this instance, it came from a stallion who wore enough jewelry to create his own gold standard economy and would send jealous tears down the eyes of any aspiring pirate.
But right now, Luna wasn't listening. She was too busy pretending her hooves were the most interesting sight in the world and in doing so, also avoiding the glare of the titanic stallion in front of her. Her head throbbed, thoughts buzzing like flies. This didn't feel right, something about this was wrong. But the feeling of guilt in the face of her hero swatted these other thoughts like, well like flies.
"So, granddaughter, what do you have to say for yourself?"
Luna's head snapped back towards her grandfather. Even if she had an excuse, her words were mowed down before they could reach her tongue. Some of them gripped on for dear life, telling vowels and consonants to hold on, but it was too late.
"I um, grandfather I-"
"-Its my fault grandfather," Celestia said, moving between the two, "I broke her concentration, I spotted a most dreadful spider and nearly fainted, little sister was ever so brave and caught me, at the expense of her training."
Luna blinked, staring in confusion at her sister. Celestia wasn't afraid of spiders, she would often handle them by hoof and leave them on pillows to scare her chambermaids.
Their grandfather gave a derisive snort, shaking his head. "Foolish mares" He muttered, just loud enough, that only a few hundred pony's including the gardeners across the castle heard him.
Finally he fixed his gaze onto Luna, "We told thee to let nothing distract you, thou wished to be a warrior, a strong leader, yet you could not let twenty minutes go without distraction, even those rock headed Minotaur could have done that."
Luna felt herself falter under his withering gaze. Her mouth was glued shut as she glanced at her sister who gave her an encouraging look. Slowly she found the strength to stammer out, "A-Actually, grandfather, we have been standing here for nearly two days no-
"Silence" He snapped, "thine excuses demean us both."
"Y-yes grandfather," she said, going near ridged. Feelings of utter humiliation flooded her mind, the feeling felt strangely familiar. Both by her failure and worse yet, that her sister was as ever pulling her flank from the fire.
The perfect child that she was.
"Do not make us regret your tutelage." He warned. "Your king has had a hard enough time dealing with this pathetic rabble." He said, looking over his shoulder at his Arch-lords, who pretended that he was talking about some other white robed and obscenely rich crowd of noble ponies.
One thing to say about her grandfather, the stallion treated everyone equally...like dirt.
"I won't, I am sorry my king." Luna said bowing low.
Finally after a long moment, his grimace subsided into a slightly less frigid frown. "Come, we have wasted enough time on your vanity. To the throne room, we have matters to discuss." He said, turning away suddenly. Then just as suddenly he stopped and gazed up at a random tree tree.
"Arch Exchequer, what happened to the nuts on my tree?"
"P-Pardon, your grace?" A stallion, so large and with so many folds that Luna sometimes felt an overpowering urge to rummage down the side of him for loose change, answered.
"This tree was full of nuts just last hour, pray tell where are they now Silver Coin?" He said eyes shifting as though the culprits were still at large somewhere in the area.
"Your grace, um, with respect, you haven't been in the gardens for at least a month." The Arch Master Of Whispers answered for Silver Coin. Another venerable old stallion, who was in charge of the king's spy network. Hooded even in summer he moved forwards, a robed and obscured bird sitting on his wizened shoulder.
This was not for effect, as Luna had thought, but according to her sister, it was mostly because unlike his forebears he was terrible at keeping crows and had lost the latest flock last year. In a panic instead he replaced them all with parrots which had been strategically dyed black and now he was praying no pony would notice.
"Braaak, the lazy king, Braaak" said the "crow" on his shoulder. "Braak, the king has lost his nuts, braak"
"That did not answer my question?" Luna's grandfather snapped staring daggers at the Arch-master of whispers crow, "tell me who has vandalised my tree?!" He growled, eyes shifting back to Silver Coin who himself shifted backwards into the crowd. Which had the effect of a wagon barreling down towards a crowd as the old heads of state darted for safety.
"Well your grace, perhaps, em, well autumn is the time for foraging animals?"
"Ah, so you're saying the peasantry are to blame?" The king seemed to consider this for a moment.
Silver Coins eyes widened. "What? No! I mean literal animals, squirrels and the like."
"Squirrels you say?" He said, his eyes squinting dangerously. He turned to a guard by his side and whispered something, then drew a line across his neck. The guard in question seemed perturbed. opened his mouth then closed it. Then quickly closed it as he realised it was either his life or the squirrels. Reluctantly he saluted.
Luna dejectedly followed behind, eyes still glued to her hooves. The subtle confusion of events was giving her a headache, all the while she was filled with shame and a subtle feeling of wrongness about all of this.
"Are you okay?" Celestia said, slipping beside her.
"We did not need your butt in this sister." Luna growled.
"I think the term is 'for you to butt in.'" She said calmly.
"The only butts I needeth is my own." Luna snapped, then stared at a gawking noblemare, "Have you nothing better to do?" She yelled as the mare yelped and scrambled away hurriedly.
"He was belittling you." Celestia continued in that aggravatingly calm manner Luna loathed and admired.
"And you were mothering us, I'm only one hundred years younger than you, you do not need to treat me like a foal."
"One hundred and fifty years younger," Celestia corrected, "and I am not mothering you, now come here, you still have some melon on your chin." She said, levitating a napkin towards Luna who batted it away.
"He is our king, he belittles who he wants." She snapped, though she did not mean to yell that loudly. In a quieter voice she added, "Please, do not ruin this Tia, you know how long it took to get grandfather to notice us."
Celestia was still focused on cleaning her, but Luna could see the small furrow of her brow, "I don't understand sister, how is standing with a melon on your head supposed to help you with matters of state?"
"Bah, matters of state." Luna scoffed, "tis your job to do the boring part of ruling, I will be a warrior princess sister, and the melon would test my mental fortitude, for when I am in the thick of battle. Wearing full armour and charging down our enemies."
Celestia's eye roll was deliberate and long, "Oh, forgive me, I did not know we were using vegetation as armour these days, are we using cucumbers for swords now too?"
Luna also rolled her eyes, but she could never quite get the same effect as her sister, no matter how many times she practised in front of the mirror. Of course her sister would not understand her grandfather's teachings.
Her sister had spent too many hours with poets and teachers and had unfortunately contracted "intellectualism." This made her l go around thinking mad things like peasants were also ponies too and that there should be an equal opportunity among the species. Also she was saying things like changing laws on a whim and going around shouting at and chasing anything you don't like with pitchforks, wasn't a viable form of rule.
Which would have made ninety percent of their grandfather's government functionally obsolete.
Luna blamed those old farts her sister hung around with. Those so-called deep thinkers, who would stroke their beards, stare up at clouds for hours and say things like "is a table really a table?" Ignoring the table's thoughts on the matter entirely.
But still, even with her tragic mental defects, Celestia would be queen someday by right of birth. Luna on the other hoof had to make her name known some other way. If that meant charging down armies and getting stuck in glorious combat like the hero's in her mountain of story books, well more fool Celestia.
"Please sister, do not do anything like that again." Luna whispered as they trailed from the castle gardens and towards the great hall of the throne room. "Tis just some light ribbing between master and pupil, hardly anything to go by. We can handle it. If we are to charge into spears, how would we be if words wounded us?"
Celestia scowled, "First of all, my baby sister is not going to be charging into spears, not if I can help it." Celestia said brow furrowed firmly, in a way that reminded Luna of their mother far too much for comfort.
"Do not tell us what to do, we are old enough."
"Spoken like a true one hundred year old." Celestia said with a sigh, "barely a teenager, you're far too young to think such horrid thoughts."
"Am not." Luna said, tilting up her chin.
She ignored her sister's expert eye roll, "Secondly, no pony is immune to words sister, not fully. Words can cut deeper than any blade, especially from family."
Luna let out an exasperated sigh, "Ugh, You've been hanging around those philosophers again haven't you sister?"
"So what?" Celestia said, suddenly taking a defensive tone. "I find it interesting, they say such interesting things about art and life."
"Yes, but they also say eating kale, swallowing oil of the cod and drinking one's own urine is the key to immortality."
Celestia gave her a deadpan glare, "There is nought more beautiful than an expansive mind sister."
"Oh really? Doth that also apply to large muscular stallions who clean royal pools, sister?" Luna asked innocently, apart from the fat grin on her muzzle.
Celestia despite her near infinite poise nearly tripped over her two front hooves. "Who told you that?" She whispered harshly to Luna.
"Relax, your secret paramour is safe with us." She giggled at her sister's reddening face, then stopped right as they reached the great chambers.
They stood outside, as was proper, after all the whole point of royalty was to know when to wait for other royalty. Otherwise how would you tell which one could have you thrown in jail and which one could have your mane inconveniently cut below the neck with an axe.
Luna didn't know how one tradition had morphed into this one. But her grandfather had told her that knowledge of traditions as well as regular baths and money was what set one apart from the animals. Which left about three quarters of the population firmly in the latter in her grandfather's eyes.
Despite it all, she felt a stirring in her chest, to see all this grandeur. To see that all these ponies were here because of one great stallion and the fact she was related to him was both an overwhelming honour and frankly terrifying at the same time.
Finally they entered, taking a seat around the enormous circular council room. They stood waiting at their designated post as their grandfather took his seat on the throne. But as Luna watched him take his seat, her head throbbed, in that moment For a brief moment her eyes flickered to not one throne but two thrones, an onyx and a smashed marble white one, left crumbling on the floor she blinked rubbed her eyes and once more saw the singular throne.
As it should be.
"What did you say, Tia?" Luna turned.
"I...didn't say anything Lu."
"Oh, must have been the wind." Luna said, looking around and ignoring all the closed windows in the stuffy and near airtight room.
"Are you sure you're feeling alright." Her sister said, lifting up a hoof to her forehead.
"I'm fine, just fine." She said, giving her a much too eager smile. Perhaps that melon had been heavier than she had thought.
She distracted herself by stared up at the magnificent king at the end of the room. Dazzling white fur, a regal bearing, blue eyes fixed and determined. He carried himself like a leader, a general, a ruler.
His sword which he held always around his back leg at all times, old and dulled. But with a history richer than any treasury. The hilt was intricately carved with illustrations of the unification of Equestria. Though it had to be said, a lot of Equestria did not particularly want to be unified, hence where the sword part came in handy.
"Court is now in session." Rang the croaky voice of the court crier from behind the throne, despite his age his voice was still loud enough that half of the ponies present winced around him
"Thank you." Silver Coin said rubbing his ears as he stood up, which was a feat in and of itself given his size. "Your grace, princess of our great land and honourable members of the court, the first order of business is-"
"Presenting the Arch Exchequer Lord Silver Coin." The feeble crier yelled a half second later.
Silver winced, half crumpling the scroll in his meaty hooves, "Yes thank you court crier!" Silver said pointedly, looking over his shoulder, "Before we begin in earnest or ever graceful princess Celestia would like to address the court concerning something most important."
"Thank you Lord Silver Coin." Celestia said, standing up by Luna's shoulder, "If it pleases the court, I would like to start by proposing-
"-Presenting the princess of the Great kingdom of Equestria-"
"Thank you court crier." Celestia yelled even more pointedly, there was half a second of silence as the court crier blinked, looked around as if he only just worked out where he was and sat back down before Celestia continued.
"Now that our king has finally returned after dealing a crushing blow to the forces of the Tyrant Sombra. We must turn our minds to the displaced victims of this most regrettable incident. I propose the immediate establishment of relief columns for the refugees." Which got nods of agreement from half the court, mostly on her side of the room.
"Also," she continued, "whilst we are on the topic of public aid and domestic betterment. I would like to re-open the notion of a free state run public schooling for those that-."
And that got the other side of the room groaning and rolling her eyes. Even Luna internally groaned. Why was her sister so interested in reading? Most ponies considered books with suspicion. What use did a farmer have for education? If you asked them if they wanted education they'd probably respond with "Sure, do you fry it or bake it?"
"With the deepest respects my princess." The Arch chancellor called over the groans coming from his side of court. Luna was still relatively new to court. But she was already starting to learn that with respect was the equivalent of making farting noises at the speaker in question. "I do not think we should be rewarding treasonous behaviour?"
"And what treasonous behaviour would we be rewarding?" Celestia said, with a deadpan glare.
"Well," he scoffed, "obviously the Crystal ponies were the ones that we fought against."
"Slaves to the tyrant." Celestia corrected. "Not what I would call willing participants."
The Arch Chancellor gave a nod, but the mocking smile never left his muzzle, "Very noble and innocent of you your grace, I'd expect nothing less from your gentle heart. But is it not every slave's prerogative to fight with the liberators against their masters whip?"
He gestured theatrically to the crowd. Luna had to give him credit, because nothing else nice could be said about the stallion. He knew how to command a crowd. "Is fighting against the oppressor not what our great king did when he civilised these lands from the Zebra, the Minotaur, the Griffon and all the other less refined species?" Luna watched as the ponies around the Arch chancellor began to cheer. "I mean, what next princess, giving them the vote, the right to representation in court?" He chuckled looking around the room for support.
Celestia made a show of flickering through her scroll, "Actually, Arch Chancellor that was on the agenda for tomorrow, wasn't it Silver?" She said turning to the rotund pony who was mopping his head with his toga.
"Yes your highness, I believe it was right next to the inquiry over the missing funds, the ones that were given to raise troops against the Tyrant, I can't seem to remember the name of the pony we gave them to though."
Celestia tapped her chin in mock-thought, "Do you know neither can I, I think it rhymes with March Hancelor, or something like that?"
Luna stifled a giggle, her sister was no warrior, but she could wield words more devastating than any blade.
"What is this, petty threats, your highness this court is here to deal with matters of importance?" The Arch Chancellor balked, his smile faltering for a half second.
"Is stealing from the king's treasury not important?" Celestia asked innocently as if the answer to that eluded her.
"Enough," their grandfather sighed, "Celestia, you and the Arch Chancellor can debate your little pet projects outside of my Court. We are summoned here for another matter."
"Yes, my king." They both said with equal reverence, smiling at one another whilst also staring at each other as if their eyes could delete one another from existence. Luna shook her head, the court still baffled her. This game of word daggers was not her place. She would meet her enemy headlong, not with smiles.
"While we are on the topic of coinage," Her grandfather continued, glancing now at Silver Coin. "Perhaps you can tell me why it is that one third of my kingdom is refusing to pay taxes?"
Silver coins' jowls rippled as he stood back up and sputtered, "Um, well my Lord, Um, well I think it has to do with the fact that they are not happy about the high war tax."
"Why, how much are they paying?" He asked.
"Well...all of it."
"All of what?"
"All of the tax, they're paying for all the liberation of the Crystal empire, don't you remember my king you decreed it yourself?"
The king looked for half a second unsure of himself, then added, "Yes of course I remember, but I did the same thing to those Zebras. Do you see them complaining?"
"Well sire, that might have been because you sent a garrison of the solar army to their tribal elders homes. A garrison that we funded by taxing the western province."
"Well then, tax the northern province and send an army to deal with these new ruffians, I hardly see why this is such a conundrum, you're supposed to be the money stallion, why is this so hard for you?" He growled.
Silver nearly dropped his scroll as he fought to write down the new proclamation. "Um, yes your grace, of course your grace, how foolish of me." Silver Coins said with a smile, even Luna could tell was strained.
So stupid aren't they? Bickering and talking endlessly and never getting anything done?
Luna yelped standing upright and glancing behind her. The voice felt as though it had been whispered in her ear. But she could only see other words staring at her.
"Something to say?" The king said, brow furrowed as he turned in Luna's direction.
Luna's eyes fixed back onto the court, everypony was staring in her direction, she glanced around wondering what fool had disrupted her grandfather in the middle of talking and it took all of three seconds to realise it was her.
"What would you like to add, say it?" Her king said, his eyes narrowing. Luna gulped. She had no idea what they had been talking about and even less what to say.
Don't be a mute now.
She heard a voice say somewhere in the distance. "Well, um, I, that is we, were thinking, Perhaps um, your grace could bring the taxes down slightly if it is not too much trouble?" Much to Luna's horror, she realised that those words had come from her own mouth.
"I mean," she spluttered on, mrs mind and mrs mouth now working independently from one another, "if we taxed them less, then..." Luna's eyes gazed around at all the leering faces as she desperately willed herself to shut up. "Then perhaps they would not be... so...mad."
Silently all eyes shifted from Luna back to the king, like sailors evaluating if they should sail towards the storm or jump ship, throwing the mare and foals out of the way in the process.
They didn't have to wait long. The king inched forwards in his throne, his features unreadable and more frightening for it, "and what then dear pupil? Would you have me look weak and encourage others to do as they have, show leniency for one and watch as they all bite the hoof that feeds them? Invite all of Eques into open rebellion?" He said calmly. "Please use your mind before your tongue waggles, foal."
Luna opened her mouth then shut it. The words felt like a physical slap to her muzzle. She barely heard the words next to her, or her sister's hoof on her shoulder as she spoke for her "Grandfather, if I may, of course my little sister would never suggest anything that would make us look weak."
Luna turned to see her sister standing next to her, calm and self assured. The opposite of herself, "I believe that what she was suggesting is that perhaps we could drop the tax rates for the other provinces as an example. That way, it will be seen as a reward for loyalty."
Luna found just enough saliva to gulp, had she meant to say that? It didn't sound like what she had said. But she was too busy staring at everything but her grandfather's lingering eyes to notice.
"It would be an incentive to the soldiers, some of whom are from those provinces, your grace." Silver Coin added loyally.
Their grandfather's stare didn't so much as freeze time, as it made time whistle innocently, walk backwards out of the room for an extended smoke break. "Fine, Arch Exchequer, see it done, now back to the proper task at hoof."
Luna finally felt herself breathing again, she caught her sister's calm smile, holding for a moment as she winked at her. Luna supposed it was meant to be encouragement, a job well done. But Luna could see it for what it was, pity.
Pity for the poor little brat, stupid little sister, don't worry big sister has you. She made you look weak.
"Now then." Her grandfather asked, turning back to the court. "Who are these so-called rebels?"
The Arch Master of Whispers slowly stood, his "crow" squeaked and flapping its blotchy black and green wings. "As far as my spy's could tell your highness, they are members of some barbaric mountain tribe or pride as they call themselves. Pride Sternclaw, Pride Feather Fair and the largest are led by some Pride called Novabane."
"Odd sounding pony names?" The Arch Questioner asked beside him.
"That's because they're not pony's, the rebels are, well, griffons." The Arch Master of Whispers admitted slowly.
The king snorted, "Griffons? Those flea bitten overgrown hens, what do they think they can accomplish with this?"
The Arch Master of Whispers looked shifty whilst underneath a hood which was impressive and seemed to explain why the pony underneath lost vast quantities of coin at card games. "They've already overwhelmed our relief force sire. They've taken the castle and our calling the other tribes to arms against you," he said then added, "of course illegally and foolishly your grace,"
"Is that all?" The king said, looking almost bored.
The Arch Master of Whispers seemed to hesitate, "Um, well some of them have taken to calling themselves independent now sire," he looked around nervously. "T-they say you are a tyrant, my king and have named one of their own as Emperor."
"Braak the king's a tyrant, Braak!" The 'crow' parroted.
The king narrowed his eyes at the bird, then whispered to the guard next to him. The guard looked at the crow and with a dejected sigh began to write on a steadily growing list, "You take the savage out of the mountains but you cannot make them civilised." Her grandfather said aloud, shaking his head.
Luna had been watching all this with a furrowed brow, she could hardly understand. Her grandfather had given them everything, maternity, civilization, pony culture! What more could any creature want? They were living in caves before he had come, well apparently anyway.
At least that's what the historians said, and they worked for her grandfather, so of course they would tell the truth of the matter.
She felt that shame from before flying something in her stomach and with nothing to turn to, it distilled into anger at this ungratefulness disregard for her grandfather's gift.
"This Novabane figure, they're the one that gave those Zebra tribes a good thrashing, right?" The Arch Chancellor added loudly, "My king, why not make them fight the griffons instead, let the zebras earn their stripes for a change." The court erupted into nervous laughter. But it was subdued when Luna's grandfather struck his throne with his hoof hard enough to crack the stone it was carved from.
"This rebellion must be crushed!" He roared. "I will not have insubordination. I will see those traitorous beasts strung up like the animals in their barbaric meat markets. We should have wiped them off the face of this land when we had the chance."
Celestia stood up, hurriedly, "My King, they are some of our finest warriors, trackers and inventors. There is no need to set such an extreme example."
"I have to agree, sire, compared to the other rebellions we have faced, it would only take a small contingent of men to put down this rabble." The Arch Master of Whispers added.
"Then I'll lead the soldiers and will have this finished by winter." The king said standing up from his throne.
"With respect your eminence," Celestia said, with more backbone than anyone else seemed to have, "you are needed here at home, to deal with the remainder of Sombras armies."
"Are you suggesting that I am not up to both?" He snapped. Luna felt herself wither under the stare and was amazed to see her sister meeting his glare. Even if her sister's hoof was clutching tightly onto her own.
"The opposite," she said, "If anything, such an endeavour would only bring your glorious name down. Perhaps somepony else can... earn their stripes as the Arch Chancellor stated."
"Bah, and who would you suggest granddaughter, have you some noble warrior under your frock?"
"My Lord, perhaps one of your grand sire's would like to earn her spurs?" The arch Chancellor said, his smile widening.
Luna blinked, considering that for a moment. That did not sound like a bad idea at all.
"That's outrageous!" Celestia exploded into a flurry of words. But Luna wasn't listening. In her mind she was considering what the Arch Chancellor had just said..
There it is, finally the time to prove yourself. To show them all.
Luna watched them as the court rerouted into chaos on both sides. She had been training for nearly ten years for this moment and now it was right here in front of her.
"Perhaps the Arch Chancellor would like to levy the troops he had been paid to supply in the first place." Celestia yelled over the cacophony of the court.
"With respect your grace, perhaps matters of war should be left to stallions who know about it." The arch Chancellor retorted.
"The arch chancellor should not dismiss himself so quickly." Celestia sneered.
"My king, this is utter slander I-"
"-We will go. We will do it." A voice said softly, but firmly.
Among the yelling it was like an arrow through the cacophony. Pony's stopped their bickering, the chorus of arguments whittled down to stunned silence as all turned to the voice who had said it.
Luna found herself standing up once more. This time her mind was clear, not fear, but something else, excitement, a giddiness. This time she had meant what she had said.
All the lords to a stallion looked at her wide eyed and open mouthed. None more so than her sister who looked as though she had seen death itself behind Luna.
"No," Celestia said slowly. But Luna hardly registered her voice. She was already drunk on the possibilities. In her mind all she could see was the glory. The prestige, this was it, this was how she would earn her name. Seeing eye to eye with her grandfather. Being the light that shines half as bright. The moon to his blinding sun.
"It is as you say, a small rebellion," Luna continued almost light headed, "A feat even a mare of your blood could handle, seeing as no stallion is brave enough to." She said, glancing at the Arch Chancellor who despite his light grey fur turned a satisfying shade whiter.
Oh is this what your sister feels when she shakes the old fool down. We could get used to this...
"Send me my king, we will deal with these, these rodent chasers."
Her grandfather was motionless for a long moment, as Lords of the hall contemplated ducking under benches for cover. But then he did something no pony had ever seen in all their lives. Not since the death of his first wife, whom the very castle was named after.
He started to laugh.
"Rodent chasers, hah! You hear that?!" His laugh was harsh, like chalk being kicked down a well of backboards. But it was like a sweet orchestra to Luna's ears. Even as the other lords began to laugh along with him she focused on her grandfather's discordantly melodic chortle.
He stopped almost as quickly as he started, staring at Luna for a long moment, slowly, like a jeweller appraising a stone to see if it was a diamond or a broken bottle, he nodded his head. "If that is what you wish perhaps it is time for you to--"
"-No, I won't allow it!"
Luna blinked and turned to see her sister standing there. Of all the ponies that would stand between her and her destiny, she did not think it would be the mare she trusted more than anyone else.
"Your grace." The Arch Chancellor said slowly, "your grandfather was of a similar age when he first went into-"
"Shut up!" Celestia snapped with a sudden anger that made ponies around her flinch, "do not speak again if you wish to keep your tongue!" She snarled at the Arch Chancellor who gasped along with every pony else in the court. Even Silver Coin seemed to flinch. But Celestia didn't care.
"Celestia!" The king barked but it was as though her sister was possessed. "I will have order in my court."
"Tia, what are you doing!" Luna whispered harshly, but her sister was not listening.
"Grandfather please, not her."
"She will have to do this soon enough." Their grandfather said, "It will fall upon her shoulders one day, that is the burden of royalty, do not shame your sister for having the courage to start now."
"B-but, she can't go into battle. She is-"
"-she is what?" He asked.
"Yes sister, I am what?" Luna parroted, unable to comprehend why her sister would do this to her, in such a public forum. To snatch such an important moment from her hooves.
Celestia didn't look at Luna, she kept her gaze on her grandfather, she looked almost pained. "She's just a foal."
She's jealous of you, she's afraid of you, her only sister, her only rival!
"Tia, why are you doing this to me?" Luna said, feeling like her sister had ripped out her heart. To argue against her in private was one thing. But to destroy her public image in front of every pony.
They were supposed to be a team.
"Luna you can't, please see sense. It's one thing to talk about it, but you're still too young to fight, you could be killed!" Her sister's eyes were wide, tears trickling down her face.
Ah, here it is, my favourite part.
"Don't you trust us?" Luna tried to say, wanted to say, was supposed to say.
But she only got about halfway before something stopped her.
All the voices, all the sounds, all the figures in the room halted at once. But that wasn't what made her stop. No, the reason she stopped was because at that moment it felt like something had just pecked her flank.
She turned half expecting to see a bird, perhaps the master of whispers crow. Looking around at her side and saw nothing. All the room had frozen as though time had simply stopped, as though the hands of fate had fallen asleep on the remote.
Then she turned back toward her sister and nearly yelled. In front of sat the body of her sister. But the head of, what looked like a griffon.
"Tia...who gave you permission to turn into the enemy?" Luna asked.
Ignore it, focus back on your king! Focus back on what your sister has done to you.
Luna was stuck between sheer bewilderment and something else. Something that had been bothering her since all this started.
"Oh, I'm...I'm dreaming." She said slowly. This perhaps should have been obvious to the princess of the night.
Save for the fact that she had not had a dream of her own for nearly a millennia.
And for good reason.
"Chirp." was her only response. Then, she felt the pecking on her forehead and suddenly Luna felt herself being dragged back into a different nightmare all together.
It said something to how the night princess life had progressed in the last two weeks that when she woke up to the sight of a griffon staring at her her first thought was not to sit bolt upright, light up her horn and turn it into many different griffons across a wide area.
But that might have also been because she was in far too much pain to move her eyelids, let alone assume a battle pose.
She stared up at the little ball of fluff and feathers that was her sister's griffon. She watched as the little griffon let out a series of chirping sounds and much to Luna's chagrin began nuzzling into her face. Luna did little more than blink back in response.
Slowly Luna lifted herself upwards, her heartbeat fluttering around her rib cage like a caged animal, skin slick with sweat. She glanced around for signs of danger and found nothing but trees and soft moss.
Her mane was matted against her muzzle and it took a moment for her hooves to become steady enough to push it back off her face.
She glanced around, looking at what she thought was the wall of her room. Which had a lot more bark on it than she had remembered but it was an old house to be sure and nature did odd things with time. She watched as a few bats flew past her. Obviously that blasted mare must have forgotten to close the window.
The hog, snuffling at the dirt was a little harder to explain. But not impossible, some of her sister's pranks had extended to much worse, swapping pillow stuffing with anvils and even one time a dragon, though she "claimed" that one was an accident, like Luna was born six generations ago.
But even so, she doubted her sister would have replaced all the floor with dirt and more importantly, removed the roof off her room. Even for her that might have been going a little too far.
She felt the chill of night against her sweat soaked fur and felt something rustling against her fur. She went rigid and of course she didn't yelp, she was above yelping, she just made a noise that sounded very similar.
She glanced down and remembered the ball of brown and white fur and feathers that was starting to become depressingly familiar to her. It let out a little yawn, it's unnatural tiny beak let out the smallest chirping noise before nuzzling against her leg.
Luna glanced back around her. Not a soul in sight, except for the pig. But thankfully it seemed to be too busy looking for truffles to notice her.
Slowly, she came to the conclusion, she was clearing just in a dream, of course she was. A dream just like the one she had awoken from. One simple pinch and...
"Ouch," she muttered, then her eyes widened. "No no, perhaps I just didn't pinch hard enough." You could never pinch yourself too hard when dealing with the Dreamscapes and occult magic. Everypony knew that. But after the third pinch she was starting to believe she was awake.
Unlike any other pony that found themselves alone, cold and in the middle of a forest. That part was the least of her concerns.
"Oh no." She cursed, dreams, she couldn't be having dreams! She had locked hers away for good. Locked them away with-
She paused, finally understanding the strange feeling across her head. She felt her throat go dry. No this couldn't be, she must be hallucinating. Glancing around she caught a stream of water, calmly but with a pace that would have made a cheetah take pause and consider its speed bolted towards it. Her moons light reflecting her face and also her worst suspicions.
She grabbed at her mane and actually felt hair there. She glanced not at the ethereal magic. But hair white as the moon itself, a normal mane, well normal by pony standards, it was still excellently oiled and maintained because after all she was a mare of standards. But that was not really the point.
"My magic, tis gone?" She said in a disbelieving tone, gripping her mane as if she could wring some of it back like a wet mop.
This was not just bad news in a literal sense, that being that she was without means of one of her six senses after all, she had been trained to take out a small platoon with nothing but a toothpick and frying pan.
Her grandfather's training was nothing if not efficiency splashed with rampant paranoia.
But her magic had not just been to defend herself, it had been to defend others. To keep back things that should have stayed well enough away in place.
She was a warden, A warden who had lost her keys and she had a dreadful suspicion someone or something had broken loose...
"No, no we can rectify this, what did that griffon say, temporary, yes it must just be a temporary thing. You're an alicorn for goodness sake pull thyself together." She convinced, slapping herself across herself. She was about to slap herself a third time when she felt something brush against her forelegs.
She glanced down in between her front hooves and spotted the tiny figure giggling at her reflection in the quiet stream. The cub who had followed her towards the stream and was testing the waters with her little talon. Splashing the water with a determined look on her face.
Oh Right, if things were not bad enough, she still had to deal with her sister's little pet as well. Nothing was ever simple was it? "Stay here." She commanded slowly to the cub who blinked back up at her, paint brush tail wagging back and forth. "we will be back momentarily."
She turned to leave and felt something latching onto her hoof.
Luna pulled away on instinct. "We are not a toy." She snapped, shaking the griffon off. The hatchling gave a mewing protest, talons making a grabbing motion and then much to Luna's annoyance began to cry.
"Oh for the love of, crying is for the weak, get ahold of thyself. Arggh, where is that blasted jester when you actually want her." She growled to herself as she glanced around.
She took a more considered glance around at her surroundings for the first time. Nothing of this place looked familiar, the manor was surrounded by fields as far as the eye could see, not forests if this could be called a forest.
The only thing her eyes could see now was trees. Well to call these hulking monoliths where related to trees, was to suggest that an elephant and an anteater was of the same family purely because of the nose.
The trunks of them were enormous. Each one the size of a small room of the place, which Luna had been informed was about the size of a commoners house, or citizen as they where now supposed to be called. How the plebia- citizens lived in those she would never understand.
She had only seen trees like these once in her life. But that had been thousands of miles from where the manor had been and nearly two thousand years ago besides. A memory she wanted to leave well enough in the past.
She tried to focus on the nagging sense of familiarity in the back of her mind. But her thoughts were interrupted by the wailing of the infant in front of her.
She couldn't concentrate with that infernal racket.
"Will you cease those noises already?" She yelled. Which only made the infant kick and wail all of the more. She frowned. Closed her eyes, muttered a prayer to the fields above.
"Fine, if you will stop that deplorable squawking, and only this once understand?" She said, Reluctantly she offered her hoof back to the hatchling, who suddenly stopped crying and latched on tight. She brought it up towards her back, images of pin cushions flooded her mind as she felt the little thing latch on. But to her surprise, the griffon's claws did not dig in as they clutched her fur, nestling comfortably on her back.
Still, she had to wait for the shiver of revulsion to stop her back muscles from spasming. But even that was not as long as it once was.
Luna glanced again to make sure no pony saw her moment of weakness, she had a reputation to keep after all. Then slowly she unfolded her wings.
She landed high above on one of the enormous branches. Breathing hard, she felt her legs give out as she collapsed against the thick branch. She was still weak, weak and drained.
"Just need to catch my breath." She panted out to no pony in particular. But got a chirping in response. She lifted the griffon from her back and stared at it.
It got no better with familiarity. But at least it was small. She could handle that if nothing else. She glanced at the tree around her and moved towards one of the few small holes that yawned open in the great trunk.
"Bird stays in hole, yes?" She said slowly as she lowered the griffon into the little alcove. "Thou will stay here, while we deal with something."
"Chirp."
"Look, tis not us, tis you, thou cannot be so clingy. I know your kind can't help but chase after pretty things and objects. We understand your kind's nature, tis like telling a dog not to sniff." She said nodding sagely, "But you must stay in that hole."
"Chirp?"
"Just, here, play with this." She said, pulling off a twig from a branch "Make a nest or whatever your kind does." she held it out to the cub who simply stared at it blankly.
Luna turned and walked to the other side of the giant branch. "When we get out of here sister, we will be having a long long talk." Luna muttered darkly. "Just as soon as we find out where here is. But first things first."
She closed her eyes, feeling the light of her moon upon her fur. If the moon was raised at least that meant it was still the same night... at least in theory. At least she desperately hoped that was the case.
All she had to do was focus on her magic, focus on the moon and the stars. She was the alicorn of the night after all. She didn't have her magic because of tears in reality.
Her magic was the night itself.
She felt a small buzzing at the base of her horn. Yes that was it, she was divinely given her powers. Some stupid little rune was not going to take her magic away. She could push through this.
She was above petty trinkets, griffon stone, hah! Like anything they could make could interfere with the divine magic of her kind. What could they possibly make that could harm the great and mighty alicorn of the nig-
...What, back already?
Well, this is awkward...I didn't think you'd pass out so soon. Let me guess, instead of opening the door you tried to smash it to pieces. You never learn do you? Always think you're stronger than you are. But that's what I love about you.
Well, this has left us in an awkward state hasn't it. I didn't even get a chance to prepare. But not to worry, after all we're just getting started. So many more memories to enjoy.
But since you are here now. Why not.. Yes! Why don't we watch it again, oh what fun that would be.
No, you don't want to be reminded of your great shame over and over?
WELCOME TO MY WORLD.
"Luna, Lu, are you okay?"
Luna cracked open one tired eye, she had just been having the strangest dream... |
How Luna Adopted a Hatchling (Against Her Will) | Terra Incognita | "What do you think it is, a pony?"
"No can't be, they might look wrong, but even ponies aren't that round, got to be a, em, a boar?"
"What boar has white fur?"
"Eh, A sickly boar?"
"And what kind of boar wears a blue noose around its neck?"
"...a self defeating boar?"
Silver let out a barely audible groan, his head pounded worse than when he had woken up from Celestia's strange wine.
"Just ignore it," he thought to himself. "Whatever it is, it can't hurt you, they're not real, this is all some terrible illusion. You'll be back in your office, filing events, marketing strategies and scandal scrolls in alphabetical order.
He almost smiled at the thought was about to turn over onto his strangely cold and slimy pillow when he felt something sharp and cold poking against his side. "Should we eat it, seems a waste to just leave it?"
Strangely, the dream voices sounded almost griffonian, but the accent was all wrong, like all the words were being deliberately and poorly mis-spoken. Much like the fragmented nomenclature of the southern and indigenous zebra tribes or people from Minnesota.
Silver suppressed a shiver and fought the urge to sit upright and bolt. He stopped himself, mostly because he wasn't sure if he would get a spear through the flank for his troubles. It was fine though, they couldn't hurt him really, if he just kept his eyes closed. This was just a nightmare obviously.
"I don't know, seems pretty big to carry."
Yes it was all working out, it's like his therapist had said, positive reinforcement, the more you fear something the more you give it power, just-
"Oh that's no problem,"
Silver idea of this all being a dream where cracking slightly when he heard an unmistakable ringing sound of sharp metal leaving a scabbard, "what's it the chief is always saying, a problem shared is a problem halved, well there's four of us we can each carry a boat leg."
Okay, maybe they couldn't hurt him. But they were doing a damn good job of making him think they could.
"Hmm, I don't know," another voice added cautiously, "this thing stinks of pony magic, even if it might be a boar, we don't know what brought it down, maybe it's a trap, you remember what happened to Henzel right?"
They all hummed in agreement, which was somehow worse because Silver bloody well didn't know what had happened to Henzel.
Why did this always happen to him? All he wanted was a quiet life, a life of simple lying, cheating and bribing his way to a cosy retirement. But it felt as though life was punishing him for that for reasons he couldn't fathom. It was all so very unfair.
"Come on, we haven't had any real meat for months." The one still holding his hoof up grumbled, "not since our king sent his little-"
"-Hey, he's no king of mine!" another voice snapped, "no king of yours neither, we're free from those tyrants remember!"
"Sorry, sorry, force of habit." The voice right above Silver chuckled apologetically. "Look, let's stop talking about stupid kings." And Silver felt something very cold, very sharp and very real by his armpit, "just one leg, that's all-"
"-Scouts incoming!" a voice far above the barked harshly.
Suddenly the cold knife left Silver fur. "Damn it! I wanted to see what it tasted like, can't we just roast it a little?"
"Shut it Heimdal, unless you want to be the one roasting on those ponies fires."
There was a thoughtful pause then, "But I thought those shiny hoof buggers ate grass?"
Another pause. "Eww really, that's gross, animals urinate on that you know?"
"You lot want to find out, talk to the ponies yourself, The rest of us are leaving."
Mercifully Silver heard the flapping of wings. He waited for several minutes before his body finally relaxed. He sagged, and he finally allowed himself to open one eye. Nothing, nothing was there save the bright blue sky.
It was in moments like these ponies feel compelled to announce that the danger has passed like "well glad that's over" and "it couldn't get any worse." Phrases that were the equivalent to putting firecrackers next to karma's pillow. Who by nature was not a vindictive being. But had a reputation to hold up especially when they said stupid things like:
"Thank the fields, it was just a nightmare." Silver rasped that rasp turned into a gasp as he felt a by now sadly familiar sharp poke against his side.
"Please don't eat me, I taste awful." He pleaded, hooves covering his eyes.
"What's that friend?" He heard a different voice answer this time in Equestrian. Silver finally allowed himself to open his eyes and saw a blue pony with a dented silver helm shining against the light glaring down at him.
"Am I...dead?" Silver asked.
The young stallion, rather too young to be in armour like that, shook his head, Then pushed his ill fitting helmet back from over his eyes. "Don't look like it to me."
"Damn, are you sure?" Silver groaned, tried to sit upright feeling a wet squelching on his back which he ignored for the sake of his fractured sanity. "You're a royal guard?" Silver asked as he rubbed his eyes and glanced at the armour, "what are you doing here?"
"Could ask you the same question?" Another pony answered, older even than Silver, with a grey handlebar moustache and wearing the same strange mot coloured royal armour. "Seems to me you're the one that has the explaining to do." Silver's eyes flickered over towards the clunking shapes in the distance, more and more figures in dirty beaten and dented armour circled him slowly. Each eyeing him with suspicion.
Silver gulped almost audibly as more spears were leveled at him. "O-of course, always happy to talk to my local law enforcement." He said with a smile, trying to make himself look as harmless as possible. Which didn't take a lot of effort, it had to be said.
"What are you doing here in enemy territory, and what's with that garb anyway, you look like one of those walking birds, you know the black and white ones that hop everywhere?"
"Penguins?" Silver added helpfully.
The older guard blinked, "The hecks a penguin!?" he said, narrowing his eyes at Silver.
The suspiciously young stallion's eyes lit up just as the helmet slid over them, "Oh I know it's a type of fruit right?" He said pushing it back up with practised ease.
Often when threatened by armed ponies which happened more times in Silver's line of work than one would think, Silver's back up plan was usually to run, hide and call for more armed and better armoured stallions to play whack a mole with the assailants head. But out here, wherever here was, it didn't look like there was any chance of that happening. As for running away, well unless he wanted to go as a poorly planned porcupine costume for nightmare night. There was no chance of that either.
So instead Silver gave a clam and easy smile. "Listen, I think there's been a misunderstanding. My name is Silver Tongue, I work for the duel princess of Equestria as their Public Relations advisor, if you could kindly-"
"Public Relations, what's that, sounds foreign?" The older soldier interrupted, emphasising the word foreign the same way Someone might emphasise the word, snot.
"Oh-oh, wait Sergeant, I heard about that, Public Relations, yeah that's like dealing with the public through their relations." The younger one said with confidence.
Everypony, even Silver, looked at him utterly confused.
"You know." He shrugged after a moment, which nearly lost him his ill fitted shoulder guards. "It's like, if the public get out of order, you take their relations and lock them up, right?"
"What? No it's nothing like that!" Silver protested. But the others were already nodding.
"Oooh I get it, you're like a torturer type, yeah?" The Sergeant said his demeanour softened slightly.
"T-Torture?" Silver stuttered, eyes widening.
"No Serge." The younger one whined, "You can't say that word anymore, remember that meeting we had. We're supposed to call them honesty enforcers, it's more what's the word, inclusive. Doesn't hurt any pony's feelings."
"Bah, ain't that the point?" The Sergeant baulked. "They're supposed to hurt ponies' feelings and everything else for that matter."
The younger stallion rolled his eyes, which would have been more effective if his helmet wasn't covering them. "Not the prisoners' feelings, the torturers' feelings, they have emotions too you know... oh damn it now I said it!"
"Huh?" The Sergeant shrugged, then turned back to Silver who had been watching the conversation with helpless bewilderment like someone watching a mudslide tear through their village. "Why didn't you just say so," the Sergeant said lowering his spear. "We haven't had a proper torturer in ages."
Silver had never been one not to let an opportunity, coin or steak pass him by, plastered on a smiled and slicked back his hair, ignoring for the sake of sanity the clumps of leaves sticking out of it. "Well um, you found one then."
"Hey, I just realised, that's why you're dressed like a crazy stallion, that horrid outfit is for that mental interrogation thingy right, scare the heck out of them, right?" The young stallion said enthusiastically.
Silver glanced at his three piece suit and tie, one that had cost him more than half the price of a house and was amongst his prized possessions and sighed, "nothing gets past you I see."
The Sergeant nodded, sitting down on his haunches. "Always right and proper to have a torturer in camp, that's what my old pa said, can't be at war without some torture, it's not right, it's not traditional."
"Yeah." The younger one nodded, then pushed his helmet back on his head. "Can't have prisoners and no torturer, then you're just locking them up for no reason, that's just barbaric. Prisoners got rights after all."
Silver, desperate to grab onto something close to reality, finally cut in before these crazy ponies could continue. "Um, excuse me, Did you say war?"
The other ponies turned back to stare at him like he had asked if fire was hot, "Of course, you been hiding under a rock?"
"It feels like I've been crushed by one actually." He muttered flatly, "Listen, I need your help, it's of the utmost importance that I get out of these eh." He looked around, at the sight of trees, if behemoths could be called trees, "woods and back to Canterlot as soon as possible and tell princess Celestia what has happened."
Despite his plea he watched with mild annoyance as they all burst out laughing, "buhaha, Chatter Box, you hear that, he wants to go back to Canterlot!" One of the other guards yelled at a Pegasus on a branch above them.
"I'll ride shotgun," the pegasus yelled back, wheezing with laughter.
The Sergeant moustache flicked with amusement as he smiled patronisingly at Silver. "Look lad. I know that war is scary. Everypony wants back to Canterlot," the Sergeant said, slapping Silvers back platonically. "But don't worry, this war won't last forever. It's like the Lord Marshall said, this will all be over by hearths warming."
"Wasn't Hearths Warming months ago Serge?" The younger one asked.
"Well...Obviously they meant the next one lad." He said, correcting himself quickly.
Silver shook his head, "Look I'm not making this up, I was just in Cloudsdale manor with the princess, we were attacked, they were after Luna's cub and-"
"-Cloudsdale?" The Sergeant said pursed his lips, "never heard of it, sounds extra foreign to me, you sure you didn't bump your head lad?"
"It's right next to Canterlot, floating in the sky, Wonderbolts and clouds?!" Silver exclaimed half ready to tear his mane out, "how can you not have heard of-"
"-Listen lad, you look like you had a rough time." He said, eyeing the mud Silver was doing his best to ignore. "Wars been tough on everyone but the Lord Marshall-"
Silver shrugged off the stallion's foreleg glancing at them. "You keep saying Lord Marshall and war, there is no Lord Marshall, and there is no war on, who would we be at war with anyway?"
The Sergeant looked at him quizzically for a moment, they all did. He opened his mouth to say something, but suddenly another voice off in the distance cut him off. "Serge, you need to see this!"
They raced off towards the voice to another stallion who was frowning down at the ground. They followed his gaze to a dented helmet on the ground. "Oh damn it," the Sergeant cursed, "not again, the captains going to go spare."
"What, it's just a helmet?" Silver asked. But the Sergeant wasn't listening. "Oh He's going to go spare, he's going to be all sarcastic, he might even be..." and he shuddered, "satirical about the whole thing."
The others looked just as grim as the captain did. "Far be it for me to ask," Silver said, interrupting the group's solemn contemplation. "But what are you all doing in the middle of this forest anyway?"
"We were looking for the missing scouting expedition." The younger stallion said, then pursed his lips as if ashamed to admit what he said next. "But then we got lost ourselves, we've been in these woods for nearly two weeks, had to eat our own boots." He said dejectedly.
"Oh" Silver said, unsure of how to continue the conversation, "well um, any luck tracking them down?"
"No," the young guard said. "but we found the last set of guards sent to look for the scouts."
"Oh and what then?"
"We ate their boots too."
Silver pursed his lips, on the one hoof this was all too ridiculous to be real. On the other hoof, he could have said that about every minute of this month, and he still had two weeks to go. He came to the conclusion that even if it was a dream he might as well take it seriously just in case.
"On the subject of missing ponies," Silver interjected as the soldiers around him stood gloomily around the helmet. "By any chance, you didn't happen to see a mare in the woods about yay tall, wearing a maid outfit, a bit too much lipstick to be healthy, might be carrying a griffon cub?"
The Sergeant shook his head. "Haven't seen a mare since the war started a few years ago. They don't take kindly to letting mares in the army. Not proper, not-"
"Traditional, right understood." Silver finished, he exhaled and thought about the information building in front of him. Mares had been serving in the guard for hundreds of years, but now they weren't? Equestria was at war apparently and had been for a while. There were royal guards outside the castle roaming the woods and everyone was speaking strangely. Silver decided to play it safe, it was probably best not to go into too much detail until he knew what side he was on. "Okay no mares, what about a minotaur, have you seen one, about ten hooves tall, wearing what I'm wearing."
"Minotaurs, up here?" The Sergeant said brow raised.
"Yes," Silver said carefully, reading the frankly shocked look on the Sergeants face as anything but approval. "He's my uhh, assistant PR."
"Fields above, you have a minotaurs as an assistant for that?" The younger soldier asked, doing nothing to mask his horror. "How do you get it to do things?"
Silver furrowed his brow, "I ask him...politely?"
The soldiers all looked at one another then slowly the Sergeant said. "Never thought I'd say it, but I feel sorry for the prisoner."
Before Silver could ask anymore questions a blood curdling scream rang out through the forest. They all turned and began to run towards it. Not wanting to be left alone to be prodded with sharp objects again by whatever group came next, Silver reluctantly went with them.
"Help, please!" someone yelped, Silver caught sight of a ragged figure at the foot of a cave.
"Oh fields, that looks like Fair Ground." One of the soldiers said.
They felt rather than heard the roar coming from the cave, shaking their very bones. The fleeing stallion tripped, started crawling towards daylight. Then something long and scaley snatched at his back leg forcing him back into the darkness. There was another scream and then after a moment, silence.
They all stared blankly at the horrifying scene in front of them. Then after a long moment the Sergeant gulped, turned around and shrugged his shoulder, "Whelp, that's that then, at least we know what happened to the scouts."
Silver balked, watching him walk away, "Wait, aren't you going to help him?"
"You don't know what's in this forest mate." He said simply over his shoulder.
"Yeah." The younger one parroted. His armour shaking louder than a cutlery drawer in an earthquake. Though, to be fair a stiff breeze could have achieved the same thing on him. "could be anything in there, Manticores, Land Sharks, pineapples."
"Pineapples?" Silver said with a deadpan expression.
"Demon fruit," The young soldier said with nervous exacerbation, "spiky and evil shaped things, nearly got my aunt once, couldn't get it out of her mouth. I told her that's not how you eat them, but did she listen?"
Silver watched them as they turned and began to walk back away from the cave. He heard a snapping noise as his hoof went to down on something. He lifted it up and spotted a cracked pair of spectacles. The exact same ones that Iron Hoof might have worn.
He stared down at them, then back up at the foreboding cave. Imagining his niece and the others in the place of that scout, being dragged to fields knew what by fields knew who. She could be in there.
They all could.
Silver might have been a coward by nature and convenience. But being a coward didn't make one stupid. Quite the opposite in fact. Being a coward meant you had to think quite logically about what you ran away and explain why you hid behind old ladies and foals. It took a smart and very convincing mind to think up excuses for something like that fast.
Right now he was facing two different yet equally horrible ramifications. Either he went into a monster's lair and got horribly and painfully eaten or he went back to his sister, sat down for a cup of coffee and politely explained, very logically, that he had lost her daughter. Somewhere in the vastness of the wherever the heck he was. His sister was a smart mare. She would understand... Right?
"I'm going in." Silver said quickly, taking a shaking step forward the cave.
"What, you're mad!" The Sergeant said, turning back as Silver slowly walked up towards the lip of the cave. There was another all mighty roar just as his hoof touched the mouth of the cave. Loud enough that even Silver's almost welded down mane flickered briefly in the wind. He puffed up his chest, Then pulled out his comb, teased the leaves out of his black mane, Adjusted his mud soaked tie and stepped inside.
If he was going to face certain doom, He was a Tongue after all, everpony knew a Tongue did everything with style and decorum.
Even being eaten alive.
"He's been in there for a while now." The youngest soldier said, eyeing the fire they were all gathered around.
"What do you think, eaten?" Another soldier asked conversationally, poking at the fire with a stick and gnawing on the sole of a boot.
The Sergeant looked up in thought for a moment then shook his head. "Nah, at least not yet. Didn't hear any high pitched screaming, always high pitched screaming when monsters are involved." The other guard nodded their head in unison.
"Serge?" The youngest one said after a moment.
"Yes my colt?" He said lighting up a pipe.
Do you think... maybe we should have gone in and helped him?" He said looking back at the dark dripping cave.
"What makes you say that?" The Sergeant said in a tone of voice like the young stallion had just suggested tap dancing back to Canterlot in a frock.
"Well you know, us being soldiers and all?"
"Ahh." He said puffing on his pipe, "Exactly, we're soldiers, not fighters, big difference."
The younger stallion cocked his head slowly. "It is?"
"Well, way I see it lad, ten percent of a soldier's job is fighting in a muddy field, you know, all war is hell, spears flying, ponies screaming and all Tatarus breaking loose. Then the other eighty percent is sitting around on your flank bored out of your mind you see?"
"Wouldn't this be one of those ten percent times?"
The Sergeant, who hadn't gotten to his position by doing stupid things like charging into a dark cave or following suicidal ponies chewed thoughtfully on his half eaten bootstraps. Then he looking thoughtful into the sky, then thoughtfully at the ground before his eyes lit up. "Ah but you're missing one key detail of what I said, the field." He said, nodding sagely.
The youngest soldier, who had attended one of the Sun princess experimental buildings called "Skhools" and had been chased by a mathematician around a class with a ruler and so was considered by most to be the closest thing to educated in their ranks, thought about that for a moment. "What about the other ten percent?"
"What?" The Sergeant said around a mouthful of boot.
"Well, eighty percent is waiting, ten is fighting, what's the last ten?"
The Sergeant's eyes flickered nervously as he chewed, "Well, that's um, that's ehh."
"Lookout." One of the sentries behind them yelled, pointing towards the cave. "Monster coming, retreat!"
The Sergeant eyes lit up then, "Ah, That's it, that's the last last ten!" He said, swallowing as he hopped upwards, ready to make a dash away from the cave.
"Wait," The youngest one said, jaw half open, "is that?"
They could see it, that huge shambling thing out of the mouth of the cave, skin wobbling, distended belly scraping across the ground, and beside Silver Tongue was also three monsters.
They watched in stunned, rapturous silence as instead of screaming and flailing and unmentionable carnage.
There was just a lot of... talking?
"So you're saying." The enormous orange scaly monster's voice boomed out, scratched its elongated lizard like chin with a claw the size of a picket-fence "That whenever we lure sailors into the rocks with our singing and the locals come for us with pitchforks. All we have to do is give them a little bit of flattened wood mulch and tell them to take it up with you instead?" It said, indicating to the tiny scroll in its massive scales claws.
Silver nodded his head vigorously, "Of course, that's gross public slander, everyone has the prerogative not to be chased with pitchforks, we live in a free society. Besides you have rights, expressing yourself with public singing, I mean how is that a crime?"
The orange monster giant brows furrowed, it looked first at the purple one and then the blue monster at either side of it who simply shrugged. "Even after we steal their magic and leave them mindless slaves?" It asked slowly, almost carefully, still trying to work out if the strange creature that had walked into their cave was mad, unwell or just stupid. Finally settling for a combination of all three.
If that seemed to deter Silver at all, nothing showed on his face. "If some pony isn't paying attention when they're supposed to be and hit a rock, I hardly see how it's your fault."
"Excuse us a moment." The orange monster said huddling into a group with the others. All the while the stunned soldiers strained to hear what the monsters were saying.
"I still say we should just eat him." The purple monster whispered, eyes flicking back to Silver who was adjusting his mud stained tie.
"You say that about everyone, let's just give it a go, what's there to lose?" The orange one said.
"But what if that crazy creature's plan doesn't work?" The blue one asked.
"Well obviously then we eat him." The orange one said with a smirk.
They all glanced back at him, then the orange one gave one finally shrug and turned back to Silver. "You have a deal, small four legged mad thing."
Silver beamed, "Excellent, I'll have my assistant finish a draft for the year's projection, we'll soon have a whole new image for you mr or mrs em?"
"Bone Splitter, Bone Splitter The Feared" The Orange one said laconically "and that's Teeth Smasher The Grand Mangler" it said pointing to the purple one, "and the last is Spine Smusher the eh, cuddler."
"It's a...work in progress." The blue one said bashful.
"Honest names for honest faces, real go-getter names I say." Silver smile faltered just a fraction. "Although, might I suggest a different nom de plume in the future?"
"A what the who?" Bone splitter growled.
"A page name, it's easier for the public to empathise with a more eh, familiar proper noun, if you're musically inclined how about Soprano or I don't know, how about Sonata maybe? A musical name for a musical minded siren?"
The orange one grimaced in disgust, but the blue opened its jaw, it's eyes sparkled in the dark as it slowly began to smile. "Hey, I like that."
Teeth Smasher only responded with a disinterested grunted, it looked at the others, made a circular motion with its talon against the side of its head. Then almost resentfully stuck its claws into its mouth and whistled.
The soldiers watched open mouthed as more ponies emerged from the depth of the cave, ragged, shaking and wearing the colours of the lost scouting expedition.
Silver Tongue led the group towards the rest of the soldiers, his wide smug grin never quite leaving his muzzle.
"H-How did you get those slimy monsters to side with you." The youngest soldier asked, still unable to believe his eyes, even after he moved the helmet up from them.
"Monsters?" Silver said admonishingly, "I'll have you know that is a slanderous misrepresentation of my clients, perhaps to them you are the monsters, ever think about that?"
"B-But They eat ponies." The Sergeant said, watching Teeth Smasher pick a long jagged tooth with a bone.
"Greatly exaggerated, they eat meat and magic. Ponies just happen to be in the same bracket by coincidence. Ponies eat about six spiders a year in their sleep, does that make you a bird?"
"I do!?" The younger one said, going a sickly green.
"But they foalnapped our soldiers!" The Sergeant growled.
"On the contrary." Silver said in a lecturing tone, clasping the scout known as Fair Ground on his back. "Your scouts walked into their property, how would you like it if a company of soldiers walked into your back garden. Anyway no harm done, Isn't that right my good stallion?"
"S-so m-many t-teeth." Fair Ground said, glassy eyed and shivering.
"That's the spirit." Silver said jovially, giving him a playful slap on the back. "Now no more talk about all this, unless you have a grievance, in which case I ask you to address it in writing to my office. Now then, you had some place to take us?"
The Sergeant thought about that for a moment, thought about asking questions then thought against it, he was never taught to question when a mission went well. Mostly because they never did. "Right, guess all's well that ends well. Did you find that savag- eh I mean minotaur and your niece?"
Silver blinked, then, all of a suddenly he seemed to snap back to reality. He had been so frightened, so scared when he had seen the snarling faces of the sirens in front of him that his brain had stepped into overdrive and done what it did best. Sell, lie and cheat his way into a better outcome.
He hadn't felt that way in years. Not since he had been tasked with Luna's return, he hadn't had a challenge that he had actually enjoyed.
But now in the cold light of, we'll not quite reality, he was still working that part out. But in the cold light of unreality, he felt. Well he felt like kind of a fool.
"Eh, no." Silver said, looking over the battered and ragged scouts. He sagged as he gave a long sigh. "I didn't see them. I didn't see any pony I recognised."
From behind him he heard one of the sirens grumble to the other, "What's a minotaur?"
"A cow that forgot how to stand on four legs." Bone Splitter answered.
"Oh you mean like the one that was being led up to the high places with those fluffy cat things with wings, the ones Grognag Village Burner says taste like chicken?" Cuddler asked.
"Oh, Everything tastes like chicken to her." Bone splitter said disapprovingly.
Silver blinked, his brain editing out the other parts of that conversation in an effort to still let him sleep at night, "Wait, you saw a minotaur being led by griffons, where?"
The siren looked down at him then pointed over its shoulder. "Big rocks with flat tops, can't miss it. Those griffons hide up there all the time. Lots of them. Sometimes you're kind, go there all tied up."
"Yeah and they're so loud, always talking about someone named Liberty, and down with the tyrant. I don't know who they are but they give me a headache." The purple one added.
"Hey speaking of names, how does Sonata the Cuddler sound?" The blue one said, still partially zoned out from the conversation.
The Sergeant beside Silver gasped. "Wait a minute, they could be talking about the griffon headquarters, we've been trying to find that for years!" He grinned, "The High Marshall is going to want to hear about this!"
Silver, eyes darted in thought, griffons transporting ponies, that meant that perhaps Golden was there, Luna and the young princess too, though he dreaded to think what Luna would do surrounded by so many griffons.
If he couldn't get to Canterlot, then perhaps this High Marshall pony could get him there.
"Hey, I just thought, if we have that paper, can't we just eat them and use it anyway?" The purple siren said, snapping Silver out of his thoughts.
Suddenly realising just how much mortal danger he was still in Silver turned to the Sergeant and whispered. "Shall we go?"
The old stallion gulped and nodded "sounds like a good plan." He said, slowly walking backwards from the sirens as they began to bicker amongst themselves.
"How far is the camp anyway?" Silver asked when they were far enough away to at least have a running chance from being dinner.
Silver heard the tell tale sliding of metal and turned to see the young soldier gazing into the sky. "Don't know, too dark to say." He said then helpfully someone pushed his Helmet back and he blinked, embarrassed.
"Not too far," the Sergeant butted in, "I reckon we should make it by morning?"
Silver glanced up at the sun high in the sky. obviously he was mistaken, "but it's already mid-day?"
The soldiers to a stallion all burst out laughing, "You know for a torturer you got a good sense of humour."
"No more," Silver gasped, collapsing onto the ground. Exhaling ragged gasps of breath as he crawled onto a rock, "l can't go on, tell my family I love them and tell them it will be a cold day in Tartarus before Aunty Platinum gets my stamp collection."
"Uh, sir, we're here." The young stallion said but Silver was already too far gone.
"I know she's the one that out bid me for the Celestial coronation stamp last year. I only ever told one other soul it was being sold. Then it gets bought by an anonymous bidder and then she just happened to find an identical one in her attic, she doesn't even own an attic the lying old-"
"-Sir get ahold of yourself!" The Sergeant said, grabbing Silver and shaking him by the lapels.
Silver blinked, sweat falling in rivulets from his forehead. "What? Oh, what's going on?"
"We are here." The Sargent said slowly.
Silver stared blurrily past the soldier and realised that the giant trees around them were no longer in view. Instead he stared down towards a giant oval opening in a valley filled with strange blooming red flowers, thousands of them. It took his eyes a minute longer to realise that they weren't flowers at all but tents. Untold numbers of them the air thick with smoke and the untold buzzing of Armed and armoured ponies like ants in a hive.
The sight alone would have sent military reenactment enthusiasts, weapon nuts and larpers all froth at the muzzle though truth it was all three names for the same thing. Silver rubbed his eyes, but still he couldn't make sense of the vastness and logistical chaos of what was before him.
Despite his fatigue Silver felt renewed energy. Civilisation, that meant food, pony's, hot baths, food, clothing, safety and food. Oh and some answers, that was good too he supposed, after food obviously.
They trotted on and all the while they walked down towards the camp, something niggled at the back of his mind. Something that told him that a lot of pony's gathered together with spears always spelled a bad time.
It had to be reinforced in his mind, Equestria wasn't at war, well not officially anyway. Yes it was invaded by horrors from beyond, insect ponies and chaotic gods practically weekly. In fact half the reason hostile countries seemed to give it a wide berth, was just in case they somehow contracted the same disaster prone disease.
But that wasn't war. He had to get to the bottom of all this, preferably in safety, comfort and luxury but he would settle on two and a half of them right now if he had to.
Unfortunately the walls around the enormous camp didn't fill him with either of those things. The wood was scorched in places and the spots that weren't were stuck with arrow heads.
The smell of fire and oil stung at Silver's nostrils, but that was like lavender next to the smell of the camp inside.
Silver caught sight of at least thirty groaning figures across the rivers of mud that served as raids in this place.
Unicorns with red crossed armbands darted through a field of groaning souls. Silver winced as he heard the conversations inside the tent.
"Medic!"
"My leg, I can't feel my leg?"
"That's my leg you idiot!"
"Medic!"
"Oh fields above, my tail hurts, how does that even work?"
"Damn it, there's no helping it, Nurse, get the saw and some alcohol stat."
"For the patient doctor?"
"What? Oh eh, yeah give him some as well, I guess."
Silver winced and trudged on, not wanting to hear the rest of those conversations anymore than he wanted to be there.
"Ah finally back in sweet civilization aye?" The Sergeant inhaled deeply and gave a beaming smile back at Silver, as though this muddy hell was some candle lit winter market bazaar. "You smell that?"
"I wish by all the fields above I didn't." Silver muttered and looked around, "was there a battle here, There's a lot of wounded?"
"What?" The Sergeant said as if only just noticing. "Oh them, ha they ain't wounded, you should see the ones over in that tent." He said pointing to another closed off tent in the distance, "now they're what I calm
Wounded, wanna take a look?"
"No!" Silver yelled, then coughed anxiously, "I mean, I'm good thanks."
The Sergeant shrugged. "Yeah, it's not a pretty sight. Been like this for months now, they always come at night, the cowards. They don't fight like us, stallion to stallion you know." He said elbowing Silver in the ribs, or where his ribs might have been under all that mass.
"Who doesn't?" Silver asked.
"The rebels lad, seriously, where you been," he sighed. "They don't have even half our number, so they've taken to hitting us in camp and running, coming out of the trees, that's why we have so many scouting parties." He leaned in close. "I'll admit morale has been low. But with the information we just got and the fact we got ourselves a very own P.U pony, we can all rest easy knowing you'll be plucking a few feathers am I right?"
"It's PR and Yes, of course. Feathers, Eh listen, you mentioned this Lord Marshell was here, where is he?"
The Sergeant squinted then looked up at a hill in the distance and pointed to a huge tent that crowned the hill around the camp. "Central command is held up there, last I checked anyway. It's been a while, why, what do you need them for."
Silver flinched, he had forgotten to come up with a convincing lie to get in. "Well, you know, thought I'd introduce myself, it would be rude to eh get stuck into em, work straight away."
"Oh, I get it want to show your work right to the top brass." The Sergeant said with a wink, "come on I'm going that way anyway."
They walked on towards the inner circle of the camp, which didn't look much better than the outer walls they passed, a couple of soldiers were cooking, staring gloomily into a pan.
Silver had been taught never to turn down food. Perhaps it had stemmed from having too little while he was growing up or at the fact his mother had had to scrounge up whatever she could just to feed her him and his sister, what with Silver's father being away buying smokes, for the last forty years. But it said a lot that even he wouldn't touch whatever was in that pan.
So caught up in the chaos around him He almost collided into the back of the Sergeant. He stared past him and spotted two armed guards in front of the command tent. The only two soldiers he had seen in full sparkling regalia since he had walked through the camp.
"Halt, who goes towards the Lord Marshall's tent?"
"Stand Down Bright Lance, it's only me." The Sergeant retorted.
The two stallions didn't move an inch, "Who's the other one?"
"The one with the weird get up who looks like a, a whats-a-name?"
"Magpie?" Silver said dryly.
"Nah, I was going to say a southern brush tail emperor penguin." The other guard said.
"Listen here," the Sergeant said, stepping forwards. "This stallion saved my hay bacon, he stood up to three monsters all without breaking a sweat and he also got information that could win this war."
The two guards did not so much as flinch in fact they lowered their spears closer at the two of them. The Sergeant paused for a moment then added, "Oh he's also the new torturer."
"Oh, why didn't you say so!" Both guards relaxed almost instantly, their faces splitting into huge grins as they lifted their spears, "fields it's been so long since we had one of them."
"Standards were really slipping there for a moment, glad to see the higher ups still care." The other guard agreed with an enthusiastic nod.
"Yeah, honestly thought they'd make us do it."
The other guard shivered, "Could you imagine, don't know if I had it in me, it takes a real evil kind of trash to be a torturer."
Silver opened his mouth to protest about the nature of his character but the guards were hardly paying attention.
"-And he's so perfectly deformed as well." The other guard added much to Silver's chagrin, "and look Lance, see his face, look at the way he's glaring at us angrily with those beady narrowed eyes, gives you the willies just looking at him, now that's proper professionalism that is."
The other guard scratched his chin, "I mean he doesn't have a hunch back. But still, they really splurged on us. Gonna have to write to my da about this." He said excitedly. "We'll go on, introduce yourself to the higher ups, be warned they've been a bit stressed these last few years?"
"Oh why thank you very much, I'll try not cause too much trouble, what with my deformed evil ways and all!" Silver growled glaring at the two guards.
"Oh Lance, did you hear that villainous tone, just got a chill down my spine, he's a real keeper this one."
Lance stepped forwards bashfully, "C-could you sign my helmet, ma would love that."
"No, I'm not signing anything and I'm not a deformed torturer, I'm in PR!" Silver yelled, stamping away and up into the tent.
They watched Silver and the Sergeant go then slowly one of the guards and asked, "What's PR?".
The other guard shrugged, "Don't know, but by the look of that pony, I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy."
Silver could hear shouting even as he approached the enormous tent. Yelling and clattering of steel and pompous threats reverberated around the fabric walls, he couldn't make out whole sentences but words like "survival", "the good of the kingdom" and "for king and country," popped out like weeds in a flower bed.
He was no stranger to those terms, mostly from the mouths of nobles or union officials whenever Celestia told them that the pay increase was actually for their workers, and not for their new swimming pools.
Silver brushed back his mane and straightened his tie, what was left of it anyway and stepped inside.
Every pony stopped what they were doing and stared in his direction. Three stallions whose voices could have been heard halfway across the camp turned from a map towards him, Each one decorated in medals bicorne caps and ostrich feathers with enough plumage to put an adult peacock to shame.
"You there?" One of them barked, a green furred stallion. "What in the blazes are you doing here, this is for high ranking officials only." He said giving in Silver's opinion a near expert sneer. He had known rules who couldn't distance someone's existence from a simple glance like this pony could.
Silver kept his face neutral, all the while he tried to formulate a plan. He could tell what they were. Blue bloods, aristocrats, nobles. His smile grew, finally familiar territory, monsters and strange scary forests were one thing. But disgruntled nobles, distancing his very existence with just a glance, finally something he could handle.
With deliberate slowness, Silver bowed and walked in as if he had every right to be there. "Gentlecolts, I have a message for the Lord Marshall." He lied, walking towards the table they gathered around.
He suppressed the urge to flinch as another one of the nobles, a hard faced character with a scar across his muzzle slammed his hoof onto the table and leaned forwards. "Intolerable my good chap, explain yourself, or by Jove or one shall receive a jolly good roystering followed by a swift defenestration out of this boudoir by you lapels!" (1)
Again, Silver kept calm. "Again, good sirs, The message is for the Lord Marshall's ears only, what's your name my good sir, who am I addressing?"
"I am Lord Stone Face knave."
Silver baulked, his poker face crumbling. He had to be joking. Lord Stone Face, looked remarkably well considering the one Silver knew was more than a thousand years old and was also buried in Canterlot cemetery.
Then suddenly a nagging sense of familiarity struck him. Something about the stallions all three of them had seemed almost familiar to him. Like meeting some stranger who greets you like an old friend and talks to you and your group all the while you silently pray nobody around asks you what their name is.
Then suddenly it clicked. He had seen all three of them a thousand times. Not walking the Canterlot hallways but adorning them. Two dimensional beings brought to three dimensions. Three figures Painted on canvas, the self portraits of nobles a thousand and more years in the past. The three marshals of the battle of the Flat Tops.
War heroes or villains of the past depending on what classroom you went into, standing around in the flesh staring at him.
"Soldier, don't just stand there gawking, say something or I'll have you placed in the racks!" Spoke the last pony. Another gruff and scared figure. Marshal Plooms, if Silver had to guess.
Silver worked his jaw, he needed to keep control of the situation. Lucky for him, famous long dead warriors or no, they were still nobles and nobles were his bread and butter.
."A-Ah Lord Plooms, of house Sparklehoof." he said slowly his mind flicking desperately through the fling cabinet of useful information on 9th century nobles.
House Sparklehoof reigned from blah blah most notable for the owning of blah blah devoted to his loving sister, black sheep of the family, etc.. had an affair with somepony who was it, who was oh yes!
"Of course, where are my manners, how could I not recognise you?" Silver continued with a smile, "So good to finally put a name to a face. How is your sister? Is she well? I know she had trouble with her leg from time to time."
The stallion blinked, his indignant glare morphing into cautious confusion. "Well, she ehh, she's doing quite well, thank you."
"That's excellent. I hope that business between her and the butler finally gets sorted out, I haven't seen her in court for a while though?"
The stallion flushed red, "How did, I mean, she's um summering in Saddlebridge for the next ehh, nine months or so." He stamped out eyes shifting towards the other noble lords.
Silver nodded sympathetically then turned his eyes searching through the stallions. He spotted one with a moustache that was almost as wide as his thick rimmed hat.
You must be Red Bar House Grey Tile, military family, father served in the war of etc etc , married to oh yes. I know just the thing!
"And you Marshall Bar, a pleasure to meet again, do give my regards to Money Bags, how is the guild contract shaping up, still troubling with that little account problem."
"Wha-?!" He started to say then looking around, promptly shut his mouth and instead quickly added, "what money there was no money, no pony said anything about an illegal overseas account." He froze, "forget you heard that part!"
"Of course." Silver smiled, "Oh Marshall Stone Face is it?" He turned to look at the last stallion, who looked side to side then pointed at himself as if he had somehow been caught in the crossfire. "Y-yes?"
Lord Stone Face, famous warrior, first through the gates of Red Water, the toughest stallion to have ever picked up a sword and also secretly the world's most prominent collectors of stuffed teddy bears.
"My Lord Stone I'm so glad to see you, I promised a dear friend of yours that I'd pass on a message, he says that Mr Snuffle paws stands guarding your bed-sit and eagerly awaits your return." Silver said softly. "He said you would know what that means."
The stallion seemed frozen for a moment then suddenly misty eyed, a single tear rolled down the scar on his cheek and curled around his handlebar moustache. "E-excuse me a moment." He said, pulling out a napkin and moving away from the group.
Silver smiled softly, "Now then gentle colts, as much fun as this is, I still have a dire message for this Lord Marshall, have you seen-."
Silver felt his back grow cold and for a moment it felt as though all heat in the tent had drained away. A shadow draped over the four stallions like an eclipse. Slowly he turned around to look at what he thought was the front end of a train. The figure stood, regained in midnight black armour trimmed with edges of shimmering white. Thick and flawless. The helm covered its face so that the only thing Silver could see was his own panicked gaze in the reflection.
"Lord Marshall." One of the stallions behind him bowed. "I was just about to-"
"Silence." The voice rang thick and tiny through the helm. Even Silvers flinched at the foreboding tone. "What is this one doing here?"
Suddenly all of Silvers cleaver ideas left him. It felt as though his Tongue had been glued to the bottom of his mouth as he spoke.
"I um-"
"Art thou a mute? Speak!" The iron clad figure commanded.
"Well um..."
The figure moved forwards backing Silver into a corner, "I ask again, art though a simpleton?"
"I, I simply l," the figure was massive, its presence forceful, its waving ethereal haircut with stars... wait stars? "Hang on a minute, Luna is that you?"
From inside the helm a sweet and feminine laughter emanated from inside the helm.
"Ha, we got thee good!" Luna roared as she pulled him into a nearly spine crushing hug. "Tis so good to see you old friends."
"What are you talking about, Luna you saw me yesterday." Silver wheezed.
"Ha, trying to get me back, do not be a spoiler of sport." She nudged him playfully which almost sent him hurtling backwards into the table.
"My Silver Coin you look terrible, what has happened to you?" She said, even through the helm Silver could feel the glare as she looked at the other stallions. "Why has our esteemed guest not been given the greeting befitting of his station!"
"Silver Coin?" Silver Tongue asked brow raised, but the others spoke over him.
"Your highness, there is no time for that, we need to plan for the assault if-"
"The assault can wait for a few minutes, my friend is tired and-" she glanced back at Silver "clearly in need of a bath. Keep thine butts to yourself."
There was a snigger somewhere in the distance as Luna looked around, "why do ponies keep laughing when I say that?"
Red Bar looked as though he was going to speak then finally bit his lip, "O-of course, your highness as you command."
The others left. All except for Lord Stone Face, the grizzled veteran glanced around for a moment and then leaned into Silver's ear and whispered, "Tell nanny to please keep a candle burning, Mr Snuffles is scared of the dark." He said, then stood rigid, snapped a flawless salute to the princess, then as if to save face, began bellowing orders at a startled guard outside.
"So Silver," Luna said over her shoulder as she walked towards the table and fused with the buckles under her helmet. "How have thou been Silver?"
"How have I been?" The question confused him, the casualness of it made something inside boil with anger, "how have I been, did you just ask me that?!"
"Was that not proper?" Luna asked, "we can skip the pleasantries if thou prefers, ah blast these finicky buckles." She cursed.
Like a string in a guitar being wound too tightly something snapped inside of Silver. He stomped over towards Luna, "Have you lost your mind, what the heck is wrong with you, seriously are you acting like a fo-"
He stopped, watching as Luna emerged from under the metal helm. Reveal a pony far smaller and far too youthful than it had made her out to be.
She was still at least three hooves taller than him in every other way she was not the mare he knew. For one thing, she was not a mare, but something almost foal like. A mare caught at the age of somepony young enough to be asked for ID at a bar and just about too old to get a lolly pop from their doctors for being brave. Let alone somepony wearing full armour and being called Lord Marshall of an army. Luna and her sister always looked like mares that never aged past thirty. But this Luna who he was looking at right now looked barely older than fifteen.
"Oh fields above, I really am in the past aren't I?" He muttered, dread dropping with all the unfortunate horror of an anvil dropping onto a wedding cake.
"I-Is everything the matter, Silver Coin?"
He blinked realising he had been standing there staring straight ahead for the past minute. Luna, looking like a student at her desk rather than a monarch of a nation, was watching him with a nervous expression on her face.
Silver tried to speak, but what was there to say, his words felt like lead in his mouth. His years, it was in that moment that he was trying to find anything to say that he noticed Luna's ear flickering, like she was listening to something. He also noticed then that what he took for eagerness was something else, nervousness.
"Ah, eh, where are our manners, you must be famished, please sit, have some wine Silver Coin." Luna said, after a moment levitated a jug of wine and pouring it into a glass. Silver noticed that her hoof was shaking ever so slightly and she almost cursed as the wine spilled over the rim.
"Um, why do you keep calling me Silver Coin?" He said slowly.
Luna stared at him for a moment, her ear flickering again. She winced as though something had scolded her then, in what might have been called panic if he could imagine somepony like Luna being capable of panic added quickly, "We apologise, would thou prefer the title instead Arch Chancellor, we have been away from court too long." Her laughter was quick and nervous.
"Uh, No-no, your highness Silver Coin is good... I suppose." Silver Tounge said, deciding that it was better to stay in the lie for now. "So, um how are yo-"
"-Fantastic!" Luna sputtered out so quickly that Silver flinched. "Never better, we are sweeping through the land like one of those farming things with the sharp blade on the end. We even took one of their towns today."
Silver winced, rubbing his ear. "Uhh, that's... great I'm sure that you-"
"-They burnt it down before we got there of course." She added interrupting him, her voice growing more agitated. "The town, that is, they also torched all the farms and all the places to get food," her brow furrowed as she looked down in misery then perked back again." B-But still a moral victory aye?" She said, a panicked and all together too toothy smile.
"O-Of course." Silver said slowly. Like trying to soothe an agitated puppy or more accurately an all powerful, pubescent puppy with the power to move a moon on a whim.
"Soon enough we'll corner them and string them by their weedy little tails, you can tell grandfather that." She said, sipping from her glass.
"Um, your highness, that cup is empty."
"Victory is assured...but um, it will take time." She said shifting backwards, unable to fully meet his gaze. "I just need a little more than was promised last year."
He didn't know why she was acting so strangely towards him or why she was telling about all this but even though this was practically a stranger to him. He still felt compelled as her friend to comfort her. "I'm sure you will have it completed in no time, whatever it was you are fighting."
That didn't seem to comfort her, quite the opposite in fact, "no time?" She said her voice cracking, "But, we can win this war, the griffons retreat everyday. We make new strongholds, please!" She said looking at him as though she was about to break down, "could you not find us more time, more... money."
Ah there it was, now he realised why she had called him by that name. She thought he was his great great grandfather Silver Coin, the stallion who controlled the king's coin. A stallion as aggressively agoraphobic as a honey badger caught in a pipe drain and was even more protective about its expenditure. Why else would she think he had come all this way if not to talk about money.
He leaned backwards slowly, working out how best to work this, after all he did not know what the real Silver Coin had been telling her. "Princess I'm not here to talk about money-"
"-Please, I know grandfather is cross about the slowness of the campaign but I can't fight an enemy that will not meet me in batt- wait, you're not?" She said her tirade ended before it could kick up into manic.
"No, I just, um I just came to... see how you are doing."
"Oh?" She said, the tightness of her shoulders sagging slightly, those panicked young eyes widening like a young filly who had managed to convince the teacher that it really was the dogs fault after all. "Y-You don't know how happy I am to hear that." She said, finally slumping down onto the throw pillow.
"Are you okay princess, you seem stressed?" He said softly.
"What, no of course I am perfectly well, never better." She snapped her eyes looking everywhere but at his.
Silver simply stayed quiet, it was amazing the power of simply not saying anything could do to somepony.
"Well...perhaps we are a little, um stressed?" She admitted hesitantly tapping her hooves together. She turned then, just slightly; her ear lifting upwards as if listening to an advisor.
"Princess, I'm only one pony, but I'm good at listening. If you want to lend an ear, all you have to do is ask." He said, giving her a genuine smile and holding his hoof towards hers.
She glanced at it, then him, there was a ghost of a smile on her face at the gesture. "Perhaps, that sounds like something I could, huh?"
Silver looked over his shoulder for a moment, but spotted no one. "I didn't say anything, are you sure you're okay Luna." When Silver turned back Luna was not looking at him, her smile was slipping and her brows butted together.
He felt the hoof slip away as her eyes narrowed down at him. "Why are you here, Silver?" The voice was even but there was a knife edge of accusation there.
Silver thought about spilling the whole truth then, telling this Luna exactly why he was here. After all, the Luna he knew could spend weeks arguing that it could not possibly be Thursday but could take things like time leaping and cosmic entanglement of the conventional timeline in the same stride as being told it might rain today.
But at the same time, Silver had not got in his position by playing his whole hand out for all to see. Also at the same time, suddenly thoughts came to his mind about butterfly's effects and space time continuum and changing the past. He settled lamely on "My niece and her eh, friends, a cub as well, I need your help to find."
"My help?" Luna said slowly. "What is it that you need my help that you could not get back home with grandfather or sister?" She seemed to catch herself and added, "not that we would not be able to provide you with just as much help, no more in fact, we could find you nieces, two nieces even!" Then she felt her ear flicker again, and pretended to look bored at her hoof.
"Really Luna, thank you. If you could, we could travel back to Canterlot, and get Celestia to help as well. I'm sure that if both of you-"
"-My sister?" Luna interrupted, her brow knitting together a prominent form forming on her muzzle, "Did I not just say that we would help, did you not just ask for our help specifically, why would we need the assistance of our sister in this matter?"
Silver was taken aback by the sudden change in Luna's tone, "I didn't mean any offence by it, but you know two minds are better than one and-" His lips froze as she lifted up her hoof for silence. Again Luna looked past Silver again her ear twitched, again she nodded to words that no pony spoke, "is that so, are you sure?" She said, looking sideways for a moment.
"Am I sure of what?" Silver asked, looking to his side and seeing nothing, when he turned back Luna's face had hardened, her eyes narrowing just a fraction.
"Hmm, I see," she said and to Silver's dismay her face seemed to darken, hardened almost like a shadow had passed over one side. "You always were good at lying Silver, I know my sister admired that, you two share similar craven qualities." There was almost a hiss in that tone now.
"I, what?" Silver said, taken aback by the sudden insult. Though in fairness Silver would have taken that for a complement of it hadn't been spoken with such venom.
"You think I'm stupid?" She said slowly standing upwards, even for a teen she towered above him. "You the Marshall's, grandfather and sister. I know you have no niece, you're an only foal. Why have you really come, to spy on me? but for whom, perhaps a friend, a lover, a sister of mine?"
"Lover?!" Silver nearly spat out, the thought making him almost nauseous. "Luna, what are you talking about?!"
"We know you've always been her pet," she spat. "We know sister has not given up trying to bring me home, partitioning the king to end this war, she wants all the glory for herself. But Grandfather won't hear it, so she sends you to find the nail that will fit my coffin."
Silver wiped the sweat forming on his forehead. This didn't sound like Luna at all, true she was often angry, and easily offended and yes a touch violent depending on the mood. But he had never spiteful towards her friends.
"Luna please, this isn't what you think it is, I just need you-"
"-You will address me as your magistrate, or Lord Marshall or you will not walk out of this tent whole!" She yelled, smashing the table in two with her hoof.
Silver gasped as he fell backwards. For a moment it was as if the wall behind her was the abyss of black night, starless and cold, a row of fangs flashed in her muzzle.
"Please Lun- your majesty, I just needed to find my niece, she's out there alone with a one year old, I just thought that you could help me as my friend, I have no pony else I can turn to but you." He said, wincing his foreleg over his eyes.
He waited for a long moment, waited for the blaze of alicorn fury. Then as quickly as it had come the blaze of ice like intensity settled, the winds seemed to calm.
"No," it was Luna's voice again, soft, almost inaudible, almost scared, "I will not, this is wrong, he is my friend." Luna's voice yelled above him as if arguing with herself.
Silver dared to open his eyes, gasped as she picked him up and then, much to his surprise gently set him back down looking at him not with anger or spite, but with a sickly guilt.
"I-I'm sorry Silver Coin. We... do not know what came over us." She said slumping down onto the chair, clutching her head.
Silver leaned back upright and quickly checked broadly that all his limbs were at least roundabout where they should be, "Are you sure you're okay your majesty?"
Luna winced, stood up from the remains of the table and began to walk away, clutching her head. After a moment she glanced back, unable to meet Silver's gaze. "I'm sorry I do not feel well, we shall look for this niece and this cub of yours Silver, of course we shall."
"T-Thank you princess." Silver said slowly lifting himself up from the floor.
The formal title seemed almost painful, like when a child hears their name in full, they knew they were in real trouble, her frown became stern as she gave a long low whistle with her hoof.
Not a moment later he felt the chill air against his back as the tent flaps moved and another figure entered the tent. Luna glanced from Silver towards the figure, "I need you and your scouts to scour the Forest, my friend has lost his niece and a cub in them. Finding them will be your top priority."
"Of course princess, finding lost mares and little cubs is my specialty, you could almost say that was my main objective all along."
Silver froze, the voice touched a part of his mind reserved for abject horror like seeing a fin in open water or someone making small talk at a bus stop. He felt claws, sharp claws press against his shoulder. Not hard enough to puncture skin but with an underlying strength that told him that it was only out of the kindness of the thing it was attached to that he didn't have four new holes to breathe out of.
The figure leaned towards him and spoke into one twitching ear. "Hello my fat little friend." He whispered in Griffonian like a wind in a graveyard. "I've been waiting for one of you lot to come, do you know how long I've been here?" And the claws dig just that little bit deeper. "What do you say me and you go and find that little cub and finish the job, aye?"
"What's the matter, Silver, you look like you've seen a ghost?" Luna said, her tone was one of pure concern. But Silver noticed that little spark behind them, a cruel malice he had never seen on the princess before. But he had heard plenty of that from Celestia. After all this was before Luna was banished, and Silver knew exactly why she had been banished. Who had caused her banishment.
He had thought he had been the lucky one. But now he realised that he was not just out of time and in a world he didn't understand. But that he was surrounded on all sides by monsters. |
How Luna Adopted a Hatchling (Against Her Will) | Nightmare in the Woods | "You waited too long to strike, now it is us that will have our heads on a pike!"
"Chieftain Mamook, you have been told before, we need to wait for the scouts to come back and confirm the location of rebel griffons headquarters." Stone Face growled over the table at the disgruntled Zebra in front of him.
"Damn you, you sit on your little porch, whist my forces have been put to the torch!" Mamook roared, his golden brackets clanking against his stripes forelegs as he slammed his hoof down onto the table. "What is done can not be undone, damn it all they have my son!"
"And who's fault is that, you were told to wait until the main forces arrived. But you wanted glory." Sparklehoof said, his muzzle gaunt, almost hollow across the dark candle lit tent.
"Glory?!" The zebra chief snarled, "it is us who the griffons had struck, so do not tell us how to handle these rebels you ignorant -"
"Enough!" Lord marshal Luna growled across the table. The other stallions around her froze, even Mamook who reluctantly eased back into his seat. Luna winced at the pain in her skull. So this is what her grandfather dealt with? No wonder he was always angry.
Luna messaging her head, blast it these headaches were getting worse and worse and these babbling old stallions and zebras were not helping. "Chief Mamook, steady yourself, we are not fighting each other here!" She lifted herself up, nearly stumbling from her seat as she glanced at the venerable lords around her.
Good assert your authority, dominate them. If these old stallions won't respect you, let them fear you instead.
"Lord Marshall. Let us take a hunting pack. We will find this rabble and go on the attack!" Mamook said after a moment.
"And leave half the army with their flank exposed!" Marshall Red Bar squawked.
"That is treason!" Stoneface roared in agreement.
"Treason?" Mamook balked at the idea, "says the Marshall without reason. You have done nothing but sit on your flank, eating cake and laying like a plank."
"That is it, you crass talking savage, I have had quite enough of you." Stoneface growled, fumbling for his sword.
Oh look at that, nothing like a little blood to get the soldiers blood boiling, what fun.
Luna bit down, her head hurt. it had been getting worse and worse since
"I said enough," her voice was like a crack of thunder, as she grabbed both Stoneface and Mamook in each hoof and lifted them into the air. "I am the ruler here, I am the one who you obey."
Now, now little Luna, let's sound like a ruler and not a little foal throwing a tantrum... you can't just say you're a leader... you should make an example of one of them.
Luna ignored the painful and tempting thoughts buzzing in her mind, though it was getting harder and harder lately. "Grandfather, your king put me in charge of dealing with this rebellion and I will not have disorder in my court."
"A-and what have you done, is this all for your vain fun?" Mamook croaked out, teeth bared at her as his hooves clawed pointlessly at Luna's vice-like grip.
"What was that?" Luna growled, dropping Stoneface as she turned to him.
"Y-you are like a foal playing at war, i-it is obvious to all you have never done this before." He spat, "S-since you have been here, what have you done, talked and talked while they have taken my s-son. You are unfit to lead, your command is as thin as a r-reed. Leave it to stallions who know of this craft, it would have been better if you had been a g-good mare, raised a foal and complained to your staff."
The tent was silent at that, nothing save the howling winds could be heard. Of this Luna could hear nothing save the grinding of her teeth and beating of her heart in her eardrums. The fear that everything she had worried about had been called to the front and the anger at this worm of all of them had called her out.
Do it, do it now, you know you want to.
Luna felt ever muscle in her body tensing, her teeth bared like a wolf showing its fangs, her body was not her own then, she was a passive spirit hovering behind her own eyes as she slowly but inexorably began to squeeze the zebra's throat.
Yes, show him. Show him haha, show him why you, not sister, deserve to rule!
She was vaguely aware of a fat pony rushing forwards, Silver Tongue, no, no that wasn't right. Silver Coin beside her, he was holding her foreleg, trying vainly to get her to stop "Princess, oh fields above, please stop, he can't breathe you're going to-
"-Message for the high command!" A pony soldier announced, sauntering inside, his beak curved into a smile as he looked at the chaos inside the tent.
Not a soldier, a griffon, our griffon.
Luna blinked, the silhouette of an armored stallion in her mind's eye all at once changed to the form to a griffon, a griffon with a yellow beak that gleamed, not like gold but like a pair of brass knuckles heading towards someone's face.
Luna rubbed her eyes, no of course it was a griffon, who else could it have been, one that had come out of nowhere and offered its services all those months ago, sauntered in. What had she thought it was a stallion she had sent?
"Princess," Silver Coin and also not Silver Coin pleaded, "Luna by all the grass in the field, please stop!"
Luna finally snapped out of her thoughts long enough to realise what Silver was saying. She saw the nearly blue zebra in her hooves, gasping and dropped him to the ground. The chieftain sucked in huge rasping breaths of air, writhing on the floor. But no pony was paying attention; all were focused now on the Griffon.
"Well don't just stand there, out with it soldier." Marshall Red Bar snapped as the smiling black cloaked griffon. Who was now watching the Zebra with lifeless black eyes, like a crow watching a worm on the ground.
"It seems the fat pony was correct," he said finally, flicking those soulless eyes up towards Silver. "We found it right where he said it was."
"You did, where?" Stoneface asked breathlessly, lifting himself up from the floor.
The griffon pointed out towards the camp out further past the flat mountains, the tops cut as if some great giant had sliced the tips off them generations ago. Perhaps it had? "It's been looking down at us this whole time."
Finally, victory is in our grasp.
The tent exploded as the ponies began to argue with themselves. But Luna wasn't listening, she was still staring down at her own hoof in horror, terrified at what she had just done, at what she had been prepared to do. If it had been just that little bit longer she would have...
It would have shown that you were the one in charge? Snap out of it. Don't look weak!
Luna shook her head. No time for that now. She felt hope burning away some of the pain in her head, hope that at least now she could see an end to this. A way to earn her name and rank amongst her grandfather's side "Summon our forces, all of them, make ready the camp. We set out at day break and finally send all of these damn rodent chasers to--"
*snap*
Luna stopped mid-sentence at the alien noise that sounded just behind her. She turned and spotted nothing. Literally, there was no tent anymore. No billowing wind or wooden planks hastily laid out for a floor. But utter blankness.
What!?
Surprised Luna spun back to her soldiers and Marshall's. But the whole scene in front of her had changed. The war table was filled with food. But not just that, a banquet fit for a coronation. Candelabras, red velvet place mats and silver plates stuffed with cheeses and sweet hays.
Each member sat around the table in the velvet chairs. All in their finest suits and ties all looking up expectantly at her.
Hadn't they just been in the war tent, when had they moved towards the banqueting hall. Did they even have a banquet hall?
"Princess?" She turned to see Silver Coin, three plates balancing mountains of food. "Surely you're not going to muster our forces without desert?"
"D-desert?"
What, what is happening!?
She turned and stared at the banquet in front of her. Food lay in silver platters with the Marshall's all staring expectantly at her. "Oh right, desert...yes of course, Uhh, how silly of me." She said trying to work out what was going on.
She gestured for the waiter, only a single paw came out from behind her with a large silver tray and cover and set it out in front of her.
"Speech." Marshall Stoneface slurred, sloshing a goblet of wine "I bloody love speeches." He had one hoof around Chief Mamook shoulders, the two of them drunkenly holding the other upright ready to fall at any movement. "Yes," Mamook slurred, "and end with a joke, like the one about the circus trick, about the stallion who could stand using only his-"
Ignore this, this is not supposed to be happening. You are at war, you are not in some banquet hall.
Lunas whimpered as a blinding migraine throbbed in her skull, the walls of the banquet seemed to melt away, but then as if something was fighting it, it returned as if it had never left.
"Princess," Silver Tongue Coin said, his face serious which only made the white face paint red lips and red ball on his nose, all the more confusing "Has there been any news of my niece? I have to find her and your daughter, perhaps if you could *Chirp chirp*."
Luna blinked, "what did you say Silver?"
"I said *Chirp chirp purr*, your majesty."
Ignore that, Ahh when I find who's doing this I'll...
The metal cover on the table by Lunas hooves began to vibrate slowly, moving and emanating a soft purring sound. Luna glanced around as Lord Stoneface downed a whole mug of cider upside down to the chant of "chug, chug, chug!"
"What is making that noise?" Luna asked.
"In here." A tiny echoing voice answered..
"Apologies, your majesty." The disembodied voice of the waiter said from behind her, "I thought it was getting quite dower in here, too much brooding for my liking. Allow me." A mismatched claw shot out of nowhere and lifted up the tray to reveal a smiling little griffon cub who was looking up at Luna. Big yellow eyes surrounded by purple feathers and a soft white head of downy primary's looked up at her, tail wagging with an heir of innocent inquisitiveness.
"Yay, you found me." She cheered.
You? I knew it, What are you doing here you chaotic Rat. This is my domain!
The disembodied voice gasped dropping the metal covering, "Rat? I'll have you know I've always thought of myself as more of a snake, but I suppose you should know all about vermin, parasite."
I will make you eat those words, idiotic fool!
"I'm positively quaking in my boots, now off with you, go brood somewhere else for a while."
You dare come to my domain, this is not the end, when I...
Suddenly the ground began to shake beneath Lunas hooves. She clutched the table as everything else fell around it. She felt a pinching sensation on her nose and sneezed.
"Bless you." The little Griffon cub said with a wide smile.
"Thank you." Luna said, clutching her nostrils, glancing down at the griffon, "I don't suppose you know what's going on?"
"Nope, I don't." She giggled, "But it's fun."
Those were not the words Luna would have used. "What are you doing here anyway?"
"I'm here to wake up new mommy, she's been asleep too long and there are a lot of scary monsters about."
"New mommy?" Luna said, head cocked in surprise. "Where is she, this new mother, little one?" She glanced around, seeing nothing around them but the quiet void.
The cub giggled, "Silly, she's right next to me." She paused her little brow furrowing, "Buuut, she's also somewhere else, but also here." She scratched her little head with her back paw almost like a dog. "It's really confusing. We've been running for days now. It's been really fun. But mommy's getting really tired, she's not sleeping at all." The little cub frowned, "also, she hit her head whilst we were running from a big scary monster, then she went all dizzy and fell over." She looked upset, but then puffed out her little chest, "So I've been guarding her all morning."
"Oh?" Luna said, as she saw the world around her start to drip and melt away, "Well then, um good job umm." She looked at the cub, "What's your name?"
The cub shrugged, "Don't know, other mommy hasn't given me one yet. she's probably still thinking really hard though!" She added excitedly.
"Well that can't be right, everything should have a name, even your kind." Luna said, "where is your mother, your other new mother, that is, she should be given a lecture in parenting."
"Too right," That strange and oddly familiar voice said in the distance. "Absolutely terrible, do you know how hard it is to write something that doesn't have a name, the hoops you have to jump through, terribly confusing."
The cub chirped happily, "yay, it's the funny creature, he's back."
"He never left," and Luna turned to see none other than Discord staring at her, those different coloured eyes glaring at her, the madness burning like an open flame in the back of his small black irises that she could see the destruction and creation of galaxies in moments, madness, pure and untwined chaos.
"What are you doing here?" Luna said, watching as Discord picked up the cub and placed her gently on his shoulder.
"Oh you know me, same old, went to cause mayhem then got sucked into a portal and sent back in time, did battle with a spirit hell bent on world domination, ate some popcorn and now I'm here, pretty much the usual really." He said, glancing at his nails. "Now I'm just seeing all the havoc unfold, as a purely passive observer of course." He said with more relish, then glanced at some sort of portable sundial on his wrist. "Oh drat, the passage of time is always such a pain, speaking of pain."
He turned back to Luna and then without a word pinched her muzzle hard.
Luna gasped as her blood shot eyes opened. She winced as something sharp dug into her nose. She spotted a tiny fluffy Newton's cradle waving back and forth in front of her eyes. It took longer than it should to realise it was a tail and what she was staring up at was in fact a little griffon and the pain in her muzzle was her back paw nails currently using her nose as a pin cushion
The cub was facing something in the distance. It's...her back was arched, her fur standing on edge. Feathers puffed up making her look like a kitten with its head stuck in a snowball.
Luna groaned, pushing the cub's paw away from her as she tried to rub her eyes. "What is going on?" Why was she on the floor, when had she gone to sleep? She fished through the haze of memories, but it was no use, everything was a blur and her head ached. It hurt worse than when she had accidentally taken a sip of her sister's new black wine and woke up two months later half the continent away, half shaved from the waist down and wearing someone else's underwear.
Like that time she could only remember snippets of what had happened. She could only remember running. Running for...how long had it been? Days? How many she couldn't say, three, no four, she had seen the moon rise four times, worryingly none of them by her own accord. That was frightening. Something else was controlling her moon.
The last thing she had remembered was running by moonlight. That was a worrying thought in and of itself. But what was more worrying, was why had she been running in the first place?
She yelped as the cub moved backwards her paw and the needle-like nails attached stabbing into her muzzle again.
"Get off me you little devil." Luna yelped, snatching up the cub and nearly falling over as she dragged herself upright. "Can thou not get five minutes reprieve from thine clownish antics?" She was about to go on. A lifetime of chewing out nobles, maids and overly enthusiastic door salesmen had left her with a monologue that could send a thousand ships the other way.
But the little cub didn't even notice. Her eyes were still fixed ahead of her. A long and low growl, like that of a wild cat intertwined with a shriek of a bird of prey emanated from its beak.
"What art thou so focused on?" Luna glanced up from the cub and towards...nothing. Only the base of a giant tree, the small foliage surrounding it and an enormous boulder in a large pond. Again the ache of familiarity bled into her, the place familiar in its ways. But she couldn't concentrate on anything because of the pain in her head and the pain in her flank, that being this little rodent chaser.
"Oh will you stop that infernal racket." Luna growled, bloodshot eyes narrowing down at the seemingly inexhaustible cub.
The little demon had growled at everything. Literally everything, for days now. It had pounced and growled and hissed at the slightest movement in the woods.
She would have called it's suicidal bravery admirable. If it wasn't for the fact that it was clearly just some animal insisting, after all as Luna had often been told by the alchemists of her day, griffons were naturally predisposed to fight anything and everything, like bulls or Scottish ponies on Saturday nights after the bar had closed. It wasn't their fault, it was just an instinct like breathing.
But still if it had not been for that, perhaps she would have said the cub reminded her very much of herself at that age.
She had been told she had the heart of a lion, the black princess she had been called on later campaigns against the dreaded evil Baron Von Kind Heart the Charitable and his wicked reign of tyranny. Even from the tender infantile age of twenty five she had been told she would tackle the biggest of teddy bears and send unwitting butlers diving for cover. An infant alcorn despite its cuteness was still akin to fluffy dynamite on four hooves.
But there had to be a limit to bravery and paranoid stupidity and to Luna this cub had reached her limit about two nights ago.
"Will you shut up," she hissed at the cub bringing muzzle to beak. The cub squirmed, moving her head back towards the rock.
"Four days, four whole Tatarus damned days you have been a thorn in my behind, courting danger, jumping at beasts and animals alike well that ends this second." She walked up towards the rock watching as the infant's eyes widened. It watched with a weary glare as Luna marched up to the stone, "watch and educate thyself," Luna said knocking the rock, the sound of a soft *thud thud* emanated from deep within.
She glared at the cub who was still looking at the rock. "Do you see now, nothing, no predator, no monster, just cold hard..." she paused, looked back at the rock and thudded it again. That was strange, stones did not make a *thudding* noise. Normally, they made a sort of *dink-dink* noise.
Come to think of it, stones didn't often feel warm to the touch. Or grin down at you.
Luna stepped backwards as water spilling out from each end of a crack as the 'stone' began to slowly inexorably rise up from the little pond. A horizontal crack formed in the middle and opened into a fleshy maw, inside of that sat a row of very sharp stalactites which Luna was starting to unfortunately realise were very large teeth.
Two more cracks in the stone opened to reveal emerald eyes, reptilian slits glanced down at her. She might not have been afraid of rocks but she reckoned she had about three seconds to learn how to be.
"Do, not, move." Luna whispered slowly, mostly to herself, her bloodshot eyes were now open wide and very painfully awake. The rock turned slowly revealing a reptilian maw, almost crocodilian in nature, as a giant slit like iris focused on where Luna was standing.
As if Luna's words were a challenge. The cub wriggled from Luna's grasp, let out a growl and lunged at the behemoth, talons first. The cub latched on with a barely audible *thunk.* Luna watched, in equip parts horror and if she was being honest with herself awe as the cub began pecking at the monster.
Unfortunately it did little more than confuse the being as It took a moment to collectively comprehend what was happening. After all normally to its mind, prey ran, prey didn't willingly jump towards its mouth save in dreams. But then when its ancient reptilian brain understood what was happening, it let out an almighty earth shaking roar.
Luna didn't wait; she sprang up. Instinct taking over from rational thought. The roar of the beast threw the cub upwards into the air. Luna dived, grabbed ahold of the cub just as the massive jaws clamped down on both of them.
The rockodile jaws snapped shut with a sound like a tree cracking in half, then silence. It stood there, prey eaten, with a satisfied grin. It had been a good day as far as a twenty ton lizard could comprehend the ideas of 'days' or 'good' for that matter.
The others at the spawning pool had laughed at it when it had gone out to look for prey. They had said that a real Rockadile never went looking for prey, they stayed waiting for days, weeks, months until either prey came to them, or in some unfortunate cases a giant herd of stampeding elephants did. Which happened often enough it was basically considered death by natural causes.
But this Rockadile was a pioneer of its kind. The problem was, when you're the first of your kind, that often means you're usually the first to find out the unique problems that nobody tells you about.
Such as prey that fights back.
It was only when it began to move that it noticed a pain in its stomach. It glanced around nervously, a Rockodile usually lived on a steady diet of limestone, granite and meat. As such its digestive tract had a lot in common with a volcano, nothing ever came out once it went in. The idea of a stomach ache wasn't something it was evolutionarily equipped to deal with.
It let out a guttural wheeze, eyes widening and tried to swallow. Then to its horror, a hoof latched onto the top of its lip and then another one at the bottom. The Rockodile tried to bite down but despite having jaws strong enough to crack diamonds, found to its even greater horror that its jaw was slowly being prised open anyway.
Luna roared as she lifted the maw of the beast up over her head. Slick with slime and other things she would rather not focus on at that moment. Her muscles strained as she moved the jaws of the creature further apart with all her might. The cub still hissed even nestled in her wing. Luna gave one final growl, flung the jaws up over her head and diving forwards, just as they snapped shut again.
The two of them rolled on the dirt, coating her night blue fur and the little ones brown and white ones in dust and mud. She shot up, tried to run but stumbled. Her exhausted legs tangled together like a newborn doe but Adrenaline and terror made up for a lack of coordination.
She didn't have to look back to tell that the beast was following her, the shaking of the ground, the monstrous roar and trunks of trees raining down around her like confetti gave her a good impression already of how close the monster still was.
Even in mortal peril she could hardly keep her eyes open, the world seemed like a blur, images dividing in front of her. She had gone weeks without sleep before, but that was with Alicorn magic. Now as a (almost) normal pony it was like drunk driving a wagon through a festival grounds.
She narrowly ducked up a gnarled root about the size of a fire hydrant and heard the crunching of it under the beast's claws a second later. It was gaining on her. She felt the cub climbing up her back onto her flank, hissing at the monster all the way.
Other strange alien creatures skirted past her into bits of boggy water or fluttering into the air. She grimaced at her tired wings, but there was nothing else for it, she turned grabbed ahold of the infuriating little lioness and lifted herself off the ground just as the Rockadile dived for her.
It crashed into the venerable giant tree a second later, sending leaves in their hundreds falling down around Luna in the air as she winced with each flailing flap of her wings.
Watching with satisfaction as the beast shook its head in pain and stared left and right wondering where its food had gone.
"Huzzah!" She gave a breathless laugh more from adrenaline than good humor, "foolish creature, have you not heard, no one eats the moon princess and gets away with it!" Luna chided then grimaced. Her whole body was in agony. But at least up here she was safe.
"Huzz." Came a small voice of the cub behind her punctuated by a foal-like giggle. "Huzz!"
Why had she not simply flown away, the thought nagged at her. Seemed an obvious one now that she was up in the air, had she not tried this before? She was safe up here, safe and, oh she forgot how relaxing the wind was against her fur, she felt her eyes growing heavy, she just needed to rest them for a moment that was all, rest and...
She felt something tug at her mane and winced.
"Will you stop that!" Luna barked, tried to at least, she got about halfway through her sentence and then realised something was blocking out the sun behind her.
She had just enough time to dodge as two giant claws grabbed at the air she had just been occupying. She turned towards it, horn raised, then she felt pain shooting from the tip into her spine.
She gasped, her wings stiffened and she began to plummet. The eagle, a two headed creature about the size of a wagon, gave a shrek and divided after her.
"Chip?" The cub whimpered, head pressed against Luna mane. Luna groaned, eyes blinking the world going from a kaleidoscopic view to a more reasonable double vision. She gasped, using all her back strength and flung out her wings again. Had she really relied on her magic that much?
Luna let out a long low growl of pain as the wind bent her powerful wings almost backwards but she recovered just in time to collide with a branch. She landed hard, chest first, gasping as the Cub slipped from her back. Luna gasping, scrambling to get ahold of the Cub as she flew forwards.
Luna watched in those three seconds to her horror as a coiling plant turned, its circular face crowned with thorns like a bear trap turned and lunged towards the airborne cub. It's pettiness, razor sharp and ready to snap her up in mid air.
Was everything in this forest a death trap?
Luna gasped hooves just barely grasping the very tip of the paintbrush tail of the little lioness and pulled back right as the flower snapped shut with a deathly crack. The cub snapped backwards like a rubber band and knocked into Luna flinging the two of them backwards from the branch and towards the forest floor.
The upside was that just as before something broke Lunas fell. The downside was that there were about sixteen branches.
Still clutching the cub to her wing she collided with the final one and then like a rock being thrown into a puddle she landed face first into a puddle of mud with an almost anticlimactic splat. Stars danced across her head as she felt the cub scramble onto her back.
"Well... at least tis all over." She groaned weakly, before collapsing face first back into the mud.
Else are in the cosmos.
"Well...at least tis all over."
"Oh yeah, just you wait I-"
"Karma!" A voice across the heavenly clouds rang out, "what are you doing, are you messing with those pony things again?!"
Karma flinched, nearly flinging his headset off into the effervescent nothingness of the celestial heavens. "No, Darma, I'm just, you know, checking that the omnipresent orb is working." It said, clunking the great orb for effect.
"Do I have to get Nirvana on the phone? There are six trillion other planes of existence that you're ignoring right now and you're behind on your quota, the boss wants them on his desk by Monday Karma, Monday!"
Karma messaged a hundred of its eyes groaning while it did so. "Okay, fine whatever, easy for you." It muttered.
"What was that!"
"Nothing nothing." Karma quickly answered, quickly putting the headset back on.
Sulkily Karma stared into the inter dimensional vortex right as the dark blue pony lifted her head back up long enough to groan out, "at least, it cannot get any worse." Before once again collapsing back into the mud.
Karmas felt one of its many eyes twitching as a clandestine tendril moved slowly towards the orb.
"Don't even think about it!" Darmas' voice echoed through the ethereal plains as Karmas flung his arms away from the orb.
Karma folded its many arms and sighed, "I hate this place."
Elsewhere a alicorn of the night lay face first in a puddle of mud. The only indication that it was even still conscious was the bubbles of water emanating from around its muzzle which let out pockets of a deep and tired groan. "Ohh we art getting too old for this, oxen manure." She muttered lifting her head up and wiping caking mud from her eyes.
She turned over onto her back. Unable to move or even think, her forelegs fell to her sides as she allowed herself to simply lay there on the mud. Numb, cold and very very soon when her body caught up to her in a lot of pain.
Had she really been such a helpless creature without her magic. That would have to change. She would have to go back to her martial training, eating raw eggs, building death trap obstacle courses and of course legalising great melee tournaments again.
"Bah, forget it, try and convince sister to make room for the death trap obstacles, she would cry about the moral conundrums again, oh what if someone hurts themselves. That's the bloody point...literally!"
The hatchling crawled onto her chest looking down at her, then a noise came out from its beak "Hu, zaah." she said with a giggle.
"Bless you." Luna said offhandedly, still staring up at the sky, "probably can't even get a real death trap specialist these days anyway, modern pony's probably don't even know what a good spike pit even is, waste of time."
"Huz." The cub said again and then giggled.
"Do you have indigestion or something?" She asked, staring up at the cub.
The cub looked at her with a glare that made Luna think she was actually thinking hard. Despite herself Luna waited, breathlessly for a moment, then the cub sneezed on to Luna's chest, wiping her beak on her fur, giggled and began to softly purr.
"Yes I thought as much." Luna said, too tired to even bring up the normal level of disgust she was sure she should be feeling at this moment.
"Laying around in the mud, youth of today aye?" A voice above her said. Luna paled, jackknifing upwards hoof raised to strike.
The figure was gone. She blinked thinking it was her imagination when she heard it again.
"Over here lady."
Slowly she turned behind her and lowered her forelegs as she spotted a pony standing just behind her. An old wizened stallion, somewhere between seventy or seven thousand given the amount of wrinkles, liferspots and general disdain and distrust of anything younger than than sixty five in his eyes.
His mane outstretched like lightning had struck it and his wiry bread looked so thick enough to lose a hoof in, but what caught Luna's gaze was the mismatched eyes, mismatched, discoloured and burning with a youthful energy that his body belied.
"What, never seen a pony with heterochromia before?" The old pony said, pointing to his green and the blue eye "Rude to stare, lady."
Luna lifted a brow, "We did not ask about your sexuality."
The old stallion gave a throaty laugh, "Haha good one."
"Good what?" Luna asked but no answer was forthcoming. "Who are thou, what are you doing here?"
"Could ask you the same question?"
"We asked firs-" Before she could finish she heard a little cry of excitement and saw the cub running towards the old stallion. Luna caught her by the scruff of the neck before she could go shooting off again and lifted up to eye level. "Hasn't thou caused enough trouble today by lunging at things?" She said to the dangling griffon who was still making lunging motions towards the old pony.
"That looked like a mighty bad crash lady, didn't think any pony would be stupid enough to fly in this forest, but I guess I was mistaken." He said, rubbing his head and pulling his tangled hoof away with some difficulty. "You get lost on the way to the kiddy park, miss?"
Luna lifted herself to her hooves, anger forming at the mockery of this stallion towards her royal person. "We did not choose to come here, knave."
"Names Bucky actually," he said indifferently.
Luna rolled her tired bloodshot eyes, "Well Bucky, you are in luck, for you gaze upon the princess of the night and are thus charged to escort our royal person from this accursed land and back to our place in Canterlot."
"Never heard of it." He said, "Sounds made up, what kind of name is Canterlot anyway?"
Luna gasped indignantly. "How have you not heard of it? The seat of ponykind, the epicentre of Eques, jewel of the modern world, also perchance sometimes blows up every few months through the fault of some recurring villains." She added the last part in a mutter. After all, it was only fair to be honest about one's home.
The old stallion shrugged, "nope don't ring a bell,"
"Well... surely you have heard of the great royal sisters. We art Luna, an alicorn, princess of the moon and stars, we raise the very Celestia bloodies in the heav-"
"-don't care much for celebrities or celestial bodies." He finished with a dismissive wave, "don't know no princess, don't want one and as far as I'm concerned the moon's just a big night light made of cheese."
Luna sucked in a shocked breath felt her right eye twitching, "How dare you insult my-"
The stallion turned, glanced up at the setting sun. "You gonna stand there all day yapping, I got things to do." He said turning, "dangerous place to take your kid out for a walk, you never know what kind of weirdos are in these woods."
Luna frowned, yes she was beginning to understand that part, "She is not my heir!"
He blinked then looked up at the cub who was peeking up from the top of Luna's mane. "Huzz!"
Bucky gave a chuckle it had the same sound as a coffin being cracked open and the same amount of dust, "You said it kid," he turned on creaking joints, walked forwards then turned back as if wondering why they weren't just blindly following, "come on, your kids hungry, there's grub in the old shato de la grotte."
"To insult us is one thing, but to insult my moon," Luna said, still stuck a few sentences before, "to our face no less, I am heir apparent to the throne, come back here and apologise this instance." Luna growled.
"Or what lady."
"Or, we shall..." but he was already moving away, she stood there shaking from both exhaustion and rampant indignation then felt her horn sparkle and then fizzled out and grimaced. "know that your swift and painful retribution will come someday!" She yelled, then a long and low noise emanated from her stomach and she looked down, "after breaking fast perhaps."
She slumped her shoulders defeated. Hearing the Forest come to life in eerie sounds as the sunlight drifted ever downwards. It was the choice of following a madman or endless danger. The only two choices there ever seemed to be for her.
Map making had never been a precise art in Equestria. Ponies tended to start off with good intentions, and then get so side-tracked with drawing all the sea monsters and hulking fish with terrifying faces that they forgot to put in the boring parts like mountains and rivers.
At least that was how it had been the last time Luna had looked at a map, which to be fair, had been about oh, one thousand years ago give or take?
It had not helped that borders had changed like two ponies playing a tug of war with land masses. So much had changed that despite her Sisters insistence Luna still refused to acknowledge that there was now a "New Mexicolt."
But this was not a setback as it might have been for others. After all she had learned from the master of navigations himself, her grandfather who only ever had to go one place once to know how to get back there.
He had told her of his genius skill and how to harness it. He would simply go to a place once and then when he needed to go back again he would simply command his staff to take him back there.
He had gotten so good at it he was often baffled at why ponies needed maps at all. Which now that Luna thought about it, might have explained why the maps in her time were so bad.
But all this to say that despite her grandfather's skill, she had absolutely, positively no idea where she was or where she was going. She had been everywhere and yet it was as though her mind had drawn a blank on this place. Like it had been trying to keep her from remembering. The base of her horn throbbed, not from the lack of magic, but something like a migraine.
"Hey, youngin, you gonna hang around moping all day?" Bucky called back from a few yards away, "these kids today are so lazy."
"We art more than two millennia older than you are!" She yelled catching back up with the strangely nimble ancient stallion.
"Huh.. oh yeah then I'm a monkey's uncle." He said slowly turning to the cub on Luna's back and mimed a circle motion around his head.
"That would explain thy smell." Luna shot back, but Bucky only laughed and continued on.
They continued moving through the undergrowth seemingly at random. The stallion would stop for a moment, turn a leaf over or sniff at the mud, then continue on without comment.
Finally after a moment of watching Bucky stare at a rock for five minutes straight Luna asked. "How much further to thy abode?"
"Who's-a-what-now?" The stallion said half listening. Luna watched as he knocked against the rock.
"Where is your home?" She said slowly, "I see no structures around us, just trees and rocks."
"Ohhh why didn't you say so, you young people and your damn lingo, let me just check." He leaned down to a rock and much to Luna's consternation, began to pick the moss on top of it.
"What are you doing?" She asked not for the first time.
"Ain't it obvious?" he said, swishing his mouth as though the moss was a fine wine. "Yep, I knew it, we're here."
Luna looked around. Again seeing nothing but giant tree trunks and rock faces. This time making sure none of them had teeth attached to them. Bucky walked forwards towards what looked like sheer rocks, then she spotted a tiny sliver of a crack about as wide as a plank of wood and the horrible realisation dawned on her.
"You call a cave your home?" She said almost jokingly, praying that he was just playing 'the prank.' On her as sister would do.
"Mine? Nah!" He said as Luna let out a sigh of relief, it was quickly squashed when he added, "I don't own the cave, I'm just renting it, you think I can afford a cave of my own in this economy?"
"Who in Tatarus do you rent a cave from?" Luna asked, unable to help herself.
"Oh Mrs Sternpaw, don't let the name fool you as landlords go, she's pretty sweet, she even lets me use it when she's hibernating."
"Hibernating...Wait, your renting it from a bea-"
"-Come on, no time to dally, got things to do. Sky don't revolve around you, lady." He said moving into the slither of rock.
Luna glanced around the edges of the cave, from one rock mouth to another she thought bitterly, "Fields above protect me." She said, then moved into it. Luna just barely squeezed into the gap, her wings pressed tightly to her sides as the gap seemed to envelop her like a hungry mouth. She felt the cub's claws tighten on her mane and for once felt a pang of empathy for it. Neither of them seemed to like where this was going.
"Hello, where art thou?" Luna asked, she could not see Bucky anymore, only the oppressive darkness in the cave. The stallion had gone sauntering inside and she could hear nothing save the dripping of the water from stalactites and the soft clipping of her hooves.
"Hail Bucky," she said, "where art thou. We swear if thou doth not answer then we shall-."
There was a moment of utter silence as Luna seriously considered turning back when finally she heard a voice echoing off the walls.
"The light."
"W-What?" She said voices all around her,
"The light, find the light."
Luna tried to back away but felt her flank pressing against only rocks. "What light, what light!"
"The light, the light, the light."
Luna back hit the wall she grabbed at the cub pulling her towards her chest and stared at the utter darkness until finally another voice sounded almost next to her ear.
"You deaf I said the light!"
Luna didn't scream, she was not a screamer and of course she never would be. But she supposed that if anyone were to hear her at that moment at that exact time, what they would have heard coming from her mouth could, possibly given a thousand monkeys and a thousand typewriters and if the stars themselves aligned could have been interpreted as something close to a girlish wail.
But obviously she would deny that until her dying breath.
"Geez," Bucky grimaced hoof to his ears. "You make it a habit of yelling every time you get lured into a cave by a total stranger." Luna, who was catching her breath (for no reason in particular) rounded on the old stallion, but he was already back into the darkness, his voice echoing off the cave walls, "just hit the light will you."
"You want us to hit... light?" Clearly the stallion was more insane than she had thought.
"Just put your hoof on the left wall, No not there, to your left, stage left, starboard. No my left, a little, no down."
"We have hit all of the wall, what do you want-" Her hoof clicked against some piece of stone, she gasped as fire exploded into life across the stones, lighting the cave.
Dozens of braziers roared into life, engulfing the cave in a sea of warm orange lighting. Luna gasped as she realised she had stepped into an enormous honeycomb cavin, going up and curving into little alcoves, giving the cave an almost chiselled dome effect. It was huge, perhaps even bigger than her throne room. What was more amazing though was that it had all the furnishings of a home.
Luna spotted a kitchen, bedrooms, balconies, there was even a slide going around the dome ending right by her hooves.
"What is this place?" She said, staring in wonder at it all.
"My cave, duh." He said dismissively. "Now, were you raised in a barn? You had better have wiped your hooves before you came in, lady." Bucky trotted towards what looked like a table made from stone that could have fit at least twenty ponies. On it sat a candelabra, table cloth and cutlery and dishes all also made from stone.
Luna strode forwards mouth open as she surveyed a room that despite being made entirely of stone wouldn't have looked out of place in the palace. "Did you make all this?"
"You see anyone else?" He said, then looked around the hall, "seriously, I can't find him, Socks old buddy, you here?"
Luna blinked then also began looking around. She hadn't detected anyone else since she had stepped into the cavern. She needed no magic for that, detecting enemies in the darkened corner of a room was a royal sixth sense; those it hadn't passed down to usually didn't last too long. She took a step back towards the entrance just in case, horn aimed like a spear.
"Thou do not live in this cave alone?" She said with suspicion.
"What, no of course not, I'd go mad," he said with a grin no sane pony could produce. "Just me and Seriously Socks."
Luna stopped backing away just long enough to go, "thou shelters with some pony called Seriously Socks?"
"What, no. His name is Cotton Socks. But every time I say his name for some reason everypony says, Seriously soc-"
"-So thou has been trying to ambush me all along then" she yelled looking around the cavern, "Cometh then Socks show thine self, we shall have no clandestine spies around our person." Luna felt something knock against her back hoof. She spun round and spotted what looked like a coconut with a potted plant sticking out from it. It rolled over revealing a crudely painted smiling face on one side
"Ahh, Socks, there you are, stop being rude." The stallion said, scooping the coconut up. "Sorry lady, he's shy like that. Hard to trust, bad break up you see." He whispered away from the coconut.
Luna rubbed her tired bloodshot eyes, really she should have seen something like this coming. This stallion was truly mad. "Well, this has been most fascinating and all, but now we really must be going." She said, quickly realising that the horrors of the forest were nothing compared to the strangeness before her.
"What, at night in your condition. You'll be minced meat." He bulked.
"We shall be fine," Luna scoffed, she turned "our hooves are far stronger than gah." Luna felt something tap her leg and she buckled under, nearly going head first into the floor. She turned teeth bared and saw Bucky holding a cane where her front hooves had been. "You were saying?"
"How dare you assult our royal person, we shall."
"Can it lady!" Bucky said his cane an inch from Luna's nose, "You can leave, but I can't be letting little cubs out in the woods at night with crazy young single mothers. I'd never hear the end of it from Socks." He said, indicating to the coconut which slouched disapprovingly. "Now hurry up food's getting cold."
"We are not a single mother!" Luna protested, "we are just playing the part of a legal guardian, too keep up with my sister and her PR hair brained facade. Was that not obvious?"
"What's a P.R?" Bucky said.
Luna paused hoof half up then lowered it, "Ehh, P-poison... Tester obviously."
"Isn't that P.T?"
"Of course you would think that." Luna said, pointing her nose to the air. Hoping against hope he didn't elaborate further.
They walked towards the table. Luna watched wearily as Bucky opened up an ice box, carved out of stone no less and leant in almost bodily.
"Now let's see, something edible something edible...hmm, mouldy banana, no, huh when did I get milk? Ahh, no, no, ohh so that's where my horseshoe went!"
Luna grimaced at the sight of 'breakfast' and drew the cub down from her back, "if we are slain by poison or toxins, I reluctantly bestow upon you legal citizenship to Equestria, as such tis your moral duty, under pain of death to seek swift revenge on our poisoner, doth thou understand?" She whispered to the cub.
"Hazz!" Luna watched as she giggled, pulled her tail between her legs and began chewing on the paintbrush fur on the end.
"...We shall take that as a solemn oath." Luna said, placing her on the table and then laying her own heavy head on it. Her eyes sagging to half mast. She lazily glanced over at the cub who spat out her tail and was now playing with the stone spoons. Eyes filled with foal like curiosity. She had almost forgotten she was a griffon at points. They acted just like real foals. Playful and innocent.
It was rather... cute.
Luna rubbed her eyes, and slapped her cheeks for good measure. Fields above she was tired and that tiredness was making her think like a fool. Talking to a griffon, thinking it was the same as a pony!
She knew better than that, grandfather had taught her better, the battle at the Hightop mountains had taught her better than that. They were not cute, they were savages. Ungovernable, selfish barbarians. They could no more change their ways than a leopard could change its spots, or the day could be night.
Or a nightmare could be without her beloved Luna?
Luna opened her eyes and sat bolt upright. The room had gone dark again, no... this wasn't like before. This wasn't natural darkness. This was the darkness of a dream, the absence of nothingness. This was the empty space the dreaming mind didn't fill with memories. This is the empty space where nightmares crept in.
"I knew thou were behind this, it reeks of thine theatrics, has thou run out of tainted memories to inflict on us. What doth thou want now, slave to darkness." Luna growled at the cold void. Wondering how and when she had fallen asleep.
"Slave? Oh Luna, my beloved, you were always so dramatic, really I wasn't born from anything except from you my dear. I am as much a part of you as a child is to their mother. As a daughter to her grandfather. I am all you needed me to be, after all the apple does not fall far from the tree.
Luna's head snapped upwards at the sound of the voice and spotted Nightmare sitting in a throne over her, suspended in the air.
"My point stands, shadow, what doth thou want?"
I am only a shadow of you, my Luna.
Luna blinked and the figure was gone. She spun round behind her and spotted the reptilian eyes staring right at her not even an inch from her face.
She leaned back, as slowly as she could, careful not to show the fear creeping into her mind. Predators fed on that.
I really have missed you.
A dark tendril curled almost playfully around Luna's cheek, she batted it away.
Oh what's wrong, has that neurotic, despicable, tyrant mare corrupted your mind again?
"Do not speak of Twilight that way!" Luna snapped.
Nightmares fog like figure stayed there with a deadpan expression.
I was talking about Celestia.
"Oh...right." Luna said, flushing slightly. "Get her from thine mouth as well."
Nightmare form morphed into shadows then reformed only a few inches from Luna's muzzle, a razor sharp row of teeth gleamed into a serpent smile too big for her muzzle.
I just came to check on you, I wanted to see if my other half was okay, without my guidance, I have watched you flounder in troubled waters, I can see now that you sorely need my help.
"We need nothing nor do we want anything from you, save for you to leave our presence and ner return." She said turning away. She gasped as a tendril wrapped around her muzzle and brought her once more face to face with Nightmare.
You don't mean that.
The voice came out in a purr but the tone was as sharp as a razor against her ear. Nightmare slid around Luna like a snake coiling around a mouse.
Look at you. she said dismissively, flicking a lock of white mane of hair. No magic, banished from Canterlot and stuck with a little rat catcher as a daughter no less." She shook her head, "I knew the sun wench was vindictive, but it seems there is no end to her hatred of you, to humiliate us like this."
"There is no us!" Luna growled through clenched teeth, "She has not, she, ahh, this has nothing to do with her!" Luna snapped, but there was not the same conviction she had wanted because, well in many ways this was what her sister had done to her and she hated that Nightmare could see that.
Nightmare frowned and for a moment it looked to Luna's eyes almost genuine, I'm so sorry I've not been there for you. But we're back now, and read our lips Luna, right now has never been a better chance to get our revenge, we're sitting on a golden opportunity we've been waiting for.
Luna opened her eyes to deny her, but the tendrils of darkness wrapped more firmly around her muzzle, Luna, my dear sweet Luna, listen to me, we have only you in our thoughts.
"Lies," Luna tried to mutter, she had never thought about her, she couldn't love, she had not been made to do that. She had been made with self pity and obsession and delusion and most of a hatred. Such sickening and intoxicating hatred that it made Luna nauseous and lightheaded just to be around again.
You will listen to us, because we are doing this for you. Nightmare said, stroking her cheek, We promise to get you everything you wanted, because we want to see you happy.
Luna tried to struggle free but without her magic she was no more than a pawn in her shadows hooves. You're going to make me angry Luna. She warned, I'm doing this for you and you're being UNGRATEFUL.
Luna flinched, that voice, that voice in her mind again, so like her grandfather in its own way, it was almost identical, "You're going to be a good mare, a dutiful mare and listen to-"
She paused as a blob of something hit Nightmare's nose, Nightmare looked up, they both did. She took the droplet and sniffed, What is... is that...foal food?
Another droplet hit the ground then again until it was almost raining the sticky brown goo. What is going on, the fool is doing this again, isn't it?
Luna watched the sky, the darkness parting slightly. She didn't know what this fool was, but something about it told her this wasn't it's doing. But something far more familiar, before she could guess exactly what or who was doing it. The answer hit her directly in the face.
Literally.
Luna blinked, looking up from the floor, she grimaced clutching the back of her head. A sticky sensation dropped down her muzzle she put her hoof to it and brown fruity smelling slime.
"You ain't dead is ya?" A voice above her called.
She lifted herself up off the floor, just in time to duck as another ball of brown slime flew across the table, missing her white mane by centimetres.
She turned from the stain and back to the offender. The cub was sitting in a high chair made out of stone. Surrounded and covered almost head to tail in the same brown substance.
"Okay" Bucky said, turning back towards the cub. "One more time now, here comes the amusing metal aerodynamic winged bird, come to dock in the little beaky." He said, making a sound like the buzzing of a rather angry hive as he moved the spoon down to the cub's beak.
"Huzz!" The cub said looking at Luna just as Bucky got the spoon into her mouth. "Ahh, yes, one to me, one thousand to you, eat that." He said with a cheer as the cub swallowed and clapped her claws together happily.
"What is going on?" Luna groaned.
"Huh?" Bucky said, barely glancing up as he got another spoonful of the slime from the tiny jar. "Oh good, Thought you were dead, you fell asleep right on the table, then you fell over, thought I was going to perform CPR again."
"Again," Luna said, palling as she brought a hoof to her mouth. "You didn't..."
"Me, no I'm not the one with a first aid licence. That's Sock's job." He said, flicking a goopy spoon in the direction of the coconut that slumped sideways suggestively.
"What is this substance?" Luna said, only just noticing the goo splattered across her muzzle.
"Don't know," he said reading the jar, "My Little Hatchlings first feed," he narrowed his eyes, "contains all the perfect vitamins, minerals and cricket legs for a growing young hatchling."
Luna's eyes widened as she glanced at the goo and deleted the last few words from her mind for the sake of her sanity.
Bucky grinned at Luna's expression, "it's not so bad...is it?" he said as he gingerly licked the spoon, "see it's, oh the after taste isn't... wow that really..." His eyes began to water as he gagged, "oh my days, it's poison!" He gave a dry heave and began to scrape his tongue. "Oh hell, that was, never again, I can't... actually."
He glanced sideways at the spoon and gingerly licked it again, "...actually if you get past the awful taste, it's kind of moorish."
Luna ignored the grisly spectacle in front of her and instead turned to the giggling cub who was now more goo than feathers. "And what happened to her?" Luna asked.
"Huzz," the ball of goo giggled.
"I was feeding her, obviously." Bucky said credulous, "you can thank me anytime now, I take a single deadbeat mother into my cave and feed her cub and this is the thanks I get."
"We are not her mother, and will thou stop going on about us being without a mate we have plenty of potential suitors, too many to pick from" She lied.
"Please, yeah right, you give off too much single mother energy, you practically scream I don't need no partner, I'm a strong independent mare." Bucky said with a sagely nod, "isn't that right?" He said, turning to the goo in the high chair.
"Chirp." The little hatchling said, sucking on the baby food around her paint tip tail.
"Ha, I couldn't have put it better myself." Bucky chucked.
"For the final time, We are not her mother!"
"Father then, look I don't judge these days." He said dismissively.
"Oh forget thee." Luna spat, too tired to argue. "Where did you even get this food from?"
"Where do you think, From the river of course, washes up all sorts of things, food, sticks with points on the ends, armour and swords."
"Armour and what?" Luna said, sitting up, "from where?"
"Don't know, didn't ask." He said with all seriousness, "Buut if you are asking me, I'd say the river comes from the mountains."
"There's a village up in the mountains?" Luna asked.
"Someone's up there, whole lot of someone's."
"And you never went to look?"
"Why," Bucky laughed, "I'm living the bachelor's dream, don't need someone cramping my style ain't that right Socks?"
Luna's eyes flickered in thought. If that was the case, if things came from upriver, then that meant civilization, that meant finding ponies and a way out of this stinking Tatarus infused jungle.
Luna grabbed onto Bucky's shoulders, snapping him from his talk with the coconut. "Take me there." She demanded.
"Wow, are you crazy," said the pony with the coconut companion, "you can't go outside now, you're covered in food and it's dark, you wouldn't last five minutes."
"Nonsense." Luna said, "I'm as fit as a fiddle."
"You just passed out on my table."
"We are royal, we pass out where we please, tis part of our charm." She said dismissively, "Our uncle twice removed was famous for passing out in every tavern he ever visited."
Bucky and Socks shared a look, "Well, you might be alright, but what about her?" He said looking at the cub who was falling asleep, tail still in her beak. "She could do with a bath at least."
"We have no time, we must make contact and look for our companions. We cannot wait around and... wait did you say bath, you have a bath?"
"Course I do, how do you think I maintain this careful level of grooming?" Luna glanced at the encrusted dirt around his hooves and flank and then at the spider that scurried back up into his beard.
"One can only wonder..."
"Come on, you ain't doing no one any harm, little one needs a good night's sleep."
Luna pursed her lips, it was true she was practically blind in the dark without her powers and she really did not want to carry a cricket covered cub all the way up a mountain. Her pride could only take so much.
She also couldn't risk blacking out again, not in the forest, and also she was beginning to suspect that that woeful smell assaulting her nostrils was coming from somewhere on her own person.
She pursed her lips as she saw the little chick slumping over on her side, eyes half shut. "Fine, we suppose she is only little, lead the way."
Luna followed the stallion towards the back of the cave, holding the cub at arms length as bits of baby food dripped from every part of the cub onto the floor. She looked back at the old madman hoping for a distraction from the sensation of cricket that was seeping into her fur.
"So Mr Bucky, just how long have you lived alone in this-"
"I ain't alone," he said looking up at the coconut on his back.
"Oh of course...how silly of us." Luna said with an uneasy smile, "how long have you and ehh, Mr Socks been in this cave."
This caused the old stallion some consternation. "Hmm let's see now I had a Callander somewhere." He looked over at a cave wall, there was a tally of scratches on it. Actually it was all scratches. Every single inch of the wall was covered in white lines to the point that it was almost impossible to see which part wasn't white.
"Now we're these marks for days or weeks?" He asked, rubbing his beard with a hoof.
"Chirp?"
"Ha, you're welcome to try little one." He said back.
Luna flicked her gaze from the cub to the old stallion, "You understand her?" She asked incredulously.
"You don't?" He said with equal surprise. "Infants are easy to understand, they don't lie, they just tell it how it is."
Luna doubted that logic was sound but still felt curious to ask, "So, what is she saying?"
"Well, right now, she's happy," he glanced at the cub and added, "but..."
"Oh...well good for her we suppose...what do you mean but?"
Bucky's beard formed a deep frown as he said, "Oh her stomach feels funny."
Luna blinked, looking down at the cub in her hooves. A strange faint flutter of panic danced in her chest as she examined her, "What, did that awful food have-"
Before Luna could finish the little cub let out a burp that reverberated through the very halls, bouncing off the walls until it was almost an orchestra unto itself. It grew louder and louder until the sound flung out from the cave itself sending a flock of startled bats flapping into the night.
"Cheep." The cub said a moment later after the noise finally died away. Tail swaying happily.
"And now she's back to being just happy again." Bucky said with a grin. "See, infants are simple."
Luna sighed and continued on.
It didn't take long for Luna's mind to ruminate onto other matters. She was still playing catch up with the information presented to her. Nightmare was free and she wanted something from her. Nothing strange in that department. But she said something about a golden opportunity. What had she meant by that, also how had she managed to stay free after she had been purged from her.
This was a dangerous situation, regardless of what she was planning, Luna wasn't able to access the dreamscape which meant that Nightmare had control of it. Nothing good could come from such a spiteful malicious form having that much power.
Luna gasped as she bumped into the back of Bucky. Blinking, she stared puzzled at a set of rock carved doors. "Why have we stopped?" She asked then watched him open the doors to reveal one of the most beautiful moon pools she had ever seen in her life.
cracks of pale moon light danced naked across the ripping blue surface. Gentle wisps of smoke drew up hauntingly across the room promising heat and comfort with their beckoning spectral strands.
Luna's gaze drew from the mosaic floor to the gentle waterfall flowing in the corner all the while she tried and failed to collect her jaw off of the floor.
"Well," Bucky said, "ain't much I know, but anyway, hot taps on the left, cold taps on the right, don't touch the three seashells, no idea what they do and I don't plan on finding out."
"Hang on a moment, where did you, how did you, how is there a heated pool here?"
"What, you think? Just because I live in a cave in the middle of a death forest, I can't have a heated pool, with bubbles and soap."
Luna gave him a deadpan glare. "Well... yes?"
"Oh right because you're saying I can't afford it, caveism at its finest ladies and gentleman, can you believe this, Serious Socks?" The coconut on his back slumped disapprovingly.
"Nevermind." She sighed.
"Big government bourgeoisie noble lady come to bully the little people. Next you're going to tell me I can't have massage chairs, loot things from other ponies or I need planning permission to build my summer cave."
Luna watched the muttering stallion as he left, glad to see him go. Finally she was alone, alone with her thoughts and free to relax. Then she felt something climb off her back and brush her back hoof. She glanced down to see the cub clutching her leg and waving at the stallion.
Oh right, of course she wasn't alone. Also when had she learned to wave? Well, it was a foal, in a way, she supposed even they had to learn.
Still it would be much easier now, wash off this stink from both of them and then have a nice long relaxing bath.
Twenty minutes later
"Come on, you little pheasant, I thought you birds loved baths." She said as she tried to once again lower the cub into the water. The cub gave a squawking protest and scurried up Lunas neck, quivering as she hissed at the water.
It was no use, it was like trying to wrestle a snake, one moment she was solid then when Luna tried to put her near the water she would become almost jelly in her hooves. She really was a cat.
"Do not be silly." Luna grunted as she tried to fish the shaking cub off her head. "You are getting in the bath, I will not travel with a mangy beast covered in foal mush, now get in!" She snapped, grabbing behind her for the little griffon.
She made one final grab for the cub but was too slow, the hatchling launched herself off, flapping her tiny wings as she landed in a run and dived underneath a rock carved table.
"Fine, stay under there, see if we care!" She yelled,
Turning her nose up at the whole situation, "should have known, your kind would not actually care for baths, no wonder you all have that beastial smell about you."
She turned back towards the gently rippling water, ridding the cub from her mind. She forced a smile onto her face which became quickly genuine as the warm lapping water tickled her fur. A comforting sense of normality flooded her mind as she let out an audible sigh.
She strode in almost at a march, relishing the heat undoing all the ache, pains and grime as they slipped away from her mind and body, literally in some cases.
"Oh tis just what we needed." She moaned. She let herself float in the pool, forelegs extended in a starfish like shape.
She let minutes go by as she let the water soak into her tired bones then glanced back at the table. She could see the amber eyes of the cub looking at her curiously, head half cocked.
Luna looked back up at the ceiling. It didn't matter to her, let her lick herself clean for all she cared. But then again, was she not only an infant, she wondered if she might get sick. It would not do to have to care for the creature whilst she was perhaps the only one with it.
She had been helpful, without her magic, she had been unable to detect the creatures. But the cub had seen all of them. She had heard that the eyes of the griffons were amazing things, all animals had their skills, from whales to beatles, even bar musicians, though nobody could quite work out what it was. Certainly not music, even alcohol could not make that listenable.
She would give it another few minutes, just another couple and then she would try again, just... a... few
Finally it's rude to keep us waiting you know!
Luna opened her eyes, she was in the pool. But now she was floating on top of it. She glanced down at her reflection she saw herself, but instead with the razor sharp teeth beaming back at her in a crocodile grin. If nightmare was looking for a reaction. This time Luna was not about to give her one. "Thou must be proud of thyself for that lazy metaphor."
We work with the tools we have.
The reflection of Nightmare shrugged and the water morphed itself upwards and into the shape of her. Luna watched with barely veiled contempt. "We grow tired of this charade Nightmare."
Oh Luna, you used to love our inventiveness.
"Vindictiveness thou mean?"
Tomato, tomato. But we also appreciate that you have never been one to wait. Your impatience was what got you into a lot of trouble the last time Lulu
"Do not call us that!" Luna snapped, feeling sickened by the creature's use of the intimate nickname her sister had given her. She regretted showing the emotion almost instantly as she watched the creature's smile grew more smug. Nightmare bowed mockingly.
We shall be frank then, have you considered our offer?
"What offer, like always you promised us everything as you often do, lying about victories that you cannot achieve. You are a busted flush, a braggart."
Do not forget who made you!
Luna smirked as Nightmare drew back her jagged snarl forcing itself into an almost painful looking smirk.
Listen...my Luna, I know we have had our hardships, but let us not let hot tempers stifle what we want now, let us not forget the pain of what we lost.
Luna folded her forelegs against her chest. "Perhaps there was a time when I felt sorrow for having wasted all that energy on nothing more than petty vanity. But unlike you I learned tis pointless to lament what one should have done, tis like waiting for presents one did not receive last heartwarming, tis what one does in the present that matters."
Very well then, if for now you won't listen to what I can offer. Perhaps let us run down your present predicament, shall we?
"We would rather you didn't, but you're going to anyway aren-"
-You're alone, you're without your power, you're stuck in a foreign land where everything including the plants are trying to kill you."
Luna wanted to argue, but then she remembered that venus flytrap that took the tip of her tail off just a few nights ago and decided to keep her muzzle shut.
Your companions are nowhere to be found, and we both know the hour glass on their lives runs thin. None of them could survive even a fifth of what you've been through.
Again Luna was silent. She agreed with Nightmare but it never paid to let one's enemies know that.
But worst of all, you're stuck with a burden you can't get rid of can you?
"We govern an entire country-"
-Your sister does.
"We govern an entire country, what makes you think babysitting some overgrown little hen for a few days is something I would consider even the slightest of burdens."
Because, you're not governing her for a few days. You're going to shoulder her burden for the rest of your life.
Luna scoffed, but the words where hard to shake
off. Deep down she knew what Nightmare was talking about. That creature was her daughter by law. That ment that her children and her children's children would be her own princes and princesses of Equestria. Even if the line ended there would be a branch connecting Luna to those creatures for all time.
Her name was already in the mud, could she really take anymore of this? Could she really be a hypocrite? What would her grandfather think of her when she finally went to the Great Plains above?
I see you have already considered it yourself.
"What of it," Luna snapped, "we have weathered worse, if we could weather what you have done to us, we shall weather this as well."
What we did, are you saying you had no part in our grand plan?
Luna bared her teeth, but hesitated, sickened by it that she was, again Nightmare was right, she had fostered that hate. She was every bit as guilty. Nightmare slithered forwards her hoof grazing Luna's cheek.
Don't fret, child, my little Luna. Why must you always have to suffer for others, under your grandfather's shadow and your sister's stifling ambition. You created us in your time of need. Your desperation, your longing.
Her hatred, her vanity, her self obsession. Luna added mentally. Moving her face away from the hoof.
We have an idea, something that will get you out of this mess, we know a way home but better than that. We know a way to get this creature gone for good.
This time Luna stepped forward, a snarl of her own, "Do not take my dislike of them as something vile. If you think we would do harm to an infant, just because they are a griffon then-"
As always you think too small, of course we wouldn't do harm to a child, we LOVE Children.
Luna's skin crawled at the words, Nightmare loved nobody but herself.
Besides it wouldn't work, if the child went missing, that would just look, well... bad. But if the child came home with you, maybe in a few years when the cub grew into a lioness and perhaps caused a scandal too ugly to be ignored and had to be cut from your lineage. Then you wouldn't be at fault would you, if anything you would be vindicated in our belief that they were mindless savages?
Again another shiver went down Luna's spine. "What are you saying?"
Simple, let me mentor her as I did you, let me mould her, guide her. Let me do for her what I did for you so many years ago and as a reward, I will ensure that you will not be burdened with her forever. You will be free.
Luna's eyes widened, the idea of the hate and aching loneliness she had felt on her moon given freely to another creature, griffon or not made her sick. "thou art insane."
We art practical, we art realistic. Would you like to live forever with this shame hanging over our household, letting you sister trample over the last vestiges of your good name you have left? Have you lost what is left of your pride by all the green in the field's! Think clearly Luna, stand up for yourself for Tatrus's sake!
Luna felt the words like a shot. Her brow furrowed in deep concentration. It sounded almost like her grandfather at the end there. "And what will you do with this freedom?" The smile that answered was almost wider than her face.
Isn't it obvious...nothing. We will go on our way, we will guide this cub, teach her, we are a helpful sort like that. Perhaps we will carve a little kingdom of our own in the griffon empire, who knows? After all, there are many ways to achieve the victory we want. But if you say yes, then we won't have to be so creative. We can win the war you wanted all those years ago, right now.
Luna's eyes widened, "What do you mean win the war?"
We shall let you figure it out, when you do, we will be there to guide you as we always have, think carefully about our deal. But not too long, we won't ask so kindly again after this.
Nightmare looked up over Luna's shoulder and then down at Luna and frowned.
Ahh, again? It seems someone wishes to butt into our little heart to heart. Well, we have said all you will willingly hear so we shall see you very soon my little Luna.
Luna blinked, then turned to where Nightmare was staring. Luna turned back just in time to hear the wicked cackling of Nightmare then a shadow passed over her and a giant wave came crashing down towards her and engulfed her entirely.
Luna coughed as water splashed across her face. She flailed until she was standing upright, peeling her soaking wet Snow White mane draped across her face as she lifted herself upright and glared around the pool.
"*cough* -what, who dares- *cough*?"
She glanced around and spotted nothing. No one was in the room but her. The cub was gone, she wasn't behind the bench and she wasn't by the water. She glanced around then saw a little claw sink below the water.
"Oh by the fields!" Luna yelled, without even thinking she dived into the water, a moment later she resurfaced, cub clutched to her chest as she swam to shallow water. Instinctively she began patting the cubs back until she heard coaching against her ear.
"What in Tartarus is wrong with you, do you know how dangerous that was!" She yelled, panic taking over any anger she felt. "Are thou a fool!"
The cub looked at her eyes wide, matted with water, tail curled between her legs and began to whimper, then began to cry. Lina watched the shivering cub in her hooves, her heart beating in her eardrums. Anger melted into Guilt at the sight of the infant in her hooves who was clearly just scared.
A flash of something flickered in her mind. A memory almost two thousand five hundred years old of herself crying, merely an infant, and a figure smelling of a cold winter night picking her up and holding her against his chest. Her father, night black fur and soft golden eyes.
The memory made her swallow hard and again almost without thought as she had done for days now. She held the cub close to her chest like he had done. This time her patting was replaced with a soft cooing.
"We are sorry, that was...that was wrong of us to yell." She said as the crying cub slowly began to sniffle out. Luna felt the cub clutching onto her fur and despite the claws and the snot, which she chose to ignore she felt relieved more than anything.
She pulled her away from her inspecting her little shaking body and in a softer chiding voice she said. "We cannot leave thee be for nay, five minutes without mortal peril it seems, what is it they say about curiosity and cats?" She manoeuvred a fallen feather from the cub's eyes and frowned.
"Cheep." The cub said, clutching onto one of her white locks.
"Yes, we have heard that one before." Luna said sardonically. Unlike Bucky, she could not understand the cub. But based on the water marks at the side of the pool edge which had otherwise been dry before she had fallen asleep, she could deduce what had happened.
Why that cub was so obsessed with her or her mane was anyone's guess. No she knew the answer she had seen in her dreams had she not. A spinning mobile of stars.
They were perhaps more similar than she had thought, both it seemed had only a hoof full of memory of their patients and neither of them were particularly fond memories.
She glanced down at the cub in her hooves. What had they said, only a year old? Without a home or a family. So young, too young. What had taken her parents so viciously. To attack a village like that. That would have been tantamount to a war crime even back in her time.
To do something now, well it took a level of hatred that Luna was sadly familiar with.
Luna sighed, watching as the cub made a mewing grabbing motion, Luna rolled her eyes and brought the cub back towards her chest. She might not have liked griffons at all. But she wasn't cruel enough to let some little child go without comfort after something so traumatising.
Not when she knew what that had felt like.
She leaned back against the pool edge as her own heart rate slowed, she heard splashing noises and glanced down at the cub who was watching the water with a suspicious glare. Her little claw moved through the water before moving away.
"Doth thou fear the water?" She asked.
"Huzz." The cub responded, holding onto her chest like a life raft. Luna winced at the feeling of the nails, her skin instinctively crawling at the touch. But she let herself calm down with a long slow breath. Another memory flashing to the forefront of her mind.
"Tis funny," she said, glancing towards the rippling water, "we too had a similar fear when we were a foal." She glanced down at the cub who was buried in her fur, "We had feared the lake by our castle, we heard stories from a noble stallions foal of a great kraken that made its dwelling at the bottom." Which was true, his name was Jeffrey but that was a story for a different time.
"We would dare ourselves to move closer towards it, but we would never step into the water. It became a game to the foals and I. But unlike them, I began to truly fear, we knew of the boundless depth of the dreamscape even then and unused to our powers the water seemed like a living manifestation of it. A depth of monsters and the unknown right by our own hooves." She held the dripping water in her hoof towards the cub who watched it with fearful childlike curiosity. "It came to a head one day when, in play one of the older foals pushed us into the water." She said splashing the pool for effect.
The cub flinched but looked back instantly, eyes feverishly watching her. Which brought a more sincere smile to her lips. "T'would Have been a most uncomfortable experience in itself, if I could swim...I could not."
She sighed, "twas grandfather and father that lifted me from the water. I began to weep and father brought me to his bosom, like you now." She said, giving the cub a playful squeeze eliciting a startled giggle.
"My first memory of my grandfather was of that moment," she said with a smile, "he had just come back from the war with the zebras and had witnessed my cowardice. I remember him taking us to the edge of the lake and do you know what he said, "no kin of mine shall live in fear, tis better face than to live with the fear of it." She said in a voice aping her grandfather, "And then to the shock of all, Grandfather, still in his full regalia, he put me on his back and dived into the water with us."
As she said this she slowly submerged herself into the water, with the cub still at her chest until both were at shoulder height, the cub began shaking and scurried towards her but Luna gently but firmly held her still. "Shh," she said as placating As she could. "You are not in danger, tis all in your mind." She said parroting what her grandfather had told her all those years ago.
She held the cub up in the water by her little stomach, instinctively the cub kicked and thrashed, but slowly, slowly her movements began to normalise, her thrashing turned to strokes in the water.
"There, you see, fear is only of the mind." She said with a gentle laugh, "that is exactly what we did as well," she smiled at the memory. Grandfather had been a lot less strict back when she was that small. Back when her father, his son had still been around.
Luna caught herself frowning trapped in her brooding thoughts. So much so she didn't even notice when her hoof felt suddenly lighter. She gasped looking down and saw that the cub was gone. She turned, heart in her throat she spun again at the sound of giggling and caught sight of the little hatchling doggy paddling around behind her.
"How did..." she said astonished, "thou art truly a fast learner."
"Huzz." She said swimming towards Luna who caught her in her hooves.
"Wait... are you trying to say Huzzah?"
"Huzz."
Luna sputtered into a laugh, "not like that, one must say it with gusto. Like...Huzzah!"
"Huzz-ah." The cub said slowly, her yellow eyes looking up at her.
"Yes, like that, but more feeling, like the feeling one gets when they charge into the front rank of an enemy or fools a rival into total submission. Like this, HUZZAH!" She shouted up at the rooftops.
"Huz- Huz-"
"Yes-yes."
"Huzz-Huzzah!"
"Yes, again,"
"Huzzah." The cub gave an infantile giggle, claws clapping.
"Good, good, that's more like it, from the chest now."
"Huzzah." She said again, still giggling.
Luna lifted her up into the air, "yes, Huzzah indeed, thou has mastered it." She laughed long and loudly, then as her eyes opened and she paused. Something in her peripherals made her stop, not a monster or a nightmare, but a reflection in the water, she caught herself in the water. The sight of it made her breath catch.
For a moment she saw her grandfather holding her in the air, smiling at her. Then she blinked and saw a night blue Alicorn holding a little griffon in the air, the same smile on her face as he had. A teacher and a pupil, a daughter and her guardian.
The sight of that reflection for that greatest of moments before the water rippled and the image was gone sent a wave of excitement and terror as she simply stood there in the cave submerged in a pool of lapping water. |
Big-Hearted Princesses | pre | It was practically becoming commonplace to see the princesses as giants!
"Oh, what am I saying?" Twilight said, standing up from her desk and starting to pace in a circle. "The princesses? Giants? Come on! That's just silly! Sure, everypony knows about Princess Celestia smothering cities, of course! That's normal! But then this thing with Luna, and that thing with Cadance, I mean, those had to be one-time things, right?"
Twilight's pace circle quickened a bit.
"I mean, okay, I might be getting funny looks now, but when haven't I? Ever since Princess Celestia made ME an alicorn, I've hardly been left alone out in public! Every day, somepony asking for my autograph, or wanting a picture, or giving me a couple dirty looks...
"Not that that's really anything new, anyways!"
With a nervous laugh, Twilight's hand slid across the fabric of her purple skirt, her ass getting a gentle tease. Then a not-so-gentle one a moment later. She blushed, even biting her lip. The thought of Celestia's breasts descending towards her compelled her to make another squeeze.
Twilight did need something to ease all this tension. By the time she'd taken to reading softcore porn for her "research," even she would admit that she was a little tense.
Part of that was where she was grabbing. Her ass. Her big purple ass.
Twilight's booty had always been relatively big for a mare of her height. It was the one thing that made anypony make a pass at her when she was still just an ordinary unicorn. And while Twilight might have made the occasional objection, she still kept a variety of short skirts neatly stacked away in her closet.
When she had become an alicorn all that time ago, though, that's when the eyes really went low. Her ascension from a mortal into a goddess had come with all sorts of changes. She'd gotten almost a foot taller. Her horn had gotten longer too, making her look like she'd gained even more height. The wings on her back were an obvious addition. Her modest breasts had gone from dull to at least decent, though nothing like the kind of perfection that were Celestia's.
But that ass? Her hips had gotten wider just to accommodate it. The way it softly jiggled with every step she took, bouncing hypnotically underneath her skirts was impossible to ignore; Twilight just had learned to live with it. Thank goodness Rarity had been on hand to help adjusts her whole wardrobe after the ascension, too. Even if she had taken Twilight's measurements a few too many times... "just to be sure."
No doubt about it, Twilight's little squeezes of her round rump and her sharp breaths were giving herself away. She had to relieve this so she could keep getting on with her work. With a soft glow of her horn, she closed the window and the door.
The only trouble was that there was nothing in the room that jumped out at her as a way to help relieve her stress. Twilight didn't keep much in the way of the perverse in her bedroom. If any of her friends found it, she'd probably die from embarrassment. And if Pinkie Pie or Rainbow Dash found it, the whole town might get word of it. Better safe than sorry.
"Maybe it would be best to just get back to my notes," Twilight thought as she slowly trotted back to her desk. As much as she tried to put the thought out of her mind, the wiggle of her hips down into her chair brought it right back.
That's when Twilight noticed one of the pieces of parchment she'd left on her desk, one curled up in the corner. It was a letter that had arrived a few nights ago from Princess Celestia. The one containing two very notable spells. The spells she used to become the giant that everyone in Equestria loved.
Twilight took the scroll in her hands, looking over it a few times. She grasped the spells very quickly, student of magic that she was. Why else had Celestia sent her this, unless... She wanted Twilight to use it. She wanted Twilight to become a giant, like she'd been so many thousands of times before.
Twilight wiggled her hips down in her chair.
Now seemed like the perfect time for a quick test run.
Starlight Glimmer tugged at the collar of her jacket as she walked up the stairs towards Twilight's bedroom. The things she had read from her sweet Sunburst's letter had made her face turn a hundred different shades of red. Public sex, giant princesses, lewd displays of magic power... And that was just in the first half of the letter! That, and the things she read in the newspaper made Starlight have whole range of what she preferred to call "conflicting emotions."
Even with the blush spreading across her face, Starlight still trudged towards the bedroom doors. Twilight was a princess, and had to know something about how it all worked. Starlight was particularly curious about it. If only for a brief flash of herself laying over her former sanctuary village, hundreds of citizens trapped as they helplessly tried to fight off her advancing spells... Making every last one of those traitors remember the name of...
Starlight quickly shook her head as she reached the double crystal doors.
Her hand tentatively grabbed the door handle until she heard a guttural moan from inside Twilight's bedroom. Starlight paused, taking a moment before she leaned in, putting her ear to the door. There was silence, until another groan just a few seconds later.
Starlight knew she shouldn't, but curiosity got the better of her. Very slowly, she opened the door just a crack and looked inside.
Her eyes instantly shot to the size of dinner plates.
Inside her room, Twilight was stark naked, reaching up to the thirty-foot ceiling, the curtains drawn and the lights out. What little light there was streamed through an open crack in the curtains, reflecting onto Twilight's bare chest. Her hand was between her legs, the other rubbing one of her tits with a feverish passion.
Her eyes were closed. Her head was rolled back. Her voice was getting gradually louder, briefly echoing down the hallways. Twilight's hooves were pushing down against the floor. Thin beads of sweat formed on her forehead.
Through it all, Starlight stood in the thinly-opened doorway, transfixed in a mixture of shock and fascination. The letter from Sunburst had already sent her mind racing; now, it was playing out in front of her. Starlight's pulse quickened, and she felt herself breathe in sharply. It was only a quick but hard grab of the door handle that brought her back to reality. Spying on her teacher, masturbating as a giantess? Perhaps it was just better to retreat to her room with a little time for herself... with maybe a little time for a stop in the library for a few spell books.
Just as Starlight tried backing out, a loud screech pierced the air. Starlight jumped, darting her eyes towards the source of the scream, and found Twilight staring straight at her. In all of her eyes wandering, Starlight had forgotten to check if Twilight had actually noticed her. The two of them stayed perfectly still in awkward silence for what felt like hours.
Starlight was the first to speak up, brushing her hands over her clothes and trying to straighten herself up.
"T-Twilight! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to interrupt! I just got this letter from Sunburst, and I wanted to... I-I mean uh..." said Starlight, uselessly trying to untie the knots in her tongue as Twilight could only stare in embarrassment.
After a long clearing of her throat, Starlight began again, this time trying to keep her eyes off of Twilight. "There was this... letter from Sunburst, telling me what happened in the Crystal Empire... About Princess Cadance becoming a... a giantess..."
This time, Starlight couldn't help but look at Twilight. She hadn't noticed that her breathing was still getting heavier, and that she was standing with her legs gently crossed. The smell of sex hung over the air in Twilight's bedroom. And even at only twenty-five feet, Starlight was entranced. Twilight could see Starlight fidgeting with her clothes in the doorway.
"A-And how the whole kingdom had turned into a massive fuckfest!" said Starlight, blushing as she suddenly heard herself use such coarse language around Twilight. "I-I mean... nngh, sorry, all of a sudden, it's getting so hard to think..."
Twilight's embarrassment had begun to fade once she saw Starlight's rapid change in mood and behavior. The princesses had always inspired passion in their subjects, even before Celestia's smotherings began. Twilight's own theory about alicorns appeared to be playing out right before her eyes. But could it really be this strong?
Twilight simply had to know.
"Starlight?" Twilight said quietly, or as quietly as she could for being over three times her normal size. Starlight, for her part, kept blushing, grabbing the door handle and starting to pull it closed. She just had to go before this got any more awkward.
"Starlight!" Twilight said again, much more forcefully this time. Starlight stopped, the door now open just a crack, momentarily frozen in place.
"Starlight. I want you to come into my room."
There was hesitation as Starlight opened the door again, slowly looking up to meet Twilight's eyes. To emphasize her point, the torches slowly lit up, spreading light through the room. It was easy to see Twilight's nude alicorn form on display now, and Starlight winced. She almost wanted to back out again, but she couldn't, transfixed on her teacher's body.
"Starlight..." Twilight said, their eyes meeting this time. "Take a deep breath, come into this room, and close the door behind you."
Twilight's horn wasn't glowing. There was no magical manipulation. Even so, Starlight felt compelled to do as she was told, slowly stepping into the room with a deep breath, closing the door with telekinesis. She never took her eyes away from Twilight's. Her breathing was growing into deep draws of air, the smell of sex stronger than ever.
Twilight pulled her hand away from her chest, rubbing a small section of the floor between her legs. "Come here, Starlight."
There was still the odd hesitation or moment of doubt, but nothing that told Twilight that Starlight wouldn't listen. Starlight stopped between Twilight's legs, biting her lip and quivering. Her arousal was gradually becoming even more obvious, tugging at the collar of her jacket, her eyes on Twilight's pussy. Her breaths were taken in sharp bursts, drawing in the smell of the heated air around her.
"Twilight... please..." said Starlight. The way her eyes were fluttering made it hard to tell if she was trying to fight it, or wanting more.
Twilight felt her face flush ever so slightly. She had to say a few silent praises to Celestia and Luna. It must be so tempting to use this kind of power on somepony else, one they'd have felt for far longer. They must have even more remarkable restraint than Twilight thought.
"Starlight." Twilight sat up as straight as the ceiling would allow, her long horn tapping against the crystals. "Take off your panties."
Starlight's eyes snapped up to Twilight's. Even so, her horn was already glowing, her legs bunched together.
"With your hands," Twilight said with authority.
"B-But... I..." Starlight muttered, trailing off into a whisper while her fingertips slid beneath her skirt, slowly pulling down a set of white panties past her hooves and onto the floor. Her panties were followed closely by her skirt, then her jacket, her shirt, her bra, and everything else she had on, one piece of clothing at a time, until she was stripped naked.
Starlight didn't even feel embarrassed anymore. By the time she's stripped herself down, her hand was rubbing between her legs, walking ever closer between Twilight's.
"Starlight?" Twilight said in a low voice. Starlight didn't answer. Instead, she could only reach up and start rubbing over Twilight's folds, twirling her tongue around the large clit before her. The taste of Twilight instantly flooded into her mouth from the damp folds before her, only prompting Starlight to start swirling her tongue quickly.
"S-Star...! NNGH! Starlight!" said Twilight with a gasp as her wet pussy instantly began to leak its juice across Starlight's smaller body. The smell that had made Starlight so helplessly horny stuck to her coat as Twilight drenched her, her grip tightening and her breathing growing heavy.
"T-This, this is... oh goddess, I need you so bad!" Starlight shouted from below as she was slicked up by the juice. Her mane matted down, her coat sticking to her skin, all she could do was lick and rub, savoring the taste of Twilight's sweetness. As she lost herself to her maddened lust, suddenly Sunburst's letter began to make sense. She wanted to lick, and never stop licking.
Twilight pushed her hands against the wall. She hadn't counted on how sensitive she would be at this size. The Harmless spell was all that was keeping her from breaking the walls apart with her earth pony strength. Starlight's tongue felt divine. Every lick sent a shot of pleasure through every nerve in Twilight's huge body. Even the tiny rubs of Starlight's hands felt good enough to make Twilight want to scream to the heavens. Her legs began to close in around Starlight, a mountain of soft purple skin surrounding Starlight on all sides.
As the heat from Twilight's pussy grew hotter, Starlight's horn glowed, sending a small beam of pleasure directly into Twilight's drenched folds. Instantly, Twilight shouted her approval, rocking her fat ass back against the wall with a rumble. The beam came again, to another sinful shout of incredible lust.
Starlight panted. What she was about to do might have been crazy. But that didn't matter. All that mattered now was pleasing Twilight. Her horn gave off a bright teal glow before unleashing her magic in a constant beam, blasting Twilight's pussy with its blissful power.
Twilight screamed.
Her honey flooded from her pussy in large waves over Starlight. Twilight's fists slammed into the walls, lost in divine release. Starlight was soaked in the tide, the taste and the smell of sex permeating the room. She never stopped licking, never stopped rubbing, never stopped her magical bliss for Twilight.
The room was quickly flooded. Twilight's flow covered the tile floor in honey, leaking under the door and spilling down the stairs. The flow in her room gradually rose as the orgasm continued endlessly, everything it touch growing damp with Twilight's scent. The power of the alicorn's musk overwhelmed Starlight, driven into maddened passion by it all, helplessly humping herself against the drenching folds. Starlight's own pussy was convulsing in orgasm, every cry of lust filling her mouth met with more honey for her to swallow.
Twilight's horn began to glow. This was bliss. But it could be better. She wanted more. Pumping her magic into her body, Twilight hunched over as she filled the room, the pleasure from Starlight's beam keeping her release constant.
As she became cramped inside of the room, Twilight managed to open one of her eyes to see her student faithfully licking, rubbing and zapping between her legs, the alicorn lust overtaking her. Twilight wasn't done, but there was nowhere else to go.
Unless...
Outside.
"S-Starlight!" Twilight said through sharp breaths. "I-I can't...! UNNNH! I have t-to get outside!"
As Twilight's horn glowed, one last powerful wave of juice knocked Starlight off of her hooves onto the floor with a splash. And in an instant, Twilight vanished. A faint flash from the teleport burst was all that was left to accompany Starlight.
"N-No! Don't... aaaah... d-don't go...!"
Starlight's hand dove between her legs, rubbing hard. Even with Twilight gone, the smell of the divine orgasm was everywhere. Starlight could only rub for dear life. Her other hand clasped a huge tit, playing with her nipple. Her tongue hung from her mouth as she panted. Every inhale drove the lust on.
Starlight's pussy quivered again as her own tiny squirts of juice were added to the flood. Her hand didn't relent. Her fingers pounded deep inside of her folds. She laid half-submerged in the lake of Twilight's honey. She didn't stop. She couldn't stop.
She never wanted to stop.
Ponyville Public Park always had its fair share of visitors in the afternoon. Especially now, as ponies gathered to watch the leaves turn brown, and felt the warm summer heat give way to cool, gentle breezes.
For Rainbow Dash, this was the perfect weather for napping. Her hands rested lazily behind her head as she floated high above the park on a fluffy white cloud. Her eyelids felt heavy as she drifted in and out of consciousness, a smile curled across her face. Rainbow never needed much of an excuse to take it easy, but a clear schedule meant that all those lost hours of napping could finally be made up for.
Just as Rainbow's eyes closed again, there was a sudden loud burst that rang across the town, followed by a few startled creams. Rainbow's eyes shot open, frantically darting to her hooves on the cloud.
"What in Tartarus was that!?" She checked the skies for any signs of things fired from a party cannon. No fireworks, confetti streams or poppers in sight; this wasn't the work of Pinkie Pie.
And then Rainbow looked down.
Twilight gasped, still clutching between her legs as she appeared outside in the open space. With Starlight's licking finally gone, she began to slowly catch her breath, even as the ponies all around her gasped. The sight of Twilight lewdly clutching herself drew the eyes of everypony in the park to her. It hadn't occurred to Twilight in her desperation that she'd be spreading these alicorn pheromones across anyone who got close. The little bit of juice she'd already leaked onto her palms was enough to catch everypony in quite a ways from her.
And that included above her. As Rainbow stared down from her perch in the clouds, her embarrassment turned to curiosity, flying down in front of Twilight's chest.
"Er, Twilight? You, uh, wanna tell me what's going on?" said Rainbow, gently beating her wings, sending a breeze that slightly cooled Twilight off. She opened her eyes to see Rainbow, taking in deep breaths and exhaling slowly. The ponies beneath her had begun a slow approach, a crowd starting to form.
Twilight looked down at them all. From where she was sitting, they all looked so tiny. But she knew, thanks to the Harmless spell, that she couldn't hurt them. She'd pushed against the walls of her castle in unrestrained lust. They'd be alright if she...
"Ummm... Twilight? You there? What's going on?" Rainbow said, louder than before.
Finally, Twilight looked down at Rainbow. Twilight's eyes were half-lidded, pushing her big purple ass against the cool grass underneath her.
"I need more."
Rainbow's brow shot up. "More what?"
"More!" Twilight shouted, her horn suddenly pulsing with magic. "I need more! More! MORE!"
Twilight grew as the Size Shift spell shot through her body. Before Rainbow could even shout her objections, Twilight's chest had already pushed against her, sending Rainbow clutching onto Twilight's chest as she kept increasing in size. Down below, her booty grew across the grass, her legs spreading out further. The trees swayed and bent from the power of the Harmless spell as Twilight poured more power into her horn.
"Nnnngh! T-Twi... light!" Rainbow said while trying to break free of Twilight's body, drawing in heavy breaths as she pushed and struggled. She was far from the only one, as several ponies were smothered beneath the growing ass of Twilight, stuck underneath huge, growing mounds of softness. In just those mere moments, Twilight had outgrown Town Hall, and was still getting bigger.
The sight of Twilight growing larger, along with her moaning and grunting, was impossible to ignore. Most of the initial reaction wasn't panic, but confusion. They had known Princess Celestia to smother their town, but Twilight? Nopony was quite sure what to make of this literally growing problem... Until they saw Twilight's fingertips push between her legs. The scent washed over them in an instant as the beautiful alicorn drew closer and closer to town.
Twilight could have theorized about how she was driving everypony mad with lust, but her mind was more clouded than anypony's. Her huge soft ass had grown over the row of homes and shops around the town. At this size, her pussy was leaking continuously, the flow increasing as she kept getting bigger. Even a moment of her orgasms would be enough to flood a single house down below. Her screams of lust could be heard as far away as Cloudsdale. The ponies trapped underneath her had taken to grabbing onto Twilight's softness, licking and trying to pleasure her as much as their bodies would allow.
Somewhere in the back of Twilight's mind, she knew how indecent this was. Writhing, moaning and growing, rubbing herself off in public for everyone to see with her ass sliding across their homes? And just as quickly as those concerns popped up, her volcanic lust shot them down and buried them deep inside her mind.
The town of Ponyville wasn't far behind her. In their home, Bon Bon had grabbed Lyra's top and literally ripped it off of her, while Lyra had blasted away Bon Bon's dress. The two lovers grasped and sloppily kissed on their bed, all pretense of lovemaking dropped. They wanted each other with maddened passions, and nothing was going to stop them.
Twilight still wanted more.
"Everypony... hold oooonnnnnNNNNNGH!!"
Twilight's horn glowed bright enough to light up the afternoon sky as she rocketed up in height. The maroon light blanketed the town for a few moments before Twilight's booty did, her explosive growth rendering her close to the size of Celestia the last time she'd smothered Ponyville.
Twilight was in Heaven.
Celestia stood on her balcony, an amused smirk curled across her face.
"We are glad you find this so amusing!" said Luna, pouting at Celestia as she buttoned her pajamas. "Tis the middle of the afternoon, Tia, and you wake us up to see Twilight Sparkle growing out of control?!"
"Oh, Lulu, must you always be such a stick in the mud? It's only my faithful student trying to follow in my hoofsteps."
"That is hardly what we would call this debauchery, Tia! The way she's growing, she might not stop until... Well... She might just get TOO big!"
"First of all, my dear sister, there is no such thing as 'too big' for a princess," said Celestia, the purple dot on the horizon gradually getting larger. "Second, Twilight is responsible. Look; see how Ponyville's intact? She's already cast Harmless on herself, just like she was supposed to."
Celestia smirked. "Besides... If you're so concerned about damage, what was that flood all about?"
Luna's cheeks turned a burning shade of red, unable to counter that.
"Still..." said Celestia, who had turned her eyes up to the clouds, "I think I have an idea of how to get her back on track. Try not to stain the walls in your room while I'm gone!"
Luna opened her mouth to scold her sister, but Celestia was already gone with a golden burst of teleportation. Luna scoffed, looking down from the balcony again, trying to ignore the throbbing beneath her dress that was getting stronger.
Twilight had collapsed onto her back, jolts of pleasure shooting through her nerves constantly. Her pussy alone was enough to swallow the entire town of Ponyville twice over, covering it in a torrent of her honey. Her right hand feverishly worked between her folds, her left hand squeezing a breast that was bigger than ten of her castles. All the while, her horn pulsed with incredible magic, making her grow in constant bursts, each one adding more size than the last one.
"Nnnnngh! G-Gonna... UNNNH!" Twilight grunted, feeling her town gradually rubbing across her ass. A few more pulses of size, and she couldn't even notice it anymore.
The rest of Equus had begun to notice Twilight's ascension as well. Some of the planet could see her coming towards them on the horizon, and more of it could hear her moans echoing through the air.
Twilight's eyes were shut tight. She didn't need to see how big she was anymore. She could feel it. Every moment she grew bigger, she could hear someone else moaning and grunting, calling out her name. Her lips curled into a perverse smile.
A single word echoed across the planet.
"More."
Twilight's hands slammed down onto the surface of the continent below her, starting to sit up. Her horn was glowing as bright as Celestia's sun, pumping more and more magic through her body. She cast and recast the Size Shift and Harmless spells constantly, sending a delightful tingle down her back that kept her wings uncurled. Even without orgasm, her pussy was leaking a flood of her juice, covering the measly continent below her. The vast empire that was her purple booty spread across the land, covering anything it touched in a thick, soft pillow of divine flesh.
"More!"
Twilight felt her hooves splash into the ocean on the western side of Equestria, her hands behind her entering the eastern ocean. She was as big as the entire continent.
Much of it had already been overtaken by the insane lust that currently gripped Ponyville. In Manehattan, as Twilight's butt filled the horizon, Suri Polomare was bent over the table of a coffee shop, her skirt yanked down to her hooves, scratching across the table and grunting. The pony ramming her tight ass, Java Bean, panted as she stared out the window at the growing show that was Princess Twilight, Java Bean's hard cock twitching and swelling inside of Suri's ass.
In Griffonstone, Gilda dug her talons deep into the earth as she was rammed into the ground from behind, her ass squeezed by a particularly cute male griffon. Her wings flapped as another griffon landed in front of her, desperate to find a hole on someone that wasn't taken. He stuffed his cock into Gilda's beak without a word, who happily obliged him, grabbing his legs and sucking down his shaft.
Dragon Lord Ember's hands gripped two draconic dicks, jerking them furiously as her pussy and her ass were both slammed by two more. Her mouth was stuffed with a dragon cock almost as big as her arm, yet she still fervently gulped and licked across the tip. Several of her bigger subjects had taken to rutting each other, the former lord Torch threatening to cover all of them with a volcanic eruption of cum at any moment. He had already leaked enough lakes of seed while holding back his loads to cover the mountains in it. The other dragons all licking his balls with their tongues and the flames was only making them bigger. They had to hurry; that massive wall of purple was growing ever closer, and would be here any moment...
Twilight loved it. Everything about it. Driving everyone into this massive fuckfest. The burning heat in her pussy. The lakes of her glorious juice that flowed into the oceans of Equus. The smothering of her home continent beneath her titanic ass. Now they knew. They all knew how perfect her booty was. Not even Celestia came close.
"MOOOOORE!"
Twilight's hands raised into the sky, a blinding flash of maroon light covering the planet. An instant later, her booty had spread across the oceans to the Dragonlands. Even the craggy mountains and the hundreds of huge dragons could do nothing to stop the advance of her ass, covering all of them. The mighty dragon Torch couldn't make so much as an itch in her softness, grabbing on with his claws and humping is way into bliss.
Soon, Twilight saw the clouds parting and the sky growing darker. The starry expanse of space drew close as she felt herself beginning to drift off the planet, her tremendous weight now greater than that of her home. Slowly, Twilight felt herself pull away from Equus, leaving the ground with a low rumble in the planet's core. Her magnificent moon of a booty slid away from its prize as she drifted away, her nethers still leaking thousands upon thousands of gallons of her cum. At her size, she barely felt it.
What she could feel was her fingers pounding into her tight pussy. Over and over, she worked herself faster and harder than she thought possible at this size. She opened her eyes for just a moment. There it was. Space. She was bigger than a planet. And she still wasn't stopping.
She was growing so fast that her ass moved back towards Equus. Her smooth rump curled its silky soft cheeks against the planet as she grew. The ocean's waves rocked against her ass. A gentle squeeze sent vibrations through every land mass.
The towns of the world had devolved into massive orgies. Every mare and colt that wasn't slamming one another was grabbing the immense purple ass as it rolled back over their planet. Even Luna had taken to mindlessly humping. Her cock was gushing a load even greater than the night Celestia had grown. Cadance was desperately slamming herself down onto her husband's throbbing cock. They didn't speak beyond grunts and moans, staring into each other's eyes.
It was the first time since her ascension that Twilight really understood what it meant to be a goddess. She had never felt more powerful. She had never felt more sexy. She wasn't even embarrassed anymore. No, she wanted everypony to look at her. Not just look at her, but worship her. For everypony wanted to know just how good this felt. She wanted everyone down on their knees and begging her for the pleasure, the honor, the privilege of seeing that enormous mound of an ass.
Twilight's last release finally came. Oceans of her honey flowed into the depths of space, her head tilted back, screaming. She grabbed a tit as large as Equestria itself, her entire body on fire with orgasmic bliss. As her juices spilled back across the heavens, the planet was smothered in softness from Twilight's rippling ass.
Twilight couldn't even remember when she'd started cumming, or for how long, as her nerves finally relented and allowed her to rest. All she knew was that she'd gone from the size of her castle to outgrowing Equus itself. She opened her eyes again, adjusting to the darkness, still panting and catching her breath. A sharp few inhales made Twilight's sharp mind finally turn back on, suddenly confused.
"Wait a moment," said Twilight to the void. "I'm in space. Ponies can't breathe in space! How could I be catching my breath, let alone breathing at all?"
"An astute observation as always, Twilight," said a sultry voice from behind her.
Twilight recognized the voice instantly. A lump formed in her throat as she slowly turned her head to see. And when she saw her, Twilight's eyes went wider than Luna's moon.
Celestia's continental smirk betrayed her as her hands rested on her waist. As huge as Twilight had grown, Celestia was far bigger, with Twilight floating between her hips and the bottom of her enormous breasts. Celestia's sun shining far in the distance almost made her glow as the star's light hit her pure white coat.
"Ah! P-Princess!" Twilight stammered, her face turning a bright red as she tried to cover her chest and her crotch with her hands. "I was... uh, I was only..."
Celestia's arms crossed over her titanic tits. "Smothering a planet?"
Twilight's face turned a brighter red, only now realizing that the planet was still resting against her ass. She quickly pulled herself away, letting it get back onto its orbit and releasing the lustful grip on the world.
"Sorry!" said Twilight. "I don't know what came over me! I just started casting those spells, and this... urge came over me unlike anything I'd ever felt before! I wanted to grow, and grow, and never stop! I'm sorry, Princess!"
Celestia chuckled to herself, her right hand gently clasping Twilight and bringing her close to chest level. "Oh, you have nothing to apologize for. Believe me, Twilight, I understand. That's what it felt like to me the first time I grew. I must admit, I've always wanted to see what kind of limit there was on these spells. Now I know there's no such thing, thanks to you. Well done... Princess."
Celestia's thumb started kneading itself into the softness of Twilight's booty, making the student stifle a moan, biting her lips. The blush across Twilight's face stayed just as hot.
"As for breathing in space? That was me applying a little safety net while you were distracted. I didn't want to interrupt your fun, so I had to cast the spell without you noticing," said Celestia, bringing Twilight in close to her chest.
"P-Princess Celestia... I..." said Twilight quietly as her hands reached out to the huge white breasts before her, kneading her palms against the jiggling beauty.
"Shhh... Just relax, my dear. You've had quite a day."
Twilight slowly nodded her head against the canyon-like cleavage in Celestia's boobs, still gently kneading the beautiful tits in her hands. Twilight's eyes drifted closed, only the occasional soft moan escaping. Celestia's smile went wider, looking from Twilight to their small home planet, then out to the stars that surrounded them.
An infinite plane, full of an infinite number of planets and stars, with infinite room to grow.
The smile on her face was almost as bright as the sun itself. |
In the Moon’s Platinum Glow | pre | Platinum walked around the implied question and lit her lamp. She burned it almost daily, though she didn't have to--just the aesthetics of it felt right. "I do listen to you."
"But you've been manp--manplu... controlling everypony around you. If even I can see it..."
The moon thought nopony would notice. But if ponies did notice and still wouldn't challenge her on it, wasn't that better? A clearer indication of where she stood with them?
"Please stop," Pallas said. Her own sister! Why would she question this?
With a ragged sigh, Platinum covered her eyes. "I don't expect you to understand, but you will. I'm pleased at how you've matured, but you still have much to learn, particularly in how we need to deal with the treachery of friends. Or have you forgotten that one of my own unicorns tried to kill me?" Odd, Platinum seemed to have forgotten that as well. Presumably, Celadon still languished in some fetid corner of the dungeon.
"How could I forget that?" Pallas erupted, clutching her head and smearing her tears across her face. "I was so scared, and I thought I'd lost you, and it gave me horrible nightmares!"
"I know--" No, Pallas wouldn't have known that was actually Platinum in her dreams. "I know how hard that must have been for you. But we learn from our mistakes, and we never make them again. I trusted too many ponies, and now I look out for my own interests. And that includes you. If--" her voice trembled, and she might have slapped herself for that show of weakness "--if Aurora al-also..."
"I like her," Pallas whimpered. "She loves you, and I love you, and she makes you somepony I love even more."
Platinum started back from the windowsill to put on her nightgown, but Pallas stood in the way, so she shoved her sister aside roughly, and Pallas yelped as the sharp corner of the bedpost struck her.
"You're not the Nummy I know!" Pallas screeched, rubbing her injured arm. "I want my sister back!"
Instantly, Platinum was upon her, pinning her to the mattress. "Don't you mouth off to me!" Platinum shrieked. "You just want to usurp what's mine! High Enchantress, Princess, My Light!"
She kept a foreleg pressed across Pallas's chest while raising the other. Her teeth ground, her heart raced, she squeezed her eyes shut until they hurt, and then she finally looked again.
Pallas stared back, her lip quivering and her eyes wide as if an Ursa Major had just charged her. Her throat spasmed, and she coughed out, "Wh-what is 'My Light?'"
Platinum blinked, and her own eyes widened. She fought to breathe, trembling uncontrollably at the sight below her: Pallas, in abject terror of her. Not her own sister...
She gagged and nearly vomited, biting down on her tongue to keep any more words in, but her teeth: pointed, sharp. Her own blood painted her lower lip as skillfully as Sugar Plum ever could, and it dripped onto the sheets, next to... next to the trickle from Pallas's arm. Her own sister!
As loud as she could, Platinum screamed into the night, staggered over to the windowsill, clutched at her skull, where the things told her what to do to Pallas, but she wouldn't! She swung out with a hoof and smashed her lamp off its perch, sending flaming oil across the floor. Fire licked at her hooves, and she picked up the lamp in her magic, beating it against the wall, though it didn't so much as scratch the finish, but no matter--she poured the last trace of its contents on her face, at the base of her horn, and it burned, so sweetly, so purely that it wrenched her into a moment of clarity. Peaceful, like the moon, while enduring the sun.
Pallas flung a blanket over her and tried to beat the conflagration away. Platinum was sure she'd told Pallas to run, to get out of danger, to save herself, but another blanket and another piled on, small hooves pounding at the flames, and the guards burst in.
The darkness, the red, red darkness in her little smothering domain! Had it come to this? Had she failed the moon so utterly that she'd never feel its chill again? If only she had done what it asked, rid herself of Aurora, of Pallas, but she couldn't, she couldn't, and it had judged her unworthy. She could accept it with peace as her final act in service to her silver-faced sister from the heavens, be My Radiance one last time.
Then her consciousness finally surrendered to the seething red.
It sounded like water.
As children, Platinum's mother would place her and Pallas in the bath together, and they would duck their heads beneath the bubbly froth to call to each other underwater. Pallas would giggle about it endlessly, but the sound of it always put Platinum in mind of a dream, the way it felt both distant and eminently present at once. She could have listened to it forever, its strange echo, until she remembered her need to breathe, and perhaps continued to stay submerged a bit too long as her ears rang and her vision sparkled.
It sounded like water: "My Light?"
Platinum gasped. She quickly lifted her head off the pillow, but immediately realized the mistake of it. Her skull throbbed, and her horn felt like somepony had scoured it with sandpaper.
"My Light?"
Even under the thick covers, Platinum shivered. "I am sorry. I failed you," she said.
"No! You could never fail me! You are My Light! I love you like a child--you are very dear to me."
"But I didn't--" She didn't what? Everything in her memory felt like looking through a tangle of cobwebs.
"Just rest. I am so happy that you are alright! If anything had happened..."
"I'm alright?" Platinum attempted to lift her head again and glance herself over, but she had no more success than before. She didn't feel alright.
"I will let your physician tell you, but yes."
She managed to roll onto her side, and more of the familiar entered her view: the large mahogany wardrobe, her jewelry work table, her full-length mirror. She was in her own room! And there on the floor beside her bed, Pallas slumbered all wrapped up in a blanket, with a thin frown on her face. The foreleg protruding out had a thick bandage on it.
Only then did a flint-spark dance on her memory: fire, all around. A heat of righteous fury, but only a trace of black showed on the stone floor. None of the furniture burned that she could see, but the end of the bed curved out of her vantage, and one of the area rugs had disappeared.
At least her arms didn't throb as badly as her head, so she lifted the covers a bit and patted around her body. Some bandages, but nothing too extensive. She would live, apparently, but for what? To face the moon's judgment again? She still couldn't dredge up any sense of her transgression.
Pallas stirred, and Platinum cast a gentle smile upon her. "Good morning, Sister."
Such an expansive grin! "Nummy!" she called as she sprang up and locked Platinum in a hug. But she flinched back. "Sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you."
"No, dear, I'm actually feeling reasonably well, despite a rather persistent headache. I'm told I will be alright?"
"Who told you?" Pallas asked, but Platinum simply made a vague gesture toward the door, which she seemed to accept. "Yeah, just superficial burns, and in a couple weeks, you'd never know by looking. The worst was the burn around your horn, but it'll heal, too, and--" she leaned in as if sharing a secret "--it shouldn't scar."
Of course Pallas knew that would concern her, but suddenly Platinum felt a bit ashamed for it. As her eyes drifted down, she saw no sign of an additional blanket on the floor. With the salve on her burns giving off its scent, she might not have noticed any other smells, but for want of a trace of hyacinth, she did peer across the floor one more time.
Pallas backed off a half-pace, and her lip trembled. "What was that? It was like you were somepony else."
Yes, Platinum had that sense as well, but still without a realization of why. "A-Aurora...?"
Pallas shook her head gravely. "I'm sorry. She's gone." Then she leaned back in for another hug. "I still believe in you, though."
And she always would, if Platinum had a voice in the matter. But Aurora... She held back tears as long as she could; it only served to intensify the hammering on her temples, so she stopped trying, and she shook against Pallas's shoulder. With a heavy breath, Pallas squeezed her.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Platinum said. "Of all the rare and beautiful things in the royal treasury, you are the one that means the most to me. If I could, I would tell you so much--I want you by my side, as much as I wanted... Aurora..." She couldn't say any more. In time, in time she would tell all, she would let her sister join her in the most wonderful secret she had ever discovered, and they could raise the moon side by side, in front of their entire nation. The unicorn princesses, the only ones granted the moon's favor and the mandate to bring peace to all tribes. Aurora would see as well, her fears misplaced and her confidence in her lover restored. All this, if only she refused to cede her lunar duties.
A soft knock at the door--Platinum sniffled and wiped away her tears. "Yes?"
"May I speak with you?" a male voice said through the door. No mistaking that resonant tenor: Star Swirl. He would have made a good cantor, too.
"Enter." But not only did Star Swirl stride in--he had the two young alicorns in tow!
"It is a great relief to see you in this good a condition," he said with a nod. However, he still had a darkness cast about his brow. "I have concerns." Leave it to him to employ such a blunt instrument.
"As do I," Platinum replied. She sat up, never loosing her embrace on Pallas, and while the effort did her headache no modicum of good, it did bring a moment of clarity. Along with that having been the case sometime else recently, but the reason why continued to elude her, to tease her.
No matter.
"I have overextended myself. Not only with my injury, but I believe I had done so anyway. It is time to cede some authority back to the other tribal leaders." Her chest seethed. It boiled at that naked show of traitorous wickedness, but she swallowed it down, knit her eyebrows, and felt the world surge.
Star Swirl had stood like an eager recruit at his first dress inspection, but presently he relaxed his drawn posture. "Good," he said. "Good." He turned to his left and beckoned the darker alicorn forward. "This is Luna. She will be taking over the moon ceremonies. I thought it would be a good idea for you two to discuss it."
Yes, the council had decided that many months ago. No more cantor, no more enchantresses, no more Chosen--next to her, Pallas let out a small sob at the finality of it, but they had all agreed. And thus went the last reason Aurora might wish to remain.
She should not allow this, should not abide all these challenges to her authority! It was clear what Star Swirl wanted, but no, she would not give those oafs Hurricane and Puddinghead back any power, she would not allow this novice upstart to raise her moon. Had Star Swirl masterminded this? Did he want Pallas on the throne and Platinum in the dungeon, or better yet, succumbed to her mortal injuries? She glanced at Star Swirl's saddlebag--had he brought a weapon? Some poison? Maybe Pallas had maneuvered everypony into this subterfuge--
"N-Nummy?" her sister said with a clear note of urgency.
Her arm had tightened about Pallas's neck, and a warm embrace had nearly turned into a stranglehold. She loosened it at once, and she trembled fiercely. Nothing made sense anymore! Perhaps she should have died in that fire.
She sniffled. "I'm sorry, Pallas." With a meager offering of an apologetic smile, she withdrew her arm entirely. "You should go attend to your studies. But please do come back to see me after lunch." Studies. She still had her normal coursework, but the Chosen curriculum would be cancelled, her hours shifted back to the daytime like everypony else. No more of the intrigue, the mystery, the uniqueness all of them in the moon's service had enjoyed.
Star Swirl gave Pallas a pat on her withers as she walked past, then he guided the other alicorn--Celestia, if Platinum remembered correctly--out with him, leaving Luna to watch her.
Only now, while propped up, could Platinum see her brass lamp lying on the floor, past the foot of the bed. Luna followed her gaze there. "I was told," she said in a voice reminiscent of frost--cool, yes, but not aloof, more quiet and enveloping, "thou wouldst not permit anypony to touch it. Thou wert most insistent."
And for good reason. "It will not hurt for it to remain there for a day. I will put it back when I feel I can move about."
"Three days," Luna stated plainly.
That long?
Luna opened her mouth, breathed the beginnings of a word, then started anew: "I know something of the moon."
Did she really know? Had she divined what the voice told her about Hurricane and Puddinghead, how she had...?
Platinum rubbed the bridge of her nose. The moon had accompanied her for a long time now, even since those gentle silver rustlings during her Chosen classes as a filly. She hadn't realized it at the time, of course, but now the whispers she'd dismissed as a draft or a classmate rang clear in her mind: "My Light." All of it had led to last night--no, three nights ago, unless Luna had misled her. But what had happened that night, when a lifetime of inculcation had driven her to... what? She'd dashed her lamp across the floor, surrendered herself to immolation, yet her sister had saved her life yet again, and she understood that, but what had made her do it, and why?
"The moon granteth us peace," Luna said, her voice a decidedly low contralto for her age. "That is all I desire for everypony. And especially for thee." She strode forward and wore the first smile Platinum had ever seen on her. Such a serious and studious pony, or had Platinum mistaken peace for a lack of passion? "Thou hast been such a faithful steward of the moon for thine entire life. Thou hast earned a respite, but please, I do not intend to replace thee. I must assume the function, but not the spirit. If thou ever wishest to attend me while I raise the moon, I would welcome the companionship."
Respite? Not even the dream world gave her rest anymore. Only on the rare nights she awoke from a shallow, dreamless sleep did she feel refreshed. She sank into her pillow. Rest it must be. They had agreed, the council had, anyway, that no one race should control something as crucial as the sun and moon.
They had also decided, against Platinum's vehement exhortations, to neuter the ritual of its ceremony completely.
"I must say, I disagreed with the decision to make my duties a more private affair," Luna said, poking her muzzle diffidently at the patch of sky through the window. Curious, she had voiced no objections during the council session.
"You could have said something."
Platinum expected one of the eye rolls for which Pallas had developed such a proficiency, but once again, Luna's maturity belied her youthful stature. "I am the newcomer Star Swirl hath shoved into the middle of things. My sister Celestia hath it no easier, though she is much more skilled at the linguistic arts needed to smooth over times of change. I fear that if I injected myself into the argument, ponies would oppose me on principle."
And she was probably correct.
"Still, I think that if I requested a special public display on the winter solstice, nopony would object."
"A reasonable demand," Platinum said. Luna winced at that choice of word, but she let it go. Yes, somepony who devoted that much of her life to performing a vital function deserved more than to fade into the darkness and be forgotten, relegated to casting in isolation what all should revere.
Luna took another breath. "The few ceremonies I was able to join--" she gulped and looked directly at Platinum "--as practice--"
"Rest assured, I understood your presence there, and I enjoyed introducing another to it." Like Pallas, Luna had positively beamed at her first taste of the gentle frosty touch and the joined voices of all around her.
And before Platinum had finished speaking, Luna already began nodding. "Yes! The community, the harmonic singing, not by set part, but by each one's inspiration! The audience watching, the Chosen in their elegant dance steps and decorations and fragrant boughs of cedar, accents of lavender..." Her voice had risen, and when she finally caught herself, she sighed. "I do not give that up lightly, and even less willingly. I sense it is the bonds between ponies that mattereth the most, and of all the rites and traditions this nation hath cultivated and preserved, sometimes pointlessly, that one most expresseth the embodiment of our strength. It giveth the clearest buttress of who we are."
Despite herself, Platinum wept softly. Something so beautiful should not die, but to her credit, Luna understood, even shared Platinum's mindset so thoroughly. What used to happen every night, reduced to an annual event. Ponies would cease to care.
As much as the moon had, Luna seemed to anticipate Platinum's thoughts to the point she did momentarily consider whether either one could sense them. Perhaps they did make a fitting pair.
Did Luna want the headdresses, the gowns, the cosmetics? Would she take pride in the blood-red tint of her lower lip only she could wear?
"Can I present you with my stole?" Platinum asked. "It would be a shame to have it go to waste."
Luna smiled. "I shall hang it in my bedchamber."
She closed her eyes momentarily. But something didn't feel right...
Luna had picked up her lamp to set it back on the windowsill. Platinum gritted her teeth. "I ordered that nopony touch--"
But Luna held up a hoof, the lamp cradled in her foreleg. "Please. I mean no harm. I just want to restore everything to the way it should be." With a sigh, she laid it on the stone but left her hoof on it. "I only wish I could bear thy burden for thee."
No, the... the red-hot fury ignited in her chest again, and Platinum's horn blazed, the charred hair around its base cracking free, and then--
Wh-what?
Had Platinum heard a noise? Luna stood there, shaking her head at the floor as if an errand had slipped her mind "Did I just...?" But she lost whatever she meant to say. Quickly, Platinum snapped her gaze to her lamp, but Luna hadn't taken it. Still it sat, undisturbed, in front of the window.
Yes, Luna, the alicorn who would take over the moon rituals. It seemed fuzzy, but to Platinum's recollection, nothing interesting had ever happened with those. Learning the Chosen catechism, becoming appointed enchantress, participating in the horribly monotonous ceremonies. As a filly, she used to fancy conversing with the moon, but the silly imaginings of childhood had become eclipsed by the realities of adulthood. The moon could talk no more than the clock on the wall, and any sort of bond that she fantasized as giving her...
Peace. Calmness, stillness. Why did those words stick in her head? "I apologize," she said to Luna, "I just had the strangest sense of... I don't know what."
"I-I, too," Luna replied with a vacant stare, but she shook it off and turned to leave.
"I may attend a moonrise occasionally for nostalgia's sake, but I always found raising the moon to be so... uneventful."
"I hope I will like the moon." Luna nodded, the dazed pallor still on her face, and then she was gone. Platinum could finally rest.
Only a few weeks until Hearth's Warming, and Chancellor Puddinghead had nearly finished planning the festivities. In the spirit of togetherness, they would even bring a holiday dinner down to any prisoners in the dungeon.
Upon hearing her friend make the suggestion, Platinum blanched, and it had taken her a good ten minutes until she could stand without feeling vertigo. She had forgotten all about Celadon.
A mere hour later, Platinum stood on the spiral staircase leading into the depths, a tray of roast squash, mushrooms, cranberry cobbler, and fresh cider hovering in her magic. Not Hearth's Warming yet, but the back of her mind had pricked at her to indulge her former colleague.
"Celadon?" she said as she approached the cell door.
Something stirred in the far corner--a head lifted. Her teeth gleamed in the moonlight. "The false god brings me a gift?"
Instinctively, Platinum backed up a step. The rigid grin, the stiff posture... What had happened to her? The guards hadn't tortured her, had they? No, they wouldn't dare. "Turnkey?" she called back up the stairs.
"Yes, Your Highness?" floated down the stairs.
"How many times was Celadon interrogated?"
Pages flipped in the logbook and: "Never. Cap'n noted she was 'out of her gourd,' as the earth ponies say, and we wouldn't get anything useful out of her."
Platinum stepped forward to the door again and slid the tray through the gap at the bottom. "I brought something for you."
Celadon's teeth clicked together. "The false god, the deliverer of faithless prophecies."
Sliding a chair over, Platinum let out a sigh. Through the barred window, the moon hung suspended from the stars. She had thought to assemble the Chosen and enchantresses and cantor once more and raise the moon for old times' sake, and while the idea had instantly sent a thrill up her spine, she quickly realized that it had never been anything but a chore. Pallas certainly had no interest and seemed rather relieved that she would never have to. Besides, Luna raised the moon from her private balcony, so they couldn't convene the whole ceremony anyway. Plus the council might see it as seditious. So Platinum had let it drop.
"The moon only wishes to bring us peace and stillness," Celadon prattled from her shadowy corner.
It seemed the Captain was right: Celadon's mind had succumbed to madness. But peace and stillness... they felt right.
"Why did you do it?" Platinum asked through her yawn.
Celadon stood, stalked to the door, pressed her face against the bars. "Peace. Peace and peace, and I only wanted to bring you peace, the peaceful serenity anypony shows while lying in their casket." Still she wore her grotesque smile. "She said you would find peace that way, eternal peace, and I would be her messenger."
Her ears perking, Platinum set her jaw. "Who told you?"
"The moon, the moon, the silky silver sliver crescent ascent in her perfect light and her perfect peace."
Pointless ravings. Poor thing, but it served no purpose to continue listening to her.
"She calls me 'My Light.'"
Platinum paused, her whole body tingling. That name, that name, it meant... she had heard...
And then it was gone. She thought she had remembered something similar, but she must have been mistaken. She shook her head and climbed the stairs back to her world.
Luna could have the moon. |
Exposure Therapy | pre | This sent a storm of murmuring through the girls there, most reacted with abject disbelief, thinking Twilight looked at them wrong. Others were more shocked than anything.
"Did...did she say 'four hundred'??" Apple asked, looking a little dazed.
"I..I believe she did..." Fluttershy said, blushing brightly and hiding behind one of her wings as she looked at his arm
"Heavens...!" Rarity found herself fanning her own reddening face
"That's it..?" He asked, the twinge of disappointment almost making Twilight do a double-take, "But...but these are all the heaviest ones there are that I could get on the bar...!"
"Spike, how..." Twilight started, before another earthblood girl suddenly popped up beside her, wearing gym clothes and her bubblegum-pink hair done up in large twin pom-poms.
"Hi!" She chirped, startling Twilight.
"Gah! Pinkie!"
"Four hundred pounds, huh?" She gave him half-lidded smile, "Say, handsome, you feeling up for helping with a little heavy lifting later?"
"Pinkie!" Twlight, Sunset, and Rarity yelped in unison, shock, and in Rarity's case, more than a little outrage at how forward she was being to a boy she'd just seen, much less met.
Unfortunately, given his nerves were still pent up from earlier, this was more than enough to set Spike into run mode once again. With another terror-filled scream, and strength that that some would later call 'superhuman', he hurled the barbell up into the air and ran for a nearby fire escape as soon it left his hands. The ones that weren't following the weights flight to the ceiling were treated to the sight of him reaching the door shoulder-first, followed by the loud smash of steel buckling as it was taken off its hinges.
"This mean you don't wanna put some buns in my oven?" Pinkie called out, giving chase.
The others simply stared, trying to process what they'd just seen, several wincing at the bang when the weights finally landed, divoting the floor. Sunset then spoke up, "Twi, nothing personal...but when the hell were you gonna tell me your buddy was beefcake!? Seriously, AJ's the strongest girl on campus aside from Ember, and I don't think either of them could just curl four-freaking-hundred pounds, then toss it!"
"M-My best's two-ninety...b-but that's bench-pressin'" The country girl added, staring at the weights with a red tint slowly filling her cheeks.
"I didn't even know he could do that!" She protested, "I mean, dragonbloods tend to strong, but not that strong!"
"Indeed..." Rarity said, "Um, perhaps we should try and find him before Pinkie catches the poor boy."
"Pinkie!?" Twilight started, before rushing out after the doorway with the others not far behind. |
Exposure Therapy | Enter Ember | "Ready to lose, Rainbow Dash?" A cocky-looking pegasusblood girl with amber and gold streaked hair and light turquoise wings scoffed as she strutted over to another girl stretching by the school's running track. This one had rainbow streaked hair and light blue wings, slightly bigger than the first. Both had slim, athletic builds and were wearing track uniforms.
"Huh? Oh, hey, Biting Crust." The one named Rainbow said, glancing over at the now frowning first girl. "You say something?"
"It's Lightning Dust." She said, quickly schooling herself back into a smug expression. "And I said are you ready to lose to a better athlete?" Lightening sneered some. "You may've gotten the accolades of the other losers on the track team, but their gonna be eating crow while YOU eat my dust!"
"Yeah, that's great, Fighting Rust." Rainbow said, though it looked like she was barely paying attention.
"It's Lightning Dust." She ground out. "You think your so cool, acting like you got nothing to worry about when you KNOW I'm going to stomp you!" The sneer returned when she noticed Rainbow hadn't responded. "What's wrong? Finally realizing that I'm gonna win?" She looked to see the girl had her back to her. "Admit it, you're scared now that someone better than you has finally stepped up to knock you off your throne!"
"What in the hell...?" Rainbow asked. "What's everyone doing on the track?"
"Are you even listening!?" Lightning demanded, looking to see what her (in her mind at least) rival was looking at.
"How about donuts? You can add the cream filling!"
"Pinkie! Cut it out!" Twilight yelled, trying to keep up. Sunset, Applejack, Rarity and Fluttershy were right behind her.
"Guys! What's going on!?" Rainbow called out. "You aren't even dressed for run-ing..." She trailed off when she saw who they were running after. "Holy....where'd the hunk come from!?" The whole thing was just too odd to ignore and she took off to catch up to them.
"Wow, he's-HEY! Get back here!" Dust shouted, running after her.
It took her a moment, but she was able to close the distance and reach Applejack. "Hey, AJ, why are you chasing the beefcake?"
"Pinkie got a little too forward." She replied. "Tryin' to catch her so Twi can wrangle her male friend."
Rainbow nearly tripped when she heard that. "Twilight...Twilight Sparkle...She's friends with a stud like that!?"
"We'll explain later!" Sunset yelled back to her. "Right now we gotta stop Pinkie so Twilight can calm him down!"
"That's all? No problem; I have GOTTA hear this story!" Rainbow unfurled her wings, taking flight and easily catching up to Twilight.
"Not if I do it first!" Lightning yelled, going airborne as well.
Unfortunately, Spike had heard the yelling and glanced behind in time to see the two pegasusbloods flying straight towards him. The realization that the pink-haired one wasn't the only one chasing him, coupled with the (to his currently terror-filled mind) predatory look on the face of the one near Twilight was enough to, once again, set him off.
'Oh no'Twilight thought, seeing her friend pale rapidly when he looked back. 'I forgot the others were with us!' "Pinkie!" She yelled. "Stop chasing--"
"YII-HIIEEE!!"
THOOM!
The group of girls came to a quick and VERY sudden stop at what they just saw. Rarity stared at the set of fading afterimages he left behind. "D-di-d-did he...??"
"H-he did..." Fluttershy squeaked, her wings twitching.
Applejack just let out a low whistle.
"Twi...!"
"I...I saw, Sunset..." Twilight replied weakly, her glasses hanging loosely off her face.
"He...the track..." Sunset pointed frantically at the slightly smoking footprint left embedded in the track. "That's not physically POSSIBLE!"
"I know Sunset..."
Pinkie slowly turned to look at them. "Hm..maybe he's allergic to gluten?"
They both just started at her.
POMF!
They all glanced over at Rainbow Dash, who was staring in the direction Spike had ran, sporting a silly grin and raging wingboner.
"Homina..!" Was all she said.
"Down, girl!" Sunset poked her. "You haven't even met him."
"Yet." Came the reply, followed by a rather perverted giggle.
"Well, that escalated quickly." Luna commented, watching the scene with her sister from their office window. "I've heard Dragonbloods are a bit stronger than most others; that, however..."
"Indeed." Celestia replied, "Though I'm a little more concerned about the students unintentionally aggravating his phobia. Especially if that's going to be a common occurrence. One hell of a sprint, though."
"I'll second that." Luna craned her neck to see if she could spot him within their field of view. "Here, I'll go find him. He could probably use someone to talk to."
"Are you sure, Luna? Age doesn't seem to matter to his..." She stopped when she felt her sister's finger on her lips.
"I think I can handle this. I used to be an elementary teacher, remember?" She winked and teleported off.
"Please tell me I lost them..." Spike said to himself once he stopped. A look around found him standing at the back of one of the school buildings, with a handful of cars parked in the small gravel lot nearby. All he could hear were birds in the nearby trees and a distant train.
Hoping that he had solitude, he slumped against the lot's lone lamppost to try and settle his nearly frayed nerves. He was in the middle of taking a deep breath to try and settle himself when a voice spoke from up above him. "Yeah, you're good. I don't see anyone."
With a startled yelp, he scrambled to his feet and spun around, looking up at the top of the post. There, perched on the top. knees spread wide and hands braced between her feet, was a Dragonblood girl dressed in a dark purple strapless halter top and denim shorts. Her spiked hair was cyan with large, grey pigtail-style bangs, and he noticed her chest and shoulder scale patches were the same color along with her tail, which she currently had extended to keep her balance.
"W-who are...are you??" He asked, taking a step back, ready to run.
"Oh, I'm Ember." She glanced back in the direction of the track area. "Go ahead and relax." She added calmly, noticing he was starting to panic again. "I'll stay up here. You can just lean back against the lamppost so you can't see me. I'll let you know if anyone's coming."
"Oh...o-ok." He asked hesitantly, slowly moving back to sit, but still keep a wary eye towards her. "Why are you doing...well, that?"
"To be honest, I can smell how terrified you are, so I'm making sure I try not to trigger it." She watched as he finally settled back against the post. "So, what brings you out here? The school I mean."
He signed "My mom and dad enrolled me here..."
"Come again? Your parents had you....a boy enrolled to an all-female campus?? Seriously!?"
"Yeah...turns out my mom's old friends with the deans. They pulled some strings somehow...and here I am." Ember heard him drag his fingers through the gravel. "Apparently they think this'll help with my phobia."
"Um, not to sound like rude, but what kind of phobia would have them put you here??"
"I'm Gynophobic."
She looking back down at him. "Whata-phobic?"
"Gynophobia...I'm literally terrified of girls..."
Silence.
"Y-you're serious?" She asked, seeing him nod. "Wow...and given that you're a serious beefcake, that's probably not gonna help matters."
"Yeah...whatever 'beefcake's supposed to mean." He exhaled and ran a hand through his hair. "Like I told Twilight, if it wasn't for the fact she's here, I'd be running like hell."
"Twilight Sparkle? She a friend of yours?"
"Yeah, to be honest. She's one of the only two girls I've ever met, outside of my female relatives, that didn't frighten me. The other's Sunset Shimmer, who I just met a couple hours ago."
"What do you mean?"
"Well...when I first met Twilight...I didn't know she was a girl till about a year later." For a second, he thought he heard her fight back a laugh, but shrugged it off. "When I did, I was more confused about why I wasn't scared when I found that out. Same thing with Sunset."
"Wow. Well, at least you have someone looking out for you, right?"
"Yeah. Speaking of that...you're acting a lot calmer than the other girls I've ran into here. At least, you can chasing after me for some reason."
"I'm just happy to have another Dragonblood around, in all honesty. Right now that matters a little bit more than you being a hottie."
It was then that they heard the telltale crackle of a teleportation, combined with a winded Twilight appearing in a flash of lavender light.
"Spike!" She panted, running over to him
"Twi?" Spike asked, getting caught in a tackle hug before he could stand.
"Oh, Spike! I am SO sorry! I did NOT mean for that, honest!" She said, her face buried in his chest so her voice was slightly muffled. "She didn't mean anything by it, but I forgot Pinkie Pie can be a bit more friendly than necessary!"
As she watched the petite Unicornblood hug him as best she could, Ember frowned slightly, feeling a small twinge of jealousy at just how easy she was able to do it. |
Exposure Therapy | Actually Meeting Her Friends, And The End of His First Day. | "Ok, the coast is clear. Come on." Twilight said, looking around the corner. After all her friend had been through, she felt it was best to get him back to the dorm so he could let his nerves settle. She'd admit the route she'd picked was a bit on the long side, but it would go through areas the other students didn't normally go in. "Spike, let's go!"
"I..I don't think I can take more of this, Twi..." Spike's voice sounded dead. She looked behind her to see him slumped against the wall, looking like he was at his breaking point. "It hasn't been a full day and I've been charged at by...by...I don't know how many g-girls!"
"Oh, Spike..." She quickly went over, giving him what she hoped was a comforting hug.
"I don't think I'm going to survive this place..."
"Spike, I promise you it'll be ok. Most of the girls here don't get to see boys around for months, but give them a day or two and I'm sure they'll start seeing you as just another student. I know you'll be able to hold out until then. You...I..." She chuckled weakly. "God, I'm awful at pep talks...look, Spike, I know this place hasn't made the best first impression, but I promise, I'm here for you. And Sunset's here too, and you aren't afraid of her, so that's someone else to help watch your back."
"Well, I have to admit, this is the first time a student managed to try and help alleviate the situation before I arrived." Luna said, appearing a short ways off in a haze of blue light.
"D-Dean Luna!" Twilight said, feeling Spike tense up. "How..how'd you know we were here?"
"Actually, I've looking for Spike for the last few minutes. Celestia managed to spot him coming out of the emergency exit like a bat outta hell. In all honesty, it was pretty damn impressive. That was a quarter inch thick steel door, and you took it clean off its hinges!" She laughed a little. "Not to mention the fact I think you broke the sound barrier getting away from the girls, felt our office window rattle a little."
She took a breath to clear things, her expression becoming a tad more solemn. "Spike, as Co-Dean of the Canterlot Girls Academy, it's my duty to personally apologize for what you've been through so far." She sighed and rubbed the back of her neck. "Looking back, Celestia and I really should have informed the student body of the situation ahead of time. And your parents should have...."
She was about to say 'should have told you about the school', but then her mind drifted back to the ruined emergency door and footprint embedded in the running track. She then began picturing what could've happened if he'd known about the nature of the school before arriving...and paled slightly. 'On the other hand...' "Um...they should've let you know that this wasn't a standard boarding school."
Spike slowly got back to his feet. "Well, I...I appreciate the apology...I just...I don't know..."
"Here, we still have to get you your class schedule, those tend to take a day or two to sort out, so you have till then to let yourself get at least a little situated. And, like Twilight said, Miss Shimmer is looking out for you as well. So, I'll leave you two to get back to your dorms...while Celestia and I call about a new door." She started to teleport off, but stopped. "Oh, I almost forgot! Spike, it's standard procedure here for new students to get a checkup. Mostly so we can be aware of any allergies, medical conditions, things like that." She noticed the apprehension growing on his face. "Don't worry, Nurse Redheart is a happily married woman. The most you'll have to worry from her is a cold stethoscope. Now, you better get going."
Meanwhile, Sunset was busy explaining things fully to the others.
"Wait, you trying to tell us that green-haired studmuffin is an old friend of Egghead's?!" Rainbow looked on in disbelief. "That lucky little...."
"Yes, Dash, but that's beside the point." Sunset cut in. "The main thing is, Spike is terrified of girls."
"Bull! If he's scared of girls then why's he friends with Four-eyes!? OW!" Lightning yelped when Applejack swatted the back of her head for the insult. "What was that for!? You didn't hit Dash for using 'egghead'!"
"'Cause when Dash calls Twilight 'Egghead', she uses a tone that ain't insultin'." The taller girl gave her a glare.
"As I was saying, Miting Thrust (Lightning Dust!), Spike didn't even realize Twilight was a girl for a while, and by then, his phobia didn't react. And apparently, because I'm not a 'local', it didn't react to me either, which confused the hell out of him."
"So he wasn't shy, just scared?" Pinkie asked, letting out a sheepish giggle. "Eheh...whoopsie?"
"I don't think he ever really learned about anything like that. Me and Twilight got into a...'disagreement' about something earlier today and he saw us both topless, but all he gave 'huh'." She scratched her head. "I mean, he didn't even know why his body was reacting like it did!"
"Wait...he saw your tits, got a boner, and didn't know WHY!?" Lightning scoffed. "What is he? Some kinda bumpkin?"
*WHAM!*
*THUD!*
"Ouch..."
The girls looked at Lightning, who was now faceplanted in the ground, a grown knot on the back of her head.
"Ah HATE that word." Applejack hissed, flexing her fist.
"Right..." Sunset looked at her county friend warily. "Anyway, Twilight said she was gonna take him back to the dorm when she found him so he could calm down. Thinking maybe we should meet them there so we can all get this cleared up."
"Um..m-maybe we should go...one at a time?" Fluttershy spoke up. "So we don't overwhelm him, I mean..."
"That would probably work best. Last thing we need is another gym repeat." Rarity agreed. "That door had to be expensive."
"Ok, then it's settled. Let's get going, we can decide who goes first on the way." Sunset said. "Later, Spiting Crust."
"Eht's Dighting Wust..." Came the garble response as they walked off. "Eyyy...hate you all..."
It took a bit longer than planned, but the two finally managed to get back to the dorm room. The moment they were in, Twilight slumped onto the couch beside Spike. "Whew. Made it!"
"Yeah...." Spike sighed. "I just hope this isn't going to be setting the bar for the future..."
"Hey. " She said, curling up beside him. "Remember what I said. I'm here for you." She fought the urge to blush when he put an arm around her.
"Thanks, Twi."
She was sorely tempted to just snuggle down in her spot, but knew he needed something to take his mind off it. "I know, how about I help you unpack?"
"Um, ok. Don't really have much, though." He replied, getting up and heading to his bags. "Um, where do I sleep?"
"Um..." She looked around. While comfortable, the dorm room itself was pretty much the size of a motel room with a half bathroom off it. It was then she realized that, aside from a couch, they only had the two twin beds she and Sunset used. 'Uh-oh...where IS he gonna sleep??'
Before she could really start worrying about, the door opened again, revealing Sunset. "Figured you might've gotten back."
"Sunset." Twilight craned her neck to look out the door. "W-where are the others?"
"They're out in the hall." She swallowed briefly. "Listen, Spike. I know your first meeting with the girls wasn't exactly the best, but they aren't all that bad. They want to meet you; I mean honestly meet you. If me and Twi are with you, and they agree to keep their distance, think you can handle them one at a time?"
"I...I guess." He said, failing to hide the uncertainty in his tone.
"Trust me, it'll be fine." Her horn glowed as she telekinetically pulled a nearby chair over to her. "Just take a seat, and i'll be back in a minute." She headed back out.
As the faint sound of chatter came from the hall, Spike sighed and slumped back down on the couch, Twilight quickly taking a spot beside him.
Fluttershy
"....."
Spike looked nervously at the pinkette, who just whimpered in the chair as she hid behind her wings. "Is she ok?" He whispered to Sunset.
"Yeah, she's just kinda shy around new people." She made a 'go ahead' motion to her.
He looked back to the girl, seeing her peek out through her feathers with a bright red face. "Um...h-hi?"
"*Squeak!*" She quickly hid again.
Applejack
"So, yer parents enrolled ya to an all girls' school?" The farmgirl asked, giving him an appraising look. "Name's Applejack, but ya'll can call me AJ."
"H-hey..." Spike said hesitantly.
"Well, this definitely makes the list fer some of the odder things Ah've seen 'round here. 'Specially after yer lil demonstration back the gym. Ah have a feelin' yer gonna fit in ok 'round here."
Twilight raised an eyebrow when she spied a tinge of pink on the blonde's cheeks. 'Is she...blushing??'
Rarity
"Well, I must say, having a gentleman on campus is certainly out of the ordinary, but..." She gave him a look similar to Applejack's. "I believe I can get accustomed to the idea."
"Th-thanks...?" He said, still not real sure what else he should say.
"Quite. Oh! Where are my manners...? My name is Rarity, and I really should apologize for my friend's rather...exuberant first impression. Not to disparage her, but Pinkie can be a bit like a puppy around newcomers. She means well, just...well, you saw yourself.
"Ok...I...I just...I panicked..."
"Either way, I have a feeling your presence is going to making things interesting around her." She winked.
Rainbow Dash
"So, what brings you out here, big boy?" Rainbow grinned, giving him what she probably thought were bedroom eyes, but they made her look sleepy instead.
"Dash, I told you already." Sunset replied, noticing Spike seemed a tad weirded out by the pegasusblood.
"Yeah, yeah." She waved it off. "So, name's Rainbow Dash, the coolest and fastest gal here at Canterlot Acadamy. or, second fastest after seeing your handiwork." Her grin widened, wings slowly extending. "Gotta hand to you, never seen anyone speed off like that, especially with that footprint you left on the track."
"Rainbow, turn it down." Twilight warned, glaring at her wings.
"Um, s-sorry about that?" He said.
"You kidding!? That was the hottest thing I've seen since checking myself out in the mirror this morning! Heh, maybe you can I can, ah...go out for a 'jog' later tonight?" She waggled her eyebrows.
"Rainbow Dash...!" Twilight hissed, feeling Spike tense up.
Pinkie Pie
"Hi, I'm Pinkemena Diane Pie, but everyone calls me Pinkie! Heh, sorry about getting 'forward' as Rarity calls it. " She scratched the back of her head, sticking her tongue out playfully. "So, you have any hobbies?"
"Well...a couple." Spike shrugged, still anxious from that Dash girl. "I play piano, lift weights, cook..."
"Ooh, I LOVE cooking!" Pinkie squealed, suddenly in his lap. "Especially baking! Have you tried doing a Marzipan Mascarpone Meringue Madness!?" She sighed. "Just one bite..."
"PINKIE!" Twilight and Sunset yelled, snatching her up with their magic. "GET OFF HIM!
Unfortunately, the sudden loss of proximity, a strange girl in his lap, and the slightly manic grin she had was too much and Spike reacted the only way he felt possible.
He screamed.
By the time the two girls had managed to get Spike to calm back down - and out from under Sunset's bed - the sun had already set.
"i'm really sorry, Spike!" Sunset said for the ninth time once they'd coaxed him out. "I forgot to remind Pinkie about 'personal space'!"
"You mean she's always like that...?" He whimpered.
"Well, not always, but she can get rather...touchy-feely when she gets excited. But I'll have a talk with her about it tomorrow."
"Key word: tomorrow." Twilight yawned. "I think we could all use a good night's sleep...uh-oh." She said, looking at Spike. I'd forgotten about that when the others came!' "We gotta find you a place to sleep!"
"Why doesn't he just sleep with one of us?" Sunset said, heading to her dresser to change. "Should be enough room."
"Sleep....t-together??" Twilight squeaked, her face flushing. "I..I..."
"I don't mind." Spike commented, surprising them both. "It'll be kinda like how we used to, Twi."
"True, but we were just eight back then...at the oldest!" She replied.
Spike shrugged. "Shouldn't be that much different."
"But...but the beds....they aren't built for two people." She started, before hearing the tinkle of magic used and spun around
to catch Sunset putting the beds together. "There." She grinned. "Now we have a bed that's plenty big enough and we all sleep together, with him right between us to help him feel safe."
"That works." Spike grinned a little, while Twilight's glasses fogged up a little at the thought.
Once they changed to sleepwear (and Twilight told Sunset she couldn't sleep nude that night) the three of them were soon curled up on the makeshift king bed, each girl curling up with Spike in the middle and his arms around them. It wasn't long before all three were sound asleep.
Later That Night
"Twilight?" Sunset whispered, poking her female roommate with her magic "Twilight...!"
"Zznnf...whoza...huh?" Twilight cracked an eye open towards the clock. "Sunset, it's Two A.M. and I'm comfy...!"
"I know, I know, but, um, does Spike seem a little...bigger to you now?"
Twilight sat up a little. "What are you talking about?"
Sunset pointed. "His feet are sticking out."
Twilight groaned. "Some people like to sleep with their feet uncovered, Sunset." She curled back up against the slumbering boy's side, eager to get back to sleep herself.
"Yeah, but...with their feet sticking a foot off the end?" |
Exposure Therapy | Club Encounter | "Twilight? Sunset? You awake ye-EEP!" A new voice squeaked the next morning, waking Twilight up.
"Mm....huh?" Twilight yawned, getting her glasses. She blinked a few times before finding herself looking at another unicornblood girl; this one with hair and tail similar to hers, but bright amaranth with purple and violet streaks. She also had glasses, though her's looked worn and repaired more than once, along with a simple, sheer blue nightgown. "Oh, hi, Moondancer."
"H-hi...uh...am...I...are we...?" Moondancer rapidly looked at all three of them, her cheeks blazing.
"What?" Twilight looked at a still sleeping Spike, and Sunset, who was stirring when it clicked, her own face reddening quickly. "Oh, OH! Uh, heh-heh....we can explain. Ah, is Starlight with you?"
After several minutes of explaining, blushes, and a few innuendo on Sunset's part, Moondancer, and Starlight Glimmer, were sitting on the couch, wide-eyed and full of questions. Starlight was another unicornblood girl, with moderate and light violet hair with pale aquamarine highlights, wearing a t-shirt and tanga shorts. She was also the first to speak up. "S-so, the principals agreed to let his parents enroll him here, to try and help cure his fear?"
"That's the gist of it." Sunset replied. "Granted, he can talk to other girls besides me and Twilight...as long as there's some space, or us, between him and them."
"I...I'm still trying to work my head around it all." Moondancer admitted, looking over at the slumbering giant. "Look at him, he's huge! The thought of him being terrified of...well, me is..." She trailed off with a squeak of confusion.
"Don't you think you're exaggerating a little, Moondancer?" Twilight asked, looking back at him. "Sure, he's a little taller then us, but still."
"Twilight, look at him!" Moondancer pointed. "At best, a double bed is six feet in length. He sticks out off it by a foot, at least!"
"That's what I told her last night!" Sunset added, stepping over to him. "See? He goes the complete length!"
"Huh?" A look of bewilderment crossed Twilight's face. "But...but he wasn't that much taller than Principal Celestia when he got here yesterday!"
"Wait. Twilight, didn't you say he was scared almost all day yesterday? Especially after the girls started grouping around him?" Starlight asked.
"Yeah, but-" She stopped and facepalmed. "Twilight Sparkle, you ninny. I can't believe you forgot about that! Of course he'd be bigger after he's calmed down sleeping; dragonbloods have emotion-based mass fluctuation!"
"Ok, I'm going to pretend I've heard that before and ask for a refresher." Sunset commented, a hand on her hip.
"A dragonblood has a default height, but a strong enough bout of emotion can cause their own innate magic to react and alter their size." She responded. "Like fear will shrink them down, letting them move into smaller area easier then their normal height. And anger'll cause an increase, making them look a lot more intimidating. From what I've read, their size can alter as much as twenty-four inches from the default."
"Which means Spike is one big boy. Wonder what else is..." Sunset started, before Twilight's glare silenced her. "Right...well, since you two are here, I guess we better get started. He'll probably wake up before long."
"Just remember, no sudden movements towards him." Twilight sighed. "Learned that the hard way when Pinkie got exited."
"Wait, you mean he's what smashed the gym fire exit??" Moondancer's jaw dropped a little. "How...how strong is he!?" She squeaked. "Those doors are at least quarter inch steel, and at least a couple of hundred pounds! It was ripped right off the hinges and nearly folded in half!"
"I...I don't really know." Twilight admitted. "Maybe I'll ask when things settle a little. Right now though, we should probably get started."
Half an hour later, and when the four were engrossed in a debate over arcane science, a deep yawn from the bed grabbed their attention. Twilight looked to see Spike sit up, scratching his head. "Oh, morning Spi-" Her voice died when she realized just what he'd slept in. He'd changed to a pair of pajama pants and a snug-fitting t-shirt, showing off the definition of his chest and shoulders.
"Whoa...Spikey's ripped!" Sunset managed to get out, fanning herself.
"To quote Fluttershy: oh my...!" Starlight's eyes widened a little.
Moondancer just bit her lip, cheeks reddening.
"Mm...Morning, Twi." He mumbled, yawning again as he climbed out of the bed, inadvertently looming over all four girls. "Shower?"
"Oh, y-yeah...it-it's over...over there." Twilight pointed shakily towards a nearby door, her glasses fogging up, and thankfully for her, hiding her blush.
"Thanks..." He sleepily dug through his bags for clean clothes and shower stuff before heading to it.
The four quietly watched as he walked into the bathroom, barely breathing until the door closed. Once the heard the 'click' of the lock, they slumped into whatever seats they were by.
"D-Dear lord!" Moondancer squeaked, panting slightly. "It should be ILLEGAL for a guy to be that hot!"
"You can say that again!" Starlight tugged at her shirt.
"Whooo...and I thought he was delicious before." Sunset licked her lips. "Mee-yooow!"
Twilight, however, just sat there, visible wisps of steam wafting off her cheeks and horn sparking slightly. "Spike...m-muscles...big!"
"Um...sh-should we get back to...to..." Starlight blinked. "What were we talking about again?"
After a few minutes, and once they all managed to calm down, they settled on term papers they were going to work on later that year. The conversation continued on, mixed in with commentary about recent goings-on around the campus.
At least, that lasted until the bathroom door opened again and Spike stepped out.
In just a towel. "Twi, Sunset? Is it ok I use your toothpaste? I forgot to bring..." He trailed out when she saw Moondancer and Starlight, paling a little in the process.
Starlight gulped, her eyes never leaving his chest.
"Illegal!" Moondancer squeaked.
Twilight just 'eep'ed and clamped her hands over her nose as red began trickling out.
"Again, mee-yoow!" Sunset exhaled, a perverse grin on her face before she managed to settle down. "Um, Sexy-I mean Spike, this is Moondancer and Starlight Glimmer." She pointed to each in turn. "And, well, we're the Canterlot Academy Academics Club."
The two just waved slightly.
Spike just looked at them...then shrieked before slamming the door closed. |
Exposure Therapy | Project: Phobia | "It's ok, Spike. They're friends." Twilight said, slowly nudging him out of the bathroom. It took her a little while to talk him into getting dressed, but thankfully that was the easier bit. Now, though it was a matter of getting him to try and relax enough to sit down.
"Wait a minute...!" Starlight spoke up. "You said he's suffering from gynophobia, right?"
"Yeah. He's had it since before we met." Twilight replied, finally getting Spike to sit on the couch. He still kept her between him and them, though.
"If that's the case, then why wasn't he afraid of you??"
"Star's got a point." Moondancer looked at him.
"I-I...I didn't know she was a g-girl at first..." He replied. "Didn't act or dress like one..."
"Yeah, heh." Twilight blushed. "I kinda went more for comfortable over cute...and my hair was shorter back then. It was almost a year before he saw me in a swimsuit and realized it."
Moondancer looked confused. "But, if he wasn't afraid of you after realizing, then why..." She looked pointedly at Sunset.
"That confused him as well." Sunset chuckled weakly. "We think it's 'cause I'm from Equestria; since I was born a pony, the phobia doesn't register."
"Ok...but when, or how did it even start??"
"Always had it, near as I know." Spike replied. "Though it didn't really show till my first day in kindergarten. I was sitting, watching while the other kids came in until..." He shivered visibly. "Her...her name was Lyra Heartstrings. I don't know why it happened, one moment she was smiling and coming my way; the next, all I could think was terror and my senses screaming 'run!'."
"So, it just reared up? Just like that?" Starlight had flipped her notebook to a fresh page and was already taking notes. "And none of your female relatives made it react?"
Spike shook his head. "No, didn't really run into any girls outside my family until I started school. Lyra was the first time my fear kicked in...and aside from Twilight and Sunset, it hasn't stopped since."
Moondancer looked between Starlight and the notes she was taking herself. "Well, I'm not taking psychology, but it's fairly obvious that this phobia is far from natural."
"It's not?" He asked.
"Definitely not. I mean, fears like that require something to happen to you, like trauma." She gave him a rather concerned look. "For it to just...appear like that, it's not possible. No way."
"So...my...my phobia's fake?" The expression on Spike's face told them he couldn't tell if he should be relieved or worried.
"Well, the phobia itself isn't." Starlight chimed in. "However, how it came to be for you is highly suspect."
"Yeah. You said it never kicked in until you met a non-family female. Also, being around Twilight for so long, even if you weren't consciously aware that she was a girl, should have had an effect on it regarding more than just Sunset. In other words, while it's an actual fear in itself, you gained it in a very unnatural manner."
"So, what's that mean? Can I get rid of it?"
Both girls looked at Twilight. "What do you think, Twi?" Starlight asked. "New project for the club?"
Twilight bit her lip in consideration. "It would be nice to see him be able to walk out and not have to keep looking behind him when a girl's there." She inhaled. "All right, let's do it. Where do we start?"
'Half an hour later'
Spike's voice broke the long silence. "Anything?"
"No..."
"Not here."
"I got nothing."
Sunset let out a groan. "Let's face it, we know next to nothing about why his phobia is doing what it is. Think we're gonna have to hit the books for this."
"That and find out exactly why it seems to be picking and choosing who he's not scared of." Starlight added. "Which means we'll have to run a few tests to try and see what that factor is."
'Why do I get the feeling I'm not gonna be having fun with this?' Spike asked himself as he watched the four girls go over things they had jotted down.
"We can work on that later." Twilight pointed at the clock. "Come on, we better get ready for class."
"C-class?" Spike gulped, before feeling Twilight hug his arm.
"It'll be ok, Spike. I promise."
Once they all got ready, Sunset and Twilight promptly flanked him on either side, providing a buffer of sorts against some of the pushier girls. Moondancer and Starlight scouted ahead; after Twilight warned them about Trixie, they kept a lookout for her.
'Well, h-here goes nothing...' Spike tried to fight his shaking the closer they got the first class of their day and his time as a student there. |
Exposure Therapy | Doctor, Doctor | Twilight sighed in semi-embarrassment. They'd almost gotten to one of the rooms when Spike remembered Luna had said he wouldn't be getting his schedule for another day or so. Along with his having to see the nurse for a checkup. "I am so glad we realized this before actually getting to class-eep!" She squeaked when Sunset poked her in the ribs.
"Twi, chill. Considering what's gone on since yesterday, I'd have been surprised if any of us did remember that. Besides, you and I had to get checkups as well. It's no big deal. And Nurse Redhead is married; I really doubt she'll get his phobia acting up."
Spike sighed. "I really hope that's the case, Sunset..." He winced when his stomach growled violently.
"Spike, when's the last time you ate?" Twilight asked. Biology might not have been her chosen field, but she knew it wasn't supposed to sound like that.
"Not since yesterday morning..." He paused at the look he got from Twilight, then Sunset.
Nurse Redheart jumped when the door of her office was flung open and a...large individual stumbled in, with an unamused Twilight Sparkle and Sunset Shimmer behind him; both standing like they'd shoved him in.
"Yike!" He yelped trying not to land in a heap. "Ok, I'll admit it's not a good thing, but don't you think that was an overreaction??"
"Spike, going twenty four hours without eating isn't healthy for anyone!" Sunset replied.
"But..." He paused again when he saw the look Nurse Redheart was now giving him.
"Could you repeat that, Miss Shimmer?"
"Overreacting...!" Spike protested after being shoved into a chair, the legs creaking slightly under his weight.
"I'll be the judge of that, young man." Redheart responded after hearing the story from both girls, before turning her attention to them while jotting something in a notepad. "If you hurry you should get to the cafeteria before it closes. Here, this note should answer any questions they might have."
"Thanks, Nurse Redheart." Twilight took the note and looked at Spike.
"Don't worry, I'll make sure he stays here until you get back." Once the girls headed out, she turned back to him, her tail flicking around. "So..." She took a better look at him. "...you're the one Dean Luna said to be ready for." She briefly held up her hand to show the wedding band on it. "If it helps, I'm a happily married woman, so I doubt you have anything to worry about."
Spike returned the look, but his fear wasn't acting up, regardless of how close she got. "Do I at least get a sucker out of this...?'
"Um, Twilight? I know this is probably a bad time to ask, but..." Sunset glanced back the hall. "Is it safe to leave him there?"
"I'm hesitant, but you remember when I said that Spike had been panicking when he learned this was an all-girl school, right?"
"Yeah."
"Well, when Dean Celestia showed, he was more scared about that than her. Granted, she didn't show any indication she was going to react to him like those girls did, but still, he wasn't really scared of her. He wasn't really scared of Dean Luna either."
"Yeah....you think his phobia reacts if they act a certain way to him? Or just a certain age?"
"Maybe, I'm not a hundred percent sure, but I'm fairly certain he's as safe with Nurse Redheart as he is with us."
"And the rest of the gang, hopefully." Sunset added.
"Hopefully..."
"All right, let's start off with the usual." Redheart gestured to the scale. "Step on, please."
Spike went over, but as soon as he got on, it beeped an alarm. 'WARNING! WEIGHT LIMIT EXCEEDED!' "Yeah...that's happened before."
"What? But this thing's got a three hundred and fifty pound limit!" She gave the scale a smack.
"Does it help if I say my last weighing had me at four-eighty?" He asked. "Had to use a vet scale, but..."
"F-four hundred and eighty...!?" She looked at him briefly in shock before schooling her features back in business mode. "Right...um, let's do height next."
Unfortunately, the measuring stand only went to six feet. So, she had to resort to a length of medical tubing and fold the excess to add up the total. "Seven-foot...five."
"I'm...big for my age?" Spike offered weakly.
"Pretty much." She exhaled. "Pretty much...all right, let's just get the rest." She pointed to the chair and went to get a thermometer. "Open wide...not that wide!" She recoiled a bit when he managed to show her a mouthful of sharp teeth. ''Right, Dragonblood, I forgot.'' She gently slipped the thermometer under his tongue. It may have been made of medical-grade pyrex, but she wasn't sure which was stronger.
While blood pressure cuff. "Just relax and..." She wrapped it around his bicep and tried to get the velcro to connect. Key word: tried. "Relax."
"Eh am." He replied around the thermometer, accompanied by the scratching of his teeth on the pyrex
"You have to be kidding me!" She blurted out, realizing that his arm was bigger around than the cuff could reach. "Son, normally, this would go against my usual bedside manner, but...you are built like a reinforced concrete shithouse! Even by Dragonblood standards, and I mean that with the utmost sincerity!"
"Uh...thanksh?"
Meanwhile, the girls had managed to get to the cafeteria in time and were trying to figure out what to get Spike.
"How much should we even get?" Sunset asked as Twilight picked up a few cereal cups and a couple pints each of regular and chocolate milk. "Big size doesn't always mean big appetite." She went ahead and grabbed an apple and a pack of still warm bacon.
"True, but then again, we haven't had breakfast yet either, so may as well err on the side of caution." She replied, putting everything into one of the carrying boxes for larger groups.
"Now that you mention it..." A few more pieces of fruit, some sausage, and a couple of chocolate muffins joined the assortment, along with - to Sunset's delight - the last pint of strawberry milk.
"You all right??" Spike asked, helping Redheart regain her balance. He'd sneezed while she was checking his eyes and headbutted her by accident.
"Thank you Prime Minister, is my hula showing?" She slurred, look past him cross-eyed. |
Exposure Therapy | A Little Workout | "Think this is enough?" Sunset asked after they'd finished loading the boxes up, which meant snagging nearly everything that was left.
Twilight did a quick inventory, grabbing the last few pancakes. They'd be a little cold, but still edible. "Maybe, I don't really know what kind of apatite Spike has now, so we'll find out soon enough."
Meanwhile, Nurse Redheart was glaring at the head of her stethoscope. "I just got this thing..."
"Is it broken?" Spike asked, watching her smack it on the table.
"It's letting me hear something, but a heartbeat's supposed to be a steady 'ba-bump, ba-bump'. NOT 'thud, thud, thud'!"
"Um...I have a thick heart?"
Redheart gave him a look, and started to say something when the door opened, revealing Twilight and Sunset, both having to look around the piles they were carrying. However, they weren't alone. "Spitfire, what brings you here?" Redheart looked a little surprised to see the strict-looking pegasusblood woman behind them. "You just had a physical last week."
"That little incident in the gym's spreading like wildfire." She lowered her sunglasses as she looked at Spike. "Aaannd looks like that rumor about a boy at the school wasn't hogwash after all. So, you're the one that messed up the fire escape door."
"S-sorry about that..." He looked sheepish as he remembered what he'd done.
"Eh, given how freaked out the girls say you looked, I shouldn't be surprised." She waved it off. "Hell, I'm coulrophobic , myself."
"Coulro...fear of clowns?" Twilight looked back at their gym teacher.
Spitfire made a noise of revulsion. "Ugh, hate those guys. Creepy as hell!" She quickly shook her head. "Aaanyway, I saw the door, and that footprint you left in the track. I may not know that much about dragonbloods, but that is no easy task. Kinda the reason I'm here." She smirked. "After Red's done looking you over, you're coming with me back to the gym. Celestia and Luna gave the ok for me to test just what you can do. One of the said you were lifting weights when they saw you, right?"
"Yeah...I took a couple hobbies to try and deal with the anxiety. Weightlifting's one..."
"Nice; now, soon as she gives the ok. Hurry up with this late breakfast of yours; there's curls to be made!"
As luck would have it, testing his reflexes was the final item on the list. Spitfire got a dirty look from the nurse for laughing when she had to dive away from Spike's size twenty-threes wooshing up to her face.
When the food was presented, they learned his apatite was nearly as big as his torso. Even Spitfire leaned back a tad when they watched him make a quad-stacked bacon, sausage, hash brown, and pancake sandwich, with maple syrup. The lean went further when he managed to fit it in his fang-loaded mouth.
Sunset whistled. "Well, that's one good excuse to have cooking as one of his hobbies." She said, watching him polish off a second one, then make a third. By the time he looked satisfied, the only remaining items were a couple sausages and a juice box, which Twilight quickly claimed for herself.
"'Scuse me." He mumbled after letting out a belch that rattled the cabinets.
"All right, since we need to get you some gym clothes in your size, we'll make do right now." Spitfire picked up a clipboard after they returned to the gym. "Do a little stretching then we'll start with the basics."
"Ok." He didn't know why, but it looked like the teachers weren't setting off his 'scream in terror' mode. So, it made things a bit more relaxed for him. With that, he took his jacket off and started rolling his shoulders.
"EEP!" Twilight had thought she'd recovered from the shower incident that morning, but when she saw the slow shoulder rolls he was starting with, along with his sheer size, the memory came back with a vengeance. 'I slept beside that last night...' joined with 'Tight shirt...!', and the moment he did a full torso flex to stretch things out...
"Dwah!" Sunset yelped when she was nearly yanked off her feet from the grab Twilight did to her arm. On the plus side, it did stop her drooling at the view.
"Ready? Let's..." Spitfire turned to him, then looked up...and up. She slowly raised her shades. "Riiight...they better not charge extra for this. Yeah, let's start with the punching bag." She led him over to the full-sized bag. " Just give it a good hard slug."
"Just...hit it as hard...?"
"Hard as you can. Don't worry, it's a two-hundred pound-"
'THU-BOOM!'
There was a near audible creaking as she turned to look at the leather scraps and sand now scattered across a third of the gym floor, the top end still dangling from the hook. "It...was a two-hundred pound sandbag..."
Meanwhile the two girls stared in shock at the destruction he'd wrought with one haymaker. "T-Twilight..."
"I saw, Sunset."
"Applejack and Rainbow are gonna miss that bag."
"Yeah."
"Hey, Twilight...you think...?"
"No, Sunset. Absolutely not."
"Come on...!"
"No."
"I can record-"
"No!" |
Equestria Girls: Transformation | pre | "Clever little bitch," he remarked. "Finding a Predacon with abilities like those for your bodyguard."
"I-I swear, I just stumbled upon him!" Twilight stuttered out in fear. "Happy accident, and all that!"
"Let my girlfriend go, wolfy!" Trixie shouted in fear, despite knowing perfectly well there was little she could do at the moment.
Sunder swooped in, and tried to blast Steeljaw with waves of sound once again, but he was having none of that.
"Oh no, we're not having the same trick done twice..." He muttered, and threw a small metal disk which quickly captured the Predacon in a web of energy. Sunder squawked, and tried as hard as he could to break free. Sadly, it was all for nothing really. Steeljaw chuckled, and smirked. "Oh, don't think you'll be getting free of that anytime soon, little bird, as it's made specifically to capture Predacons. Attuned to your specific type of body signature. Try and free yourself, and-"
KER-ZAP!
Sunder suddenly found himself pumped full of electricity and he shrieked out in pain as the two Vehicons pulled up, ready to transform to bot mode if needed.
"That happens," Steeljaw continued. "Now, credit where it's due, I hadn't expected the hunt to go on for this long, so I'll be giving you all a quick death for defying me. I don't like to hurt humans, but there has to be no witnesses in this particular case. I'm a Robot in Disguise, you see. Other humans may be sound asleep at this hour, I don't know, but you seven... Sadly, you saw me and that means you have to go..."
He looked at Twilight, and then at the girls.
"Now, say goodbye to your friend here. It'll be the last time you see her, till you join whatever version of the afterlife you have with her!" Steeljaw laughed, and Trixie stifled out a sob.
"Run!" Twilight shouted. "Save yourselves!"
"No, we're Shadowbolts, and we stick together. No matter what," Indigo said, walking forwards. "And if that means dying together, so be it."
"And I'm your girlfriend Twilight, I love you," Trixie said. "Now, until death do us part. Isn't that the way it goes?"
"T-That's not until the wedding..." Twilight laughed sadly, tears in her eyes.
"Well, I really must admire your comradery!" Steeljaw exclaimed, caught off-guard. Humans were herd animals, fleeing in any given direction at the first sign of danger. But these six... They were something else. "But now, it's ov-"
Then, he heard the distinctive roar of a V8 engine and the sound of police sirens. His eyes widened, and then narrowed. Autobots...
Honestly, Prowl when he'd gotten Fowler's message hadn't been expecting anymore than his daughter getting stalked by some creeper in the night while walking home. It was disgusting to be sure, but he honestly hadn't expected anything more dangerous than something human in nature. Other scenarios ran through his head, others less disturbing, like Sunny Flare getting mugged or just lost in the woods.
What he hadn't been expecting to say the least was Decepticons threatening her and her group of friends. He cursed himself, he should have known that it was always a possibility, the Cons trying to get through to his team's human allies through their family.
With that, he poured on the speed, as Steeljaw's optics widened as he turned to look at Prowl's oncoming form. Next thing the wolfbot knew was Prowl ramming him in the torsoplate at high speed.
Then, Prowl let out a quiet swear in Cybertronian as he saw a small form slip from Steeljaw's grasp. His optics widened and he muttered "So much for our cover..." to himself as he engaged his transformation sequence.
Indigo's eyes widened in abject shock as she saw the oncoming police car approach Steeljaw, and then seemingly fly and ram him in the chest. There was something... familiar about this car, like she'd seen it somewhere before, even if Indigo couldn't place exactly where.
Then, she remembered as before her eyes, she saw parts beginning to shift and change. While she did that, keenly noted that this car had no driver and bore a marking similar to that of Sunder's on the bumper of the car. Mind you, this marking bore what looked to be wings but it was basically the same symbol. She knew where she'd seen this "car" before, even if it's form was different.
Red and blue lights were in the corner of Indigo's eyes, and police sirens filled her ears. A black and white car came out of nowhere and slammed the mysterious Lamborghini in the side, sending it smacking into the wall of a building. Tires squealed, and smoke rose up as it took its leave, with the police car taking chase after it.
Indigo fell to her knees, and let out a little sob of relief, as sweat trailed down her face. Suddenly she wasn't so cold anymore. As she picked herself up off the sidewalk, and started her long walk home, she would later realize one crucial detail about her savior.
It was an old Nissan Fairlady Z, something everyone knew wasn't used as a police car in America...
"No, it can't be..." Indigo whispered to herself as she saw a massive hand reach out and grab Twilight, with a gray plated face bearing a red chevron on its helm smiling at Twilight as it's owner gently sat her down.
"It's okay now, you'll be alright," the robot said kindly before his crystal blue optics narrowed as he turned back to look at Steeljaw. "Him, on the other hand..."
Said robot in question was picking himself off the ground, and letting out an animalistic snarl. He quickly tackled Prowl to the street, with a massive thud ringing out as both colossal forms hit the pavement, cracking it underneath their weight.
"So, going after humans now huh Steeljaw?" Prowl asked calmly as he tried to force the massive Decepticon off of him. His quarry chuckled.
"They were just in my way, that's all," Steeljaw replied in an equally calm tone of voice. "Just obstacles in the way of my real prize."
Prowl's optics then widened as he saw Sunder, in the electro-net, struggling and flailing about to get free. He let out shrieks of pain every time he was pumped full with more electricity. Prowl's optics narrowed and he grabbed Steeljaw by the chest.
"You shall not have him, he's an Autobot. One of our own!" Prowl snarled protectively. "Nor shall you harm those kids!" he declared. With that, he threw Steeljaw off of him, tossing him behind him as he did so.
"Maybe not..." Steeljaw growled, flexing his claws as he and Prowl picked themselves off the tarmac. "But the Vehicons? Well, now that's another story..." he chuckled.
With that, the Vehicons gunned their engines and floored it, heading right for the Shadowbolts ready to run them down. Well, that was the plan anyways. Suddenly, one was blindsided by a pure red Corvette Stingray and sent flying off into the distance. An explosion was heard soon after, and a fireball rose high into the sky.
"Come on Con, you want to dance? Let's dance!" Road Rage snarled out in challenge. She did a complete one-eighty, stirring up smoke as she did so as her tires squealed against the pavement. A blast of fire came from her mufflers and she floored it with the remaining Vehicon in hot pursuit.
"Savor the daylight. Because things are about to get rather dark..." Steeljaw growled out. With a roar, he then charged towards Prowl.
"Go, run!" Prowl shouted towards the girls as he braced himself for the hit. They took the message, and scattered. Well, almost all of them anyways. Twilight and Indigo ran towards Sunder.
"Not leaving you behind, not in the slightest," Indigo said. "Saved our lives, so we owe you this much..."
Two things were felt then as Indigo and Twilight bore witness to Steeljaw rake his claws against Prowl's chassis before the two began grappling for dominance against the other. Indigo, knew at that very moment that her whole life had just transformed into something else entirely, and that this was just the tip of the iceberg.
Twilight, on the other hand, got the distinct feeling that in some way, that this was all her fault...
Meanwhile, Road Rage had led the remaining Vehicon outside the suburbs of Canterlot, and into a chase through a woodland pass. Tall, lonely pines were on either side of the pass, and the full moon shown down. It was a rather beautiful, if not lonely road
The way that the moonlight shone down through the trees gave Road Rage the sense that the land was enchanted, though that was highly illogical given how this new planet worked. But even so, it wasn't just the trees that gave her that feeling of fiction within fact. The road ahead, and even some sections of the horizon beyond it were illuminated by this twinkling silver ball in the sky, and it made the road she took feel all the more brighter.
There was a lake down by the bottom of the woods, which too was drinking in the light of the moon. The way that the water rippled and shimmered tranquilly in the darkness was somewhat soothing, the state of peacefulness being transmitted from one body to another. There were fishes that swam under the cover of the darkness, creating the aforementioned ripples. And they too barely disturbed the waters with how they nimbly glided through its' small and almost miniscule waves.
All throughout her journey, Road Rage felt like this forest would be a true safe haven for her, so long as the Decepticons hadn't followed her into it. Everything around her seemed inviting, welcoming her into a conflict-free twilight which would shelter her for the time being, just until she felt ready to leave and find her way back to the fight. However long it might have taken, one thing was for certain: Here, Road Rage felt like she was free, like she was alive. No longer chained to an endless cycle of battle.
That illusion was shattered when she heard the roar of the Vehicon's engine behind her.
"Right... almost forgot about you," she muttered to herself. The Vehicon whipped out its laser cannon, the weapon popping out of the side, and it fired blast after blast of purple energy.
Road Rage swerved to the left and right to avoid the shots, before she did another one-eighty turn and was now staring her opponent in the headlights.
Her V8 roared to life, and her tires squealed once more as she drove right towards the Con.
"She... She really isn't going to..." the Vehicon thought to himself, but quickly realized Road Rage was deathly seriously as she continued driving towards him. "I need back-up, no-" the Vehicon started over the comms, before he was rammed head-on in the bumper, and he flipped end over end over Road Rage before landing behind her on his roof, and exploding in a large fireball.
Road Rage sighed, calming herself down some. The thing about her was, she had this little glitch in her operating systems. When she turned into her vehicle mode, she became a fire-breathing demon of the road, with little regard for anyone else sharing it. Naturally, it was a point of embarrassment for her, so none of the Autobots saw fit to bring it up.
She then saw a swirling vortex of energy open up and two more Vehicons along with a maroon Aston Martin -With grey detailing and bright yellow rims- drove out of it. Road Rage had to chuckle to herself, she knew only one con who paid that much attention to detail on his finish.
"Knock Out, should have known you'd pop up sooner or later," she snorted in derision, her engine idling. "Still, surprised you'd pop up out of your lab and risk getting your precious finish... scratched."
"Well, if it were up to me, I'd leave Steeljaw to rust... But, needs must," Knock Out replied. "Now, we going to talk, or are we going to drive?"
"Well, in that case..." Road Rage replied, slightly flirtatious in tone although she sorta figured it wouldn't really work on Knock Out given the way most suspected he swung. "Let's dance."
She floored it and drove right towards Knock Out, with the two Vehicons driving right towards her to protect her.
To everyone's surprise, Road Rage lifted her right wheels off the ground and once she was past the cannon fodder sent to greet her, let them touch the pavement once more. She then flew past their boss, who quickly gave chase with the Vehicons following.
She poured on the speed, with the Vehicons opening fire with their blasters. Road Rage smirked as she saw them close in, and saw a turn that, past the guardrail, lay a steep drop. A plan began to form in her mind and she slammed hard on the brakes and let the two speed past her.
Knock Out's optics widened as he figured out what was about to happen.
"No, no, you fools! She's just going to-" he shouted, but to no avail, as the Vehicons couldn't hit the brakes fast enough and went over the side.
With a sigh of disgust, he soon found himself forced into the side of a guardrail and sparks flew as metal ground against metal.
"No, not my finish!" He shrieked out in fury, before quickly transforming to robot mode and blocking the path in front of Road Rage, with very visible scratches all over his body. The doors had especially prominent damage. He snarled as he pulled out a long staff with an electric tipped prong. "You scratch my body, I scratch yours..." he growled out as Road Rage took her robot form.
"We'll see..." Road Rage said as she pulled out a sword and switched the radio over to the oldies station and a song began to play...
"How lucky can one guy be?
I kissed her and she kissed me
Like the fella once said
"Ain't that a kick in the head?"
Weapons met, and sparks flew once more as metal ground up against metal again. Knock Out kicked Road Rage in the chest plate before he lunged out with his staff, and filled her body with volt after volt of pure electricity.
Road Rage fell to the ground, her whole body aching in pain before she was knocked backwards by a kick to the faceplate.
"Little maneuver I like to call the shock and drop," he smirked, but it was quickly wiped off when Road Rage quickly recovered and launched a kick to his face sending him staggering backwards before she scored several swings of her sword, drawing Energon, blue droplets hitting the grass beneath her and forming small pools as they moved up the hill and into the forest.
Knock Out, further ticked off by this damage to his finish, slashed Road Rage across the chest with a saw blade that he'd swapped one of his hands out for, drawing some energon of his own. Road Rage staggered back when Knock Out switched back to his fists and scored a right cross to her face, sending the sword flying from her grip. It impaled itself in the ground nearby after flipping in the air several times.
"While I normally find fisticuffs beneath me, I will not hesitate to defend myself!" Knock Out remarked as he swung again but Road Rage caught the fist and kneed the Decepticon in the stomach.
He growled again, and switched out his right hand for his saw blade again and swung over and over. But Road Rage smirked, and dodged these strikes easily. She could sense her opponent was getting frustrated, and starting to make mistakes. She scored a haymaker to Knock Out's faceplates, and he loosened his grip on his staff.
"You know how long that's going to take to buff out?" Knock Out exclaimed, before his optics widened and he let out a small "Uh-oh..." when he saw his staff in Road Rage's grasp. She swung it above her head several times, before hitting Knock Out right in the chest with the prod end, doing the same to him as he did to her before he found the staff plunged into his chest, just barely missing his spark. He staggered back, resting himself up against a tree.
"Huh, shock and drop. I see the appeal." Road Rage quipped.
His body aching from exhaustion, Knock Out sighed and pulled the staff out of his torso with no small amounts of pain and energon leakage. He smirked when he heard a distinct screeching sound. He looked up, and saw a dark blue -With orange accents- winged form cutting through the night sky, and illuminated by the moon's backdrop.
"Well, Autobot..." He said in mock-surrender as a Ground-Bridge opened up behind him and he slowly started walking back into it. "I give into the victor, but one piece of advice for the future... Look behind you!" he shouted as he ran into the Ground-Bridge and something blindsided Road Rage and tackled her to the ground. She found herself fending of the beak of a giant metallic hippogriff, with the Decepticon sigal on his forehead. It raised a claw, ready to strike.
Suddenly, a white and blue form covered in camouflage detailing blindsided the hippogriff themed Predacon and one hand shifted to become a giant hammer which hit the Predacon in the side of his skull.
Another hand helped Road Rage up off the ground.
"Thanks," she told her savior, but both of their optics widened when they saw the Predacon -Darksteel, if Road Rage remembered correctly- began to charge up a blast of flame. His neck began to glow orange, and that heat traveled all the way up to his beak before a wall of flame came shooting towards them.
Quickly, the newcomer threw up a light blue energy shield with a device on his forearm to block the flames before changing one of his arms into a blaster, and with a few quick shots, sent Darksteel into retreat and into a Ground-Bridge of his own.
"Come, we've overstayed our welcome. Just got word from Prowl, Steeljaw's been sent into retreat." the second newcomer Cybertronian said. Swordbreaker, if Road Rage remembered the crew manifests correctly.
"Yeah, it's not him I'm worried about..." Road Rage whispered, her mind drifting off towards the humans and Sunder... |
Equestria Girls: Transformation | Part 5: Choices | "Come, we've overstayed our welcome. Just got word from Prowl, Steeljaw's been sent into retreat." the second newcomer Cybertronian said. Swordbreaker, if Road Rage remembered the crew manifests correctly.
"Yeah, it's not him I'm worried about..." Road Rage whispered, her mind drifting off towards the humans and Sunder...
A few moments before...
"So, going after humans now huh Steeljaw?" Prowl asked calmly as he tried to force the massive Decepticon off of him. His quarry chuckled.
"They were just in my way, that's all," Steeljaw replied in an equally calm tone of voice. "Just obstacles in the way of my real prize."
Prowl's optics then widened as he saw Sunder, in the electro-net, struggling and flailing about to get free. He let out shrieks of pain every time he was pumped full with more electricity. Prowl's optics narrowed and he grabbed Steeljaw by the chest.
"You shall not have him, he's an Autobot. One of our own!" Prowl snarled protectively. "Nor shall you harm those kids!" he declared. With that, he threw Steeljaw off of him, tossing him behind him as he did so.
"Maybe not..." Steeljaw growled, flexing his claws as he and Prowl picked themselves off the tarmac. "But the Vehicons? Well, now that's another story..." he chuckled.
With that, the Vehicons gunned their engines and floored it, heading right for the Shadowbolts ready to run them down. Well, that was the plan anyways. Suddenly, one was blindsided by a pure red Corvette Stingray and sent flying off into the distance. An explosion was heard soon after, and a fireball rose high into the sky.
"Come on Con, you want to dance? Let's dance!" Road Rage snarled out in challenge. She did a complete one-eighty, stirring up smoke as she did so as her tires squealed against the pavement. A blast of fire came from her mufflers and she floored it with the remaining Vehicon in hot pursuit.
"Savor the daylight. Because things are about to get rather dark..." Steeljaw growled out. With a roar, he then charged towards Prowl.
"Go, run!" Prowl shouted towards the girls as he braced himself for the hit. They took the message, and scattered. Well, almost all of them anyways. Twilight and Indigo ran towards Sunder.
"Not leaving you behind, not in the slightest," Indigo said. "Saved our lives, so we owe you this much..."
Two things were felt then as Indigo and Twilight bore witness to Steeljaw rake his claws against Prowl's chassis before the two began grappling for dominance against the other. Indigo, knew at that very moment that her whole life had just transformed into something else entirely, and that this was just the tip of the iceberg.
Twilight, on the other hand, got the distinct feeling that in some way, that this was all her fault. None of those thoughts running through the girls' heads, of course, mattered to Prowl at the moment.
Right now, his only concern was the Decepticon known as Steeljaw. Ignoring the energon dripping from his torso plates -That, if he lived through this fight, could be dealt with later- Prowl set about the more pressing problem at hand.
That was, the Decepticon currently grappling him for dominance. Prowl broke out of the grapple by flashing the front headlights on his chest and Steeljaw shielded his optics with his hands to avoid permanent blindness. Taking advantage of this brief moment of confusion, Prowl opted for punching Steeljaw again and again. But the 'Con was remarkably quick to recover and slashed Prowl again and again before his opponent had a chance to counter. Quick and brutal, that was his style. Animalistic as it was, it was brutally effective.
"Not so cocky now, are you?" the Decepticon taunted. "Think of this fight as a short, sharp lesson in not underestimating your opponent. Take one thing from this fight, if you wanted to win... You should fight as I do. Like a beast."
Thanks to Steeljaw's almost incredible speed and the fact that he currently had a hostage in Sunder and those girls, it was going to be almost impossible for Prowl to get the upper hand. Keyword, almost.
So, true to form Prowl set about what he was known for doing best. Subconsciously, he prioritized every bit of information available to him at the time.
Steeljaw. Sunder. The human girls. Road Rage. The Vehicons.
He removed Road Rage and the Vehicons from the equation entirely, he knew Road Rage was a fine Autobot in her own right -She hadn't become a member of the Elite Guard and the personal bodyguard to an ambassador without very good reason after all- and so barring any unforeseen circumstances, she should be able to deal with the cannon fodder.
Of course, on the battlefield, unforeseen circumstances were all too often a common occurrence. Prowl knew you couldn't plan for every aspect of how a battle would go. He was soundly knocked back to reality by a right cross from Steeljaw and then a powerful kick to the chest.
"Right..." he reminded himself. "Ignore Road Rage, for the time being, focus on your current problem. Analyze the situation, and deal with it in the best way possible."
Observe. Prioritize, Analyze, React. Those were often Prowl's internal thought processes. As of right now, he was on the react stage.
This was proven when he caught Steeljaw's next punch and responded with one of his own, a powerful one to his faceplates sending the lupine Decepticon stumbling back. During this, Prowl noticed Steeljaw favored his left side, and when fighting, always left it open for attacks for the briefest of moments.
"Your arrogance blinds you Steeljaw," Prowl said as he -predicting Steeljaw's fast recovery- dodged to the left almost at once and pulled out his rifle and fired a few shots into Steeljaw as he lunged again. They were never intended to be fatal as Prowl aimed to capture the Decepticon, not kill, but they would still disable him. Groaning out in pain, Steeljaw fell to the concrete with a powerful crash. "Logically, you could theoretically beat me. However, by fighting like a beast, you allowed yourself openings," Prowl commented. "Fast and dangerous, yes, I'll give you that, but your fighting style grew predictable. Recover, then strike before your opponent has a chance to attack again. But you allowed yourself to grow arrogant. You exposed a blind spot in your defenses. That's why you lost this fight. As you said, think of this as a short, sharp lesson," he said in a definitive tone. But to his surprise, Steeljaw managed out a chuckle.
"You're not the only one who's arrogant..." the Decepticon laughed, a small smirk gracing his face. "For all your analysis, and logic, there was something you failed to consider,"
"Oh, and what's that?" Prowl asked, eyebrow raised.
"...That I never came alone, I had a partner just like you did. I'll admit, I never expected more Autobots to show up, but there's always unexpected variables in any hunt."
A roar of a jet engine was heard from above, and Prowl looked up to see a midnight blue form cutting through the darkened skies. An F-15 Eagle, with VTOL fans fitted to its wings. The jet's parts quickly began to shift and change -As it fired twin missiles at Prowl- into a giant crow-like Predacon known as Filch.
As Prowl quickly dodged the oncoming missiles, Flich took her chance and grabbed Steeljaw with her talons before a blue-green swirling vortex of energy opened up and they flew through it.
Prowl cursed silently to himself, almost had him had that Corvicon partner of his not interfered.
"What was that you were saying about unforeseen circumstances Prowl?" the Autobot law enforcement officer asked himself with a wry chuckle. He then contacted the other soldier under his command he knew to be in the area.
"Swordbreaker, Steeljaw is no longer a threat," he said over the comlink.
"I assume he's been... apprehended?" the Bounty Hunter asked. As much as Prowl hated relying on a normally unsavory lot, he knew Swordbreaker was a trustworthy sort even if he didn't care for either Autobot or Decepticon.
"If it were only that. He got away, with a little bit of help..." Prowl trailed off, a small growl in his tone. Swordbreaker sighed.
"That's to be expected, when the going gets tough, the cowardly always flee. I'll be heading to your location soon. Swordbreaker out." he replied. Prowl nodded in understanding, before he turned off the commlink...
Now:
His attentions then turned to the humans, and Sunder. After all, right now, there were more important worries that needed attending to. Honestly, Prowl didn't care at the moment they'd been exposed, nor was he worrying about the probable explosion from Fowler about both this and his daughter being put in the line of fire. In all honesty, Prowl had been expecting Sunny or one of her friends to stumble across them sooner or later. He'd been keeping tabs on them, just to alleviate Fowler's worries, and he'd learned they were quite the intelligent and inquisitive bunch.
"Come on..." Twilight muttered, seemingly unfazed from her experience with Steeljaw-Through Prowl knew better, she was just hiding it for the time being most likely- and trying to get that electro-net off of Sunder, who she seemed to have struck up a friendship with if the Predacon's concerned glances in her direction was any indication. "Getting you out of there Sunder, don't worry..."
"Not by yourself, you're not," Prowl stated. "Steeljaw's traps are state of the art. I'll give him that, his Predacon Hunter tools are very good at what they do. Now... Twilight Sparkle is it?" he asked, looking down at her, and the human nodded.
"Okay, good," Prowl smiled slightly. "You're going to need my help if you're going to get that thing off of Sunder,"
"Oh yeah?" Trixie piped up. "Why can't you get it off yourself? This is your level of technology, and he's your comrade I'm guessing so you do it! Trixie almost died tonight from Steeljaw and whatever his race is called, so way she figures it, she's not sticking her neck out again for somebot they're likely to go after again and put Trixie in their sights as well!" the stage magician snapped, and Prowl groaned to himself, getting a bit of a headache.
"I can see why Fowler thinks teenagers are such a pain in the aft..." Prowl thought to himself before sighing. "Listen, as much as I'd love to help out Sunder, I'm no minibot. See that little disk on the net? One right in the center of, where everything seems to come out from?" He asked, pointing towards Sunder's restraints.
"Yeah, Trixie sees it," she replied. "Why?"
"Open it up, both you and Twilight. You two are the only ones here about the right size to do it. Hurry now. I don't want Sunder to be in any more pain than he already is," Prowl directed.
Trixie, sharing a nod with Twilight, carefully pried open the disk to reveal a selection of multi-colored wires.
"Ah, Trixie sees the problem..." she continued. "You would be rather over-sized for this task, wouldn't you?" she admitted. "Now, I assume it's as simple as cut the red wire? That's how it always is in the movies, isn't it?"
"Trixie," Twilight replied, rubbing her temples. "I highly doubt Steeljaw's seen any of our films, and even if he has, I doubt he'd make the way of disabling his device so obvious. He strikes me as the type to be genre-savvy about these sort of things..." she trailed off in thought.
"Actually..." Prowl began -And if a robot could flush, Twilight would later swear Prowl did- and Twilight and Trixie stared at him.
"You gotta be kidding me," Twilight muttered before she searched her pockets and sighed. Nope, no wire cutters or anything of the like. She flushed briefly, why'd she even think she'd even have such a thing on her? "Right, this isn't going to be big on dignity, but here goes..."
Reaching out with her teeth, Twilight bit down on the wire and pulled hard as she could, before eventually it snapped in two and the electro-web dissipated, freeing her Predacon friend. He trilled in happiness and flapped his wings slightly before giving Twilight a thankful nibble to her hair, making her let out a small giggle.
Nearby, the rumble of two engines was heard as a military camo colored Toyota Tundra and the Corvette from before pulled up and transformed to the robot modes of Swordbreaker and Road Rage respectively.
"Vehicons scrapped?" Prowl asked at once, not wanting any running about loose and putting humans in danger.
"Yes, but..." Road Rage trailed off.
"But what?" Prowl inquired.
"It seems the Decepticon presence on this rock is larger than you led me to believe, and more dangerous," Swordbreaker said. "I expect a larger payment."
Prowl sighed and rubbed the equivalent of his temples, he couldn't deal with that right now.
"We'll talk later about that," Prowl told him. "Now, Road Rage, as you were saying?"
"Yes, I managed to take care of the Vehicons, but as Swordbreaker here was beginning to explain, they had back-up. Some Predacon, and Knock Out. I dueled and tried to apprehend Knock-Out, but..." she trailed off.
Prowl's optics widened slightly at the new information of yet another Predacon on the Decepticon side, and filed that information away for later. "But what?" he asked.
"My... condition took over slightly when I transformed, more than I was expecting," Road Rage admitted in shame. "I was nearly overcome by it, and almost slagged Knock Out."
Prowl nodded in understanding. "When we get back to base, we'll have you looked over. See if we can halt the urge of it's spread."
"Sir," Swordbreaker asked. "Should we really be discussing what I presume is top-secret information in front of the natives?"
He then gestured to Lemon Zest, who looked ready to burst from excitement.
"Okay... she began, visibly shaking. "That was awesome! Seriously, two giant robots going head to head like that? Badass, seriously badass!" she exclaimed, nearly squeeing while the Autobots looked on in confusion and bewilderment.
"Are all humans like this on your planet?" Swordbreaker had to ask, and Sugarcoat sighed to herself.
"No, just Lemon as far as I can tell," the Crystal Prep student replied in her usual blunt manner of speaking before letting out a mutter of: "Thankfully..."
"Seriously," Lemon continued. "You were like: "This ends here!" and he was like "Never!" she babbled in excitement while throwing a few punches and kicks at an invisible foe for good measure.
Indigo chuckled and rolled her eyes good-naturedly.
"Never change girl... Never change." she smiled. Lemon was always the one to bring the excitement and perkiness to the group, never letting anyone stay down for even a moment. At first, back during Principal Cinch's reign over CPA, Indigo had found it an annoyance, as all she wanted to do was be the best at playing soccer, and Lemon's constant outbursts a distraction.
But now, honestly, she could safely say that she was grateful for having her around. She supposed it all started not too long ago, about a month before the fateful Friendship Games.
Indigo, with a snarl, punched a locker with a fist denting the metal slightly and swearing to herself quietly.
She never lost, never! And yet, somehow... Today, she did. All to that one rainbow haired girl from that boonie school CHS.
A simple mistake, that's all it had to have been. She messed up somewhere. Yeah, that was it, Indigo thought to herself as she grabbed a wet towel and used it to wipe the sweat off her face.
As she wiped away the sweat and dirt from her face, she heard a very familiar voice along with the sound of rock and roll coming from nearby and groaned as she remembered it. Lemon Zest, of course.
Sure enough, as Indigo peeked her head outside the locker rooms, there was Lemon brazenly dancing to tunes, headphones over her ears and seemingly not caring if she got caught by anyone. Indigo chuckled, even if she found the girl an annoyance with the fact that she seemingly didn't care if no one else wanted to listen to rock and roll at the same volume she did, she had to give her credit for sheer bravery.
It would have been all too easy for Principal Cinch to swoop down and take the headphones away, and throw Lemon in detention.
Speaking of Lemon, she finally took notice of Indigo staring at her.
"Oh, hey Indigo, want a listen?" Lemon asked.
"I'd rather not, thank you..." Indigo sighed, but her protests went ignored as Lemon pulled her in close and put one part of the headphones over Indigo's ears. Almost at once, she was hit with a wall of sound and squealing guitars as Lemon did a air guitar solo.
"Man, Slash Monkey is the best!" Lemon exclaimed, seemingly not noticing -Or caring- as Indigo pried the headphones away, ears ringing. "Can't believe they're coming here! I mean, do you know how long I've been waiting to see them? Like, forever man! And I got tickets to see their only U.S. tour date!"
"Well, there's a shock," Indigo deadpanned. "I mean, who doesn't love obscure Bulgarian shriek metal?"
"Boy, you seem to be down in the dumps today..." Lemon remarked. "C'mon, don't tell me you're letting that one loss get to you?"
Indigo's small growl gave her all the answer she needed.
"Hey, like I said," Lemon replied reassuringly. "Just one loss. What's the thing about us Crystal Prep students?"
Indigo smirked.
"We never lose... And even if we do, we fight twice as harder next time." she remarked, a new confidence filling her. She may have lost today, but next time would be different. That much she was sure of.
Lemon slapped her on the back. "That's the spirit, girl! Now, next time skittles shows up, show her what we stand for as a school!"
Indigo smirked, and thought ahead to the upcoming Friendship Games. Oh, she would alright...
"Listen, if you don't want us to know about all of this, promise we won't blab a thing," Indigo said. "First rule of super secret Robot Fight Club is don't talk about super secret Robot Fight Club,"
Prowl chuckled. "If it were only so simple as for things to be a "Fight Club" as you put it," he remarked.
"So what, you going to remove our memories like the characters do in the Men in Black movies with their Neuralyzer?" Trixie squeaked out nervously.
"Hardly, we're not so... crude," Prowl said. "Of course, obviously we can't just live and let be. You know about us now. I have no doubts you won't say a thing. After all, who'd believe you if you did?"
"...Got a point there." Trixie admitted.
"But, we will be taking you back to our base for safe-keeping for the time being," Prowl continued. "I don't think the Decepticons would be so inclined to just live and let be with this defeat. Especially Steeljaw. So, because of that..."
Road Rage held up a hand to stop him.
"Hey, it's their choice to make. Not ours. I say we let them make up their own minds. We can't exactly force them to do what we want. We're not tyrants," she pointed out.
Prowl sighed to himself.
"Alright, fine," he said, finally relenting. As much as he didn't like the idea of the girls out there alone, Road Rage was right. They couldn't force this choice on them. Reaching for a small panel on one of his arms, he pulled a holographic cell-phone number. "If you do decide to come to our base, call this number."
Indigo nodded in understanding, as all three Autobots transformed and drove off into the night...
Canterlot Skate Park:
The next day, after classes let out for the afternoon, the whole group met up at the local skate park. Not Twilight's ideal choice of venue, she had to admit, but it would do for the time being.
As she and the rest of the group from a picnic table watched Lemon Zest grind her skateboard up against a railing before doing an ollie onto a nearby half-pipe, Twilight frowned to herself.
"Hey, something wrong?" Trixie asked her girlfriend, whose eyes seemed to be just watching the sky and just drifting off into space. It wasn't like her at all really, Twilight was always seemingly on-task and always focused on something. But right now...
"I... No, it's nothing..." Twilight mumbled.
"Twilight, you've been acting like this since last night," Trixie remarked before pointing to the math homework in front of her. "Seriously, you've been ignoring your own homework. That is so not like you. You're... You're starting to freak me out here." she continued, in a worried tone of voice.
"It's... Well, it's just about last night," Twilight murmured, and Trixie's eyes widened in realization as she figured out what was keeping Twilight so distracted. "Can't help but think some of it... No, all of it was my fault."
Trixie looked at her in the eyes, giving her girlfriend a harsh look.
"Twilight, look at me, none of it was your fault, you understand?" she told her sternly. "Not one bit of it. All of it, it was on Steeljaw and his cronies, nobody else."
"But... But if I hadn't found Sunder, he wouldn't have come after us..." Twilight trailed off. "We almost died that night, and so did he for that matter!"
"So, it was just a result of your curiosity getting the better of you," Trixie shrugged. "The Twilight Sparkle I know, and fell in love with, she always wants to explore and learn new things, no matter what the risk! What was that old saying from that show you told me you and that babysitter of yours used to watch together?"
"Take chances, make mistakes, get messy..." Twilight mumbled.
"That's what you were doing right there!" Trixie exclaimed. "Taking a chance, and sure you may have made a mistake and got in a bit of a mess for it, or maybe you may not have. There was no way in Hell you could have known Steeljaw was going to come after you! Now, pull yourself together Twilight Sparkle!"
"Thank... Thank you, Trixie." Twilight whispered, hugging her girlfriend.
"Hey, that's what I'm here for. To slap some sense into you, when you need it," Trixie replied with a slight smirk. "Not a complete bitch, you know. ...Despite what everyone else likes to think." she joked.
As Lemon walked up, resting her Kamen Rider Gaim themed skateboard up against a tree, she pulled out a can of an energy drink, popping it open.
"Hey, so you guys decided yet?" Lemon asked, and everyone looked at her in confusion. "Aw come on, don't tell me you guys have forgotten yet? Certain group of giant fighting robots we met last night? Hello?"
"...I hardly think we can forget that, Lemon," Sugarcoat deadpanned. "It's just... well, it's not an easy decision really. I mean, if what we've seen so far of their power is correct, it'd be very easy for us to get killed if we got involved in their little war."
"Yeah," Sour seemingly agreed. "Except the problem is, we're already involved as it is. I mean, chances are that Steeljaw bot won't forget about us anytime soon. That's one wolf who needs serious anger management control..."
"Yeah, look who's talking..." Trixie deadpanned, and Indigo and Sugarcoat had to physically restrain Sour as she tried to reach across the table.
"What was that!?!" Sour snarled, before she sighed and remembered what her psychologist had told her. "Deep breaths... Deep breaths." she reminded herself as she refrained from trying to strangle Trixie.
"I think we're forgetting the important point here," Sugarcoat said. "Something Sour just brought up, even if she didn't realize it,"
"Oh, what's that?" Sour asked, intrigued.
"Robots, with living thinking minds of their own, and by that logic, robots with emotions," Sugarcoat stated, having realized the full extent of the Cybertronian similarity to humankind. "Robots, who can bleed. Robots..."
"Robots," Indigo finished, swallowing nervously. "Who can... die."
"Alright," Lemon proclaimed, reaching for her phone. "That settles it! We're going. Those big guys, they won't be able to bail Sunder out every time. They need our help!"
And before anyone could raise a hand to stop her, (And later on, they'd realize they probably wouldn't have, as they all shared the same feelings) she dialed the number Prowl had given on her phone.
"Hey, Prowl? This is Lemon Zest, we've made up our mind. We're coming to the base."
And not even an hour later, Swordbreaker in vehicle mode showed up, and his door opened with a gruff: "Get in." |
Equestria Girls: Transformation | Part 6: The Infodump Chapter | The Autobase: Ghastly Gorge
The roar of a .7 L V8 UR engine, putting out 381 brake horsepower rumbled through a man-made tunnel inside the canyon walls of the gorge. Metal plating surrounded Swordbreaker's truck alternate mode on all sides, numerous and uncountable man-hours and US money spent just to keep tons of rock from fall inwards on humans and Autobots alike entering the base.
"Holy shit..." Indigo trailed off as her eyes widened upon what she saw next as Swordbreaker pulled into the base's main room, where nuclear missiles once resided decades ago when Russia and America, along with the rest of the world were at arms with nervous and twitchy fingers on triggers.
As Swordbreaker pulled to a halt, tires screeching against the metal floor slightly, Indigo as she got out noted a giant version of the Autobot symbol below her.
"Wow... real subtle..." she muttered as she heard the shifting of mechanical parts from behind her as Swordbreaker transformed to robot mode. Massive footsteps echoed into the distance as he walked off.
"Well, God only knows where the heck we are, so I think it kinda works," Sunny Flare stared down at the sigil on the ground. "Plus, who else is gonna come here besides us and these guys?" she asked. From a rafter high above them, Sunder beeped out a greeting in Morse Code.
"Point," Trixie admitted as she gave Sunder a little wave which he returned with a wing. "...Plus, it is kinda awesome to look at."
Nearby, on a massive table that was probably the Cybertronian version of a hospital bed, lay Road Rage in bot form with a small red microscope scanning every inch of her form.
"Well," the "microscope" observed, speaking with a slight English accent. "Prowl was absolutely right to bring you to me. That virus in your system, it's progressing at an exponential rate. Rather frightening, really."
"Nngh..." Road Rage groaned as she tried to sit upright, the virus in her body halting some of her servos. "Quiznak. (Twilight nearly squeed when she heard that word, knowing exactly where it was from) You think there's a fix for it?"
"That's... that's the thing," Perceptor admitted sheepishly as he transformed into robot mode, shifting in size as he did so. "I'm actually not sure. I've never even seen anything like this in my entire lifetime. It's a new thing, needs more study before I can administer a-" he continued before Road Rage growled at him and Perceptor held up his hands defensively.
"Wonderful... " she muttered. "Absolutely positively slagging wonderful. Time, if you remember, isn't exactly on my side here. Sooner or later, if you don't find that cure, I'll be as wild and uncontrollable as a fraggin' Predacon!" she snapped, and a certain bird-bot whirred out in offense. It was impossible to translate exactly what Sunder said, but it was probably something rude.
"...Sorry, Sunder," Road Rage flushed, forgetting who was in the room with her for a moment. "It's just..."
"I understand Road Rage, I really do," Perceptor replied. "I'll be devoting all of the time and effort I can to finding a cure before it does happen and the virus takes you over completely."
"Hey. Can we help?" Sugarcoat stepped forward towards the paralyzed Road Rage and her medic, Perceptor. "What kind of virus are we talking about here?"
"I honestly doubt you can..." Perceptor trailed off, before he saw Sugarcoat's look and sighed.
"Just give me an answer. Biological virus or digital virus?" She pushed her glasses close to her face. The look that quelled many an idiot friend of hers.
"Fine... It's a new kind, that's for sure," Perceptor continued, as if having new humans in the base hadn't even registered with him. "It's digital and biological at the same time, but unlike anything I've ever seen. What basically happens is, and nobody's sure how Road Rage here even got it, is that this thing slowly creeps into vital systems and drives them into a sort of madness. A hate plague, if you will. When she transforms, she becomes a monstrosity on the road with very little care for anyone or anything, and this persists a little as we've now seen when she goes back into Robot Form." he explained.
"A berserk serum for machines. How perplexing..." Sugarcoat approached Road Rage. "Usually, those kinds of things have been developed for humans only. How one has been made for machines, I'll never know. Have you got a computer screen that shows her vitals?"
"Yes, I'll bring it up. Here." Perceptor replied, going over to a console screen, and bringing up a small holographic readout of Road Rage's vitals.
Sugarcoat (Along with Twilight) examined the diagnosis from top to bottom, leaning in close to see if she could find any irregularities. After a few moments, she eventually found a pulsating purple spot deep within the recesses of Road Rage's neck unit, with trace amounts of the same purple light trailing down her vines like a very thin thread.
"Biological and digital at the same time. How clever," Sugarcoat remarked and Twilight gave her a look.
"I don't think we're supposed to be admiring it Sugar..." Twilight trailed off. "Especially not in front of who it's infected."
Sugar had at least the decency to blush.
"Right, sorry..." she murmured before continuing. "Something that seems an impossibility is right there in front of us." She tapped on the dot. "Perceptor? Have you managed to find this in your run-down of Road Rage?"
"Yes, one of the first things I noticed. That's where the virus first started, near her Transformation Cog. Then it spread out the more Road Rage used it." he replied. If he had glasses, Twilight imagined the scientist/medic would be adjusting or cleaning them.
"So what's the cure for a duological disease?" Sugarcoat asked.
"Duological?" Twilight cocked an eyebrow.
"Biological and digital at the same time. Came up with it on the spot." Sugar folded her arms smugly. Twilight sighed and shook her head, before rubbing her temples.
"Back on topic," Perceptor continued. "That's the thing, we've never seen anything remotely like this at all. Like I said, it's new."
"I can hear you three chattering away, you know!" Road Rage barked. "Just give me any good news you have."
"That's the thing," Perceptor replied. "There is no "Good News"..." he trailed off, and at Road Rage's death glare he flinched a little and sighed. "...At least for the moment. A cure will be found, we just need to study this a little more."
"...Right, that's what you've been saying for the last few cycles..." Road Rage muttered.
"But we know it's dormant if she doesn't transform, right?" Twilight lifted a hand. "As long as she stays in one form, it won't trigger. Is that how this works?"
"Yes..." Perceptor said. "She can still go out on the battlefield, she just can't transform. But even then, that presents a problem. Two actually. One, without a vehicle mode she can't keep up with the faster Decepticons. Secondly... we're supposed to be Robots in Disguise, not Robots of the Obvious."
"...The Cons don't seem to care for that rule, do they?" Road Rage deadpanned.
"Then--and I know this is gonna sound totally bad--but she's a liability to have out on the field." Lemon Zest said, but hung her head, taking no joy in saying it.
"Gee kid, thanks for the bluntness and no sugarcoating it..." Road Rage muttered.
"For the time being, I think it'd be best if you guys bench her, just until that virus gets fixed." Indigo agreed. It was then Perceptor finally seemed to register the new humans in the base.
"...Wait, how many humans are we allowing into our fold again?" he asked himself before walking off muttering to himself about "Calculating for this new variable in the equation..."
Prowl rolled up, now in his newly scanned Ford Police Interceptor mode before transforming. His new robot mode looked very similar to his older one, but it had the obvious front bumper and hood of the Interceptor taking up his chest plate instead of his old form's Nissan Fairlady Z vehicle mode parts.
"Looking good Prowl," Road Rage complimented, groaning as she got up off the medical table. "New Alt Mode's working for you sir. Hound said the new Holo-Drivers should be fully ready for their first field test soon."
"And your... condition?" Prowl asked gently. Road Rage's hanging of her head gave him all the answer he needed. He put a hand on one of her shoulders. "Don't worry, Perceptor's one of the best. He'll find a cure soon."
"Hah," Road Rage laughed bitterly. "And Onslaught will just give himself up and renounce the Decepticon cause in the next week," she replied, sarcasm filling her tone. It escaped her notice that Prowl had just shown a rare case of actual emotion and caring, instead of his usual cold, logical tone he often took with his troops.
"Er... bit lost here," Trixie said, looking Prowl straight in the optics. "Autobots, Decepticons, Transformation Cogs? What the Hell is going on here, Trixie asks you. Mind filling in the gaps?"
"Okay, but this may require a bit of history," Prowl replied. "Studied you high school kids, and I know how much you hate learning..."
Twilight looked ecstatic actually, forcing Prowl to amend his statement. "...Well, some of you anyways. It started 5 billion of your Earth years ago. During that time, Cybertron was divided up in a class system. What Alternate Mode you got, you earned your job relating to that. Some got to work in the Hells of the mines of Kaon, toiling away hour after hour seemingly without end.
"But there was one Cybertronian who was not having an inch of it," Prowl continued. "His name was D-16, or as he soon began to call himself as he participated in dangerous gladiatorial arena matches... Megatronus, after one of the legendary Thirteen Primes of old who were some of the first to inhabit Cybertron and lay down the foundations of the modern day and the planet's Golden Age. Megatronus, he won match after match, gaining support amongst the masses. In fact, as a gladiator, in killing others he began to appreciate the value of life if you could believe it, and in between matches he became something of an intellectual, debating the castes with other.
"This support allowed him to turn to the political side of things, and he soon made friends with a young archivist or librarian as you'd call it. That archivist's name was Orion Pax. During this period, Cybertron, our home planet was in a time of great upheaval. Our current Prime, Sentinel Prime had just been assassinated and Civil War was breaking out. Even our best of the best, the Elite Guard, -of which me and Road Rage would eventually become members- was struggling to keep order. A new Prime was needed to bring things back to a state of calm.
"Megatronus, shortening his name to the more simple Megatron pleaded with Orion Pax to the Council to end the corruption and fighting in the streets that was plaguing the planet. But sadly, at the time at least, Megatron was too power-hungry and Orion was chosen instead. He became known as Optimus Prime. Megatron was furious, and his followers -Calling themselves the Decepticons- united half the planet and the war became ever bloodier with each passing year. He even got to a part of the Autobot Elite Guard, led by Onslaught at the time and corrupted Onslaught's elite unit, the Combaticons and swayed them to his cause. Onslaught was corrupted by the most dangerous of your Seven Deadly Sins... Pride, and his Combaticons soon followed suit with each having their darker natures emerge. Lust, Greed, Wrath, Envy...
"Eventually however as the years passed," Prowl continued. "Even Megatron, despite all the destruction he'd caused, began to see he'd lost sight of his true goals of uniting Cybertron and formed a peace treaty with his old friend Optimus and together, a new Golden Age was formed. All was well... for a brief while. Peace and exploration was the new status quo. But some, sadly, would not have it. Onslaught, along with several others including his Combaticons along with hardened criminals like Steeljaw fled Cybertron, and here we are, giving chase and tracking them down."
"Hold on for a second," Sunny Flare held up a hand, stopping Prowl in his tracks. "This is an awful lot to take in, you know. I couldn't even make out half of what was going on for a few seconds there."
"Well, I could," Lemon nodded. "Megatron got mad that he couldn't bring everyone together, so they totally went Transformers: Civil War on each other and decided to fight. But then, they decided to get all buddy-buddy again. Simple."
"...That's putting it in a very simple way of saying it, as things were far more complex than that, but whatever works..." Prowl murmured. "Now, to answer your question on Transformation Cogs... Trixie, was it?"
"That's my name, don't start wearing it out." Trixie smirked.
Prowl muttered something along the lines of "Teenagers..." and sighed to himself. "Anyways, Transformation Cogs. They're not just technology as you would think of us, but biology instead. They're vital organs, and simply just can't be built as you please if one wears out and replaced. No... The sad fact of the matter is for Road Rage, her T-Cog is infected and it's dying as if were one of your organs like say a liver. Suppose you could say she's got a form of cancer, I guess..." Prowl mused sorrowfully to himself.
Then there was a loud roar of "PROWL!" as the base's elevator doors opened and a very familiar figure to Sunny and the Autobots alike stepped inside the base.
"Agent Fowler." Prowl said politely, unfazed by the former Army Ranger's rage.
"D-Dad?" Sunny whispered in shock. Fowler didn't seem to notice his daughter or her friends, as his rage was solely directed on Prowl.
"Aw slag..." Road Rage muttered to herself.
"Do you know the amount of danger you put my dear Sunny in?" Fowler's footsteps left small cracks in the bridge leading up to the girls and Prowl. His hands gripped a handrail tightly, barely keeping his composure "You and I know full well that humans die in one hit! How could you just let her out on the firing line like that?!"
"You think I don't know the danger she was in? Why do you think I disregarded protocol like that, and had Road Rage and Swordbreaker rush to her and friends' rescue not even bothering with our cover identities?" Prowl fired back. "I get that you care for your daughter, I understand that, but you'd be better off yelling at Steeljaw as he's the one at fault here, not me! If your daughter hadn't gotten the idea of texting you, we wouldn't even know she was in danger!"
"Prowl, look, I'm just on edge, alright?" Fowler took a deep calming breath and stepped backwards. "Cinch is gone, and all I have left in my life is Sunny. Without her, I'd be completely heartbroken. So to have her in danger like that is something I'm not comfortable with. At all. Now, do you see?" He asked.
"Yes... Yes, I understand." Prowl murmured as Twilight and Trixie stared at Sunny in shock, not realizing her father was a government agent nor was her mother Cinch of all people. "While Cybertronian family units are very different from your Earth families in many ways, in others they're quite the same. If I was in your position, and my sparkling was all that was left of my family..." he trailed off.
"Fowler, lay off the guy a bit will you? Guy's got enough on his plate without you yelling at him. Guy's a cop, and his main concern should be catching the crooks. Let the other Bots worry 'bout the kids eh?" a new voice chimed in, a little scratchy as a yellow-skinned woman with flaming hair and a vest with medals pinned all over it stepped into the room. Lemon and Indigo's jaws dropped, and Lemon nearly let out a squee.
"You're... You're Spitfire, former Captain of the freaking Blue Angels for five years running! I had a poster up my wall of you once!" Lemon squealed, as said former Captain rested up against a railing in a casual manner.
Spitfire smirked as a chuckle came from beside her and Special Agent Chrysalis stepped out of the shadows. "Gee, bet you had some very "special" times to it as well..." Chrysalis remarked causing Lemon's jaw to drop at her audacity and Spitfire to pinch the bridge of her nose in annoyance.
"Special Agent Chrysalis, a little decorum please?" Fowler asked.
"Very Special Agent Chrysalis. And relax Fowler, don't get your panties in a twist, just having a bit of fun..." she teased, tracing a finger along his jawline causing him to blush quite red as Spitfire laughed her head off.
"Y-Yes, well, I-I..." Fowler stammered out and Spitfire only laughed harder.
"Is she always this... provocative?" Perceptor lifted one of his own eyebrows as he returned holding a datapad in his hands.
"You could say that..." Chrysalis smirked as she stared into the optics of the Autobots, seemingly sizing them up.
"In a word... Yes." Spitfire deadpanned. Fowler meanwhile, was struggling to regain his composure, making Chrysalis chuckle to herself.
"So what are all you guys doing here anyways?" Sour asked. "Aside from sizing up everyone and laughing at Chrysalis's antics."
"Well," Prowl began to explain. "Special Agent Fowler, Captain Spitfire, and Special Agent Chrysalis are here to help us maintain our covers here on Earth, and keep the general public at large unaware of us. Special Agent Chr-"
"Very!" Chrysalis chimed in.
Prowl sighed. "Very Special Agent Chrysalis, in particular, has been very helpful in forging fake IDs for our holo-drivers that Hound's been working on."
"...Mind you, she seems to have a little too much fun designing our human bodies I think." Road Rage snarked.
"What can I say?" Chrysalis asked cheerfully. "I have a fine appreciation of the human body."
"Too fine." Fowler put in sounding rather annoyed and Chrysalis sighed.
"Oh, you'll come around, they always do..." she trailed off.
"If I may continue?" Prowl asked, clearing his throat. When no objections were raised, he did. "Fowler, he keeps the Pentagon informed of our, and the Decepticons movements."
Sour made a coughing sound that sounded suspiciously like "Babysitter..." to everyone's ears.
"Meanwhile, Spitfire keeps an eye on the sky. She's got connections in the military of her own, so any strange flyovers or such, she alerts us at once and we check it out," Prowl continued. "Plus, her squadron is on beck and call if things ever were to get... Oh, how do you humans say it?"
"Hairy?" Trixie offered.
"Yes, that." Prowl smiled. "Now, if you excuse me, I have important matters to attend to with Chrysalis and Spitfire. And quite honestly, I think you kids should get some rest, you've got school in the morning after all. I'll have Hound and Swordbreaker drive you home."
"I'll be taking my daughter home," Fowler put in. "In my own car. She and I... well needless to say we have things to talk about."
"Oh boy..." Sunny sighed as she was led to her dad's car. This wasn't going to be a pleasant conversation, to say the least. |
Equestria Girls: Transformation | Part 7: Ancient History | "Hello Canterlot, and good afternoon to you all once again!" A feminine voice (With a somewhat African-American accent attached to it) bellowed out of the radio of Fowler's sedan. "This is your favorite DJ, Xiraia, coming at you with the latest weird news right from my little station here in downtown Canterlot. Now, you all believe in aliens, spooks, and government cover-ups right? Of course you do, otherwise you wouldn't be listening to yours truly!"
Fowler sighed to himself, now a few months back he wouldn't have paid even the slightest bit of attention to this woman and her conspiratal ramblings. But that was of course before his bosses assigned him to be the babysitter for a bunch of giant robots from another planet.
"Now, strange lights coming from the hills outside Canterlot? Our very own Brown Mountain Lights, or a secret government base? You decide. Now, I recently got a very interesting tip-off from one of my listeners. Actually, have I told you I love you all? Seriously, you guys and gals are keeping my world going around, not to mention this radio show on the air!"
That statement was followed by a short laugh before Xiraia continued. "Anyways, tip-offs. Oddly enough, and take this statement as you will listeners, but I recently got this comment from a member of our very own Canterlot High -Who would like to keep her name off the record in fear of government spooks coming to call- about seeing this massive metallic bird late last night. Sorta resembled a crow of all things, a dark midnight blue in color. Now, I don't know about you, but that screams either Prism surveillance device or giant alien spacecraft. You decide for yourselves, dear boys and girls. Now, a commercial break and a word from our sponsors, who just work for the corporate big-wigs which control every aspect of our lives."
A short snippet of the X-Files theme played before a little ditty about some sort of toothpaste begun. At that, Fowler switched off the radio and sighed. "I swear, by Uncle Sam's red, white and blue boxers, that woman's going to make herself a target for 'Cons one of these days if she isn't careful and learns when to keep her mouth shut. Certainly not making it easier for me, Chrysalis or Spitfire to keep the Autobots under wraps either."
Sunny looked at her father and shook her head, knowing exactly what he was thinking. "You're wondering if you should go over to Xiraia's and ask her to keep quiet, or at least watch herself, aren't you? You do realize you'd only give her vindication for her partially insane ramblings if you did that right?" she asked him.
"Still, she's painting a bad name for the Autobots!" Fowler groaned. "How am I supposed to let that slide? Especially since your friends are now working for the 'Bots themselves?"
"You mean painting a bad name for the US Government, right?" Sunny deadpanned. "Because I didn't hear anything in that broadcast that even mentioned the Autobots last I checked,"
"Paparazzi and reporters, I've always hated them," He muttered to himself as he turned a corner past the local KO Burger. "All they do is twist the news to make juicy stories that everyone will read or listen to just because it's 'big' or 'a shocker'. Not even the worst sociopaths on the planet are worse than these stuck-up double-talkers."
"You know, I think that's one of the few things you and Mom ever agreed on..." Sunny laughed bitterly, a trace of sadness in her tone. "Mind you, I really don't think a radio host counts as a reporter, or at least a radio host for a show themed around conspiracies, the paranormal and aliens."
"It's a distinction without a difference. She's still lying to the masses and putting them on her side, refusing to get the true story from the real people involved in the chaos." Fowler grumbled. "Remind me to give her a piece of my mind the next time I see her, alright?"
"Like I said, you'd just be vindicating her paranoid ramblings." Sunny reminded him.
"Yeah, you're right. But it still pisses me off," he said, rubbing his temples as they pulled up to Fowler's home and onto the driveway. "Can't say I'm too pleased with you and the rest of your friends getting involved in this little 'Con Hunt that the Autobots are conducting."
"Aw, c'mon, Fowler. It's gonna be awesome!"
Both Fowler and Sunny turned their heads to see Lemon walking up to them both. Her hands were behind her head and her headphones were connected by Bluetooth to the phone in her pocket, which was playing her favorite songs. Sunny was able to catch a snippet of what was currently playing when Lemon took off her headphones to speak.
"Sabaibaru You got move
Gendai wa sanagara sengoku
Dare ga kachinukeru
Kagi wa hirake rarete shimatta
(Don't Say No JUST LIVE MORE)
"Doko ni aru?
Do tsukau?
Kindan no kajitsu
"`Ima' to iu kaze wa nani o tsutaeru tame
(Omae no moto ni fuku tsuyoku tsuyoku Blowin' up)
Ashita ga yume ga mada mienakute mo
(Soko genkai seiippai ikite iru to ierunara)"
Sunny chuckled to herself, from what little Japanese she did understand that song suited her friend perfectly.
"No offense Lemon, but I highly doubt you're helping my case..." she deadpanned. "How'd you even find us anyways?"
"Uh, the address book?" Lemon asked, with a small smirk gracing her face. Sunny groaned, out of all her of friends that had to come to talk some sense into Fowler, why'd it have to be Lemon? Couldn't it have been Sugarcoat or Twilight? "Look, Fowler, I know you're super-stingy about the safety of your daughter, but she's in good hands. Me, Indy, Sour, Sugar, and the Bots are gonna be fine."
"Lemon, you're hardly at the sort of age where you're able to make the best judgements," Fowler remarked. He wasn't trying to come off as condescending, but concerned. He really didn't want to see teenagers caught up in an intergalactic police chase between metal titans capable of crushing a human with one step.
"Well, at least I'm not Sugarcoat. That girl is really stuffy," Lemon folded her arms. "Would you rather have her here and say you're not helping Sunny grow stronger because you're being overprotective? Because she'd say that. Sugarcoat has, like, no filter at all. Nada, zip, zilch."
"Lemon..." Sunny gritted her teeth.
"Lemon, think about a scenario for a second. What if the Decepticons found out where my daughter lived--and you know they can as they found out where you lived--and kidnapped her? She wouldn't last long under their care. They could care less about us humans!" Fowler argued.
"I know. That's why we're not only hunting Cons, but we're gonna crush 'em into scrap. That way, you, the Bots, and everyone else doesn't need to worry 'bout 'em anymore," How Lemon was still smiling was a question the others may never have an answer to. "Plus, Perceptor's making us super-awesome battle gear that'll keep us safe from Cons and their tech. Nothing to worry about."
"I'm curious," Sunny asked. "How is Perceptor finding the time to do that, worry about Road Rage's virus, and anything else he's probably got under his belt? One scientist can only do so much after all."
"Perceptor doesn't even sleep. Unlike us, he works twenty-four seven, even when other bots are off in robo-dreamland," Lemon nodded. "It's like he doesn't even have a re-energizing matrix like the others do."
"Forgive me for still being concerned, but I really don't think this is the best idea. I'd think a scientist would know better than to involve kids in this kind of thing!" Fowler remarked as he and his daughter stepped out of the car.
"Technically, children are aged from zero to twelve years old. We are all aged seventeen to nineteen, thereby making us teenagers and not kids."
Sugarcoat now approached the girls, looking as unamused and to-the-point as ever. Nearby, Swordbreaker in vehicle mode rested parked at the edge of the curb, engine idling. With her triple ponytail hairstyle swaying gently in the wind, she stepped up to Fowler and crossed her arms.
"Fowler, you have had a traumatic experience with Sunny before. I can tell from your tone of voice." Sugarcoat raised a brow at him. "And because of that experience, you have developed an overprotective personality. It's not healthy for you or for her. You should stop being overprotective and let Sunny fend for herself."
Fowler sighed. "I nearly had my daughter die at the hands of the Decepticons once, and I don't want to have it happen a second time. You can understand that right?" he asked her.
"All these bad emotions are nothing more than a waste of time. Regret, anxiety, doubt, it's nothing more than weakness. A weakness you choose to exploit upon yourself to prove you can't get any better." Sugarcoat didn't back down, and handed down a swift, and sharp truth. "I removed all these emotions from my life, and I am much happier for it, even though I choose not to show it most of the time," she continued. "And I encourage everyone else at Crystal Prep to do so as well, as negative emotions mean bad grades and a loss in overall morale, thereby lowering the quality of Crystal Prep students and painting a bad image for them and for their education as well."
Fowler tried to form a rebuttal to that remark, but found none. Finally, he sighed. "Alright, she's allowed to stay with the Autobots, but should I find out something's happened to her--"
"Which it won't." Sugarcoat interjected with a raised finger.
"If I may continue?" Fowler asked. "Should I find something's happened to her, I will not hesitate to come and save her myself. I can still pilot a fighter jet and scramble a squadron, you know."
"If you're that worried about her, then why don't you join our cause and fight alongside her?" Sugarcoat cocked a brow. "Then, you wouldn't have to worry about her dying away from your side. You can be with her and keep her safe no matter what."
"Sadly," Fowler commented, gesturing to his gut. "I really don't think I'd fit in one of those suits. I'm more suited to working behind a desk, and keeping the Autobots under wraps."
"They're polymorphic fibers. One size fits all." Sugarcoat showed hers off under her skirt. "A special gift from Perceptor. And they raise your metabolism and increase your pain threshold."
Fowler hummed to himself. "It's worth a thought. But as for right now, I have to work from behind the scenes. I have a general to report to and keep him reassured that the Autobots are no threat to mankind. Let me tell you, Bryce is as stubborn as they come."
"Suit yourself," She turned her back. "Sunny, you and Lemon should get back to Autobot HQ soon and suit up. Indigo and Sour are already there, and training hard with their blasters. Twilight and Special Agent Chrysalis (Sugarcoat wasn't going to use Chrysalis's self-given moniker and feed her ego any more than needed) are helping Prowl research who we know's on Earth with Onslaught's crew, and who is suspected of following him." Sugarcoat said in response.
"Alright. I'll just finish up with dad, then I'll be right there. Have a Groundbridge spawn at my location." Sunny nodded. "It's much faster than being driven back by the Bots."
"As you wish." Sugarcoat replied as she waved Sunny and Fowler goodbye and gestured for Lemon to follow her back to the still waiting Swordbreaker. Soon as they were both inside, the bounty hunter for hire drove off into a groundbridge of his own. "I'll give you a moment to say goodbye to him."
"Listen, dad..." Sunny sighed, after a long silence. "I know you're not happy about this, but there's not much you can do to stop me now. As soon as Twilight found Sunder, and Steeljaw attacked us, I was dragged into this, like it or not."
"I know. And I know I can't stop you." Fowler put a hand on her shoulder. "Just promise me that you'll come back safe and sound, alright?"
"Hey, I got you looking out for me, so I know I'll be fine, right?" Sunny asked.
Fowler laughed, and ruffled his daughter's hair. "That's my girl. I... I just wish I didn't have to see you grow up this fast, that's all. I wanted you to spend a few more years like a normal teenager, just goofing off with your friends. Or, whatever counts as goofing off for you," he laughed again, this time in a softer manner. "I just didn't want you to grow up like me or your mother, and become all completely serious, that's all. God knows it takes a special kind of man or woman to stand that." he joked.
"Dad. I'm still a teenage girl deep down," Sunny smiled. "Once this is over, I'll still have plenty of time to goof off and hang out with my friends. Especially with Indy, Lemon, and their friends."
Fowler smiled and kissed his daughter's forehead as the distinct glowing green-blue form of a groundbridge opened up and he watched as she stepped into it. What neither of them -nor Swordbreaker for that matter- saw was a midnight blue mechanical jaguar perched atop a rooftop eyeing them through her golden optics, before she leaped away.
Autobase:
Back at the Autobot Base, Twilight found herself approaching Perceptor, who--Like Sugarcoat had said--was hard at work looking over the files on the list of Decepticons (And from what they now knew, Predacons) following Onslaught's command.
Currently, while the scientist murmured something to himself under his breath, the image of Knock Out was displayed on-screen, along with a list of crimes he'd allegedly committed.
"Interesting, very interesting indeed..." Perceptor murmured to himself as he looked over Knock Out's file. As he did so, he used a finger to rub his chin in thought.
"What's so interesting?" Twilight asked, as she walked up, looking up towards Perceptor. She wore a magenta skin-tight suit with chrome leading from her chest to her arms, complete with glove and foot parts. Her head was the only thing that wasn't covered in super-cloth, but her neck was still wrapped in it. Some small epaulettes stuck out of her shoulders, but they were more for design than anything.
"Nothing, it's just..." Perceptor began before he faltered. He soon regained his composure, looking down at Twilight. "The most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help."
"Ronald Reagan," Twilight remembered, and Perceptor nodded.
"Correct, I've been doing some reading. Here's another quote for you. "We must reject the idea that every time a law's broken, society is guilty rather than the lawbreaker. It is time to restore the American precept that each individual is accountable for his actions." Perceptor commented.
"Is there a point to all this?" Twilight asked, starting to grow annoyed, as she took off her glasses and pinched the bridge of her nose.
"Yes, been doing some reading that leads me to believe that Knock Out, along with several other members of the Darksyde aren't as guilty as we originally believed them to be," Perceptor replied. If Twilight was as smart as she was supposed to be, she'd figure out what the scientist was implying with the first Reagan quote.
"The Darksyde?" Twilight questioned, and if a robot could flush she imagined Perceptor would have.
"Right, sorry. The ship that Onslaught stole. Anyways, Knock Out, along with several other criminals onboard that ship, I've uncovered some evidence that makes me believe that they were framed for their crimes, or simply coerced into joining up with Onslaught."
"By coerced, I assume you mean forced or blackmailed right?" Twilight questioned.
"Precisely," Perceptor nodded. "I'm not bringing this up to Prowl yet, as I'm not entirely certain yet, but as soon as I uncover concrete evidence that they were framed for their crimes I will do so."
A groundbridge materialized before them both, with Sunny Flare, Lemon Zest, Sugarcoat, and Swordbreaker appearing from the other side before it vanished. Swordbreaker, as soon as his passengers climbed out, transformed to robot mode.
"Lemon, Sunny, Sugar. You're back!" Twilight exclaimed happily as she approached the three of them. "Was it hard to deal with Fowler?"
"Not once I arrived," Sugarcoat shook her head. "Let's just say that he and Sunny needed some convincing for him to even consider letting her go."
"Well, mostly Fowler," Lemon commented, putting her two cents in. "Cool suit, Twi," she remarked, briefly wondering how Indigo would look in one like it. She flushed briefly, before clearing her head of the image.
"Do you like it? Perceptor himself colored it." Twilight blushed slightly. "And I see you're wearing yours too, Sugarcoat."
Sugarcoat quickly threw off her other clothes, revealing her version of the suit. Minus the epaulettes, it was mostly the same, only with a little breastplate on the front. "I have to be prepared for any situation, so this suit never comes off."
"Geez, must chafe a little..." Lemon remarked. "Hardly fashionable, makes one wonder what that fashionista friend of Twilight's would have to say if she ever saw you in it," she joked.
"If Rarity were here, she would have made them a lot more appealing, I know." Twilight hung her head. "But if she got caught up in this fight too, it would be much too risky. There's already too many of my friends in this fight..." she trailed off, thinking of Trixie. "And besides, what Rarity doesn't know about fashion disasters won't hurt her, right?" Twilight asked.
"Fair enough," Lemon admitted. "So, when do I get fitted for my new duds?"
"Follow me. I'll get you two ready," said Twilight, turning to one of the doors in the Autobase.
"Not just yet," Sugarcoat asked, as she looked towards Sunder, who was preening his wings. "I have to ask, how does a Predacon end up on a Decepticon fugitive hunt?"
"Now, that's a story in itself," Perceptor commented. "I can tell you what I know, and this is only what Prowl told me."
"Why don't we walk and talk?" Sunny asked. "It'd save us time, and the suits could be a few rooms away. And, I kinda wanna know too. How does a beast hunt down its' fellow beasts?"
"Okay then..." Perceptor began. "Now, this was a little over a year ago, right when our current Prime, Nova Prime had ordered us to begin our hunt and capture of these rogue Cons."
Cybertron: The Sea of Rust:
The area in Cybertron known as the Sea of Rust, stretching from Tyrest to Polyhex all the way to the Tagan Heights and Altihex had been almost completely wiped from the world. Ruins of a once mighty civilization now laid half-submerged in a sea of sand and ruins. Massive machine-like structures laid in tatters, with winds howling violently in the distance. Not a single part of the city looked alive, and it seemed like it never would again. Truly, this was a symbol of the end. The end of an era for this corner of the planet.
Amidst the sand, on the outskirts of the barren ghost town, were three Autobots. Prowl, -in the form of a hovercar- who looked like he would rather be somewhere else right there and then. Accompanying him was a dark green and black toned Autobot in the form of an ATV, alongside a Cybertronian truck colored in pure white with gold rims.
"Really don't get it, how can the Predacons even scrounge up a living out here?" Crosshairs, the ATV asked, as he transformed to robot mode, somehow gaining a duster in the process. Prowl was soon to follow. "Personally, I say we should just clear on out of here as soon as possible, and be done with the place."
Parts shifted and whirred as Nova transformed to robot mode. Now, a tall and powerful Autobot stood before them. Plated in a shimmering coat of white and gold, with his windshield acting as his upper chest and a headrest at the back of his head, he looked like the definition of intimidation. That was further validated when he pulled out a massive, cyan axe which glowed brightly, like a neon weapon splitting the darkness around them. He slammed the tip of said axe into the ground to silence Crosshairs. "Predacons are renowned for their tracking skills, and so if this retrieval mission is to go as planned, it would be a prudent move for Prowl and his crew to have at least one on their side."
"Ugh, you just wanna die for the guy. That's leadership. Or brainwashing, or something." Crosshairs grumbled to himself in a tone of disgust.
"No, that's because he's a Prime." Prowl corrected his compatriot. He sighed, there was a reason Crosshairs had flunked out of the Elite Guard.
"...And I'm just the back-up in case things go south, right?" Crosshairs asked, pulling out his twin pistols, and training them to the many crevices around them. A pair of infrared goggles moved down to cover his optics. "Wonderful. Do you realize who we're dealing with right? Predaking doesn't take kindly to visitors."
"You're remarkably intelligent, for an Autobot," an English accented voice came from somewhere in the ruins, sounding smug and superior. It was as if the owner of the voice thought himself above the other Cybertronians. This was only validated by the fact that he did not bother naming Crosshairs. "But don't let your imagination run away with you."
"So... You finally arrive at last, Nova Prime." Predaking stomped forward from out of the shadows, and tossed a cloak off revealing his massive form. "I was wondering when a Prime would come to call. Surely you realize that your success has made you some bitter enemies?" he asked.
Predaking arched his neck up as his body began to transform. First, he arched himself down onto all fours, as his body opened up limb by limb, with more and more pieces popping out of it. His body grew in size and contorted, as two massive slender, rectangular parts extended out of his back. Those parts of him curled out, and elongated, forming a massive pair of red wings that shone brightly in the fading sun of the Rust Sea. His claws stretched out as well, becoming sharper as the palms extended into massive talons.
Next, a large tail extended out of his coccyx, which became longer and longer, until a massive knife-like part stopped at the end. Finally, his head, which now stood on a massive, snake-like neck began to change, with most of his face becoming obscured by shards of metal. All that was left of it was his eyes, metal nose, and mouth. The rest was completely covered out, as two horns poked out of the top.
Predaking let out a ferocious earth-shaking roar and breathed orange purple flame out of his mouth before crawling up to Nova Prime. "Let's see just how weak the Prime Lineage has grown," He spoke in a double-toned, almost demonic voice, yet still somehow kept up that refined English accent. "I stood up to Optimus Prime, and he defeated me in combat, and I respect his abilities. But somehow I doubt you have the same caliber to resist me,"
"At ease Predaking," Nova Prime replied, bowing in a sign of respect. Prowl quickly got the message and motioned for Crosshairs to do the same. "We did not come here to fight. We came only for a simple request."
"Oh?" Predaking asked, leaning forwards. All around him, several other members of his species crawled out of crevices, including a yellow and dark blue griffon (Darksteel), an orange and gold condor (Sunder) and a black Fenris wolf-like creature with a spined backside amongst others.
"Exactly, I bear you or your species no ill intent. None of us do," Nova replied. "All we want is to talk."
"Unfortunately, for me to even consider talking, you will have to best me in a trial by combat, that is always been my creed," Predaking replied, striking a pillar with his talons, and leaving deep gauge marks. Nova Prime would never admit it, but he was afraid. Predaking was a warrior, born in fire and in steel, and he possessed a warrior's pride. "The Predacon creed."
Nova Prime rose, and both Prowl and Crosshairs shot him looks of fear wondering if their current leader was suicidal. This worry was only increased by the moment when Nova dropped his axe to the ground, it hitting the metal earth beneath it with a powerful clang.
"But it is not the Autobot creed." Nova replied. "You are more than just a simple beast."
Predaking circled the three Autobots like a bear, fangs bared. "You have nice manners for a thief... And a LIAR!" he roared. "Funny how you say that, and yet the Cybertronian government drove us back here to these barren wastes, -A sorry caricature of a home- out of pure fear. Here, it's dog eat dog, and we're forced to survive on scraps. So, I ask you, why should I talk to you, a member of that very same government?" he asked, his throat glowing orange as he charged up another blast of pure flame. "Do not take me for a fool. I know of that axe, it once belonged to my predecessor, Scourge, until Megatron looted it from his rusting corpse and left the Scraplets to fest on whatever was left."
"Yes, I know of my weapon's... history. And now I return it to you, it's rightful owner." Nova replied, kicking the axe towards the massive dragon who was still circling him and presumably contemplating on how best to rend him to scrap metal. Predaking actually looked surprised by this gesture, and actually transformed back into robot mode picking up the axe as he did so.
"You are a rare breed of Cybertronian, Nova Prime. Perhaps the lineage of the Primes hasn't diluted as much as I thought it had. Now, we may speak. What is your... request?" he asked.
"I simply ask for a small selection of your Predacons, two or three at most. Your species, and their tracking abilities are well-known are they not?" Nova asked.
"Yes, we quite pride ourselves on them," Predaking replied. "Your point?"
"Several Decepticons have gone rogue, and Prowl here has been assigned to track them down under a small task force."
"I see..." Predaking mused, rubbing his chin in thought. "Yes, I suppose I could lend you two of my subordinates. Feral Steel, Sunder, come forth!" he barked, and the wolf and condor Predacons came to his side. Nodding in understanding, they soon stood beside Prowl. What happened next, truly surprised everyone -Predacon and Autobot alike- when Predaking handed Nova Prime back his axe.
"But this weapon is rightfully yours..." Prowl spoke in surprise.
"No, it is no longer," Predaking told him. "It belongs to the Prime now, he's proven himself worthy of it. Now leave me," he requested. "I have a great many things to think about..."
As the three Autobots transformed to vehicle mode, Nova Prime spoke once more.
"Perhaps, one day, a true alliance can be formed." he mused.
"Perhaps." Predaking commented. |
Equestria Girls: Transformation | Part 8: Howlback | The next scene of importance to our story, it takes place later that very same day at the home of one Special Agent Chrysalis. Well, actually by the time this scene takes place, dusk had long fallen over the streets of Canterlot and the moon was high in the sky.
Outside the little home nestled deep within the sprawl of suburbia -Being a Special Agent of the FBI didn't pay as well as you might have expected- a certain cat-bot was on the prowl. Metallic fangs glinting in the low light, eyes a deep red, this was the same Decepticon that had been keeping an eye on Special Agent Fowler a few hours before.
Unlike the some of the other dimwits she had to work with, Howlback prided herself on her intelligence. She knew who Steeljaw had gone after once he'd found Sunder, and so she looked into any possible family relations of Sunny Flare's through the magic of what the humans called the Internet, and more specifically social networking pages. Primus knew humans loved to talk about their social lives. What ailed them, who was breaking up with who, what movies they went to see and other such non-important gossips. However, unlike Steeljaw who wasn't nearly as intelligent as he liked to think of himself, Howlback actually went as far as to see who Sunny Flare was related to, and that led her to Fowler. From there, she managed to actually hack into an FBI database from a computer and look at who he was generally associated within his line of work, learning who might have been helping the Autobots stay hidden.
Granted, it had taken a bit of work, and going through a lot of FBI firewalls but she'd found who who'd been assigned to the Autobot case, known as the MUETO (Massive Unidentified Extraterrestrial Organism) case in the files. Humans, as much as Howlback hated to admit it, were a lot smarter than she gave them credit for.
At least some of them anyways.
And apparently, they really loved acronyms.
Either way, Howlback's search had led to her to Chrysalis, one of the three humans helping the Autobots and acting as their liaisons on Earth. She, being a government agent herself, had attracted Howlback's interest. Most would think this to be a terrible thing, really, given the Decepticon's reputation as one of those bots who was a master at striking fear into others. It was a very good tool during her time with the public safety unit of the government, shutting down insurgencies and the like. Actually, that was why she was here on Earth, but more on that later.
The particulars of Chrysalis' personality, and what she did for a living (Redacted or not) attracted Howlback to her. Not in a sexual sense, but one of curiosity. She was a cat, after all. Or at least a mechanical one.
Back to Howlback's role in the public safety forces and her reasons for being on Earth. Like I said, she was a lot smarter than the average member of Onslaught's crew, and played the ice cold killer and stalker part very well. But in reality, the Cybertronian government at the request of Nova Prime himself had sent her in undercover as a mole within the ranks to get information on what Onslaught was doing, who he had with him, and to feed that information back to the Autobots if possible.
Hiding in the shrubbery in Chrysalis' backyard, and being very careful not to make even the slightest noise, the jaguar watched what went on inside the house and waited for a chance to make her move and approach the agent and form a possible alliance. Currently, all was dark. That was fine, Howlback was a patient enough Con.
Meanwhile, inside the house, Chrysalis stirred in her sleep and looked at the currently nude form of the white-skinned woman beside her. A fine catch in her mind, and such a lovely woman to spend the night with. Quite remarkably intelligent as well, if not a bit tightly wound. Suppose one did get a lot of pent-up stress teaching a bunch of hormonal high-schoolers.
"Yes," Chrysalis thought with a very satisfied smile. "A lot of pent-up stress."
Running her fingers through the Principal's hair, she kissed her on the nape of her neck and smiled a bit as the woman moaned a little in her sleep.
Chrysalis groaned as she realized she was feeling a bit parched, and threw off the covers before pulling an old and ratty t-shirt that was much too big for Chrysalis over herself as she headed towards the kitchen to fetch a glass of water. As she did so, she flicked on a light switch that illuminated the kitchen, which just so happened to be connected to the back porch via a sliding glass door.
Outside, as Chrysalis turned on the sink and let the water fill a small glass, Howlback smiled and moved forwards, the bushes ruffling as she did so. Chrysalis' eyes widened as she heard the sound, and on instinct went for a cupboard and pulled out a small pistol before she carefully slid open the back door and pointed her weapon at the shrubbery. Hardly an intimidating sight, but hopefully the pistol would be enough to ward off any burglar who decided it would be stupid enough to rob the house of an FBI agent.
Mind you, what she hadn't been counting on was a midnight blue jaguar to come out of the bushes and approach her with no sense of fear. Then again, why would it, given the rather large purple symbol adorning her -if the form was any indication- side.
Chrysalis' eyes narrowed, and the jaguar actually seemed to laugh at that.
"I'm sorry," Howlback chuckled darkly, speaking in some high-class accent that reminded Chrysalis of that Rarity girl. "But really, what could you do to me?"
"Well, if you were a male, or a female human, I'd put a strawberry in your mouth, take you up to my room, put this gun between your ribs, and tell him to sit tight, or I'd arrest them for stalking. Then I'd do it anyways."
"...That is really sexy," Howlback laughed. "But relax, you've got nothing to fear from me."
"Hard to believe that coming from the words of a jaguar who actually does seem to be stalking me in the dead of night, with a Decepticon symbol on their side." Chrysalis shot back.
"Fair point, but I can prove I'm not out to get you. Go on, give Special Agent Fowler a call," Howlback remarked, and Chrysalis gave her a strange look. "Go on, go ahead and take your time. I'm a patient enough femme."
Chrysalis gave Howlback an understandably cautious look, but all the same, backed into her home and grabbed her cell phone all the while never taking her eyes off the Con, who was currently stretching herself.
"Fowler," Chrysalis said into the phone, keeping it on speaker. "Sorry for the late night wake-up call, as believe me I'm really not happy to be up at this time of night either, but I've got a robotic jaguar with the Decepticon symbol telling me to call you and prove her innocence."
"Oh," Fowler commented, sounding rather pissed off. "That might explain why I'm currently staring down a robotic wolf with the Predacon symbol in my living room!"
"Oh, is that Feral Steel?" Howlback asked in a rather cheery tone, getting up off the grass. "Tell him I said hello!"
"Oh, so that's his name?" Fowler asked, still quite furious. Whether that could be chalked up to the unexpected intrusion of the Predacon kind, or the fact that he'd been woken up this late at night was uncertain at this juncture.
"William is it?" Howlback asked politely, and in a rather delicate tone.
"I wasn't aware we were on a first name basis, 'Con," Fowler growled out.
"Yes, I'm rather sorry about Feral Steel. He never was one for manners, most Predacons aren't I'm afraid. It's all hack and slash to them. Admittedly, a few of them have complained about this to my bosses back on Cybertron, but it does them no good when they act this... shall we say unbecoming and unwelcoming?"
"Yes indeed," Chrysalis thought. "She certainly reminds me of that Rarity kid, along with perhaps a little bit of Fowler's daughter thrown in as well."
Now, a few years before, even since the "Giant winged she-demon mind control zombie incident' for lack of a better term as the FBI called it at CHS, a few of their agents Chrysalis amongst them had been assigned to keep an eye on those kids who were involved with dealing with it. Personally, a large part of Chrysalis hated keeping tabs on teenagers like they were terrorists or something, -Perhaps a gross exaggeration of things, she admitted- but the other part of her that was loyal to the FBI told her that any potential threats must be monitored.
"Oh, so that's what you call breaking down my door?" Fowler asked Howlback, who had to fight back and suppress a sigh. His night had started off like any other, have a beer and kick off his shoes to watch the game and try not to worry about his daughter so much before falling asleep on the couch. Of course, that sleep had been rather rudely interrupted by this wolf.
"Again, I apologize, not all Predacons are as well mannered as Sunder," Howlback replied. "If I had known Feral Steel was going to be so... crude I wouldn't have contacted him and instead have sent Sunder in his place so we can try and bolster relations."
"That's a laugh, coming from a Decepticon!" Fowler snarled. "You and your band have been trying to kill all of us ever since you crash landed on this planet!"
Howlback, and Chrysalis, of course, could understand Fowler's wariness. He was a member of an organization trying to keep the US and now the world from falling to Onslaught's heels. And more than that, he was a parent of a child now in Autobot hands. Granted, both Howlback and Chrysalis knew they would do everything in their power to keep humankind safe, as the Autobot creed went: "Freedom was the right of all sentient beings" but there was always that chance they could slip up. Humans were much more fragile than Cybertronians. One fired shot, one misstep, and that'd be the end of it.
"Sadly, yes, I admit that's true. But Onslaught does not speak for all Decepticons, nor all Cybertronians for that matter." Howlback replied, trying to defuse the situation.
"Oh, and you do?"
"Let her speak, William," Chrysalis put in, in a warning tone. "While I highly doubt she'd set Feral on you, given her distaste for him, it would be wise for both of us to hear what she has to say."
"Thank you," Howlback replied, although Chrysalis shot her a warning look. It was clear, although she was willing to listen, she didn't trust her one bit. Not that Howlback could blame her, admitting she worked for Onslaught did her no favors. Clearing her throat, the cat-bot continued. "Now, while I cannot claim to speak for all Decepticons or all Cybertronians as I'm hardly a Prime or anything close to it, I can tell you this much, I share your distaste for Onslaught. He's a brute, and a rogue. I was sent undercover in his crew by my government to keep tabs on his doings, find out who was amongst his crew, and if possible, find out as much about them as possible and sent this information off to the proper authorities which in this situation would be Prowl and any high-ranking humans he trusted. Apparently, from what I've heard, you and Chrysalis here are some of them."
"Very Special Agent Chrysalis." the woman in question corrected. Howlback, of course, ignored her as she stared directly at the phone on the kitchen countertop.
Apparently, Howlback's explanation caught Fowler off guard. "P-Prowl trusts me?" he stuttered out. "B-But why?"
"That I cannot know, but apparently he does if he's willing to work with you. I've met him before, the man does not let others into his circle that easily. Perhaps he sees something in you I don't, a loyalty to your government, and more accurately your species. I cannot say. Whatever the case, you would be wise to work with him, and trust him more." Howlback replied, and out of the corner of her optics, she noticed Chrysalis was slowly beginning to lower her gun.
"I-I'll try," Fowler stuttered out. "But what proof do we have that we can trust you?"
"None, at the moment, I admit," Howlback sighed. "But I will try and remedy that. For now, I'd like you and Chrysalis to have what information I've gathered on Onslaught and his crew so far. Vocal recordings, holotapes, and a crew manifesto. I'm somewhat aware of the fact that neither you nor the Autobots know the full list of former soldiers and various members of the criminal element that this poor excuse for a Cybertronian has with him."
"Any information is good information..." Chrysalis sighed, as a small little vent on Howlback's head opened up and revealed what looked to be the Cybertronian version of a flash drive.
"I have to ask," Fowler remarked, his tone losing some of it's edge now that Howlback had opened up and explained herself. "Why did you sent a Predacon to my house in the first place?"
"To guard you and your family of course," Howlback answered simply as Chrysalis studied the little flash drive in her hands. "You of all people should well be well aware of how easily damaged humankind is. Granted, my choice of guard could have been better, but-"
"Say no more," Fowler muttered, Feral Steel now having curled up in the corner of the room like a regular dog might do. "I do understand."
"For the record Special Agent William Fowler," Howlback replied, using his full title as a sign of respect. "On behalf of the Cybertronian race, I'm so sorry you and your family had to get caught up in this."
For a long while, Fowler said nothing, before he answered. "...Thank you."
With that, the call dropped. Howlback padded towards the door, and back to the shrubbery. "I suppose now I must take my leave, I've overstayed my welcome as it is. I have to get back to the wreck of the Darksyde, otherwise, Onslaught would get suspicious of my whereabouts. I've been gone far too long."
"Wait," Chrysalis said. "Can't you at least tell us where this 'Darksyde' is? Perhaps I could get Agent Fowler to scramble up a few bombers, and-"
"Onslaught would know at once how you learned of his base's location, and he would have your human pilots shot down before they could even do any damage. Nothing of value would be accomplished, and innocent lives would be lost. The cost would be too great, I believe it was your Joseph Stalin who once said: "A single death is a tragedy; a million deaths is a statistic." That is not true. Every death, every life lost is a tragedy, and I intend to make sure that as many tragedies are averted as possible."
With that, Howlback leaped off into the darkness leaving Chrysalis to think on her words. |
Equestria Girls: Transformation | Part 9: Speed Metal | Early that next morning on the backstreets of Canterlot, just a few hours before the sun was to rise over the sleepy town, several cars were to be found lining themselves up on a heavily forested road. Fast, expensive cars to be exact. Pagani Zondas, Nobles, Lamborghinis, I think you get the picture. From either side of the road, colorful red smoke was beginning to rise up. Both early in the morning, and late at night, street races had become a staple of Canterlot's more privileged youth. Just kids who had nothing better to do, than throw their money away to get an adrenaline high with their fancy toys.
Of course, even in this menagerie of supercars, one did somehow manage to stick out from the rest. Might have been the fact that it was an Aston Martin, or maybe it was the paint job, a deep crimson red with bright yellow rims.
Whatever the case, as soon as 'it' pulled up, all heads turned to look at the car. The windows were a thick tinted color, so it was impossible to see who was driving. Whoever it was though, the driver let out a low whistle upon seeing his competition.
"Nice wheels, man. Sweet rims, as well, 17 gauge? You're reeeeeeal heavy-duty! Built for speed, I like that!" the driver commented from inside his car, eying the Zonda as he revved his engine.
"Hey, who are you anyways?" the driver of the Zonda asked. "Never saw you on the roster."
"What, a guy can't show up unannounced?" Knock Out asked. "Alright, you got me, I'm gate-crashing, but at least let a racer have his fun m'kay? It was a long drive to get here, and I'm going to be picking bugs out of my grill for days!"
"Ugh... fine. You're in," the driver grumbled. "Suppose you want my car if you win?"
"No, I'm just in it for the fun of it. Prizes don't really matter to me, as long as I look good crossing the finish line. If you have this type of car, all op-Er, eyes are going to be on you anyways." Knock Out replied, quickly catching himself and correcting his speech. He flashed back to a brief time on the Darksyde on it's journey to Earth, where he had to explain himself to one of the flyers onboard about why he chose a car as his Alt-Mode.
"I'm sorry, but what's wrong with my choice of alternate mode?" Knock Out complained to his cohort, a rather... incorrigible Decepticon known as Triggerhappy.
"Yes, right, you're one of those." Triggerhappy grumbled, shaking his dark blue head, and running a hand down his dark crimson faceplates. Knock Out gave him a look.
"Come again?" the Stunticon asked, raising an eye-brow, and crossing his arms. He sighed inwardly, he knew of Triggerhappy's reputation. He was a nut-ball, you used to get them in the Decepticon ranks from time to time. Apparently, if it was to be believed, it all stemmed from an incident in boot camp, where he was practicing firing while surfing on his hoverboard but apparently fell off and hit his head and suffered cranial processor damage in the fall. What did happen though, was he remained firing all the while and ended up shooting and disintegrating half-a-dozen other fellow Decepticons. Apparently, the camp commander was so impressed, he graduated Triggerhappy on the spot. Nobody else had figured out why this was a good idea, or figured out why it was an even better idea to actually arm the Con with his twin rifles.
"Honestly," Triggerhappy proclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air in frustration, as a green coated Decepticon with a body-type similar to Shockwave passed them by, watching and shaking his head in bewilderment. "I never understood why any self-respecting Decepticon would choose an 'automobile' as his vehicle mode when he could have flight!"
"I like the way I look in steel-belted radials," Knock Out replied simply. "I'm not only an automobile; I'm an automobile enthusiast, comes with the territory you know. Hello? Stunticon here!" he exclaimed, pointing to his brand mark on his chest. It was a normal Decepticon symbol, but with a hazard mark behind that making it resemble those markings you would often find on crash test dummies. Fitting really, give half of the team's driving styles with no regard for the rules of the road. Knock Out liked to consider himself more refined than that, he really preferred his paint job unscratched thank you very much.
While the rest of the Stunticons had spent their life on Cybertron working away their crimes during the Great War in community service putting on stunt shows, Knock Out had never actually participated in the fighting and had no such troubles. Actually, for most of the war, he'd been a medic helping others on both sides and continued as such after the war ended. It was only after it had been 'discovered' that he'd been doing some rather unethical experiments on others did he fall in with Onslaught's lot. So there he was, on a stolen ship bound for another planet fleeing from the Autobot brigade led by Prowl who'd been sent after him. His only comfort was that his sparkmate (Or Conjunx Endura as it was known) was onboard the ship was well and that the planet was known to have an advanced enough civilization that built cars.
"Right..." Triggerhappy muttered to himself, before walking off to his quarters still shaking his head. Knock Out huffed, rumors were probably true that he'd been dropped on his head, if he didn't understand the fundamentals of looking quite fine and the feel of rubber against the open road.
But none of that really mattered now, as right now, the flags went down, and every car on the starting line sped off into the early morning light, tires squealing and engines roaring. Knock Out smiled as he switched to a local radio station, this was where he belonged.
"One foot on the brake and one on the gas, hey!
Well, there's too much traffic, I can't pass, no!
So I tried my best illegal move
Well, baby, black and white come and touched my groove again!
"Gonna write me up a 125
Post my face wanted dead or alive
Take my license, all that jive
I can't drive 55! Oh No!"
Crystal Prep:
Of course, as soon as school let out that next day, the Shadowbolts set off for their favorite meeting place, the skatepark in the middle of Canterlot.
As they walked down the steps from the Crystal Prep Academy, Sunny was soon greeted by a pure black husky-like dog (With a hint of wolf in him if you looked closely enough) bounding towards her as Twilight and Trixie walked up. Sunder, in his guitar form, was slung over Trixie's back in a case while Twilight, as ever, had books under her arm.
"Girl, do you not ever have any books on you?" Indigo asked.
"Believe me, Trixie's been asking the same thing ever since we started dating..." Trixie muttered to herself but wilted under Twilight's glare. Lemon laughed quietly to herself and mimed cracking a whip.
Sugarcoat sighed to herself. Must her friend be so... crude? "So, what's wrong with a few books?" she asked. "Might do you some good to start reading Indigo, would help you raise your grades." Sugarcoat sniffed.
"Ooh, burn!" Lemon laughed, mimicking a small hissing noise. "Need some ice for that?"
"...I've been betrayed by my own best friend." Indigo sighed, hanging her head.
"She's got a point you know," Twilight put in. "I mean, I could easily help you find something in a book that would help you with soccer, help you calculate the best angle for kicking the ball in a net,"
"No offense Twilight, but I'd rather figure out how to kick the ball in the net for myself, than learn from someone who's probably never played a game in her life," Indigo commented, crossing her arms.
"F-for your information, I did play a game of soccer!" Twilight sputtered out. Behind them, and going unnoticed by anyone was Knock Out in vehicle mode pulling up around a curb. "It was only one game mind you, but I did respectively well."
"Funny, that's not how Trixie remembers things," the showmare teased. "I seem to remember Rainbow actually kicking your ass! Quite badly, I might add."
As Twilight let out a small moan, and Indigo patted her on the back in sympathy, Knock Out sighed. Human teenagers, honestly he never quite exactly saw the reasoning behind Steeljaw, the big brute, ruling them an actual threat. "Then again," he mused, as he looked at the guitar slung around Trixie's back and the husky dog near Sunny's side. "Maybe he's onto something, if those Predacons deem them worthy of their protection."
He wasn't stupid, hologram or not, Feral couldn't hide his distinctive life signatures from him. Deep down, underneath all that advanced stealth tech fitted onto him beat the Spark of a Predacon.
"Hey Sunny, I have to ask," Trixie inquired curiously. "What's with the dog?"
"Er, that's the interesting thing," Sunny Flare replied as she led her friends out of earshot of her fellow students. "He's not a dog. Just happens to look like one."
"Wait, you're not saying he's a...?" Sugarcoat asked, and seemingly in confirmation, Sunder beeped out a small yes.
"Apparently, last night, my dad had a visit from him, and so he decided to have Feral here," Sunny continued, stroking the Predacon's head. "Keep an eye on me. Normally I'd be mad, but-"
"But why not?" Trixie asked. "I thought you hated your dad being all overprotective of you and stuff!"
"Yes, but I decided to take a page out of Sugarcoat's book as it were," Sunny replied, as said girl beamed in pride at her friend. "And look at things logically. Most of the Autobots's vehicle modes would... stand out as it were, and Road Rage can't keep an eye on us because of her 'condition' so Feral here, who can make himself look like a regular dog and Sunder with his Guitar alt mode are the best choices," Sunny continued with her friends following along with every word. "Unless more Autobots arrive on Earth, and get vehicle modes nobody would question, we're stuck with these two for the time being. ...No offense." she quickly told Feral and Sunder.
"Ah, I see. Makes sense," Trixie agreed before she raised a finger. "On Autobots though, remind me to have them make alterations to our uniforms as it were. I don't care what Perceptor says, that armor chafes to no end!"
"Better uncomfortable, than dead," Sugarcoat pointed out. "Besides, if what Perceptor is saying is true, and Lemon, you're going to like this, that armor will help us help them in their battles."
"How so?" Lemon asked, getting excited. And a little too close to Sugarcoat's face for her own personal comfort.
"He didn't say much on that part, except it was just a working theory at the moment." Sugarcoat replied as she pushed Lemon away gently.
"Hey, a question?" Twilight asked as the group began walking to the local bus stop. "Perceptor did leave me some awfully cryptic clues when we last talked. Quoted a bit of Ronald Reagan, actually."
"What made you think they were clues?" Indigo asked.
"The exact quotes he used," Twilight replied, as a bus pulled up and the girls stepped inside with Feral following. If the driver took notice of him, he didn't comment on him. Might have figured he was a service dog or something. "The first one was: "The most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help." Exact quote." she said.
"Anything else?" Sugarcoat asked curiously. "Hey, between one consistent Grade-A scoring student to another, maybe we can figure something out together." she offered.
"Yes, he did mention that he seemed to be uncovering that at least some of the Decepticons onboard Onslaught's ship weren't as guilty as they were originally thought to be, from what he was beginning to figure out. Nothing concrete yet, but..." Twilight commented, before a thought occurred to her. "Hey, you don't think...?"
"Yes, I do," Sugarcoat replied. "That some higher up in his government wanted certain members of Onslaught's crew to seem like criminals. Perceptor didn't quote Richard Nixon at any point, did he by any chance?"
Twilight laughed a little at the historical reference, but shook her head. "No, he didn't. Though if his theories are correct, along with ours, a certain quote from him would fit wouldn't it?"
"Ugh, politics..." Lemon muttered. "The second oldest profession in the world, you want to know what it is? It's the politician. On the outside, it's nothing really all that particularly special. You go out and help with managing your community and start pushing your agenda, whatever that may be. But once you really, and I mean really get into it, it's probably not that much different than the world's oldest profession." she grumbled.
Trixie had to snigger at that, and even Twilight and Sugarcoat did as well despite usually not liking Lemon's sense of humor. "She's got a point, doesn't she?" Trixie remarked. "When the girl's right, she's right." she begrudgingly admitted.
Lemon smirked, and put in her earbuds before tuning her phone to Xiraia's radio show.
"Hello all of you girls and guys out there, so nice to know you're all listening. Now, picking up from last week, we're continuing speculation on the strange set of meteors that came down outside Canterlot over two months ago. Now, could be nothing... But if you believe that, why the Hell are you listenin' to me? Go and pretend you're safe in your home, and lizard aliens haven't landed in your own backyard and replaced Canterlot's higher-ups!
"Anyways, for those of you not in the know, not too long ago, some scientists at the Canterlot Observatory, they sighted two strange meteors coming down right outside the city. One impacted in the canyons outside the town, while the other crash-landed in the mountains. I say crash landed, because despite all of head scientist Night Light's comments that they are not spacecraft, I know better. Seriously, what else could they be? Asteroids?"
Here, Xiraia broke out into a sharp laugh. Lemon motioned for her friends to come over and put an earbud in Sunny Flare's ear.
"You don't think...?" Lemon asked.
"Oh, I more than think. We have to tell Prowl and the rest, we might just know the location of the Decepticon base!" Sunny said firmly, before bringing up her wrist and pulling back her sleeve revealing a small wrist mounted terminal. A gift, from Perceptor, to the girls. Apparently, someone at the Autobot base had a sense of humor, and had played Fallout. Sunny would just never have imagined it to be Perceptor of all Bots. Each of the group had one, part of their armor. Quickly, she typed in these words: "Have important info relating to Cons. Tell you later!"
With that, she quickly pulled her sleeve back forwards before anyone could notice. What none of them had seen, however, was Knock Out, still in vehicle mode, tailing them. He'd make his move eventually of course, but not for the time being. However, had he known what Sunny had just figured out, he probably would have been of a different mindset...
Eventually, Knock Out broke off the tail before anyone got suspicious. Anyone of course, being one of the girls or their Predacon protectors. Honestly, he still didn't quite understand it. Predacons catered to no master, so why would two go to Onslaught's side, especially when he had the known Predacon Hunters Steeljaw and Flamewar on his side?
Then again, maybe that giant oaf Darksteel and that shiny loving Corvicon Filch were afraid of Onslaught and his power. As he opened up a groundbridge back to base, Knock Out dismissed that thought as soon as it came.
It was ridiculous really, he'd heard rumors of Predaking's power, and as powerful and cunning as the leader of the Combaticons was, even Onslaught was no match for the self-proclaimed King of Beasts. A title, which Knock Out swore was definitely deserved, considering he'd heard that Predaking had managed to keep up with the legendary Autobot leader Optimus Prime himself.
"Then again," Knock Out thought as his wheels hit solid metal floor and he quickly transformed to robot mode. "There is that 'ability' of Onslaught's."
An image flashed through his mind. No, a memory of back in the Great War. It was of a massive goliath of a robot with a frighteningly red crimson visor, whirling blades on one arm and a powerful flamethrower burning Decepticon and Autobot alike to a crisp.
He shuddered at the thought and tried to clear the images from his mind. That was a sight he hoped he never saw again in his lifetime. Combiners, they were a mad experiment of Shockwave's, beginning with the Constructicons and just getting wilder from there. He'd even heard rumors Shockwave had been planning to clone Predacons that could form a gestalt known only as Abominus before the mad scientist was put down by a combined Autobot/Decepticon team, with Megatron himself personally blasting a hole in Shockwave's chest after his ambition finally went too far.
Swallowing nervously, Knock Out waited for the doors that led to Onslaught's personal chambers to open. After what seemed like an eternity, they finally opened to reveal an office, with a massive dark blue Decepticon with a red visor and two cannons resting on his back sitting behind a desk drawing up what looked to be battle plans on a datapad.
"So, am I correct?" Onslaught asked, as Knock Out bowed and forced himself to look anywhere but Onslaught's optics, which he swore could peer into your very Spark chamber. His head was tilted upwards, and he soon found himself looking right at the Combaticon commander.
"Yes... Yes, you're quite correct, the Predacons are indeed protecting those human girls as Steeljaw theorized." Knock Out replied nervously, and if Onslaught was capable of smirking he would have. |
Equestria Girls: Transformation | Part 10: Moments of Reflection | "So, the Big Boss go and chew you out for not capturing those kids and the Predacons when you had the chance?" a very bored sounding tone commented from behind Knock Out, as he looked up from his workstation in the medical bay. Knock Out sighed to himself, just what he needed today. "Or worst still, scratch your finish?"
"You have any legitimate reason to come bother me today, or are you just going out of your way your way to be annoying, Steeljaw?" Knock Out drawled. "Because, if it's the latter, you can kindly go and just bugger on off,"
"Just wanted to talk, wanted Con to wanted Con, that's all," the massive aqua Transformer replied in return, absentmindedly filing away at his claws. "Is that not an acceptable excuse?"
"Unlike you, Steeljaw," Knock Out replied in a rather flat tone of voice, "I've only been framed for my crimes. You on the other hand, are a known serial killer. How many is it reckoned you've killed? 13? You're pretty much the Cybertronian version of what the humans call the Night Stalker, only without the raping your victims part,"
"Yes, that is a bit classless," Steeljaw admitted, and Knock Out blanched and stared directly at the madman. Steeljaw rolled his optics. "What? Don't give me that look, even I have standards!"
"Doesn't get you past that fact that you're all too happy to kill someone even if they look at you the wrong way..." Knock Out muttered, flinching a little when he felt Steeljaw's hands on his shoulder.
"I'm not a maniac," Steeljaw reassured. "Those bots, they got what they had coming to them," Steeljaw continued, and Knock Out gave him a disgusted look. However, had he been bothering to listen even closer, his audio receptors might have picked up Steeljaw mumbling: "At least, that's what I thought at the time..."
"Keep making up excuses all you want, doesn't change the fact that me, along with every other Con on this ship aside from the Boss and Flamewar are frightened enough of you to leak lubricant every time you even pass by,"
"Can we please kindly not mention that bitch? She makes even me look tasteful. Hell, she makes even Pharma look tasteful for crying out loud!" Steeljaw growled out.
"H-How do you know about Pharma?" Knock Out stuttered out in shock.
"I'm not as stupid as the United Cybertronian Government, for one," Steeljaw remarked. "For the record, I'm truly sorry for what happened to you, got completely railroaded. You had a good thing going, patching up both bot and con alike until... Well, you know."
"Yeah, I do..." Knock Out sighed sadly.
"How's that old Earth saying go?" Steeljaw asked himself. "Oh yes, now I remember. We feel free when we escape--even if it be but from the frying pan into the fire,"
"Suppose you're going to say, well into the fire then next right?" Knock Out asked.
"Look, not out to get you. Trust me, if I was, you'd be dead on the floor in a pool of your own Energon already. I'd have sliced you to ribbons before you could blink. You know what they say about the best criminals? The police, they only know about the guys who get caught. The best ones, they never do,"
"What does that make us then?" Knock Out asked with a bitter sounding laugh.
"What else, but the second best?" Steeljaw replied, and Knock Out laughed again.
"That's quite true. Honestly, if I had a choice, I'd prefer Earth over Cybertron. Has this certain... Oh, I don't know. What's the phrase I'm looking for here?"
"Je ne sais quoi?" Steeljaw answered.
"Yes, that!" Knock Out replied, snapping his fingers in recognition. "Can't quite put my finger on what exactly, but Earth, has this certain charm about it,"
"It's the automobiles, isn't it?" Steeljaw asked flatly. "Believe me, I've taken notice of your interest. ...So has everyone else on the ship actually. Triggerhappy, Primus rest his spark, made a-
"Remark about it? Yes, I noticed," Knock Out replied flatly. "Mind you, I'm hardly mourning a nutball who'd shoot at anything that moves," he deadpanned. "Now, if you excuse me, I've got to get back to my work," Knock Out continued, gesturing to his operating table where a massive winged dark blue and yellow toned Predacon in his robot form -Darksteel to be exact- lay in a medically induced stasis lock. Knock Out wasn't quite sure about what happened to him, though he had a feeling the electro-shock collar around his neck had something to do with it, the damned thing. Onslaught had thought it fit to place them around some of the more untrustworthy crewmembers just in case they got too out of hand. Steeljaw, Knock Out noted bore one as well.
"Oh yes, I apologize," Steeljaw sighed, in a tone of sympathy towards Darksteel. "Even if I don't like that dumb brute, even he doesn't-"
"Go, now. I don't like to be interrupted." Knock Out said firmly, and Steeljaw took the hint and left the room. Knock Out sighed to himself, he perhaps would be forced to reevaluate his opinions on the Decepticon sometime soon. Perhaps. The sounds of feet hitting metal flooring filled his audio receptors, and the door opened once more. "Whoever it is, can't you go away? Can't you see I'm busy?" he asked, annoyed.
"What, too busy for even me?" a familiar, deep baritone voice asked. Knock Out smiled slightly, and turned to see a very familiar bone-white Stunticon, with a red face and yellow optics.
"Thought you didn't like to come into my lab, the sight of another Con's energon is... well, thought you saw it as more than a little bit eww shall we say?" Knock Out asked.
"Call it, concern. Or paranoia," Breakdown replied. "Both can go hand in hand really,"
"That's true, I suppose," Knock Out admitted, rubbing his chin in thought.
"Saw Steeljaw entering your lab, and smiling as he left. With a Mech like him aboard, can you blame me for checking up on you to make sure you hadn't been ripped from chassis to spark casing?"
"You would have felt it, as much as I appreciate the concern," Knock Out replied, placing a hand on Breakdown's torso plating. "We're bonded, remember? If I go offline, you'd know."
"Yeah, I would..." Breakdown admitted, hanging his head. "Can't fault me for concern though, you know right?"
He was met with a kiss on the forehead.
"And I love you for that, but you know perfectly well I can handle myself, right?" Knock Out then asked, switching one of his hands out for a buzz saw for just a few seconds to make his point.
"Even if it means getting your precious paint job dinged up in the process, or worse?" Breakdown teased.
"Yes, even if it means my paint job gets damaged, Primus forbid," Knock Out replied with a small shudder. "But Steeljaw, dangerous as he is, I can handle him. Oh, you and your worry, endearing as it is, is going to drive me insane one of these cycles. Oh, what I wouldn't give for a drink at Maccadam's Old Oil House right now. Makes that exceptionally pure oil..." Knock Out added wistfully.
"You remember the rumors right?" Breakdown asked curiously.
"Oh, the ones about Maccadam being one of the original Thirteen in disguise? Alchemist Prime, was it?" Knock Out replied with a small laugh. "Yes, I've heard. I swear, Cybertronians will think up the wildest things at times. If Maccadam was indeed one of the original Thirteen, I suspect he would have put a stop to the Great War all those ages ago with all of his wisdom," Knock Out trailed off.
"Well, rumor has it that both Optimus Prime and Megatron met in the Oil House to create their treaty..." Breakdown trailed off.
"Bah!" Knock Out scoffed. "Bots have too much time on their hands if you ask me, if they're thinking up ludicrous rumors that one of the members of the Thirteen is hanging out in a bar! I'd love to know who started that anyways," he muttered to himself as he went for a tube to pump energon into Darksteel's currently inert form. The former physician sighed to himself. "He'll have to be kept on life support for a bit now, Onslaught was really displeased with his failure to capture those Autobots sent after him..."
"Yes, well, our dear leader has quite the temper," Breakdown replied. "Likes to try and hide it, and for the most part he does it quite well, but where do you think Bruticus's rage comes from whenever he was formed? Cold, calculating he may be, and quite the planner, but when all goes wrong, Primus only knows what'll happen," Breakdown shuddered. "And to think, we share the same ship with him!"
"Hey, we share the same ship with our comrade Dead End, amongst a bunch of other nutballs, Need I get started on Swindle or Brawl?"
"Point taken," Breakdown admitted. "All we gotta do is stay out of Onslaught's way, and our sparks are intact. Still, on Dead End, there may come a day when he's not our partner anymore."
"What, you thinking of leaving the Stunticons? Striking out on your own like I did?" Knock Out asked.
"Well, it's a tempting thought. Personally, I want no part of this insanity," Breakdown admitted.
"And yet you tried to run down that human girl," Knock Out pointed out.
"Just wanted to give her a little scare, that's all," Breakdown replied. "In hindsight, had I known it would cause us so much trouble in the long run, I would have said, screw it, and just let her be! But back to Dead End. Just try and be nicer to him, okay? Er... for me? His mental state, he didn't ask to turn out to be a Fatalist,"
"Sorry," Knock Out apologized. "Just his constant rumblings about how everything is pointless as we're eventually going to join the big scrap heap in the sky sometime soon, probably within the next few cycles or so, it annoys me to no end, that's all. Did you know his happy place is an abandoned car wash of all places? And that the reason he polishes his vehicle mode and washes himself is so that he looks his best when Armageddon strikes and Unicron rises from his grave to kill all?" the Decepticon Doctor ranted.
"Well, he's got a point there," Breakdown remarked. "Nothing wrong with looking good, you of all bots should be able to sympathize with that right?"
"...Why is it you always end up winning our little marital spats?" Knock Out sighed, his shoulders slumping to the side. Breakdown patted him on the shoulder sympathetically, offering no answer. "Actually, going back to Maccadam's, I think it was Spacewarp of all Cons who started the rumor."
"Spacewarp, Spacewarp..." Breakdown mused. "Can't say I remember the name, except for a few remarks about an interstellar explorer with a rather arrogant personality,"
"That'd be her," Knock Out confirmed, snapping his fingers one more in recognition before he continued work on Darksteel's beaten frame. As he did so, he continued speaking. "Heard this rumor, she went a planet called Equus or something like that a few years back in human time, and took this parrot creature under her wing, and since then they've been exploring the galaxy and it's many wonders. Least what I heard, don't quote me on that,"
"Wouldn't dream of it," Breakdown replied with a small smile. Knock Out shoved him away with a small, slight push.
"Now off with you, got serious body work to do here, and I can't be disturbed!" Knock Out barked, and Breakdown nodded, saying nothing and walked right out leaving his husband to his work. Then, another bot walked in, tan in color and with dark purple optics.
"Hey Knock Out, I can sell you a better buffing brush, if you just trade me that buzzsaw implement of yours! Promise, I can make Onslaught look the other way..." Swindle chimed in. At this, Knock Out's temper finally blew.
"OH FOR PRIMUS'S SAKE! HOW HARD IS IT FOR A CON TO GET WORK DONE AROUND HERE WITHOUT SOME SORT OF DISTURBANCE!?!"
Back at the Autobase, life continued as normal. Well, normal as it got for this rag-tag bunch of misfits anyways. Trixie, as she and Lemon played a video game on a TV nearby, watched in interest as Swerve and Hound argued over... something.
"No, I'm sorry, but that is the most ludicrous thing I've ever heard. I mean, seriously? You saw Prowl, in his office, singing or at least humming the theme from some old cop show drama?" Hound asked in disbelief, the Willys Jeep alt-moded Autobot shaking his head.
"Trust me, Hound. The jazz music he was playing commonly denotes a cop show," Swerve lifted a finger. "And besides, how many TV shows have you seen where cops fight crime without the jazz music following them?"
"Fair point," Hound admitted. "But you don't have to be such a pain in the aft about it..."
"I'm not a pain in the aft. Am I?" He asked. "Or at least, have I been before this little dispute?"
"Let me ask every Autobot on the base, they'll probably give me an answer," Hound deadpanned.
"There is no need for that," Sugarcoat walked up to both of the Bots. "Swerve was just delivering the honest truth. It's highly illogical to argue with him on those factors. Though I will admit, the fact that such a battle-hungry Bot like Prowl would be singing something like that boggles the mind..."
"Great, she's gone all Shockwave on us," Hound muttered.
"Never a boring day..." Trixie mused to herself. Nearby, Sunder bleeped out something in agreement.
"See? She's right!" Swerve put his hands on his hips. "So there's no need for this hostility."
Hound rolled his optics, before walking off, datapad in hand. Trixie hopped off from the couch, and walked over.
"Swerve, have to ask, what exactly do you do around here, aside from cracking jokes and delivering the latest gossip?"
"Training to fight on the field, along with a bit of metallurgy." He nodded, only for his gun to start laughing to itself. "What?! It's true!"
"Swerve, you couldn't even hit one of your friends if you tried to," said his gun, which was a stark white and resembled a little jet in some ways. "That's why you have me, to say whether or not your shots hit anything at all."
"T-Thank you Phaser!" Swerve stammered out. "Embarrass me in public, why don't you! Sure, tell them all about my horrible aim that makes Misfire look good!"
"I thought the other bots would have taken notice by now," Phaser sighed. "Maybe they need to take a look at their trainees more often,"
"They do, they just don't have a lot of time on their hands right now to train me up proper, what with Onslaught's little foray to Earth and all," Swerve remarked. "Not to mention Road Rage's... condition shall we say," Swerve replied, making a point of being delicate about it.
"Speaking of which, Sugar, have Twilight and Perceptor managed to find a cure yet?" Lemon asked. "I'm starting to get worried about her..."
"Is it because she turns into a hot rod, or is it because you care for her?" Swerve asked. "Either way, they're not making much progress, between the fact that this is a totally new thing to them, and trying to figure out who on Onslaught's crew manifest is a criminal, and who isn't,"
Sugarcoat gruffly crossed her arms. "If Principal Cinch were her, she would tell all of you to stop thinking those thoughts and focus on the task at hand," She turned back to Lemon Zest, who had actually posed the question and was pending an answer. "But so far, we still aren't making any progress. This is a very complex virus we're dealing with,"
"Righhhtttt. And she's such a great role model, Cinch," Lemon drawled.
"She was our only role model before Cadence came in," Sugarcoat rolled her eyes. "I know she was evil to the core, but we had to make do; especially if CPA made people into professionals ready for the world ahead."
"Stripping us of our emotions and our freedom in the process," Lemon deadpanned.
"How many times did you and Indigo try to prank and rebel before she shut you both down?" Sugarcoat asked. "I think my point stands firm, and that you were much too childish back in those days."
"Not all of us have the capability to actually think like machines," Lemon deadpanned, before remembering who was in the room. "...No offense, Swerve."
The Autobot just waved her off dismissively.
"I swear, one of those days, I'm gonna have to punch Lemon Zest in the face..." Sugarcoat's eye twitched.
"Heard that, and looking forward to the day you try! I'm a black belt, y'know!" Lemon chimed in before making some kung fu noises like she was Jackie Chan or someone.
"Some bunch of friends you are..." Swerve muttered.
"Girls! Stop it!" Hound barked, going into full drill sergeant mode and grabbed both Sugar and Lemon by the scruffs of their necks. "We're supposed to save the world, not fight like babies," He glared at both of them. "Now you can both behave, or we'll just have to send you back to pre-school where you belong right about now. I bet Perceptor can come up with a weapon that'll de-age you just for the purpose!"
"Yes, Sergeant Hound..." Both of the girls groaned and obeyed, being let down in the process.
"Good. Now get to work, or go have fun or whatever your human kids do," He grumbled, rubbing his temples. "I swear, going to drive me into a migraine one of these days, mark my words. Teenagers. Like handling Sparklings at times. And I thought Sunstreaker and Sideswipe were bad enough..."
"They're still devoted to the mission, and that's why Nova Prime finds good work for them," Swerve nodded.
"True enough. Now if only all our problems could be solved so easily," he sighed sadly, looking down towards Feral Steel, who'd dropped his hologram and was walking about the base in his wolf mode, the spines on his back making him look particularly intimidating though anyone who ever met him knew this wasn't the case and he'd hardly hurt a fly. "Shame about him. Damn shame," Hound sighed.
"What happened to him?" Trixie asked, curiously.
"It's a sad story really, burnt out his T-Cog from too much use of it," Swerve sighed. "Least, what I heard. Reminds me of what happened to Tarn, now that I think of it. Mind you, that bastard at least deserved it," he grumbled.
"Well, can't you just repair it?" Trixie asked.
"Sadly, a Transformation Cog isn't technology as you might think," Hound put in. "It's biology, in fact. It's like one of your organs, you'd have to ask someone to donate another. As you can imagine, most Cybertronians aren't exactly lining up to do such a thing," he remarked with a bitter laugh.
"So, it's kinda like your heart?" Trixie raised a brow. "And if it's gone, then you're gone too?"
"Well, it's not that important. We can still function without a T-Cog, we just can't transform," Swerve replied. "And considering how important and ingrained transformation is in our culture..."
"It's like you've completely been stripped of who you are... that's sad." Trixie's face fell at the sound. "How can you live without the power to transform?"
"You'd be surprised, some parts of counterculture have sprouted up here and there," Hound put in. "Like the hippie movement of your sixties, only with a different philosophy. They say we've become too reliant on our T-Cogs, and purposefully burn them out with all sorts of drugs,"
"How does that work?!" Trixie's eyes shrunk down to pinpricks.
"Well, take a drug like Nuke. It's really addictive, and basically makes you become a mindless beast. Tarn, leader of the infamous Decepticon Justice Division was quite fond of it, and overused it to the point, where as Swerve mentioned, burnt out his T-Cog," Hound explained. "Doubt that's what's going on with these countercultures, just citing an example," he rapidly explained, at Trixie's expression.
"Jesus Christ..." Trixie muttered. "Reminds me of Bane and his Venom addiction from the way you describe it," she remarked.
"One way of comparing it, I suppose," Hound admitted. "If you want, I'd be happy to give you a full lesson on Autobot biology,"
"Sure I won't fall asleep during the lesson?" Trixie asked. "Cause I'm not exactly the world's best student," she admitted, with a tinge of shame in her tone. "Quite possibly why I was held back a grade,"
She was suddenly brought into a deep hug by her girlfriend.
"Hey, that's why I'm around isn't it?" Twilight asked softly, as Trixie blushed at such a public display of affection. "Here to give you a helping hand or two,"
"And Trixie thanks you for that..." Trixie sighed, nibbling Twilight's neck making her let out a small moan of pleasure in spite of herself. This time Twilight was the one blushing from the public display.
"Oh, go get a room already, why don't you?" Lemon joked.
"You're still here?" Hound tilted his head.
"Sorry, just really interested in your little tale about Transformer Biology," Lemon admitted. "And then the show happening in front of my eyes," she teased, and both Trixie and Twilight let out little eeps and blushed bright red.
"Lemon... I'll even get Wheeljack to come right down from Cybertron itself if I have to and have him help make that de-ager if you keep teasing like this," Hound grumbled, as he gritted his robotic teeth.
"Geez," Lemon sighed. "I was only making a joke. Lighten up will you?"
"A joke isn't funny if it's embarrassing and humiliating," Hound huffed and pointed his blaster. "Now, move along,"
"Aww, leave the girl alone, Hound," Chrysalis's distinctive voice remarked, as she exited the elevator that led into the base. "Sorry, just thought I'd drop by. Was I gate-crashing anything interesting?"
"Just me telling Lemon and Sugarcoat to calm down, before we invent age-regression with them as the guinea pigs," Hound went towards Chrysalis. "Why do kids fight like this?"
"Oh come on, surely you were a kid once, even as old as you are?" Chrysalis asked. "Besides, as cute as kids are--and I bet baby Lemon and baby Sugarcoat would be adorable, it's a bit extreme, innit?"
"We never had a childhood," Hound shook his head. "We were just... built, and that was that."
"Funny that, I talked to a friend of mine, and she told me you had childhoods like anybody else. Well, sparklinghoods, but you get the point," Chrysalis answered. Hound raised an eyebrow at the mention of this 'friend' but thought nothing more of it.
"Yeah, Hound was just born like this I imagine. Grumpy as the Pit," Swerve teased. "No wonder him and Prowl get along so well,"
All of a sudden, alarms cut out through the base, as the crimson alarm klaxons started to flash. Everyone jumped at the noise and the Autobots charged in for their orders, leaving the humans chasing after.
Prowl was already in the main command room, and brought up a satellite feed. "Okay, space station Argo, built by the Japanese, just spotted this. Keeping things quiet for now, but don't know how long we have till the news breaks. Fowler's keepings things hush for now, but we probably don't have long."
On the screen, was a bunch of Vehicons breaking into a Japanese power plant, with a black Decepticon, feminine in form leading them, flames painted on her torso. Nearby, a massive midnight blue crow-like Robot observed the situation.
"Flamewar..." Hound sighed. "Should have known she'd be tagging along for the ride. Odd though, she hates Predacons, so why is she teamed up with Filch?"
"Maybe she's controlling Filch," Twilight looked closer at the screen, watching as the bird Predacon did barely anything. Just observed. "Sure, she might hate them, but that doesn't mean she wouldn't want to make them obey her, right?"
"Yes," Prowl confirmed. "Twilight's right. Having a Predacon on your side, a good source of back-up. Either way, we can't let them get away with any of that energy, they'd easily be able to convert it into Energon. Autobots, Transform and Roll Out!" he shouted, as he turned into his Police Car mode, and headed for the groundbridge.
The others followed behind him, as Prowl seemed to look at Swerve. "Swerve, keep an eye on the kids. Till we know the suits are fully functional, don't let them out of your sight okay?"
"On it, boss!" Swerve saluted. Little did he notice Lemon, as everyone's back was turned or transforming to vehicle mode, slip by... |
Equestria Girls: Transformation | Part 11: Moth to Flame | Ikata Nuclear Power Plant, Ehime Prefecture, Japan
"Put your backs into it, boys!" a feminine voice shouted, as its owner watched the purple forms of the Vehicons carry out nuclear fuel rods, each glowing with a sickly green energy and stack them into piles.
From atop a nearby building, a massive dark purple form observed the situation, her all-seeing eyes keenly darting from right to left as she looked at the fuel rods, letting out a murmur of "Shiny..." every so often. Individually, and in their base state, the rods wouldn't give off enough energy to last a quartex or so. But converted into Energon? Well, now that was another story entirely.
Twin silver vehicons, commanders of squadrons stood by their commander, who was giving Filch a warning look. If the Vehicons were slightly above drone level intelligence and knew things besides battle tactics, they'd probably be standing a few steps away from Flamewar. And with good reason, as the Decepticon was infamous not only for her archery skills but for her temper.
Long, black and lean, and covered in flame deco from head to heel strut, Flamewar was one of those sights you never forgot. Mind you, if you were on the business end of her energy bow, it was the last sight you saw more often than not.
"Perfect..." Flamewar said, a smirk creeping its way onto her faceplates. "Get these loaded up, and move 'em out of here!" she barked to the drones. "Have no doubt the Autobots are already onto us, the slaggers!"
Filch hopped down from her perch, and transformed to her robot mode. Like Flamewar, her robotic mode was lean, emphasizing her feminine figure. Slightly more friendly looking, and she didn't have as big of a temper as her cohort. Just a penchant for anything shiny, and a phone sex murmur that could barely be called a voice.
"The Autobots mustn't know what we pilfered from here today," Flamewar punched her own hand. "If you lose any samples to them, destroy them before they get any ideas on what they are."
"Question?" Filch asked, raising a finger. "How are we even going to transport... Well, all of this?" she asked, gesturing to all the fuel rods. Then, she was answered as a massive, eight-wheeled truck pulled up, mostly silver but with a dark blue cab. The Predacon suppressed a groan, Octane, she should have known. Let me give you an explanation as to Octane's personality, and why Filch wasn't exactly the biggest fan of him. He was a liar, a bully, a cheat, and a general coward who couldn't really be trusted any further than you could throw him. He, to be perfectly honest, was more likely to cut and run with the fuel for himself, then give it to Onslaught.
"Load up as much as you can, you walking scrap heaps!" Octane called to the Vehicons as rods already landed in his tank. "Fill it to the top, if possible. Master Onslaught needs these as much as you need energon!"
Before any more cons could load up the rods, a groundbridge opened up, with Prowl and his small band of Autobots shooting out of it. Firing a volley of blaster shots, they tore up the ground and shot up some of the drones, rendering them to scrap metal.
"Right on time..." Flamewar smiled, going for her bow, and firing off energy bolts at Prowl, who changed to robot mode as soon as possible and drew back his fist, before punching her soundly in the face. She let out a hiss of anger, and snarled: "Anyone ever told you it's not nice to hit a lady?"
"Last I checked, you really didn't count as a lady in anyone's books, at least not a refined one," Prowl retorted as he fired another round, getting closer and closer to her chassis. The two traded punches again and again, with Flamewar then leaping back and firing off another energy bolt, and Prowl let out a scream of pain as his insides seemed to burn and he staggered back in pain, before the sound of parts shifting was heard, and he was knocked aside by a massive serrated blade, spinning wildly. Octane, now in robot mode smirked as he stood over the Autobot.
"Hey, they're ganging up on him!" Swerve shouted as he and Flanker scrapped some Vehicon drones, before he ran towards Prowl, only to be pinned to the ground by Filch in her beast mode.
"Nu-uh, you're staying right here where I want you..." she smiled.
"Uh," Swerve stammered out, a flush rising to his cheeks at Flich's voice. "Maybe we can talk this over?"
During all of this, nobody had noticed Lemon hiding behind some barrels, snapping off pictures with her phone, squeeing: "This is so awesome! Metal to metal, man!"
Flich was knocked off of Swerve, by Hound, who'd fired his shoulder cannon.
"On your feet soldier," he barked, helping Swerve up off the ground.
"Did... did you hear that voice?" Swerve asked, sighing a little at Filch's vocalizations. "Couldn't you have waited a little longer?"
"She was going to rip you to shreds!" Hound shouted in disbelief.
"Would have been a good way to die, with that smexy voice being the last thing I heard..." Swerve said dreamly.
In the chaos, Octane slunk away and had the remaining droids fill him up while the Bots worked on Filch and Flamewar. Grinning to himself, he felt the rods land within him as the drones slotted them in, one by one. He was almost full and ready to ship out.
Lemon took notice, and let out a shout. "Hey dudes, he's going to get away!" she exclaimed, pointing towards Octane, and everyone looked at her.
"Lemon, what are you doing here?" Prowl shouted in disbelief, only to be punched in the face by Flamewar. "You're supposed to be still at base! The suits, they're still in the testing stage!"
"And miss all of this? Hell no!" Lemon shouted.
"Didn't Hound say--"
"Forget what Hound says!" Lemon cut him off. "Look. I'm not going back now because one, you guys need help; two, this is AWESOME; three, I actually don't mind going young again if someone like Spitfire or Fowler does hear about this!" she shouted, before flicking her wrists and two little bracers appeared. "Besides, consider this the suit's test run! Henshin!" she shouted gleefully, putting all of her love of shows like Kamen Rider and Super Sentai into her voice and the suit appeared all over her, a glimmering purple piece of form-fitting robotic armor, with what looked to be a small cannon on the back. Then, she transformed into a small little pistol and landed in Prowl's free hand, just in time for him to pull the trigger and shoot another Vehicon in the face.
Of course, Octane took this as his cue to leave and smashed through the gates of the Power Plant.
"Too late, Autobrats!" Octane jeered as he speeded down the road. "Enjoy being turned into lumps of junk!"
"Oh, I really hate him..." Prowl muttered before turning to Swerve and Hound. "Think you can handle things here?" Me and Octane, got some unfinished business to attend to!"
Swerve tossed his boss a salute and picked up a fallen Vehicon's rifle as Phaser turned into his vehicle mode, a tiny little drone jet and took to the skies. Prowl, meanwhile turned into his own vehicle mode, with Lemon landing in the passenger seat as he sped off after Octane.
"Oh no, you don't!" Flamewar screeched, and with a shifting of parts, was now in her own vehicle mode, a Suzuki Hayabusa.
"Great, so that just leaves us with the Phone-Sex Bird-Bot and the drones," Hound commented, pulling out his pistol. "Piece of--"
Before he could finish, a dark forest green M1 Abrams battle tank burst through the walls of one of the buildings, and transformed into the infamous Combaticon known as Brawl, treads becoming shoulder armor and a black head with a blood red visor popping into view as the main cannon of the tank mode became Brawl's rifle.
"...Cake." Hound sighed.
Octane and Prowl thundered down the roads, the treads of their tyres leaving distinctive marks behind. Lemon Zest sat in the passenger's seat, as Prowl's holoform driver -A cop in full uniform, what else?- took the wheel so to speak, and his entire body paint changed to that of Japanese police paint livery. Never mind the fact that his alternate mode was an American made car. Sirens came on, as they roared past an electrical substation, and lights flashed.
"Give it up, you wheeled trash pile! I rule the roads when it comes to delivering for my master!" Octane grumbled as the smokestacks on his body turned to fire back at Prowl, machine gun style.
Prowl skidded and swiveled, trying to avoid being barraged by the volley of machine gun fire. "Lemon! Give me a hand here! Shoot out the smokestacks!"
Lemon nodded, and transformed back into her gun mode, attaching to Prowl's side, and fired off several shots, taking out one of the smokestacks, with the part clattering to the side, and the two vehicles entered a tunnel carved into the mountains, engines roaring all the while.
"Filthy animals..." The fire from the second smokestack got faster, as if all of the excess bullets were loaded into it. "Try this on for size!" With a flurry of bullets, he started to pierce Prowl's windscreen and glass shattered, as the massive Decepticon continued trying to get at Lemon.
Lemon yelped, and ducked for cover as the two exited the tunnel, and onto a mountain pass. Two purple Cadillac Ciens, AKA Vehicon drones in their alternate mode came up from behind, boxing Prowl in on the narrow street.
"Geez, what is this? Initial D?" Lemon asked to no-one in particular.
Octane got an idea, and immediately stopped in the road. Because of how close Prowl was to him, the Autobot smashed headlong into his back and felt his plates begin to bend and crumple. The rest of the glass broke and a few shards cut into Lemon's skin drawing blood as Octane drove off again.
"I thought your buddies were supposed to take care of those guys!" Lemon shouted, as one of the Vehicons rammed Prowl from behind.
"Some of 'em, must have slipped through the cracks!" Prowl guessed. Suddenly, a small missile came out of nowhere and sent one of the Vehicons tumbling end over end as Phaser appeared.
"I'll take care of these two, keep them off your back. You just worry about their boss okay?" the Micromaster asked.
Suddenly, an engine's whine was heard, as Flamewar, in all of her glory pulled up alongside Prowl, a holographic driver at the wheel.
"Miss me?" the archer quipped.
"Like a bad gearbox..." Prowl muttered.
"Now then. Let's do this." Flamewar transformed into robot mode and landed on top of Prowl, trying to throw him off the roads. She tried aiming inside the vehicle with her bow, trying to get at Lemon, but she was thrown off by one of Phaser's missiles, and she rolled behind Prowl, before picking herself up off the tarmac and letting out a little snarl as she reached for her bow.
"Little annoyance!" she snapped, firing her bow, and knocking the little jet out of the air, even as the second Vehicon caught back up with Prowl, but he slammed it into the side of the guardrail, before it flipped and Prowl sped up as the Vehicon landed behind him and exploded into a fireball.
"Now that you two are taken care off, just Octane and little miss trigger-happy to worry about" he sighed, before minigun shots pierced his back window, and once again, Lemon had to dive for cover as a tan jeep came up from behind, from another road, giggling like a madman.
"Who the Hell is that?" Lemon squeaked, getting the feeling maybe joining the 'Bots on this little excursion wasn't such a good idea after all.
"Swindle, Combaticon and Con Artist extraordinaire. You have no idea how many times I've had to bust him for selling faulty Energon, amongst other things. Only fitting he'd join his boss on this little venture to Earth. Loyalty, or fear, haven't figured out which of those made him do it yet though," Prowl explained.
"Maybe he just wants to get back at you, for all the times you busted him," Lemon suggested, still keeping her head down as bullets flew over her head.
"...That too." Prowl admitted before he was suddenly kicked off the road by Flamewar, and began tumbling down a mountainside. He quickly transformed to bot mode, and shouted: "Hold on!" as he grabbed Lemon in his hands, and slid down the mountainside, eventually coming to a halt in a small forest by a lake. He grimaced when he saw Flamewar, and Swindle -now in robot mode- jumping down to join him, optics gleaming. Setting Lemon down and motioning for her to hide, he readied himself for the battle ahead...
Canterlot:
Meanwhile, soaring high above the city of Canterlot, and soon outside the city limits and into the mountains beyond was Spitfire, in her personal F/A-18 Hornet, Blue Angel livery and all. She too had been listening to Xiraia's podcast mainly to see if she'd figured out anything too important about the ongoing Autobot and Decepticon battles, and had quickly figured out where the Decepticon base was located like the girls had.
Of course, there was a small problem with that...
"Shit!" Spitfire swore, as she soon found herself dodging and weaving between auto-cannons that popped out of the ground near the crashed ship, and desperately trying not to get her 29 million dollar plane scratched. This problem, of course, was only heightened when several pure silver Vehicon drones took to the sky and transformed into Cybertronian planes, firing missile after missile after her.
"Oh, what I wouldn't give to have a certain helicopter by my side..." Spitfire muttered, thinking back to a show she'd watched in her childhood back in the eighties, one that had spawned her dreams of flying up there in the clear blue. After some desperately quick maneuvers that would make a normal person's stomach churn, and even at one point paying homage to Top Gun by getting up above one of the Vehicons and flipping her plane upside down and giving the drone the finger she managed to evade the laser fire. But that still didn't account for the fact that she was quite outnumbered.
"Okay, let's see what you make of this!" Spitfire smirked, and turned her plane on its side, so that the drones shot past her, before she locked on target and fired, taking two down with two of her four AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles. It may have been all dressed up in the fancy paint, but that still didn't change the fact that Spitfire was flying a Hornet loaded with weapons, and she intended to make full use of all of it. The next two of the drones, they ended up full of holes no thanks to the jet's rotary front cannon, the M61 Vulcan.
The final drone ended up in pieces with a shot from one of the Hornet's AIM-7 Sparrow missiles.
Spitfire chuckled as she headed back to base, and readied herself to file a very long report. Yep, she still had it. "See ya next time, 'Cons!" she laughed, and gave them a quick salute.
Back at the Power Plant, Hound and Swerve were struggling against the double team of Filch and Brawl.
Filch dived forward and unfurled her wings, sweeping both Hound and Swerve onto their backs as Brawl pointed his cannon at both of the downed bots.
"Oh, two Autobots in one day," Brawl laughed. "Primus must love me right now!"
Hound's gears began turning in his mind, and he smirked, catching both Filch and Brawl off-guard. "Let's see this from another angle, shall we?" Flipping forwards, he grabbed Filch and threw her into Brawl, knocking them both onto their backsides. A scout he might have been on this squad anyways, but he never let anyone forget he used to be a drill sergeant. Behind his back, Swerve went for Prowl's pistol, and fired it.
As Filch and Brawl recovered, groaning out in pain, they suddenly looked up and saw a truly massive form looming over them. What looked like Tidal Wave with an Autobot sigil instead of a Decepticon one loomed over them. The cannons on his chest pointed down at both of them, and the volley would have blown them to pieces beyond salvaging.
"Sweet Primus..." Flich squawked. "Screw this noise, I'm outta here!" she shouted, going for a groundbridge with Brawl using what little intelligence he did have, and following suit. 'Tidal Wave' vanished, and Swerve sighed in relief.
"You've got a very creative mind, anyone ever tell you that?" Hound asked, as he took his gun back.
"Hey, about the only thing that frightens me as much as Overmegasixwave," Swerve replied.
"...I don't even want to know, do I?"
"Hypothetical amalgamation of Megatron, Overlord, Sixshot, and Shockwave," Swerve said in reply, pressing his fingers together nervously.
"Told you I didn't want to know," Hound muttered. "They can't even combine! Hell, Shockwave's dead!"
"Matter of time, I tell you," Swerve replied with a little finger wag. "Decepticons are obsessed with combining. Put two of 'em in a room and within seconds one will be standing on the other's shoulders. Fact."
"...Oh, shut up."
Prowl and Flamewar charged into each other, Octane a thing of the past as they both clashed; metal scraping against metal as they shoulder-rammed, kicked, punched, and tried lifting as they dueled. Prowl roundhouse kicked Flamewar in the chest making her stagger back, and then brought out a sword to duel against Swindle, who had brought out an axe.
"Like this? Got it off a Lithonian for a real cheap deal, should give a real shock and awe!" Swindle commented, as the blade crackled with electricity.
Of course, all the while, Lemon was taking photos with her phone. Even though the bleeding was beginning to sting, that wouldn't stop her from getting the best shots possible.
Prowl grimaced, and dodged the swing, before punching Swindle soundly in the face, before his blade shifted forms and Prowl was soon wielding a bo staff and spinning it. "You're not the only one with toys, you know," Prowl remarked. "Meet my favorite, the Decepticon Hunter."
"Bit on the nose innit?" Swindle asked nervously.
"Links to my neural nets, changing its shape into whatever I desire at the time. Blaster, Cudgel, Staff, Axe... Do you get the picture, and best bit? You're not getting it!" Prowl taunted.
"Heard of that tech, still in the prototype phase isn't it?" Swindle commented, as he blocked a blow from the weapon with his axe. "Very, very finicky. Minor malfunction? Could prove just as dangerous to you as to me!"
"Dangerous or no, let's see if you have the guts to use it right!" Flamewar taunted. She was soon answered, as Prowl spun around, and hit her in the side of the head knocking her flat leaving only Swindle standing. The Decepticon Hunter shifted forms once again, and became a pair of nunchucks.
"Er, maybe we can cut a deal?" Swindle asked, before he smirked and vanished into a Groundbridge. Prowl swore as he heard the sound of parts shifting and changing, and then the sound of a plane's engine as he saw Octane turn into a massive C-130 cargo plane and vanish through a Groundbridge of his own as he took to the skies.
"Scrap." Prowl sighed. |
Equestria Girls: Transformation | Part 12: Burnin' For You | Back at the Autobase, Perceptor was just re-emerging from his personal quarters after a long recharge cycle. He'd been working day and night to find a solution to Road Rage's... predicament for lack of a better term, with very little success.
With a distinct hissing sound, the doors to the Autobase's medical wing opened, and Perceptor stepped into the room, datapad in hand amongst about probably a million other things.
"Primus, Perceptor, heard you were one busy bot, but never knew it was this bad..." Road Rage asked in a concerned tone of voice, switching off the local fifties throwback radio station headed up by a girl known as 'Pinkie Pie'. Strange name, but then again she was named Road Rage so really, who was she to judge? Song had been playing, mentioned something about blue suede shoes. Very suave singer, really. "Sure you're not making a mistake throwing yourself into your work this much?"
Perceptor let out a little yelp, and dropped everything he was holding, scrambling to pick it back up with Road Rage giving him a hand.
"I've only made one mistake in my entire life," Perceptor responded as he looked up from his things and towards Road Rage, with an edge of warning in his tone. "Once, you hear? I don't intend to make that same mistake again. Not ever."
Road Rage wasn't quite sure what he was talking about and figured it probably best not to ask, but put a comforting hand on his shoulder anyway. "Whatever your mistake was, I'm sure you'll correct it. Nobody's perfect," she replied in a soft tone of voice. "We all do things in life we regret. But if we don't learn from them, and move towards a brighter future, we pay twice," she told him, voice still soft but gaze quite firm.
"Easy for you to say..." Perceptor muttered quietly to himself before he regained his composure and began holding up an odd little device Road Rage suspected he'd probably built himself, as she felt every inch of her body being scanned. "So, how do you feel?"
"The usual, like scrap really," Road Rage replied dryly.
"Yes, I suspected as much, but anything out of the ordinary, anything you can really describe to me that might help me give me a clue as to how to work on this virus of yours?" Perceptor asked gently, and Road Rage was honestly surprised by his bedside manner. Normally, he was supposed to be this cold, unfeeling bot focused only on his work. She supposed, spending time around humanity and spending time around her had made him open up a bit more, act more like a normal Cybertronian really.
"I... I don't know how to describe it, except maybe as this burning sensation wanting to eat me up inside, tear away every fiber of my being. For the most part, it's fairly tame, like a little prick at the back of your neck, but every now and again it flares up like an inferno and I feel like I've had this red-hot poker stuck into me, and I just want to scream, tear things up like some sort of monster," Road Rage whispered, every inch of her voice dripping with sheer terror. "Like... like some sort of instrument of destruction,"
"I see," Perceptor replied, using his scope mounted on his shoulders to look inside Road Rage's body, past her armor plating, and to her body frame structure and see all of her inner workings, cogs and gears turning and her spark beating and pulsating, albeit at a slightly faster rate than was normal for any Cybertronian. More symptoms of the virus, he supposed.
"Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can't lose," Perceptor muttered, as he continued looking over Road Rage's vitals.
"Surprisingly grim, coming from you," she noted.
"Yeah, quote I heard once. Made by a human named Bill Gates, smart man really. For a human," Perceptor remarked, before clarifying. "What I mean is, keep on being successful, you get arrogant, and you believe you're on top of the world, nothing can go wrong for you. When in fact, one simple mistake can shatter everything you ever knew, and send your whole life as you knew it crashing down,"
"Listen, whatever you did, I'm sure you can correct it. Wasn't your mentor Wheeljack, who said, 'I barely ever make mistakes, but when I do, I correct them?" So, shouldn't you be listening to his advice?" Road Rage asked.
"Depends on how big the mistake is," Perceptor muttered in reply.
"So, just means you have to work harder to correct it right?" Road Rage asked.
"You're surprisingly insightful today," Perceptor observed. Road Rage, still sitting on her berth, shrugged.
"Comes with the territory I suppose," she remarked. "I'm an ambassador, often requires me to get to know people quite well, the reason I signed on for this job in the first place, get to know Earth culture better,"
"I noticed," Perceptor remarked, turning the radio station back on, where a brief snippet of a song played.
"Oh, the shark, babe, has such teeth, dear
And it shows them pearly white
Just a jackknife has old MacHeath, babe
And he keeps it, ah, out of sight
Ya know when that shark bites with his teeth, babe..." a voice crackled from it, before Perceptor turned it back off.
"Suppose it's hard for me to do my job as an ambassador, when I have to stay cooped up in her half the time, getting drugged up to slow the flow of that damn virus," Road Rage muttered bitterly.
Perceptor was now the one putting a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, we'll find a cure. Not just me working on this, if you remember. Twilight, Sugarcoat, they're putting their backs into this. They don't have to, they have social lives of their own, but you know what? They're dropping everything just to help you, someone they barely know. It's a lot more than most Cybertronians, I shamefully admit, would do. Before, I had barely any respect for humankind, but now that's changed. Funny that."
Road Rage only smiled.
Back in the present, Perceptor walked into the main room of the base, and looked around, before blinking slightly.
"Okay, so where'd everyone go?" he asked, before looking down towards Sugarcoat, who was pacing back and forth in worry. "D-Did I miss something?"
"Uh dude, Decepticons just got spotted in Japan stealing some nuclear fuel rods, and Prowl and the others just went off to go chase them. Seriously, alarms went off and everything, whole nine yards!" Indigo exclaimed. "How could you miss this?"
"I was in a recharge cycle, robots need sleep too you know," Perceptor replied simply and in a matter of fact tone. "Japan, huh? Okay, so how do we plan to keep a lid on this?"
"Chrysalis and Fowler are running interference, Japan's experienced in robotics as we all know, so they'll just say that a few prototypes went out of control," Indigo explained.
"People are dumb, by default in some ways," Indigo added. "And this explanation is so crazy, people might just believe it. In fact, I'd bet they would."
"Hey, uh..." Trixie spoke up, absentmindedly strumming her guitar. "Anyone seen Lemon?"
It then hit everyone, that Lemon had conveniently gone missing, and Sugar sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose as everyone's gazes turned to the little tunnel where the Groundbridge normally opened up, and Prowl and company had gone through only a few hours before.
"...Tell me she didn't." Indigo muttered, as the penny dropped.
"She did." Sugarcoat sighed to herself.
Ikata, Nishiuwa District, Ehime Prefecture
Eventually, the entire group of Autobots met up at a dockyard by the sea not that far from the Power Plant. As Prowl pulled up to let Lemon out, he felt this distinct, tingling sensation. Like a small fire flickering inside him. It wasn't painful by any means, but just noticeable enough.
"L-Lemon?" Hound asked in shock, his cool blue optics widening by a considerable margin. "What in the Pit's name are you doing here?"
"Okay, I admit it, I tagged along to get some cool snaps," Lemon sighed, rubbing her bloody face. "Not my best decision, I admit. But can you blame me? Robot on robot action, and yes I know that sounds like porn so sue me, but this was something I couldn't miss!"
"I... I..." Hound sighed. "We'll talk about this later, or more likely your friends will give you a good enough chewing out. I'd probably be tearing you a new one right now, but I'm too exhausted, leaking fluid just like you are (Here he pointed to his chest, which was leaking blue energon) and your friends will probably be more than enough to knock enough sense into you so you won't do this again anyways," he stated, before turning to Prowl. "So, how'd it go with Octane?"
Slowly, but surely, and it looked as if he was in pain while doing so, Prowl transformed. Swerve and Hound shot him concerned looks all the while. The entire back of Prowl's vehicle mode ended up as his legs, lightbars becoming part of his feet, doors folding out to become arms, and front wheels ending up on the back of Prowl's shoulders as the entire hood of the car became his chest, with a red chevron atop a white head coming into view.
"Got away, Flamewar and Swindle managed to keep me from stopping him, and he transformed into one of his alt-modes and Groundbridged out of here," Prowl explained, short and getting straight to the point. No nonsense, and no watering things down. "But... On the bright side, we know now at least Perceptor's armor for the girls worked. Wouldn't have made it out with my Spark intact without Lemon," he said, and the girl in question beamed, before Prowl shot her a look. "Still doesn't excuse her actions though."
He then noticed Hound and Swerve's expressions, and raised an eyebrow.
"Sorry," Hound said. "It's just, well, when you transformed you looked as if you were in pain while doing so. Did you get hit a bit harder than you're letting on?"
"It's nothing," Prowl refuted. "You're probably right, just took a few too many knocks and dings from Flamewar and Swindle, that's all."
Inside, his Logic Circuits were screaming at him that this wasn't the case, and he'd seen this problem somewhere before, but every other part of Prowl was ignoring them. This concerned him, although he wasn't about to let it show. Prowl went for his comm unit on his wrist, and requested for a bridge back home, as his colors flickered back to American police livery. Prowl started to transform back to vehicle mode for the ride home, but Hound put a hand on his shoulder and shook his head.
Swerve transformed back to vehicle mode, legs becoming the back end of a pickup truck, and arms folding up into the chassis as the entire front end of the truck -Which made up a huge amount of his robot mode's back- moved forwards, the whole thing being accompanied by the very distinctive TSCHE-CHU-CHU-CHE-TSCHE sound. Hound followed suit, and his transformation wasn't all that different really, with legs flipping and becoming his vehicle mode's back half and arms folding up into the chassis, with the head vanishing from sight.
A swirling green and blue vortex of energy opened up, and as Lemon stepped inside Swerve's cab, she noted a slightly beaten and battered Toyota Hilux pickup resting off to the side, by some massive metal shipping containers.
"Hey, so why didn't you pick that as your vehicle mode Swerve?" she asked. "Mom had one of them, and those things were practically indestructible. Only reason it gave up the ghost was because I... may have accidentally backed it into a lake while learning to drive and flooded the engine compartment," she laughed nervously. Swerve shuddered, noting to himself to never let her take drive him for any reason.
"Hey Hound, doesn't that look like the sorta vehicle mode my sister Smallfoot might use as an alt-mode if she came to Earth?" Swerve asked, as the three entered the groundbridge portal.
"Now that you mention it, yeah..." Hound mused.
"I'm sorry, I'm lost here," Lemon asked, scratching her head. A small white jet flew past her, Phaser if she had to guess. "Who's this Smallfoot?"
"Sorry, friend of ours and fellow scout from back on Cybertron, very sweet soul. Got along with fellow mini-bots like Glyph and Tap-Out," Hound explained, with a wistful tone in his voice. "Oddest trio of friends I ever met, considering their various backgrounds. Scout, researcher, and former gladiator. Never understood what they had in common aside from being smaller than your average bot."
"Hey, me and the rest of the girls get along quite well, even if we're so different right?" Lemon asked.
"Fair enough, I suppose..." Hound admitted.
"Hey, Friendship is Magic right?" Lemon asked before groaning. "God, that sounded so cheesy."
Back at the base, Sugarcoat and Twilight had explained to Perceptor about a certain conspiracy theorist's broadcast.
"I must say, I will never understand the human condition to believe in what simply isn't there," Perceptor mused to himself, rubbing a finger on his chin in thought. "Granted, I'm not a psychological profilist, not among my many sets of skills, but it is a fascinating thing isn't it?"
"Hey," Chrysalis put in. "Some of us, we all need explanations for what's going on in the world. I mean, we all believed in sea serpents and giant octopus sinking ships and angry sky gods creating storms just because we couldn't find anything logical about our planet. I mean, the fact that we believed the Sun and everything else revolved around the Earth is saying quite a bit. Though I think that speaks to the human ego if you ask me..." she mused.
"And then we find out giant squid, though nowhere near the ship sinking size -Perhaps dinghy sinking size- exist!" Sugarcoat pointed out. "And now aliens as well, namely you guys!" she exclaimed, gesturing to Perceptor.
"Not to mention the sea serpents thing, although considering they come from another dimension well, guess that would make them aliens I suppose," Twilight mused.
"Er, actually, about that other dimension thing... Ran a study on the portal in that statue in front of your high school Twilight," Perceptor put in. "Turns out, Spacebridge to another world far from here, lightyears away."
There was the sound of twin thuds, and Perceptor looked to see both Trixie and Twilight had fainted dead away.
"...Was it something I said?" the scientist asked, and both Sunder and Chrysalis gave him 'looks'.
"Oh nothing, you just made their entire reality crash all around them," Sugarcoat deadpanned. "Nothing more, nothing less."
"I-I see..." Perceptor sighed. "Now, can you continue on about this Xiraia and this radio show of hers. Sounded like you were leading up to something important,"
"Ah, so I was," Sugarcoat nodded, clearing her throat. "I managed to record the entire thing, and this bit might be of interest to you."
With that, she pressed a button on her Pipboy-inspired bracelets (The same that let Lemon transform into a Targetmaster) and let it play.
"Anyways, for those of you not in the know, not too long ago, some scientists at the Canterlot Observatory, they sighted two strange meteors coming down right outside the city. One impacted in the canyons outside the town, while the other crash-landed in the mountains. I say crash landed, because despite all of head scientist Night Light's comments that they are not spacecraft, I know better. Seriously, what else could they be? Asteroids?"
"Hmm, seems this human's a lot smarter than most, despite her need to think everything's a conspiracy," Perceptor mused, taking things in stride. "Let me guess, and if you're as smart as I think you are, you're about to tell me that you figured out that you think that the second asteroid is the Decepticon base?" he asked.
"What else could it be?" Sugarcoat replied, crossing her arms.
"Trust me," Spitfire said, as her face came up onscreen, letting everyone see the inside of her jet's cockpit. "Kid's right on the money. I listened to that same radio show as well, and came to the same conclusion. Of course, unlike Sugar here, I actually went and checked to see if my hunch was correct. Long and short of it?" she continued. "It is, I wouldn't recommend taking that base. I was greeted by a squadron of those Vehicons and a huge number of auto-turrets. Barely escaped alive. I imagine the Cons would be quick to figure out now that people know the location of their base, you aren't far behind and are probably beefing up their security as we speak! Wouldn't recommend taking it, least not yet. Not with your forces at least. Give me a chance to round up some tanks and such, and a full flight squadron and then maybe we can take it in one clean sweep."
"Negative," Prowl said as he walked inside the base, with Swerve and Hound soon following. After Lemon was let out, they transformed. "I don't want to risk any possible human casualties."
"Speaking of possible human casualties..." Indigo growled out, and ran over and punched Lemon in the gut, nearly making her best friend double over.
"What the Hell was that for dude?" Lemon coughed out.
"You... You complete idiot!" Indigo snapped, close to tears. "You could have been killed, I-No, we could have lost you!"
Indigo's quick correction was not lost on anyone, and Chrysalis suppressed a smirk. Ah, young love. Those two, they reminded her of her when she was their age. Of course, unlike them, they'd probably be able to keep their hormones in check as they got older. Probably.
"Seriously, that was damn reckless." Sugarcoat admonished, rubbing away at Lemon's wounds, wiping away all the blood and such.
"You're... You're such a... Gah!" Indigo screamed, throwing her hands up in the air in frustration and walking off.
"Indy, wait..." Lemon whispered before brushing past Sugarcoat knocking her on her butt and running after her.
"Well, guess I better go after them I suppose." Hound sighed and changed back to vehicle mode driving off after the two teenagers.
Eventually, Hound did catch up to Lemon and Indigo in the many, many tunnels that made up a veritable maze inside the canyon walls that housed the Autobot base. It was inside these walls, that another hidden gem of the Ghastly Gorge was revealed. In this case, quite, quite literally.
The walls were lined with crystals of the finest shapes and size, and sparkling bright purple and red as they glittered in the sunlight peeking through a small crack in the cavern ceiling. Geodes and gemstones of all shapes and sizes littered the caverns. Some smoothed and refined, while others retained a spikier form. What would have been a lightless cave had been transformed into a piece of art with how the light reflected off of each and every crystal in sight, creating a kaleidoscope of lights that bathed every corner of the cave. It was tranquil, peaceful and if Hound had known about this place earlier, he admitted he probably would have come here just for some peace and quiet, maybe to update his personal logs or something.
To be perfectly honest, he'd grown bored with the constant metallic landscapes of his homeworld and honestly longed for something more. Aside from the prospect of chasing down and capturing rogue Decepticons, he admitted that the idea of seeing an entirely new world was a very pleasing prospect.
But that, of course, was in the past. Right now, he needed to focus on the here and now, and currently, that was getting, or at least trying to help Lemon and Indigo reconcile. He could feel the tension between them, Primus knew he felt with Sunstreaker and Side Burn before they interfaced for lack of a better term.
He chuckled in remembrance, Side Burn had actually come off from the same production run as Prowl of all bots; however, there'd been some sort of glitch in the production run causing Side Burn to roll off the assembly line vastly different in appearance from everybody else. Cybertronians, when rolling off production lines, each had the same body style underneath depending on what production line was used. (Say, for example, body-type 65356-9292-346 which was often used for bots like Glyph and Bumblebee) Somehow, Side Burn had managed to subvert this trend with his body-type and come off especially different in personality from Prowl in particular.
"Hey, you alright?" Hound asked, sitting his much larger frame by Lemon's, who was crying, and wiping away tears from her eyes.
"R-Really should get that patched up you know..." Lemon sniffled looking towards the wound in Hound's chest.
"I've survived worse," Hound replied. "But let's talk about you, or you and Indigo to be more precise,"
"I already know what's about to happen." Lemon sighed and looked up at him. "Indy's already mad at me, and I'm pretty sure all the other girls don't even wanna speak to me right now. If anything, you might as well follow through with that thing of yours; maybe I do need to be benched for a bit,"
"You're being an idiot," Hound commented.
"Geez. Thanks for rubbing it in," Lemon groaned and buried her head into her legs.
"Sorry, but that's what it is. Sure, running off like that into the heat of battle was dumb, but you saved Prowl's life. Keep this between us, okay, but if I was a younger bot, I probably would have done the exact same thing myself." Hound admitted.
"But you're an Autobot. Not a human like me," said Lemon. "Y'know there's a reason why we keep running from Decepticons instead of trying to fight them as much as you do. We'd be crushed like grapes because of them!"
"Oh, I knew a bot back on Cybertron, one of the smallest bots you'd ever run across, and yet he'd have the nerve to take on titan-sized Cons like Trypticon. Tap-Out was his name, had bearings of chrome steel."
"How quickly did he last? Not long, if I had to guess," Lemon replied.
"Actually still alive today, if you can believe it. Works as a bodyguard at some bank last I recall. Wrestle a perp to the ground faster than you'd be able to blink."
"No shit!" Lemon gaped, and Hound nodded.
"The thing with bigger enemies, is that the smaller ones always have another way of fighting back," Hound sat down beside Lemon and patted her back. "Even the Decepticons, no matter how big they are, can still be taken out from the inside by a human, if they could. But enough on that, how did you and Indigo meet? Judging by your dynamic, you'd have to be childhood friends I'd think," Hound mused.
"Yeah, that's true. Sure, at Crystal Prep we sorta drifted apart for a while, no thanks to Principal Bitch as we all call her, but we met on a playground. Some assholes were mocking me for playing with dolls, and Indy..." here Lemon sighed wistfully. "She just knocked them flat. Broke one of their noses, if I recall," she chuckled. "She always did hit hard..." Lemon smiled.
"So why should she hate you for going into battle like that? Sure, it was reckless, but we'd never let you die like that, Lemon." Hound sighed and looked down. "Look. Maybe Indigo needs some time in the thick of battle, caught in near-death scenarios so that she knows how you felt when she yelled at you."
"Maybe," Indigo's voice said from behind the two. "But I think I'll pass on the recklessness for the time being. Listen, I was just scared about you. I mean, those suits of ours, till you used it against what's his face, we didn't even know they'd work!"
"Indigo, if you're going to scold and shout at her again, I wouldn't," Hound lowered his brows. "I've already had to break up one Shadowbolt fight today. One more and I'll have to take action; one way or another."
"Yeah yeah," Indigo replied in a dismissive tone. "Who said anything about shouting or scolding her? I just wanted to talk, that's all."
"Well, you sound like you're still riled up," Hound stood back up. "The way you wanted to brush me off like that, it doesn't spell 'calmed down' in my optics."
"Listen, I get that you're concerned for us and all, but can you give us some space? Please?" Indigo asked. "This is sorta a personal matter between me and Lemon."
"Personal?" Hound tilted his head. "How so?
"I mean really secretive personal, Hound," Indigo walked past him. "The stuff I'd rather not have shared 'round."
Hound nodded in understanding, and smiled to himself before talking off, the sound of his massive metal footsteps receding being heard.
"Lemon. I'm not just worried about you because of how dangerous it was out there," Indigo felt a lump appear in her throat. "If you're gone... I have nobody left."
"What about your parents, or the rest of the 'Bolts?" Lemon asked.
"The other Shadowbolts have way too many issues these days. Sugarcoat's stuffier than a stuffed stocking, Sour Sweet's emotionally unstable, and Sunny Flare... well, I don't really know what to make of her these days after Cinch and all..." she held Lemon's shoulder. "Without you, I feel like I've got this gaping hole where my heart should be, y'know?"
Lemon faked a gag. "You know how mushy that sounds right? Sure you're not in a Nicholas Sparks novel?" she teased, punching her best friend on the arm slightly. She noted Indigo avoided the subject of her parents completely.
"Lemon. Please," Indigo's stare intensified as she saw Lemon's smile fade. "This isn't a joking matter. Don't die. You're my only family. My sister, if you want. I can't lose my only family; for anything."
"Oh please, give me a break. Stop denying it," Lemon remarked. "We both know we're more to each other than sisters," she replied before facepalming. "Great, now I'm the mushy one!"
"Yes you are," Indigo nodded. "But still, I'm not about to watch you go out there and risk life and limb just for some 'cool shots' or some other crap like that. I need you. We need you. Without you, what are we other than bullies and jackasses?"
"Friends?" Lemon asked. "Trust me, I've seen the rest of the Shadowbolts. When we're together, we actually act like normal people, instead of just screwed up prep school kids."
"Aren't those the same thing?" Indigo raised a brow. "But anyways, it doesn't change my opinions or my point. And, if anything, if you die..." she held Lemon's hand. "At least die with me. Together. Then, we can stay buds for the rest of time."
"Indy..." Lemon's eyes widened as she felt her fingers interlock with Indigo's. "You really mean that?"
"Of course I do, Lemon Zest." Indigo smiled and pulled her into a gentle hug, with a small kiss finding its' way onto her lips. "We've been through so much together, you and I. It's only fair that we go out the same way; not with one of us biting the dust early,"
Lemon Zest felt a warmth begin to grow in her heart as she wrapped her arms around Indigo's chest and brought her into a hug. Smiling and nuzzling into her friend's chest, she knew that things would only get better; so long as the two of them stuck together through thick and thin.
"Indy... thank you," Her face flashed with color again as she broke out of the hug. "Thanks for the pep talk."
"Hey. No problem, girl." Indigo tousled Lemon's hair. "That's what friends do, right? We shout, argue, and have our little... problems. But at the end of it all, we're still BFFs. And that's what makes us truly special."
"Totally!" Lemon replied, before giving Indigo another quick kiss.
In the shadows, Chrysalis and Hound sighed in relief. "Thank God that's over," Chrysalis muttered. "I was worried we were going to have to shove them into a room together or something and lock the damn door..." |
Equestria Girls: Transformation | Part 13: Kindred | "Welcome to KO Burger, where every patty's a knockout," Sour Sweet found herself repeating for what had to be the hundredth time that day alone. She honestly wanted to just drop dead then and there, at the very most it would relieve her of this monotonous job. Even with the smile forced onto her face, she knew that deep down, she felt like she was strapped into a torture device, being poked, stabbed, and branded by the corporation she served.
How come all the other Shadowbolts get to do all the good shit while I'm stuck here, peddling burgers for twerps and their families?" Sour mentally moaned to herself, handing off another meal to another customer. Two super combos with extra fries, costing $5.59, she vaguely remembered. "Sometimes, I wish they were the ones working these tedious jobs instead; ESPECIALLY Sugarcoat. Smart little bitch... But no, she's got the brains to go into university and shit, maybe she'll become some sort of nurse. Oh sure, I'd congratulate her all the same, but I doubt I'd honestly make it so far. Because, let's face it, who'd hire me for my bedside manner? They'd have to be crazy!"
And Sour Sweet knew a thing or two about crazy. Even before the Friendship Games, she had trouble trusting people. No matter how good they were or how close a friendship she had made with them, she always had voices in her head and alternate realities in her eyes that were a far cry from the one she was in. An inability to see the world for what it really was, coupled with her tendencies to switch emotions at the drop of a hat, cost her more than a few bonds and relationships in her time growing up.
There was a reason the Who song "The Real Me" could either set her off in a fury and make her want to punch everyone in sight, or make her break down in tears of sympathy for the singer, or protagonist of the song.
"Hey, Sour. We need you in the drive-thru real quick," Her manager came over and patted her on the back. "For some reason, Slick managed to get himself a bit of a stomach bug and it's playing hell on his work ethic."
Sour sighed. "I warned him to clean out his fridge, half of that crap's been tainted as it is," she mumbled to herself. She really just, for once, wanted a bit of peace and quiet as it was. Maybe after work, she'd go out back and light up a joint with the rest of the boys. About the only time nobody really cared who she was.
"Alright. Fine. I've got this." She walked away from the counter and headed towards the drive thru windows.
The headphones of the drive-thru PA system were just as barren and bleak as the rest of her mental state. Black and chunky, with what looked like the thinnest, least appealing microphone ever to grace the planet, it was yet another bolt on her impounded life. Still, she slipped them on her head, turned to the cameras, and tried to fake that smile again. Try being the keyword, as her cheeks began to hurt from the facade.
A loud rumble filled Sour's ears as some massive off-roader vehicle (Like Sour could care to remember the name) pulled up, tinted windows and heavily customized rims and all. She had to suppress a groan, looked like the local drug runners had a serious case of the munchies, probably from smoking too much weed. Only reason they'd come to this place, really.
"Welcome to KO Burger, where every patty's a knockout..." Sour's voice began to wane, knowing that this wouldn't be pleasant for her. "Can I take your order please?" she sighed, absentmindedly adjusting her hat that every worker at the joint was supposed to wear. Really, Sunny Flare would probably have a field day at the sheer crimes against fashion this place committed, she thought with a chuckle.
"Uh, yeah. I'll take two threes and a cola to go. And a bit of you too." The voice must've belonged to a guy from some school, one who couldn't be bothered to read the whole order and say the numbers to make it fast. Sour let out a little growl. This was far worse than some pack of drug addicts. No, it had to be one of those buffed-up jocks on steroids who thought they could land any girl they wanted. This idiot certainly couldn't have been from her school, everyone knew to stay far away from her and never make remarks like that, otherwise, they'd find themselves on their asses missing a few teeth. This was then followed by a small chuckle from him as Sour started up again.
"What size are those orders again?" She gritted her teeth, but still tried to stay collected; though it was becoming more and more of a challenge for her to do so. Any normal person would have backed off by this point, but that would require this particular customer to have some semblance of intelligence.
"It's 5 o'clock somewhere and I need to update my resume. Would you put "day drinking" under experience or special abilities?" Sour thought to herself with a look skywards, seemingly praying for some relief. Maybe a lightning bolt striking this guy and his car making it burst aflame. Sadly, no such luck. The sky was as clear as day.
"Who cares about the sizes, just hook me up, fast!" Replied the customer. Music was blaring at an obnoxiously loud volume from the stereo speakers. Rap music at that, something Sour had a particular distaste for. It was where good music went to die. "I have to get back to the gym soon, or I'll miss my fat-burning class!"
"This jackass... I'll just give him small ones then since he's got no respect for taking time to study the damn menu!" Sour turned back towards the people in the kitchen. "Broil! Simmer! I need two small number threes and a cola!" she barked, snapping her fingers impatiently as she did so. "And be quick about it!"
Needless to say, the two kitchen staff leapt to work like they'd been ordered by an angry dictator under their command and hastily prepared the number three orders. The drink wasn't that much of a hassle, though, as one button push poured it into a KO Burger-branded cup. The rest of the order eventually came through, and was delivered in a bag to Sour's window. Now, all she needed to do was wait for him to drive up.
"Well, come on, don't have all day!" Sour snapped, snapping her fingers repeatedly once more as the guy and his offroader slowly drove up to the window. The music was now ringing in her ears, something about a guy wanting to bitch slap his whore. Sour sighed, really nice piece of society she got here. "Seriously, you're holding up the damn lines here!"
Of course, that was a lie. There really wasn't any lines, Sour just wished there was. Maybe in that case, it'd give her something to do aside from dealing with this idiot. Even screaming, crying children were better than this particular scenario. Hell, she'd even go with a druggie!
The guy came up, took the bag, and caught a glimpse of Sour's perfectly crafted face as he did so. He was almost to the point of drooling with how awestruck he was. Actually, he was drooling on second glance, which Sour immediately regretted.
"So... you wanna--"
"If you're asking me out, NO." Sour immediately stopped him. "Just take your food and go. Don't damage the company quota or we'll all be in trouble for it," She glared at him with eyes that could kill. "Also, word of advice, if you want to get a date... Shut that music up, having music that says you want to bitch slap someone. Real turn off asshole. You're the brand of idiot, who gives idiots like you a bad name." she stated flatly, channeling her inner Sugarcoat.
The tactic worked, as the customer immediately lurched back and drove off in a squeal of tire smoke, letting the line proceed as normal. Sour just decided to pull her hands downward across her face as the next one drove up. Sour had to blink for a second. In front of her, a dark blue Lamborghini of some make. She really didn't give much crap about Italian supercar models.
Still, there was something about this one that seemed rather... familiar. Then her eyes caught the Decepticon symbol resting on the car's hood. She wanted to scream, but realized there was probably no point in that. Not like it'd stop the Con from killing her, really.
"Uh... welcome to KO Burger..." She couldn't even find her words as she spoke to the Con, knowing full well what was about to come next. She could already hear the blaster barrel's hum warming up in her head. "How can I help you today?"
"What, can't someone just want to have a talk with the underappreciated workers of the fast-food industry?" the Con asked, keeping his darkened windows up. "I mean, seriously, you guys really don't get the credit you deserve. So... uh, keep up the good work kid." he continued, actually sounding rather sincere. No cracks, no threats, just an actual honest-to-god compliment.
"To be totally honest, I'm on the verge of peeing myself..." Sour whispered as she spoke with the Con. "Decepticons terrify me, so much... especially when I can't do a thing to stop them..."
"Yeah. We aren't really the peacekeeping type. Completely understandable," The con said as it drove closer to her. "But between you and me, I'm kinda on my wit's end about it too. Listen, whenever your shift--I think they call it--ends, can we talk?"
"About what?" Sour asked. "My demise? A ransom for the others?"
"You'll find out in due time." He said before driving off. "Enjoy your day, miss. And don't stop doing what you're doing."
As the next customer drove into the drive-thru, Sour's voice still stayed diminished and cold, like she was in the arctic, fighting against a sheer cold. Her blood froze to the touch, and her heart rate accelerated. A Con wanted to speak with her, and they were never the bearers of any good news.
"Welcome to... KO Burger. Where every patty's a... knockout." She sounded almost like that pink-haired, yellow-skinned girl from Canterlot High she met at the Friendship Games. Butterfly, or something like that. "How can I... help you today?"
Time seemed to go by in a blur, and evening fell and Sour found herself out in the burger joint's parking lot. As she walked to the nearest bus stop, a car, the same one from before pulled in front of her and parts shifted and changed before the Stunticon -Breakdown, if she remembered correctly- stood in front of her. Sour Sweet was thankful the city seemed to be empty this time of night, no cars on the road or anything. She honestly pitied Fowler with the task he'd have if anyone were to capture a photo of her and Breakdown.
"Glad you decided to come." Breakdown knelt before her, his violet optics looking directly into Sour's indigo orbs. "Now, I think it's high time you and I have a chat. Guess you'd say a talk between two kindred spirits."
Sour Sweet forced back a barking laugh. "K-Kindred spirits?" she asked, with more than a hint of nervousness, noting the rather large sword strapped to Breakdown's waist. "No offense intended, but I don't go shooting up humans, or running them down just because I feel like it.
Breakdown had the decency to wince at that, he supposed he had that one coming. "Right, you're that Indigo girl's friend..." he murmured to himself.
"Well, friend being an operative word. Half the time, I'm wanting to punch her in the face," Sour sighed.
"Sounds like me and most of the other Cons on the ship half the time, really," Breakdown chuckled bitterly. "Heh, you know why they call me Breakdown right? Not just because I'm a Stunticon, oh no."
Sour Sweet considered her curiosity peaked, and quirked an eyebrow.
"Best excuse I have for my behavior," Breakdown continued. "Well, I'm paranoid. You think I'm been given my codename as a joke? Okay, maybe I was, probably by Primus finally gaining a sense of humor, but the thing is... I'd honestly rather be off by myself than with the rest of my team, my Conjunx Endura excluded of course."
"Conjunx Endura?" Sour asked, eyebrow still raised.
"Basically the Cybertronian version of a spouse, really. Some prefer the term Sparkmate, a holdover from Sentinel Prime's day. Semantics, really. Suppose you'd probably want to know about the lineage of Primes, but to be honest, your Autobot partners could probably give you a lecture on that better than I could. And we're getting off topic, and I'm starting to ramble anyhow," Breakdown laughed nervously before he cleared his throat, or whatever the Cybertronian version was anyways. In a way, Sour was reminded of Twilight with Breakdown, the bot seemed somewhat shy really, and not exactly the open type.
"If I may ask, who's-"
"My spouse?" Breakdown finished for her. "Knockout. Yeah, that one. Vain, and a bit on the pushy side when you're interrupting his work, but by Primus I love him. Anyways, been pushing to be transferred to the Scout division for a while now, least that way I could be alone with my thoughts. Sports cars, tend to attract a lot of attention on your planet as I've found so switched out paint jobs as well. White is quite the eye-catching color. Least with blue, I can sorta blend in a bit better. Everyone's just looking at me, back when I had my original paint job. Doesn't help my paranoia any, as you'd expect. Back on Cybertron, and here as well, just wanted to clear the battlefield if only for my own peace of mind."
"Well, ever thought about changing alt modes?" Sour suggested, leaning on a planter, and lightning up a cigarette. "I mean, think about it, something big and bulky like a Humvee... Sure, they'd still look at you, but everyone would be screaming, get out of the way in fear of you running them down."
"That's an idea... " Breakdown mused, before he remembered who exactly was giving him this advice. "Wait, aren't you supposed to be an ally to the Autobots? Why are you even giving me the time of day, and not running off in fear?"
"Like you said before, kindred spirits right?" Sour shrugged, breathing out a bit of smoke. "Sure you or some other 'Con looked up my Yatter feed. So, you know what I'm like. Been diagnosed with a lot of things, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia. I'm basically a shrink's wet dream," she stated flatly. "I try, and by God, I try to work through it but sometimes..."
"It's too much?" Breakdown asked, in a soft and understanding tone.
"Yeah... Pills aren't much help, and certainly, people shitting on me for my condition and saying I need to be locked up don't help the issue much. Take, for example, Canterlot High's local juvie hall poster girl to be, Gilda Gruff. Built like a mountain, and with a temper to match. She's always been in and out of detention for one reason or another, both her and Lightning Dust. So, one day she decided to grow the balls and mouth off to me. Called me quite a few things, and let's just say if I hadn't realized what I was doing at the last moment, would have been the last mistake either of us ever made," Sour sighed to herself, tossing the cigarette aside. "You know what I told her? Even as I was beating her to a pulp, bruised and bloody?" Sour asked, even as her fists clenched at the sheer thought of Gilda's smashed in face. "I told her that I wish she'd die, nobody would miss her, not even her family. She was just a delinquent without a home. And the thing is, when those words were in my head I didn't think I meant them; but when they left my mouth, I realized that I did. If the world thinks you're a monster, what does it matter? The world is wrong. But when you start to think of yourself as a monster..." Sour trailed off, her voice barely a whisper.
"Yeah, know that feeling all too well," Breakdown mused. "Personally, there's been times I want to say fuck the world, and end it all. Just shove a sword through my spark. But you know why I haven't?"
"W-Why?" Sour asked, her voice trembling as she struggled to fight back tears.
"Because, every time I even consider the notion, I remember I've got friends -Offbeat and slightly strange as they are- to keep me here. I mean, I'm considering their feelings. Not to mention Knockout's. I mean, what'd he think if I just decided to end it all, eh?" Breakdown asked.
"Friends..." Sour breathed, thinking back.
"Personally, I think this movie is highly unrealistic. No one, not even someone after getting ripped apart by a chainsaw would spurt that much blood and gore,"
"Ah, Trixie sees the problem... You would be rather over-sized for this task, wouldn't you? Now, I assume it's as simple as cut the red wire? That's how it always is in the movies, isn't it?"
"Seriously, you were like: "This ends here!" and he was like "Never!"
"A berserk serum for machines. How perplexing... Usually, those kinds of things have been developed for humans only. How one has been made for machines, I'll never know. Have you got a computer screen that shows her vitals?"
"Oh, I more than think. We have to tell Prowl and the rest, we might just know the location of the Decepticon base!"
"Yeah, I got you there," Sour admitted. "I mean sure, they drive me up the walls at times, but let's face it, if they didn't, it'd be all normal and frankly rather boring right?" she remarked, with a small laugh, which Breakdown could only return.
"Normal? What's normal?" the Stunticon asked before giving her a smile. "Hey, if you ever want to talk, and I mean just about anything or you need someone to yell at... Well, just call me," he said, before transforming and driving off into the night.
Sour then found her little gauntlets receiving the data for Breakdown's personal comm channel. She then found herself saying two words she'd never thought she'd utter in a million lifetimes.
"Thanks... Breakdown." |
Equestria Girls: Transformation | Part 14: Sympathy for the Devil (Common Ground) | It had started off simple enough for Knock Out, he supposed. Just another night drive just after the sun had set, to get away from the constant drama back at the base really. There was Swindle, trying to con everybody out of their energon for cheap and barely functional weapons. His fellow gestalt member Dead End, constantly muttering how the end was nigh. Flamewar, bitching about how she had that damned cop right in her sights before his partners stepped in during the last mission, -Knock Out could only guess that she meant Prowl when they were in Japan or wherever- and of course, last but not least Brawl grumbling about how he didn't have anything to shoot.
So, it was no small surprise then Knock Out decided to take a drive through the timberlands outside of Canterlot just for some simple peace and quiet. He switched on the radio as he drove, the moonlight shining through the tall pines illuminating the red metal that mostly made up his form. Tall, lonely trees flanked either side of the lonely pass he found himself on, and the moon shone down, in a half moon crescent shape. As he turned a corner, Knock Out found himself inside a tunnel, and he let himself speed up just a little, to hear his own 712 engine roar with a long and lonely howl, the tunnel's acoustics only amplifying it. Now, Knock Out, unlike most cons actually gave a damn about what alt-mode he chose, and made a point on looking up the different vehicles he had a selection of. Now, some of it could just be applied to his vanity really, but in his mind if you were an automobile you might as well look good while being one, right? The specs on this particular model, labeled by the humans as a One-77 for whatever reason, they'd caught his eye. It bore a naturally aspirated 7,312 cc engine developing near 750 Horsepower. Hardly anywhere near what the vehicles on Cybertron could get up to, but it was just nice enough for his tastes.
He'd read, on the website of the car's constructors out of idle curiosity that the car, and he remembered the quote directly: "It represents what is possibly the world's most desirable automotive art form, with an immensely rigid lightweight carbon fibre monocoque clad in a seamless bodyshell handcrafted from aluminium at its heart."
Knock Out couldn't really argue with that. These humans, he had to admit knew exactly what they were doing at times. He remembered this model had been given awards, such as the Concorso d'Eleganza Design Award for Concept Cars and Prototypes, the 'Best Design' award by the UK motoring magazine Auto Express amongst a few others. It played into his vanity a bit more that he now knew that his car design had won a few awards simply by looking damn good.
An old disco song was coming out through his alt-mode's stereo. Knock Out idly hummed the lyrics to himself out of boredom. He didn't know quite the reason why, but it... resonated with him.
"It was a Monday
A day like any other day
I left a small town
For the apple in decay
"It was my destiny
It's what we needed to do
They were telling me
I'm telling you
"I was inside looking outside
The millions of faces
But still I'm alone
Waiting, hours of waiting
Paying a penance
I was longing for home
I'm looking out for the two of us..."
This old station, and the roar of his own engine were the only sounds his audio receptors picked up for the next half-hour or so as he continued his drive along this lonely old trail, nothing but the horizon and the lines on the road in front of him, the music beginning to fade off into the distance as if it was nothing but a dream. Gave him a good amount of time to reflect on how he ended up in his current situation.
"Hands where I can see them Con!" a feminine voice shouted as a white and blue Autobot pointed a pistol at Knock Out, standing over a mangled body with its chest ripped open. Knock Out's hands were covered in the distinctive sharp blue tint of Energon as he clutched a T-Cog in his hands. Her voice, Strongarm's voice dripped with a sense of loss, betrayal.
Tires squealing as he tried to force the hurtful memories away, Knock Out continued onwards into the night.
He eventually paused in front of a crystal glass-like lake, its waters calm, peaceful and silent. No movement came from the lake itself. A Canadian lynx, standing on the other side of the waters had stopped by and paused to take a drink on a late-night hunt. It looked up at him and then ran off into the woodland.
"What's that old phrase?" Knock Out mused. "Oh yes, there's always a bigger fish." he smirked. He remembered now, he'd been here once before, when he had his battle the Autobot aptly named Road Rage. He winced, feeling the phantom pains of where she'd nearly shoved his own electric prod into his spark casing.
"Even for moi, it seems..." he muttered. He had a feeling what was wrong with Road Rage, he'd seen her condition before on Cybertron. Quite honestly, it was something he wouldn't wish on anyone, not even the slagger who put him in this predicament or even Onslaught himself if only for the simple reasons that they would go even more insane than they already were.
Sure, Onslaught may have tried to hide it the best he could, but Knock Out knew the truth. He may have normally been the hands-off type as the humans called it, but Onslaught did go into battle at times. He just preferred planning behind the scenes, laying out battle tactics, strategies and the like and watching his soldiers do the dirty work. It was only when the plans got botched up by something, or usually someone did Onslaught join the fray, a fury of gunfire and rage spilling energon right and left, his carefully composed mask of calm tranquility dropped. There was a reason Bruticus was named as such, and feared so, with snippets of Onslaught's personality chip in his mind. Of course, most combiners really weren't in their right heads anyways, the stress of five minds working together forcing quite the strain on things.
The simple fact of the matter was if he had access to the right tools, and was allowed near Road Rage and an operating table Knock Out might be able to lend a hand. There was, of course, the simple problems of the Autobots not trusting him to actually give the help required. And why should they? In their optics, he was a deranged doctor who ripped T-Cogs out of the living to give to others.
As he took back to the roads once more, memories flashed through his mind.
He supposed it all started, with the Genericons, precursors of sorts to the Vehicons. Frontline, cannon fodder. Knock Out, he could tell at once what he was dealing with via the badge alone. Size was larger than the normal, and the colors were a lighter shade of violet. They were on the run, from battle. Knock Out, suffice it to say, was surprised by their boldness. He knew the spines the bots possessed, or what little they had of them anyways. Now, Decepticon deserters were never treated lightly. Not by a long shot. They were often hunted down by the DJD, the Decepticon Justice Division. By justice, one meant unmarked graves. Of course, that assumed there was enough left of their victims to bury. Traitors, deserters, and any other form of transgressors to the Decepticon cause end up on what was called: "The List". The Division, fanatic enforcers of Megatron's ideals -And it was worth saying, even he was disgusted by them and called them heretics- were led by 'Lord' Deathsaurus. They hunted down the criminals in their ship, the 'Peaceful Tyranny". An oxymoron if there ever was one. And then once the target was found, executed in the most brutally messy way possible. Knock Out knew he was inviting trouble to his door as soon as he helped these soldiers, but he did it anyways. Part of the medic's code, help whoever asked no matter their beliefs, allegiance, sex or creed.
Now, Knock Out swung to both sides of the fence in his clinic, treating both Autobot and Con alike. He wanted no part of this foolish civil war that was rapidly tearing Cybertron apart. He was neutral and was just one of only three Cybertronians manning the clinic in his home city of Polyhex, alongside Red Alert, and of course, Pharma.
Pharma, what could be said about him? Well, for one he hated Decepticons with a violent passion and was against letting in these Genericons from the start. But Red Alert and Knock Out managed to swing them to their side of things. Now, both Red Alert and Pharma were amazing doctors, it must be said. Both of them had performed four-way fuel transplants at one point or another, with Pharma actually being one of the donors.
They were as different as night and day, with Red Alert being a pacifist who turned into a hovervan and hated fighting of any kind, while Pharma actually defended the clinic against any trespassers with his sword titled Bleeding Edge. Bit of dark medical humor, at a guess. He preferred to take to the skies in jet form, and often used his magnet to pull Cybertronians out of distress.
He was about to send the Genericons back out into the streets, Knock Out remembered when Red Alert spoke up.
"They don't have weapons for the Prime's sake! They've civilianized, and clearly traumatized at that! What do you think they're going to do, whimper us to death?" Red Alert pleaded.
"Alright..." Pharma sighed. "Just a simple patch-up job, that should be enough to satisfy Article Seven, and then we'll turn them over to High Command and ask what should be done with them."
"And if the DJD show up?" Knock Out had asked. "I've heard the Autobot Swerve talk about-"
"That's all he ever does, talk." Pharma deadpanned.
"Anyways, Swerve told me he'd seen the aftermath of what happened when Deathsaurus and Tarn got through with one of their... victims. Traumatized him for six months, he wasn't able to speak in that time. Said it was the worst thing that ever happened to him!" Knock Out exclaimed.
"What, seeing the DJD?" Pharma asked, head tilted and eyebrow raised. He'd been carefully watching this one Genericon, who seemed to be the leader of the trio that had been brought in. He was a contrast to the other two, to be sure. While they sported dark purples and various shades of gray, the third was much brighter in color tones. Flashy, even. Starting from his red face and yellow optics, one could look downwards to see the rest of his paint job. His chest was mostly blue save for the silver-white vents near his shoulders and bore a shiny yellow cockpit in the center of his torso plating. His shoulders themselves were blue which stretched down to his elbow joint where it changed to a stark bone white. This color pattern continued throughout the rest of his body.
"No, not being able to speak." Knock Out corrected him and Pharma chuckled a little. Now Pharma, you hadn't seen him work. There was a certain fluidity in how he did his healing and mending, you just didn't build hands like that. Despite his many flaws, Pharma was a master. Any patient that came into his ward, chances are you were probably alive and well even if you had been ripped in half by a Dynobot's jaws. Pharma was the best medic alive, and that was the end of it.
Knock Out found himself ripped out of his memories by a screeching of tires as something attempted to swerve out of his way, and then he crashed headlong into them with a horrific BANG!
It was with a drowsy consciousness that Knock Out finally awoke, and he realized with horror he'd hit a civilian driving home in her old Bugatti Type 50. He knew the car at once, considering how recognizable it was from any other vehicle on the road. And how could you not? It stuck out, like some dangerous black widow. Befitting of its driver really as Knock Out would later learn. The car was old fashioned but beautiful. It's paint style was a mixture of black and red The sides and hood was all red stretching out almost into the shape of a drop. The rest of the car was a sleek and shiny black, a nice wheel cover stretching up and over the wheels in a very curvy design. The trunk of the car was relatively small compared to the rest of it, sticking out like a jagged lump on its back with two spare tires hanging off of it. The roof curved over the seats smoothly comfortably seating one person. Or at least, that's the way it should have been before Knock Out smashed into this work of art on wheels. There was another car in the area, one that had pulled up upon seeing the crash, some generic brown sedan. He didn't care for the model, so he didn't recognize what or who made it. He did however, recognize exactly who was getting out of the sedan to help however. Agent William Fowler and his daughter, Sunny Flare.
He watched with fascination as Fowler worked diligently on his patient. She was a woman around his age, with cyan skin and spectacles that had fallen off her face. He couldn't see either of them clear enough, but with the front window gone he could make out some movement as the organic stabilized his patient.
It amazed him how similar his moves were to his own. Sure, this was hardly a clinic, but he could tell the similarities. He'd been at the operating table, in a war and while this human hardly had anyone trying to kill her, her silent pleas of desperation to her god and the sheer isolation were very similar to what he'd worked with back on Cybertron. It was all-too sickeningly familiar to the mech. He'd wanted to get away from all of this, and yet Onslaught had dragged him on his little crusade simply because Knock Out had nowhere else to go.
Carefully, he gave the human femme a once-over with his onboard scanning equipment. Broken bones, but that wasn't the worst of it. Severe spinal injuries, and yet somehow she was miraculously clinging to life. Knock Out never gave humans a lot of credit, but after tonight his opinion would probably be changing for the better, he mused. They certainly had this strength about them. Something far stronger than any Cybertronian steel.
Knock Out then noted something else, and it wasn't his damaged finish. During the crash, he'd been knocked back into a telephone pole as he believed the humans called it and his fuel line had been breached. Combine his energon with that of the already leaking oil from the woman's car and an explosion could very well be imminent.
Now, if he transformed, he could very well easily leave the human to her fate, but no. He would not. This went against every code in his medical creed. Besides, he caused this with his own carelessness, and now he had to clean up his own mess.
Making his choice, with of shifting of mechanical parts Knock Out transformed, which caused both Fowler and his offspring to stare up at him in quite frankly understandable trepidation.
"Fuel line's been breached, you three need to get going now!" Knock Out stated quickly, without hesitation. "Be careful with the woman, spinal fractures. She needs proper medical treatment, like yesterday!"
"E-Excuse me?" Fowler barked out as he began moving the woman to his own car. "Me, take orders from a Con?"
"No, take orders from a medic," Knock Out replied. He'd also noted the way Fowler was carrying the woman, and how he held her tighter than should have been normal for any random person just stopping to help. He also noted that Sunny was casting nervous glances at the woman every now and then. "Now get in!" he barked, even as he transformed back into vehicle mode, and both of his doors opened.
Fowler and Sunny shared a brief look, and then a look back at the trashed car and the fuel leaking from it with electrical lines dangling dangerously above it and beginning to spark. Then, they made their choice.
Fowler, as he wrapped gauze around the woman's neck handed her over to Sunny as he took the driver's seat.
"Floor it!" he yelled, and Knock Out didn't even need to be told as his tires squealed and he peeled off into the distance just as a large fireball was visible in his rearview mirror.
"So... so what do you get out of this?" Sunny asked, her voice growing ever more dangerous with each passing moment even as she stroked the woman's hair as she rested in her lap. Knock Out winced, he could see where she was definitely Fowler's daughter. "I mean, aside from helping to clean up a mess you caused, Decepticon."
"Honestly?" Knock Out mused, even as he drove up the road to Canterlot, his onboard navigation system set to the nearest hospital. "Absolutely nothing, I'm just doing the right thing."
"Yeah, forgive me if I don't believe you for a moment," Fowler deadpanned. "You nearly got my w-Er, Ms. Cinch killed, and the jury's still out on that I should point out!" he snapped, not noticing his little slip-up.
"So that explains things..." Knock Out mused. "Don't think I'm stupid, I saw the way both you and your daughter caressed her. Even without your little slip of the tongue, I would have figured it out eventually. So, wife huh?"
"Ex-wife," Fowler corrected. "Sunny and I... Well, after certain events me and Cinch slipped apart. Sadly, as part of the divorce settlement Cinch gets to see my daughter once a month. I... I uh may have tagged along just to be careful." he admitted tugging at his tie a little.
"Overprotective father, whose daughter happens to be involved in an Autobot crusade to hunt criminals like me down?" Knock Out sighed even as he rounded a corner. "Yeah, can't entirely say I blame you for watching her every move."
"It's not just that," Sunny corrected. "Doubtful you remember this, but there was an... incident last year at this big event called the Friendship Games. Well, I call it the Fiendship Games but that's beside the point."
"Been surfing the web, or at least the darknet. Rumors abound of two magical girls going at it, and I caught Youtube videos of vines emerging from portals around a dirt race track for bikes," Knock Out admitted. "I assume Ms. Cinch was involved in this somehow?"
"Well, indirectly, yes. She was the former Principal of my high school, Crystal Prep. Me and my friends, I'm ashamed to admit helped Cinch push this other friend of ours -if we can even call her that after the shit we pulled- into just using a power she didn't understand." Sunny sighed in a mixture of self-disgust, and guilt.
"And that led to the magical girl battle, right?" Knock Out guessed.
"Yeah," Sunny continued. "Suffice it to say, nobody was pleased with all of this. Including my dad. He divorced my mom soon after he found how much danger I'd been put in,"
"Must have been rough," Knock Out sighed. "I'm sorry."
"No, it's fine," Sunny replied, brushing his concerns off. "Glad to be out from my mother's thumb actually,"
"We'd been growing apart for years anyhow," Fowler picked up the story "Both of us, getting far too wrapped up in our jobs for our own good. A divorce was inevitable really. Her putting my only daughter in danger was just the last straw. But, all the same really..."
"You still care for her, right?" Knock Out surmised.
"Course I do, she used to be my wife at one point!" Fowler told him in return. "Sure, I'm a cold-hearted bastard at times, but I'm not emotionless. Now, can you do me a favor and shut up and drive?"
Knock Out sighed, and complied. Eventually, not even an hour later they pulled into a nearby hospital. The former neutral turned Decepticon watched anxiously as doctors and nurses rushed out upon seeing Ms. Cinch's state and put her on a gurney before rushing her inside with Fowler following. Sunny stayed, however, and patted Knock Out's hood when nobody was watching.
"Never thought I'd say this to a Con, but... thank you," she whispered and looked as if she was about to dart off to her father's side but before she did so she added: "I'll be sure to tell the Autobots about this, maybe put in a good word for you okay?"
'Well, that was unexpected..." he muttered to himself in pure, unabridged shock. Even as he watched Cinch get led inside, his mind flashed back to years long since passed.
Knock Out had been growing suspicious for a while now. It was near what he knew to be the war's end. Slag, if he'd heard correctly the war was already over now that Megatron and Optimus Prime had sat down for peace talks. And so life went on, at least on the surface of the Polyhex Clinic. Like I said, Knock Out had been growing suspicious for a while now.
Tarn was supposed to have burnt out his T-Cog long ago, from rapid over usage to the drug called Nuke. No thanks to this over-reliance of the stuff, it was unsurprising to no-one when the infamous warrior's Cog finally went. It was a great load off everyone's minds. And yet, Knock Out had heard several nasty rumors that Tarn's very distinctive tank alt-mode had been sight several times all over parts of Cybertron, ranging from the Sea of Rust towards the now-rebuilt city of New Kaon. The rest of the Decepticon Justice Division had been either rounded up, or destroyed long ago. Helex, Kaon, Tesarus, Vos, they were all in prison. 'Lord' Deathsaurus, had his spark blown out personally by Megatron's fusion cannon after a prolonged and quite legendary aerial battle for supremacy.
He had famously stated after walking over the Con's rusted corpse: "Justice? Please, give me a break. Now that's just bad comedy. Now, let this stand as an example to anyone who gets the intelligent idea of filling his shoes."
That swiftly put an end to things. The Decepticon Justice Division, in its most infamous state, was no more. The last of an ugly, dirty era had simply been swept away like rust in the wind. If Tarn had any sense, then he'd headed for the hills. But apparently, Tarn's lust of the spillage of energon overcame any sense of reasoning he might have had, and now he'd been supposedly spotted once more, this time in Iacon of all places. The former Autobot capital. Knock Out had to give him points for sheer outright nerve. Tarn, whatever his many faults must have had bearings of sheer chrome steel. No, make that titanium.
But the obvious question was, where was Tarn getting his T-Cogs from? Knock Out had a sneaking suspicion, and he didn't like it one bit. But it had to be confirmed. For the past few cycles, Pharma's personal ward had been deadlocked to all but his personal handprint.
No small problem really. Normally, he wouldn't think of doing this, but time was of the essence. Pulling out a small pistol he kept for self-defense, Knock Out blasted the door open. In front of him was Pharma, hands swapped out for chainsaws and also in front of him was Red Alert of all bots, chest sliced open and the rest of his body mangled beyond almost all recognition. The only way Knock Out was able to identify him, in fact, was the coloring and the distinctive paint job the former Protectobot bore.
"I should have known..." Knock Out growled, switching one of his hands out for a medical saw on pure instinct. The other hand still clutched his pistol. "You've been awfully quiet as of late. Thought it strange you stopped taking patients when you yourself said: "Life must persist." At first, I thought it was because the war ended, but then the occasional patient showed up in my clinic and every so often, after I'd turned all the lights off for the night I'd come back next morning and find them missing. Now some, I would assume they'd gotten better but others? Backstreet, remember him? He was infected with the rust virus! There was no way he would survive the night! I'd just tried to keep him placated while his spark slowly faded away. I often wondered what happened to him. Now I know."
"Of course you realize there's no way you can prove any of this. No security cameras in the entire clinic. Doctor-Patient confidentiality, you must understand. Besides, who likes Big Brother watching them anyhow?" Pharma sneered. "So yes, I admit I took up Tarn's offer to try and find replacements for his cog. Rare condition, but treatable. Trouble is, he doesn't want the treatment, not buying what I'm selling. He just wants his next fix."
"So, what? You started selling organs to Tarn just for a bit of cash on the side!?!" Knock Out exclaimed, appalled.
"In the beginning, despite my best efforts, patients just kept dying on me. Demand increased," Pharma stated calmly, with a small sigh. "A pity really..."
"So you started killing them." Knock Out said in disgust, lunging for Pharma with his saw-blade only for the medic to block it with his own weapons.
"No, I started making judgments on their survival rate," Pharma corrected him, even as sparks flew, before he kicked Knock Out backwards into a wall. A pistol clattered the floor, and Pharma crushed it under his heel strut. "Sometimes if they really were clinging to life, I just... let's say helped them relax their grip," he remarked, his voice silent as the grave before he smirked and held a hand up to his audio receptors. "Oh, you hear that? Sirens. Police on are their way. That little door you blasted in? Tripped the silent alarm. While we've been standing here talking, they've come running. Now, obviously, I can't let them find me, so... toodles."
With that, he vanished through a trapdoor in the floor. Knock Out screamed in rage, and frantically rushed over to Red Alert.
"Listen... Listen buddy, gonna fix you up real fast you understand? I'll... I'll get you proper help!" Knock Out cried as he desperately tried to mend what he could with a nearby laser scalpel and using his other hand to try and refit Red Alert's T-Cog.
But it was all for naught, as Red Alert's optics began to fade, and his body began to turn a distinctive dull gray color. And then, he heard the sound of a weapon cocking.
"Hands where I can see them Con!" a feminine voice shouted as a white and blue Autobot pointed a pistol at Knock Out, standing over a mangled body with its chest ripped open. Knock Out's hands were covered in the distinctive sharp blue tint of Energon as he clutched a T-Cog in his hands. Her voice, Strongarm's voice dripped with a sense of loss, betrayal. And why shouldn't it? After all, he'd saved her once. He remembered the day all too well.
There'd been a police shootout not too far up the road, some civil dissidents and anarchists and both Strongarm and her boss, Prowl had been caught in the crossfire. Prowl was none the worse for wear, a few patch-ups from Red Alert had been all that he'd needed but Strongarm on the other hand?
Well, that was a different story entirely. A few unlucky shots near her spark casing, and she was bleeding energon profusely. It was only with the fast work of Knock Out that she'd survived the operation, and that wasn't counting the long road to recovery she'd been on just trying to learn to walk and transform again. Knock Out was there as well, helping her every step of the way alongside her Conjunx Endura. Ironically, that happened to be the very same Genericon colored in that flashy red, white, and blue paint job -Nacelle, he'd learned his name was- that Strongarm had bonded to.
And now both officers stood holding Knock Out at gunpoint, and cuffing him. Well, trying to anyways. He had, just before he'd been cuffed, managed to shift to vehicle mode and dart out the front doors of the clinic. Knock Out, now he knew this wouldn't make him look good in the eyes of the law, but who would believe him that Pharma was the true culprit? The answer, nobody. He was a star in the eyes of Cybertron, and the sheer idea of him doing organ transplants for wanted criminals was simply unbelievable in anyone's mind.
He had nowhere to run, and he knew it. Well, nowhere to run except into the claws of the former Elite Guardsman and now wanted criminal and Combaticon Onslaught.
In the end, he wondered if it was worth it. Just running like he did. Now his reputation was ruined, and the only place he had solace was in a wrecked ship full of almost completely insane Decepticons and various other criminals who would give Pharma a run for their money. Out of the frying pan, and into the fire as it were.
Eventually, he made his decision and sent a coded transmission on an old Autobot frequency channel saying one simple thing.
"I'm turning myself in." |
Equestria Girls: Transformation | Part 15: A Matter of Trust | "Japan... Japan..." Perceptor muttered, as he paced back and forth in front of a holographic map of the world with what looked to be a Cybertronian-Sized pointer. "Why Japan? Why not Texas, North Dakota or somewhere else closer to the base of Decepticon operations? Petroleum in particular is much better for conducting energy to Energon transformation than nuclear fuel rods anyways. They could have hit anywhere so why Japan in particular?"
"Don't you think maybe you're overthinking this a tad?" Road Rage asked, shrugging her shoulders. "I mean, it could just be random right? Just hit somewhere with a lot of energy. Hell, they could have hit Iran or Canada if they wanted. With access to a groundbridge, they could go anywhere in the world. Doesn't need to be rhyme or reason for this sort of thing."
Perceptor sighed. "Yes, perhaps you're quite right. Maybe I need a power-down, been wracking my brain for days, a quick recharge would do me some good I suppose. Let someone else do the thinking for a change. Between this, and working as a medic for you and everyone else..."
Road Rage patted his shoulder sympathetically. "Yeah, I understand. Nobody would blame you if you just curled up in your berth for a recharge for a few cycles. Relax, everything will sort itself out, a cure for my... condition will arise sooner or later. Just have to be optimistic about this sort of thing."
Suddenly, the commlinks on both of the Autobot's wrists began flashing.
"Huh, curious..." Perceptor mused, raising an eyebrow. "Old Autobot High-Frequency embedded message, nobody's used this type of thing since the War."
"Old war vet on Earth, just wanting to strike up a chat, and saying: "How's it been?" Seems unlikely." Road Rage remarked, in a deadpan tone.
"Very funny," Perceptor replied. "Might as well play it."
Before he could reach for the play button as it were, Road Rage halted him.
"Wait, we should play this smart. More than likely, it's a Decepticon, one of Onslaught's group. Only war vets aside from them are in this base, as far as we know."
"Agreed, I'll contact Prowl and have him and Swerve join me with this impromptu meeting. If by chance someone's contacting us via this old way of communication, they wouldn't want to meet in public, meaning this is most likely a trap. Best to have an extra blaster or two on hand. Just in case." Perceptor noted.
"And yet, if you go with Prowl and Swerve," Road Rage pointed out. "We'd be sending over half our forces to this meeting site, including our sole medic."
Perceptor laid a hand on her shoulder and smirked. "I was a War vet as well, I know how to handle myself in combat. And besides, only medic? Yeah, I've been training you how to patch up a bot, so I'm not worried." he stated. With that, he pressed play.
"I'm turning myself in." came Knock Out's distinctive voice, catching both Perceptor and Road Rage off guard, both sets of optics blinking in surprise.
"...Well, wasn't expecting that." Road Rage remarked. "But, only one thing for it I suppose. Might as well hear him out, presuming, of course, he doesn't rip our sparks out."
"And that's why..." Perceptor replied, holding up a long barreled rifle-like device that sparked with electricity at the end. "It never hurts to come prepared."
So, it was with great caution that Perceptor opened up a Groundbridge to Knock Out's location, a deep forest outside Canterlot City limits and with Swerve and Prowl in tow, transformed into their respective vehicle modes and ventured forth. Now, Perceptor had recently gained himself a new vehicle mode, a half-track army vehicle figuring if he was going to be out in the field more, he'd need something a bit quicker and perhaps more rugged than his old microscope mode. Wasn't really as subtle, but more practical and allowed him to mount weapons such as his newly crafted stun-rifle atop his vehicle mode's roof.
"Wait wait wait," Knock Out said, holding his hands up in a surrendering motion. "As much as I can feel the love for me practically radiating off you guys, is there really a need for such heavy artillery?" he drawled out, looking at the stun-rifle nervously.
"Oh, this?" Swerve asked, transforming to Robot mode and gesturing to the stun-rifle which he'd soon grabbed. "The Electrobooster? Won't hurt... much. Probably just put you in agonizing pain, something a trifle below excruciating pain." he said with a small smirk.
Knock Out let out a small squeak at this, making a noise that sounded suspiciously like "Spare my finish!"
"He's kidding," Perceptor said, transforming back to bot mode. "Which is exactly why we're not letting him use it." he continued, in a more firm tone, taking the weapon away from Swerve.
"We're not going to harm you," Prowl reassured, audibly groaning out in pain as parts shifted and moved as he turned into Robot mode. "Not unless you warrant us doing so. Hopefully, it won't have to come to that."
"Speaking of harm," Knock Out remarked. "Bet that hurts, transforming. Like a fire burning inside you. Not like a spark, warm and comforting like starlight, but like a sheer inferno, a blazing forest if you will excuse me getting poetic."
"It tingles." Prowl remarked.
"Tingles?" Knock Out asked, raising an eyebrow skeptically. "I really don't think that's the word I'd use when you've been hit by one of Flamewar's Virus Arrows. More like, agh, excruciating pain that I'm going to die from. Take a Medic's word on that. Believe me, you'd be better off in the long run."
"Can we just get to the point?" Prowl asked, ignoring him. "Why exactly, are you so keen on offering yourself up to us?"
"Well, not like I have much choice in the matter, y'know. Better, in the long run, I just let myself get captured, then probably killed in mid-battle and sent to the great big scrapheap in the sky."
"You do realize you'd probably be put in stasis lock for the rest of your life, after what you pulled right?" Prowl asked.
"Better than being dead!" Knock Out refuted. "Besides, did a bit of reading, and yes I admit I've been watching White Collar when this crossed my mind -Dunno if you ever saw that show, really riveting- but can't you lot put on one of those newfangled tracking bracelets while I work off my crimes?"
"Well..." Prowl trailed off. "It has been considered for a few of you, the ones who did less horrendous crimes. Pretty sure mass murder counts as horrendous though."
"...Just a thought, and I was framed for that anyways," Knock Out continued, gaining a few disbelieving snorts in the process. "Besides, you need me," he said, playing his last card. This conversation wasn't going the way he'd imagined it in his head. "That virus of Road Rage's? One that's now slowly making its way through your system as well," he continued, looking directly at Prowl, and both Swerve and Perceptor stared at the bot in shock not privy to this little detail. "I know exactly where it came from, who made it."
It didn't take long for Prowl to make up his mind.
"Fine then, you're coming with us," he said, cuffing the Decepticon, before a loud metallic shriek filled the air, and everyone looked up to see a massive griffon, orange cyberglyphics glowing in the moonlight standing atop a tall cliffside.
"Oh, slag..." Knock Out squeaked out. "Maybe have forgot to mention this, but Onslaught likes to keep tabs on his boys when they've been gone too long. Meet Darksteel, his personal hunter. My advice. Run."
Advice that everyone was all too happy to heed when they saw Darksteel's throat glowing orange, before the entire area was covered in a wall of flame that the foursome just narrowly escaped...
It took several odd minutes for Hound to comprehend what he was seeing. A trio of Autobots, his commander amongst thing, leading Knock Out into their base via Groundbridge. It took several more minutes for Hound's voicebox to finally begin functioning once more.
And even then, he couldn't really manage anything that could be considered coherent speech of any sort.
"I... Er... Um..." Hound stuttered out. Swerve chuckled, as he idly wondered if he could just walk up to Hound in his current state and with one light shove, tip him over. He thought the better of it, the ensuing lecture from Prowl wasn't worth it.
"...Well, I'll be damned," Road Rage murmured to herself, in a disbelieving tone almost too soft to be heard. "He was actually sincere about it."
"What, you disbelieved moi?" Knock Out asked, still rather annoyed he was in cuffs. "I mean, does this look like a face who'd lie to you?"
"...Gee, lemme think about that." Road Rage deadpanned.
"Trust me, the jury's still quite out on whether he really is telling the truth, or just wants to lead the 'Cons to our base," Prowl confirmed, shoving the nervous Decepticon forwards.
"See, this is why I was reluctant to come to you guys in the first place!" Knock Out exclaimed, his voice coming out as a sputter. "Sensing a real lack of trust you guys have around here!"
"For good reason." Road Rage replied, narrowing her eyes at the known murderer. "Red Alert, a friend of mine, name sound familiar? It should. Friendliest Spark this side of Cybertron, and you murdered him! My fiance!"
Knock Out's optics widened in shock. That... he hadn't known about his old friend. He had known he was about to undergo the bonding ceremony, (And how could he not, as the medic talked about it to no end) but not who he was being bonded to.
Maccadam's Old Oil House: Cybertron:
"Hey-ho! Three cheers for Red Alert!" a call went out amongst the bar, louder and rowdier than usual. And that was saying something. "For that paranoid old glitch-spark finally getting himself hitched!" a red Autobot, with the symbol for the Cybertronian Fire Squadron shouted, raising his mug full of hot oil skywards.
"One 'ell of a bachelor party, gotta say," Red Alert said, the mostly white and red Cybertronian commented. "Really guys, this isn't all necessary though. Seriously, it's not."
"Only the best for my friend," Knock Out said, slapping his fellow medic on the back. "And besides, what do you mean it's not necessary?" he asked, using air quotes. "I'm sorry, but Inferno?" he asked, turning to the Fire Squad bot. "Tell my friend here that is absolutely indeed necessary!"
"Quite right," Inferno agreed. "I mean, you've been saving lives for... Oh, Primus knows how long so you deserve one Hell of a bachelor party I say! Plus, I got a bet on with Falcia that I can beat her Hen Night, and I do not intend to lose!"
"Shame Pharma couldn't make it," Nacelle sighed sadly, the Seeker's wings slumping in disappointment. "He would have loved this kind of thing... probably."
"Yeah, bot's always on call, never takes breaks," Inferno sighed. "What's that old saying? All work and no play...?"
"Now tell us man," Knock Out asked. "You've been keeping mum on this bot you intend to bond with for weeks, so you have got to tell us who she is now!"
"Sorry, you'll just have to wait for the wedding day," Red Alert smirked.
"...I can't see for the life of me why you passed up that Chief of Security job at Polyhex," Inferno muttered, rubbing his forehead in frustration. "You'd do such a good job at keeping secrets."
"Told you why before, and I'll tell you again," Red Alert remarked. "Would have driven me mad, probably made me paranoid that everyone was out to get me. I mean, remember Nitro 'Mad-Optic' Zeus? Good name for a bot, but the man was as paranoid as a Petrorabbit! Seriously, he thought Decepticons were hiding around every corner before he finally retired. And I think he still does!"
That gained a few chuckles, and Inferno responded with a: "Point."
"Well," Nacelle remarked. "I'm just glad that we're all here to celebrate this momentous occasion! The day before Red Alert finally loses his freedom forever! Kept on a leash and chain!"
"...Funny, I thought you liked that." Inferno smirked.
"S-Shaddup!" Nacelle stammered out, as everyone else laughed.
Knock Out smiled wistfully. Ah, those were the days, right before everything went to the slaggin' Pit. Before he had the stupid idea of facing Pharma alone and ending up on the run and getting ganged up with Onslaught's bunch. Sniffling softly to himself as he wondered what Red Alert had to be thinking of him now, he regained his composure before anyone could notice.
"Anyways, just to be safe because we now have a known criminal in our base," Road Rage continued, eyeing Knock Out warily. "Where's the kids? Really not a fan of them coming here at the moment."
"Most of 'em, in bed I'd suspect at this hour," Perceptor answered for her. "I mean, they've got classes in the morning... I think. Lost track of the days. Don't know if it's a weekend as they call it or not. Either way, won't be showing up soon."
"You said most, that implies..." Road Rage trailed off.
"Yeah, I did get some distressing news," Hound spoke up, his voice box finally choosing that moment to completely repair itself. "Apparently, Ms. Sunny Flare was coming home from her mother's, and her mom's car got hit dead-on by this flashy sports car."
"W-What?" Road Rage stammered out. "She's alright, isn't she? Tell me she's alright!" she exclaimed, grabbing Hound by the torso plating.
"Yes, Sunny's fine," Hound reassured. "Her mother... sadly she's in critical condition. In surgery right now, from what Feral reports. He and Swordbreaker are keeping an eye on things, case the Cons get any ideas and try to attack one of our charges' loved ones."
"Thank Solus..." Road Rage replied, letting out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding.
Knock Out, he felt more than a pang of guilt. He caused this, and he knew it. If Cinch was lucky to survive, she'd probably be paralyzed for life at best. "By the Allspark..." he muttered. "If only I'd..."
"If only you'd what?" Road Rage growled, turning on him with a dangerous edge in her voice as she realized. "You caused this, didn't you? Should have known, flashy sports car? Who else could it have been then but a Stunticon!"
"Ex-Stunticon," Knock Out clarified, knowing that really wasn't helping his case. "And for the record, if it wasn't for me, Cinch might not have even made it to causality!"
"Yeah, like I'm supposed to believe that!" Road Rage snarled, this close to shoving a fist through Knock Out's spark casing. "Ex-Stunticon, what the slaggin' Pit is that supposed to mean!?!"
"Means I was unceremoniously drafted into Shockwave's combiner program, what do you think?" Knock Out yelled back. "Experimented on, had my parts turned inside out just so I could form a part of some mad gestalt called Menasor! Do you know what that feels like? DO YOU?" he roared.
"..." was Road Rage's only response.
"Yeah, I thought not." Knock Out grumbled. "So don't you go lecturing me about things you don't understand!"
"Simmer down, the both of you," Fowler's voice said, as twin doors hissed open and the somewhat portly African-American stepped inside. "Whatever else you may think of Knock Out, he's not lying about saving my ex-wife's life. That much, at least, is true."
"So, if that's true... What else about him is?" Perceptor pondered to himself. "Could he really be telling the truth about being framed?"
"Wait, so you weren't lying about that?" Road Rage asked in shock.
"Um, no. Look, I may be scum, that much is true as well as I did throw myself in with Onslaught, but I'm nowhere near the level of scum it would take to leave an innocent woman to die via a car accident I caused just because I wasn't keeping my optics to the road!" Knock Out said in reply, as Prowl uncuffed him before putting a tracking bracelet on Knock Out's ankle.
"Now, may look garish, but it won't hinder your transformation any. All it allows us to do is keep an optic on you, and your whereabouts. Can't go within two miles of whoever holds the tracker, and to help you two get along better..." Prowl trailed off, looking directly at Road Rage.
Needless to say, neither was happy with this arrangement.
"OH SLAG NO!"
"YOU WANT TO PUT ME WITH HER!?!"
Prowl smirked. "Only logical choice, in my mind. If Road Rage shoots you, she'll face charges of killing a prisoner in custody," he continued, and Road Rage swore to herself. Prowl, he'd thought that one out good, the magnificent little bastard. "Besides, if my theory is correct, whatever Flamewar got me with, it's probably the same thing that's currently coursing through Road Rage's body. It just hasn't built up to the same level as the virus within her. If you can manage to help Road Rage, you can help me." the commander continued.
"Er yeah... slight problem with that. You, I might be able to help now, but Road Rage...?" Knock Out trailed off, and sucked in a breath. "Like you said, the virus is further along. Only one who would have the cure for the stage it's in now? Flamewar herself."
"Well, then we just have to capture her, and pry it from her fingers," Fowler commented. "Simple as that. I'd imagine Onslaught would want his medic back, so we do an exchange. Flamewar's cure, for Knock Out."
"No," Prowl refuted. "I'd rather not have anyone get caught up in the possible ensuing crossfire, especially the one who might hold the cure to saving us both," he stated, putting an end to the matter.
"Then how else are we supposed to get ahold of Flamewar?" Road Rage argued. "I mean, we can't just chance her coming out on the 'Cons next fuel raid and hope we get lucky!"
"Simple, we offer her a prize she can't resist. Fowler's idea, while flawed does have some merit. Hound, if you will?"
The scout nodded and used his pistol to create a projection of Knock Out, accurate to the very last detail.
"We fake an exchange..." Fowler smirked. "I like it."
Knock Out walked up to his copy, and trailed a finger down it's faceplates. "Hmm, doesn't capture every aspect of my... elegance but I suppose it'll do," he said, a finger on his chin and in a pose resembling that of an artist observing his work. "So, forgery and identity theft? Didn't know a cop was willing to break the law just to save one Con, or more accurately his own skin."
Prowl let out a small growl. "Get him out of here."
A few days passed, and the Shadowbolts and Trixie remained unaware there was now a Decepticon in the metaphorical King Arthur's court as it were. Wouldn't stay that way, of course.
Come the end of Monday's school hours, and the Shadowbolts who had recently transferred over to Canterlot High a week or so back to get closer to their two newest friends in Trixie and Twilight were greeted to an unexpected sight.
"...Please tell me I'm seeing things," Sugarcoat said, as both she and Twilight took off their glasses and rubbed them clean as they gazed upon a very familiar crimson One-77 in the school's parking lot. But when they put them back on... "Nope, still there."
"...Has to be a nightmare, has to be..." Trixie mumbled to herself as both Sour Sweet and Lemon opened and closed their mouths wordlessly, doing remarkable impressions of fish.
"K-Knock Out?" Sunny asked nervously, as she walked up to the car. "That you?"
"Girl, what are you doing?" Sour Sweet asked, as she grabbed Sunny by the arm. "You got a death wish or something?" she exclaimed, going into 'Sour' mode as everyone called it.
"Call it a matter of trust," Sunny replied, wrenching herself free from her friend's grip. "Remember a few days back, when I said this Cybertronian helped get my mom to the hospital?"
"...Right, you didn't say who did you?" Lemon mumbled to herself. "You're telling us it was Knock Out?"
"Well, we can't exactly judge Knock Out by branding, now can we?" Sugarcoat asked. "We've not exactly seen much of him, only heard about him through Road Rage's stories. Or story, to be more accurate."
"Where he tried to KILL her!" Trixie piped up.
"After she attacked him, it was self-defense." Sugarcoat pointed out, shutting Trixie up for the moment.
"Glad to see one of you has some actual intelligence aside from Fowler's daughter," Knock Out finally spoke, his headlights flashing with every word. None of the Bots trusted him enough yet to install a holographic driver, so he'd just darkened his windows. "But yes, for the time being, I'm your newest chaperone. If not one in chains."
"And what exactly do you mean by that?" Sour asked.
"Tracking anklet, only allowed to go within two miles of whoever holds the tracker," Knock Out explained. "Your 'Bot friends, gave it to Road Rage of all Cybertronians. Not the best choice when I'm out and about though, giving you guys lifts home. So, Prowl's got it right now, make sure I don't make a run for it. Not that I would, of course, considering the moment I try your pal Swordbreaker's been freely allowed to smash in my Spark, the brute. He's not a cop and just a merc for hire so... loopholes." Knock Out explained, visibly shuddering.
Not too far away, a familiar Toyota Tundra sat lurking as if it was ready to pounce.
"So, shall we get going?" Knock Out asked, his passenger door opening. Sunny took a deep breath and stepped in.
"I just don't trust him, not one bit," Twilight had this to say, as she sat comfortably in Swordbreaker's passenger seat, Sugarcoat and Trixie behind her. Sour, Lemon and Indigo had opted to be braver, and ride alongside Sunny inside Knock Out. Not like they'd get questioned by the cops anyways, as it happened Indigo had recently passed her driver's test. "It's like sticking your head in a lion's open mouth. You're going to get it bitten clean off."
"Okay, normally I'm not the first one to trust someone, and I sure as hell don't with Knock Out," Trixie put in. "But maybe, just maybe Sunny and the others are safe. I mean, he saved Cinch's life, so that has to count for something right?"
"I suppose..." Twilight whispered. "But still, he's a Decepticon!"
"Not entirely," Swordbreaker explained, his dashboard lighting up as he spoke in his deep rumbling tone. "At least, not by choice. During the war, he was a neutral medic, never took a side. Healed both Bots and Cons. He only ran to Onslaught, after he was accused of mass murder. Something, I myself have always doubted to be frank. He was only found at the scene of the crime, and he'd never shown any reservations about killing anyone before this happened. In fact, he abhorred it from why my twin Strongarm told me. It took her by surprise, finding him butchering Cybertronians and stealing their T-Cogs. It all was too convenient really, finding him in an area with no security cameras. My sister, has this tendency to jump to conclusions far too often." he sighed sadly, and one could get the feeling that if he was in Robot Mode he'd be shaking his head in disappointment.
"Really?" Trixie's mouth dropped in shock. "That does sound like a convincing story that would prove his innocence. Evidence, from the sounds of it, all sounds circumstantial."
Everyone looked at her.
"What, Trixie's mom was a cop, don't judge her!" she exclaimed. "Besides, this could all backfire on you hugely if you keep giving him reasons not to trust you. Take the ankle bracelet off, see what happens. Good chance he won't run."
"Good chance he may," Swordbreaker refuted. "But you do have a point, I'll talk to Prowl and maybe see if we can extend Knock Out's leash a little."
Small victories, Trixie thought to herself. Small victories. |
Equestria Girls: Transformation | Part 16: Discovery | Taunton Bay, Hancock County
September was one of those months beloved by Maine-dwellers, especially those on the coastal areas like the citizens of Canterlot. The city itself, nestled deep within woodlands wasn't that far from Mt. Desert Island and so it really wasn't that far of a drive from the city itself to the coastlines. Certainly not that far of a drive if you had access to the Groundbridge.
So, there the girls were, packed for a day at the beach along some lonely coastline in 70 or something degree weather. All in all, seemed like another normal day, the kind they'd been slowly getting used to before the Autobots and Decepticons came along. It was a fortunate week as well timing wise, as the teachers had given the students of CHS and Crystal Prep a week off from school, while they prepared their new lessons.
"Ahh, peace and quiet!" Trixie smiled as she adjusted her sunglasses, soaking up the sun's rays while under a small umbrella. "Exactly what both the doctor, and Trixie herself ordered."
Turning herself so that she was resting on her towel, back fully exposed to the sun, she turned the dial on a nearby radio station.
"Okay, okay! This is your favorite paranoid UFOlogist and government conspiracy nut, Xiraia coming at you live from my little station in Canterlot!" the constantly cheerful -If not a little nuts- African-American exclaimed. "Now, Maine. It has it's share of legends right? Anyone hear of the Monster of Pocomoonshine Lake? Yes yes, a funny name I know, nowhere near as dignified as Nessie or the Ogopogo but we have an actual, live sea serpent swimming about! 30 feet long or so, big guy old Poco. Odd thing, we've been getting sightings from what I hear around the coasts of some snake-like creature some odd years back, and they just started up again recently. Now, I know Poco's supposed to slither onto land occasionally -Because really, who'd want to stay in some cold lake?- but the coasts? Pretty far removed from Pocomoonshinelake. Maybe the sighters are all drinking some 'Shine themselves. Yes, even I have my doubts about this one."
"Why do you insist on listening to that rot?" Twilight had to ask, sitting down next to Trixie. Unlike her girlfriend, she was much more conserved in her attire and was dressed in a simple one-piece.
"Hey, it's interesting stuff!" Trixie exclaimed, holding up a bottle of suntan lotion. "Here, slather some of this on Trixie's back eh?"
Blushingly, Twilight did so as Trixie continued. "Besides, Xiraia's been right before has't she?" the stage magician remarked.
"Yes, about aliens. Lake monsters, another thing entirely." Twilight deadpanned. She was really hoping her red face wouldn't show to either Trixie or her friends. She'd never hear the end of it.
"Ya never know..." Trixie trailed off. "Besides, between you and me? I find cryptids absolutely fascinating stuff. Sure, might not be real, might be but they're fun to think about and speculate over a cup of Sahlab no?"
Twilight did often forget Trixie's parents did have an Egyptian heritage at least on her mother's side, wasn't something her girlfriend brought up often.
"I suppose, bit of an escape from reality. Like Dungeons and Dragons really." Twilight shrugged.
"Please, keep your nerdy board games to yourself, Twilight Sparkle!" Trixie teased lightly, booping her on the nose making Twilight's face scrunch up all cutely.
"Okay, I will, Lulamoon, the Ranger of Elvenwood!" Twilight teased, getting some of her own back.
"Et tu Twilight, et tu..." Trixie sighed. "Oh, she is so totally whipped is she not?" she continued, faking despair.
"Yes, yes you are..." Twilight smirked, keen on letting her know it.
"Hey Trixie, Twilight!" a familiar voice called, as Indigo rushed by alongside Sour. "Sure you're not interested in going for a dive? Let me tell you, best way to lose yourself for a bit, open water."
"No thanks, I've seen Jaws and I know what happens to swimmers and divers!" Trixie called back to them, the two carrying surfboards in their hands, Indigo wearing an athletic wetsuit with short sleeved arms and legs and Sour dressed in a cherry-toned one-piece that filled her figure out nicely.
"...You watch way too many movies, Trix," Sour sighed. "Besides, it's Tiger Sharks you'd have to worry about, not Great Whites. They eat anything."
"A-Anything?" Trixie squeaked out. "And does this include little stage magicians named Trixie?"
"Probably. Tires and even metal have been found in Tiger Shark stom-" Sour shrugged, before Indigo smacked her firmly upside the head making her let out a little yelp.
"Sour, anyone ever tell you that you don't have a way with words?" the soccer star deadpanned. "See, you're scaring the girl!" she said, gesturing to Trixie who was rocking back and forth in a fetal position.
"Sorry, been watching old reruns of Shark Week again. I get bored, okay?" Sour shrugged. "And nothing beats boredom then watching sharks munch things to itty bitty pieces!"
"Not. Helping!" Indigo hissed, before looking skywards muttering to herself: "Why do I even bother sometimes? God pity the girlfriend or boyfriend you end up with..."
"Relax Trixie," a new voice popped in, quite chipper. "Tiger Sharks, Great Whites, they live off in warmer waters like down near Florida or something. Sure as Hell won't find any down here in Maine!"
"Juniper!" Twilight exclaimed, rushing up to hug the girl who'd clad herself in a green two-piece. "What... I mean what are you doing here?"
"Well, I suppose I could ask you the same thing yourself Twilight," Juniper Montage said. "But if you must know, my uncle Canter Zoom, he's out here down the coast a little ways shooting this film called "The Legend of Desert Island, a Fisherman's Tale." Some low-budget horror thing, revolving around this young girl and this haunted lighthouse. He's in one of his phases again..."
Twilight shared a knowing look. Canter Zoom, from what she'd heard of her chat over the internet with Juniper had these phases were sometimes he'd go off to shoot some low budget film by himself, to reignite the creative flame or something like that. Never were really noteworthy, these pieces, more likely to end up on Mystery Science Theatre but they always got him thinking on the much larger pieces that made him famous. Suppose everyone needed a break now and then from writing blockbusters. Twilight and Juniper never judged.
"Yeah, didn't want to spend my time around a B-Film', -Even one of my uncle's- production knowing I was probably going to end up riffing it whenever it aired on late night TV," Juniper sighed. "Saw you gals, looked like you were having fun so I decided to see what was up."
Her eyes briefly drifted towards Knock-Out, who was resting up on a cobblestone parking lot near the beach in his vehicle mode. Swordbreaker was nearby, a black dog -Somewhat larger than normal and rather wolfish- resting on his hood soaking up the sun's rays. "Nice car. Where'd you get it? Your family win the lottery or something?" Juniper questioned.
All of the others sucked in breaths or shared nervous looks. Thankfully, Trixie was quick with the save.
"Hardly, it's Twilight's uncle's! He's letting us borrow it for the day," Trixie explained, and although Juniper looked somewhat suspicious, she let it slide. "Dog's his as well, he said it needs some exercise.
This dog, was, in fact, Feral Steel under a holographic glamour to keep an eye on Sunny as Fowler had asked. He wasn't the only Predacon in the area, Sunder was lurking out of sight amongst the nearby treeline.
"Ah, I got ya." Juniper nodded. "He does look a little fat..."
Feral let out a little growl, and Juniper yelped a little. "Though I mean nothing by that, just an observation!" She stammered out, holding her hands up defensively.
"Steel, be quiet." Sunny barked out from nearby, pointing a stern figure at the Predacon, who quavered under her gaze. Knock Out chuckled softly to himself, Feral Steel, one of the more infamous Predacon hunters now a simple housepet controlled by a human!
It took Knock Out a second to realize what the sound of metal grinding against metal meant, but he soon realized that Swordbreaker was laughing at this as well.
"Funny, I didn't even think that guy had a sense of humor..." the Medic thought to himself.
"Hey, what's that?" Juniper asked, pointing towards the bay, where what looked to be a giant fin cutting through the water was briefly seen before submerging once more.
"Shark?" Sour asked before she turned... moody again. "Nah, more likely some little brat who thought it'd be a good idea to give us all a jump scare for shits and giggles!" she corrected herself before shouting: "Hey you little punk, you need better prank ideas! That one, so old and overused!"
"...Well, I'm waiting a few more hours till I take a dip in that water." Indigo decided.
"Is she... always like that?" Juniper asked delicately leaning into Twilight's ear for a whisper, taking a few steps back from Sour as she did so.
"Yeah. Pretty much," Twilight sighed. "You get used to it. ...Somewhat."
"...Little punk probably would have tried to grope my breasts as well!" Sour muttered, crossing her arms. Indigo patted her on the shoulder sympathetically, looking rather unnerved. Whether if it was from Sour's rant or the idea of a shark in the waters was uncertain.
Feral's blood red optics had narrowed slightly as he observed the shark fin when it had appeared, seemingly in suspicion although nobody seemed to notice this or his hackles raising for that matter.
"Well, it's a beach, so why not just enjoy ourselves a little eh?" Lemon cried out, grabbing Trixie's radio away from her and tuning into the local station. "Seriously, bit too quiet around here for my tastes!"
"Oh, the shark, babe, has such teeth, dear
And it shows them pearly white
Just a jackknife has old MacHeath, babe
And he keeps it, ah, out of sight
Ya know when that shark bites with his teeth, babe..."
Sour quite quickly changed the station to something else.
"Not. Helping." she grumbled. Next song, wasn't exactly helpful either. Seemed someone watching them had a sense of humor.
"Baby, there's a shark in the water
There's something underneath my bed
Oh, please believe I said
"Baby, there's a shark in the water
I caught them barking at the moon
Better be soon..."
"Oh come on!" Sour shouted in disbelief, throwing her hands up in the air. "I swear, if the next song that comes on is "Once Bitten, Twice Shy" then I'll..." she trailed off into undecryptable muttering.
Thankfully, Juniper and everyone else around her was saved from a potential explosion of rage from the freckled girl by the next song actually just being a swing jazz instrumental.
Feral looked up towards where he knew where Sunder was hiding, and said in the Predacon tongue over his private comms: "You had something to do with the music didn't you? Seems like your sense of humor."
Sunder just made beeping sounds of swearing innocence. Feral didn't entirely believe him.
"Come on Twi, dance!" Trixie said, as she got up off her towel and began to groove to the music.
"I... I don't know how to..." Twilight mumbled to herself almost too quiet to hear.
"What, you don't know how to dance?" Trixie asked. "Awww... Do not worry, the Great and Instructing Trixie shall teach you! Soon, you'll be dancing like that old guy from... what was it? Footfree? Trixie admits she's no eighties expert so she only guesses."
"Kevin Bacon," Twilight answered as Juniper and Indigo giggled in the background at the couple's antic. "And I don't do disco."
"Now, none of that!" Trixie reprimanded with a little wag of the finger, only increasing the laughter. "Now, all you have to do, is put your arms around my waist like so..." Trixie continued, as she rested her hands on Twilight's shoulders.
"So, anyways, Twilight," Juniper continued as she watched her friend and Trixie engage in a slow dance from her place on a fold-out chair. "Got this friend of mine, thought you might get along with her, or at least Fluttershy might. Met her over Twitter, and no I don't care what that girl with the smartphone, Vignette Valencia says, it's not an outdated trend."
"Wait, Vignette Valencia? Social media celebrity?" Lemon asked in excitement, and everyone looked at her. Or more accurately, stared directly at her in stunned silence. Lemon blushed sheepishly. "I'm... I'm a fan. I follow her everywhere!"
"...My respect for you just dropped tenfolds," Sugarcoat sighed, rubbing her forehead. "Social media celebrities, everybody knows who they are just because they've done something so minute like post this small video of them doing something stupid like... Oh, I don't know, say "It's like a turducken!" and get your statement remixed into something mildly entertaining," she explained, her voice dripping with no small amount of disgust. "Basically, you end up with the Kardashians in the end, everybody knows them but nobody knows exactly why. ...Might explain why shows like Duck Dynasty took off. Seriously, who cares about a family of duck hunters in the state of Louisiana?"
"...What's a turducken?" Lemon asked, rubbing her chin in thought. She, of course, had completely ignored or tuned out most of Sugarcoat's little spiel on her opinions about social media. Like she and pretty much everyone else did most of the time. Just nod your head and pretend you were following it, was everyone's general solution to whenever Sugarcoat wanted to voice her... opinions on something she found distasteful.
"Hypothetical mix of a chicken, turkey and a duck. Think they made the idea into a sandwich once. Not even Pinkie would eat it," Twilight replied with a small shudder of disgust at the idea. "But we're getting off track here. Juniper, this friend of yours?"
"Oh, oh, yes yes!" Juniper replied, flushing in embarrassment having lost herself in Sugarcoat's little running commentary on social media celebrities. Adjusting her glasses, she continued. "She's... well, she's pretty much like how you used to be. Complete shut-in, only friends seem to be the plants in her parent's greenery. A, uh, wallflower, you might say. Could use someone to talk to really. She's begun to open up more over social media, but she's not really had an actual..."
"Face to face conversation?" Twilight sighed sadly in complete understanding. "Yeah, I know how that feels. Before I met the girls, only real friends I had were these people in a chatroom related to Dungeons and Dragons..." she trailed off sadly, before chuckling in remembrance. How funny it would be, one of those friends would later turn out to be Trixie.
"Ooh ooh!" Lemon piped up, practically jumping up in down in excitement with her hand held high. "I could go talk to her! Give her some sick beats, everybody bonds over music!"
"No offense, but I'd think you'd be a bit too... wild for her." Juniper deadpanned.
"Actually, the idea does have merit. Mind you, I'd tag along with her, just to keep Lemon in check but music has been used to help people communicate. Studies actually have been conducted on this," Twilight explained. "It's been found, and I'm quoting from this article I found online mind you: "Singing provides increased phonation duration (holding out a sound for a long time), intonation, and has a shared auditory-motor pathway with speech. One unique feature of music is its rhythm - the rhythm we find in song is inherently predictable and may help cue what's coming next." Twilight quoted, word for word from pure memory.
"See?" Lemon said with a smug little smile before she sighed. "I... I don't know if you gals knew this, but before I was... well, me, not exactly the most sociable person around. The only outlet I had to express my emotions? Well, it was music."
"Oh Zesty..." Indigo whispered, bringing her girlfriend in for a hug. Lemon tried to fight back the blush she had with her girlfriend's somewhat exposed breasts so close to her, but was failing badly. So, she just changed the subject. Quickly.
"Yes, well, that's in the past. Eventually, few people took notice of the music I liked, and we started talking back and forth about various genres, bands and like. Tuned me onto stuff -If you excuse the poor pun- I didn't even know about! Remember that song I was singing in CPA's cafeteria a few weeks back?"
"Something from that old Sylvester Stallone movie called Cobra, right? "You got the Touch" or something like that?" Indigo remembered, an image in her mind of Lemon doing air guitar atop one of CPA's cafeteria tables.
"Yes, that!" Lemon chimed in, back to her old perky self.
"Didn't know you were an obscure movie buff," Juniper put in. "What's your name again?"
"Indigo, Indigo Zap," Indigo said, offering her hand for Juniper to shake, which was accepted. "I have the feeling, given who your uncle is, this will be the beginnings of a fine friendship."
"Yeah..." Juniper smiled softly and had to force the tears away from her eyes, before she found herself looking Lemon dead in the eyes.
"Just remember one thing," Lemon said in a completely serious tone. "She's mine, okay? So, no stealing!"
"Wouldn't dream of it," Juniper smiled before she looked at the waters, and the sun just beginning to set. "So, if you ask me, I say we hit the bay before the waters get too cold for a dive okay? Sounds like a good time if you ask me! Who knows, might be able to capture some good footage for something, maybe even find the Pocomoonshine monster!" she exclaimed in excitement, holding up a little underwater camera.
"So glad someone believes in that thing as well!" Trixie chimed in triumphantly.
"Sounds like fun, monster or no monster," Indigo shrugged. "Shark's probably long gone by now, if there ever was one to begin with."
"Great!" Juniper said, hugging her newest friend briefly -Ignoring or just not outright hearing Lemon's growl of jealousy- and dashing off. "Be back in a sec, just need to grab my gear!"
"...She's so much more developed than me." Lemon whimpered to herself, with Sour patting her on the shoulder in sympathy.
It wasn't even a few minutes later that the two had descended. Under the waves, everything was so much more calm and tranquil. Indigo never knew quite why, but she always liked the water. She was certainly no siren of the sea, but she did find herself at peace whenever she took a dive in the school's pool. Maybe, just maybe, it stemmed from the fact that whenever she was back at CPA, being underwater meant there was nobody to really bother her in any form.
Nearby, Juniper was scanning the murky waters of the bay with her camera every now and then, in hopes of catching something. Every time she thought she saw something dart past her, she let out a little squeak of excitement and turned her camera in that direction.
"Why do I get the feeling this isn't the first time you've done this?" Indigo asked via sign language. She'd had this deaf cousin at CHS, so she'd made it prudent to learn the language as soon as she could.
"Yeah, sorry. Just been fascinated with the Lake Pocomoonshine monster for quite a while now. Been down to the lake once, forgotten why I was there but laid down some camera traps in hopes of catching something." Juniper signed back.
"And did you?" Indigo had to ask.
"Actually, now that you mention it, yes. Yeah, I did," Juniper replied. "Mind you, couldn't tell exactly what it was. Only that it was big, and white. Took up the entire shot, couldn't really make heads or tails of it. But I truly believe it was the monster."
"Well, can't stop believing I suppose," Indigo shrugged. "As Twilight was ever so keen to remind me, we know more about space than we do our own waters."
"Ah yes... Twilight." Juniper sighed sadly.
"Something wrong?" Indigo had to ask out of concern, even though she very well knew the answer.
"It's just... well, for the longest time now, ever since that little incident at my uncle's film studio with the Daring Do movie, and then what happened next with me turning into this giant monster, everybody except for Twilight and now you girls know me as this bitchy and spiteful little girl willing to sabotage a high-budget flick just for my time in the spotlight. Played with fire, and I got burned."
"And by fire, I assume you mean Equestrian magic right?" Indigo asked, and Juniper looked at her in shock, sapphire eyes widened.
"How did you...?"
"Let's just say I've had some experience with the stuff as well," Indigo replied.
"You didn't...?" Juniper trailed off.
"Turn into some sort of she-demon? No, I didn't, but Twilight herself did. You'd have to ask her for the shameful details of the whole sordid affair," Indigo sighed to herself. "But you didn't know what you'd gotten your hands on, right? Didn't know what would happen?"
"That's the thing, I did sorta have a guess at what I'd stumbled upon with that damned mirror," Juniper grumbled shamefully. "And I didn't care about what happened next, all I ever wanted was for everyone's attentions to be on me for a change, not my uncle! I was an idiot, pure and simple."
"Hey, quality over quantity, right?" Indigo signed, smiling reassuringly and patting Juniper on the shoulder.
"Yeah, I suppose..." Juniper replied, before her eyes caught wind of something. "Hey, what's that?" she asked, pointing to this really odd bright blue glow in front of them and began swimming towards it.
"Juniper, wait!" Indigo wanted to shout, but growled in frustration and swam after her. Her eyes were soon to widen in shock at what she saw next. Laying in front of her, was this massive metallic form, coated in bronze paint and unquestionably Cybertronian in design. It was mostly devoid of features, so it was impossible to tell what it would have turned into when it was alive, but what was laying next to it giving off the glow was even more curious in nature. Massive crystals, humming and glowing with some ethereal, otherworldly energy. Pure, raw energon.
"Is that... is that a giant robot?" Juniper signed, her eyes blinking in abject shock. She was so stunned, she failed to see Indigo pull out two bracers, and click them together like some sort of Sentai heroine and turn into a gray and silver armored warrior with hints of blue.
"W-What the...?" Juniper asked, before noticing the eyes the robot had. They were the same shade as Indigo's. The exact same shade. "Indigo, that you?"
Her only answer was a small nod, and then Indigo opened up her wrist gauntlets to open a transmission to the Autobase.
"Perceptor, you getting these readings?" she asked. "And I said there was nothing down here..." she thought to herself, chuckling in amusement.
"Yes, quite," Perceptor replied. "Don't believe it, pure unrefined energon Crystals on this planet, and a faint Cybertronian life signal as well!"
"Faint, as in you mean he's still... alive?" Indigo asked in fear.
"Not him, but I can't..." Perceptor trailed off. "Indigo, you and your friend. You need to get out of there now! Something's coming, and something's coming fast!"
Sure enough, shooting through the water ahead of them was this massive white form, serpentine in nature resembling this legless and whiskerless Asian dragon with spines on his/her back.
"Move, now!" Indigo shouted, as the serpent let out a practically ear-splitting shriek of pure undiluted rage. Then, its throat glowed a very bright blue as something hummed and charged up, before it fired a blast of pure blue energy from its jaws... |
Equestria Girls: Transformation | Part 17: A Bigger Boat You Say? | The Darksyde
Massive metal heetstruts clanked against the dimly lit hallways and corridors of the Decepticon ship, Vehicons immediately moving to one side and saluting as soon as they saw exactly whom was coming their way.
"Yes, yes, I completely understand we've lost track of him," another Decepticon tried to reassure his commander. Him, being Knock Out of course. "But you must understand, now that the Autobots have him, they've most likely got him in their base which I might add we've yet to find!"
Onslaught turned his crimson visor towards Steeljaw, who cowered below the massive Combaticon's gaze, with the teal-blue enforcer pressing his fingers nervously together.
"And yet you're a hunter, so go hunt!" Onslaught remarked, completely unamused by Steeljaw's groveling.
"Yes, I quite understand Commander," Steeljaw swallowed, nervously noting the two large cannons mounted on the massive Combaticon commander's back.
"I gave you and your fellow Decepticons a simple plan to follow," Onslaught noted, his faceplating an unreadable mask. "Are you telling me that you're too incompetent to follow basic instructions," the large bot leaned down, getting visor to visor with the smaller bot, "or are you trying to say there was something wrong with my strategy?"
"Nothing wrong with your strategy," Steeljaw stated. "It's just, Knock Out defecting and running back towards the Autobots and their awaiting claws was an unforeseen variable."
Truthfully, Steeljaw didn't even believe himself. Knock Out, he was always terrified of most of the other Decepticons onboard, save for a few like his Conjunx Endura Breakdown. It was only a matter of time before he grew a brain and ran for it. Privately, if it weren't for Steeljaw's own fear of Onslaught and his wrath -And, of course, Onslaught's hunter known only as Darksteel- he would have made a break for it as well.
Onslaught grunted, straightening himself back up to his full, impressive height. "If I wanted excuses, I'd go to Starscream's grave and talk to him! What I want from you are results, Steeljaw. If Knock Out has decided to go groveling to the Autobots, then you and your team need to smoke them out. Go, and prove that you can claim to be a proper Decepticon rather than a waste of circuits."
"Y-Yes sir." Steeljaw stated, bowing.
"And word to the wise," Onslaught remarked. "Darksteel, he's always hungry. Just because he hasn't caught Knock Out yet, doesn't mean I can't feed him something else. Or someone else. Predacons, hungry bunch are they not?"
Steeljaw visibly shuddered, remembering when he'd caught a glimpse of Onslaught's 'pet' who he'd decided to throw up against Brawl and a hoard of Vehicons just to see if Darksteel was worth the credits he'd paid for him. The end result was with Brawl in the medical wing with several burns and a missing arm, and the Vehicons a pile of molten scrap and slag metal. Knock Out had not been pleased with the work he'd been assigned that day, citing how hard it was to find new arms for Brawl's body-type, complaining about it to no end.
"You remember where I found you, Steeljaw?" Onslaught asked. "You were just a simple thug for hire, on the run from both that bounty hunter Devcon and the Cybertronian Law Enforcement after Thunderhoof's mob went belly-up. Am I right?"
Steeljaw nodded nervously, still remembering the distinctive sound of Devcon's twin turbine engines and lasers.
"But, I see something in you," Onslaught started, putting a hand on Steeljaw's shoulder. "A bit of potential maybe? The potential to climb the ranks of this army and not simply be at my beck and call. But for that to happen, you have to complete your mission. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Commander," Steeljaw nodded. He inwardly grimaced, wondering what his brothers Gekisoumaru and Drift would be thinking of him now, an enforcer for hire working for a former Autobot Elite Guardsman turned Decepticon war criminal and terrorist.
"Good. Then you are dismissed. If I formulate a new plan, I will send a message to you."
Steeljaw nodded, before transforming with parts shifting and moving as he turned into a massive armored Terradyne LAPV and driving off down the corridor. Onslaught then pulled one of the two rifles off his back and pointed it into the shadows of one of the corridors, where Flamewar was slinking out of the darkness uncloaking herself. The fembot had an amused smirk on her face.
"Well, aren't you quick on the draw?" she remarked. "Long gun barrel. People might start to talk, think you're overcompensating for something..." she said, gently nudging the rifle's barrel away from her face with a finger.
Snorting, Onslaught reholstered his rifle. "If it were any other bot that had made that crack, I would have shot them. So, any reason you're slinking around while cloaked?"
"Well, you know perfectly well a gal has to keep in practice," Flamewar replied in a seductive tone, a bit too close into Onslaught's personal space than he would have liked. "Striking from the shadows, isn't that what you brought me on for? Been a Hell of a lot more successful than the others pieces of slag you hired, considering both Road Rage and Prowl are well on their way to becoming berserkers before their Sparks finally blink out just like that," she said, with a snap of her fingers.
"I don't need to be reminded of that," Onslaught grimaced, thinking of his subordinates. "It's a wonder that I expect to get anything done with the bots I hired. But you're not usually one to care about the goings on of the crew; why are you here? Trying to get something out of me?"
"Oh please, I could care less about that," Flamewar replied dismissively. "Honestly, just wanted to warn you about Steeljaw. His brothers were Autobots you know, and yet you ask him to hunt them down alongside his brother's childhood friend... Oh, what's her name? It escapes me for the moment. Point being, that Corvicon and Steeljaw can't be trusted farther than you could throw them."
"Not a very good expression for your point," Onslaught noted, flexing his fingers. "I am quite confident that I could throw them fairly far."
"That's better, but don't let your imagination run away with you," Flamewar remarked. "You're hardly invincible. Pride goeth before the fall, as they say."
"But, you do make an excellent point," Onslaught noted. "If only I had the foresight to be testing Steeljaw. And I wish that I had given his second-in-command the order to slag the bastard the instant he seemed to turn traitor for those damned Autobots," Onslaught drawled out sarcastically as Flamewar blinked in surprise. He waved his hand in the air. "But of course, I hadn't considered that."
"Oh, you are as good as they say..." Flamewar smirked devilishly before a thought came to her. "But what makes you so sure Flich -Now I remember her name!- will go through with it? I mean, if you give her a job, she's likely to get distracted by the first shiny thing that catches her optics. Doesn't have the Spark of a killer. A prostitute maybe, but a killer? I doubt that very much." she remarked.
"I have some leverage over that trollop," Onslaught assured, producing a small device with a receiver and one button on its surface. "And it promises to have explosive results."
"Ah yes, you did tell me you had a few of those on board," Flamewar remarked. "I saw the messy results of what happened when Triggerhappy got antsy and made a break for it. Or tried to anyway."
"I will not make the same mistakes that the Decepticon leaders of the past did," Onslaught stated, his faceplate hardening as he put the device away. "If that means that a few runners become molten scrap for Swindle to mop up, then so be it."
"Well, you're sure confident in yourself," Flamewar noted. "But, anyways, the real reason I'm here. Something weird just popped up on the Darksyde's sensors. Some sort of energy reading along Maine's coastlines. If I didn't know better, I'd say it was Cybertronian in nature. But we're the first to visit this planet... aren't we?" she asked, showing her commander a datapad and pointing to a spot on Maine's coastline which was flashing a faint red color.
"Not entirely," Onslaught corrected. "Forgive me for going off on a history lesson, but when I was in the Elite Guard, I learned a few things. One of which was, long before this untimely demise via the hands of both Autobot and Decepticon forces, Shockwave was experimenting with cloning extinct species. And I have reason to believe he... succeeded. Throughout human myths, ancient beasts like winged serpents and ghostly hounds have popped up. I believe these to be the results of Shockwave's experiments. It was said, he sent them someplace far, someplace barren, when they grew too rowdy to control." the Combaticon Commander explained. "How they've survived all these years without access to ready-made Energon, I have yet to understand but it right now seems to be the most likely solution to our signal. I'll ready Darksteel to have a look around."
Taunton Bay, Hancock County:
"Oh boy." Indigo squeaked out as she saw the blue blast of pure energy head right for her and Juniper.
As both divers rolled to the left to avoid the flame, the creature let out a hiss as the blast cleaved a rock formation clean in half. While this happened Indigo caught wind of a distinctive symbol on the serpent's forehead, an orange dragon's head glimmering and glowing like a flame. Her eyes widened. A Predacon.
"...Well, always wanted to meet the Pocomoonshine Lake Monster," Juniper remarked. "Just uh... not like this."
She let out a yelp as Indigo grabbed her and pulled her away as the massive beast rocketed towards them like a torpedo or a missile, spines cutting through the water like knives, each crackling with electricity at the tip glowing a sharp blue.
"So, not just a massive dragon, but a massive electric eel as well," Indigo thought as the Predacon swam around for another pass, throat beginning to glow blue once more. "Wonderful."
As it came around, and readied another blast of flame, Indigo activated her suit's transformation feature and turned into a large rifle, as Juniper stared wide-eyed in shock.
"Oh, she is so explaining this to me if we survive this!" the girl thought to herself as the blast fired, a stream of hot blue flame cutting through the water.
"Juniper, press my trigger, now!" Indigo barked out.
"You want me to WHAT!?!" Juniper gaped. "I really don't think this is the time to-"
"The damn gun mode's trigger!" Indigo shouted, and Juniper suddenly noticed a trigger resting at the bottom of the rifle, and reaching out with her hand, pulled it backwards. A blast fired out of the gun's barrel, in an attempt to cancel out or at least slow down the flames rapidly speeding towards them.
Amazingly, it worked, with the two energy beams meeting in the middle and canceling each other out. The Predacon roared in rage, and Indigo transformed back.
"Move, now! I don't think we want to stay in one place for very long with this one!" Indigo shouted.
"Okay, but you are so explaining this one to me girl!" Juniper signed at her.
"Long story short. Massive robots from another world fighting each other, and me and the girls just so happened to get caught up in their little squabble. That good enough for you?"
"...Good enough." Juniper squeaked out as they swam as fast as their legs would allow, with the massive serpent in hot pursuit. Slithering and snaking through the water, the Predacon let out another roar of frustration.
"Perceptor, any idea why there's this massive, and I do mean flippin' massive sea snake, probably from your world trying to flambe us?" Indigo shouted into her wrist comms.
"A-A Predacon, on Earth? No, that's impossible, the only ones we know of are Feral Steel, Sunder, Filch, and Darksteel! I never cataloged a fifth!"
"Well, might want to re-check!" Juniper shouted, as the two narrowly avoided another blast of flame.
"A-Another human?" Perceptor stuttered out in shock, and Indigo could practically imagine him rubbing his head in pain at this new unexpected variable. "Indigo, we have got to talk about secret keeping!"
"Hey, I wasn't expecting to run into a giant robo-snake on a dive today, nor a pocket of Energon!" Indigo shouted in frustration as the Predacon rocketed past them, and tried to swipe at them with his/her tailfin. Indigo and Juniper narrowly avoided being smacked, hard into a rock wall, which ended up smashed by the sheer force of the tailfin swing. The fin ended up getting caught in the rubble, trapping the Predacon for the moment.
"Right, right," Perceptor admitted. "Not sort of the thing anyone would predict. So, who's the new friend?"
"Name's Juniper Montage, you?" Juniper asked.
"Perceptor, greatest scientist of our time!" the Autobot exclaimed proudly, as if he was expecting a round of applause.
"...Wow. You certainly are humble, aren't you?" Juniper replied flatly.
"You get multiple degrees from different universities amongst various other scientific awards and acknowledgment -Including a pat on the back from Alpha Trion himself!- back on Cybertron, and I'd think it's pretty safe to say you can boast about it." Perceptor said smugly.
"Less bragging, more information on this creep, m'kay?" Juniper snapped, quite fed up with all the crazy she could take today. She suddenly wished she'd stayed on her uncle's crappy set in her crappy trailer.
"Okay, descriptions! I need descriptions! I need your eyes. Maybe I can narrow down the species you've got here," Perceptor surmised. "I took a course on various Predacon species, so in theory I might be able to-"
"In theory, never a good phrase." Indigo sighed, as she watched the thing roar in frustration as it tried to break loose.
"Okay, so it's big, white, has a serpentine form and can breath big blasts of blue fire. That enough?" Juniper asked in irritantance.
"Not good enough, that's pretty vague. Lots of Predacons that fit that description. Breathing fire alone... Whoo boy, you really don't want to know how many can do that." Perceptor muttered. "Any other details, things that stick out? Things that would narrow it down further?"
"Okay, looks like an Asian dragon, only legless and whiskerless and has electric spines. Massive ones, big ones, about four to eight feet tall. The entire creature, thirty feet in length." Juniper rattled off before she noticed something else. Her keen eyes stemming from her career as a camerawoman did lend itself of some use. "Eyes are odd as well. One gold, and one crystal clear blue."
"Okay, now that helps!" Perceptor cried in triumph, just as the Predacon finally broke free.
"Can you explain while we swim for our lives?" Indigo asked, as the chase resumed and they got closer to the bay shores, water darkening presumably as the sun went down. Soon, it would be pitch black and almost impossible to see. The spine tips and the Predacon badge glimmered quite fiercely now.
"Okay, what you've got here? It's a wormozoid. Okay, yes I realize it doesn't look like one from your perspective, but that's the species name." Perceptor explained. "Now, they don't have the best of eyesight, with only one eye -The blue one- actually being able to see quite well. So, in theory, a sneak attack from the left should disable it. However, I should warn you, it'll see you coming and these things, whip around quite fast."
As Perceptor explained this, Indigo had tried to kick the creature in the left side, and as he'd predicted, the Predacon whipped around and slammed her into a boulder.
Juniper's breathing began to speed up out of pure fear, seeing her new friend get her ass handed to her, but forced herself into a calmer state, knowing that she'd use up her already precariously low air supply.
"Somebody... help. Please." she pleaded silently. Then, her prayers were answered, as something dark began cutting through the water, with a fearsome maw and massive teeth, the only things being bigger than that being the creature's fins. Juniper's eyes widened as she saw an impossibly huge great white come out of nowhere, and latch his jaws onto the Predacon's left side, biting down with surely what had to be tremendous force. The Predacon roared out in rage, and smacked the shark in the side with its tail forcing the great white to release the now bleeding energon Predacon.
"Ugh, remind me never to try that again..." the shark... spoke? It was then revealed it wasn't a shark at all, as it's parts began to shift and change into a massive robot with a yellow faceplace, and a three-pronged claw substituting for his(?) right hand. He rubbed his forehead in pain with his actual hand. "Might be getting ahead of myself here, but... "The cobalt ocean roils
zephyrs blow cold,
and another hapless foe is crushed beneath my heel." the shark sonnated, his own personal Senryū.
"A shark robot with a penchant for Japanese poetry. Okay, so transforming into a giant she-demon of a woman isn't officially the weirdest thing to happen in my life." Juniper thought.
"You know, there's a human joke about sharks and needing a bigger boat, but considering I'm the shark in this scenario... well, don't think it really works here." the shark-bot remarked, as he got into a battle stance, and looked towards Juniper. "You, kid, get the scrap out of here. Me and Snaptrap here? We've got some business to resolve."
"Business?" Juniper questioned, picking up Indigo in her arms, the armor covering the girl being surprisingly light.
"Yeah, being chasing him down for a fortnight. Disturbed the resting place of my sister, Scylla over there," he said, pointing to the bronze robot near the crystal bed. For the first time, Juniper noted the robot bore tentacle six arms sprouting out of her back. "He needs to be taught a good, short sharp lesson I should think!" the robot explained, his claw arm spinning like a drill. "Name's Sky-Byte by the way. You and your friend?"
"Name's Juniper Montage, and that's Indigo Zap," Juniper replied, slightly nervous of the shark.
"Good names, now get moving!" Sky-Byte barked out. Juniper was all too keen to take his advice, as she saw the Predacon's parts beginning to shift and change. The bottom half of the serpent became legs, with the top half becoming arms with the jaw taking the place of the right hand. Spines became shoulder armor, and a head popped out, and like the beast mode's optics, it bore two unusual eyes. One crystal blue, the other gold, each glaring venomously at Sky-Byte.
"You... you interrupted my hunt." it hissed out, in a metallic voice that would make Juniper's skin crawl.
"I should hardly call hunting fleshlings a hunt, not really worthy of even a piecemeal. Besides, they're not part of this."
"You only give a damn," Snaptrap hissed out, a forked tongue flickering out every so often. "Because I'm around, and I just so happened to violate your dear sister's gravesite. Normally, you'd chase them off. Or rip them to shreds. Isn't that right, 'Thanatos'?" he asked, using the name the Greeks gave Sky-Byte, after seeing how much destruction and death the shark had dealt out in his younger years. The Predacon stiffened before he growled, showing his teeth.
"Face me, white serpent.
I'll drill justice into you,
For your grave misdeed." Sky-Byte snarled, fangs still bared and Snaptrap only laughed harder.
"Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Thanatos, the hunter! Now noble defender of the innocent!" he laughed.
Sky-Byte's only response you might ask? A solid right cross to the jaw.
"Hardly a defender, make no mistake if I wasn't so distracted by you, you violator, I would have ripped those fleshbags limb from limb," Sky-Byte replied. "You remember, us Sharkticons? Very territorial."
"Deny it all you want," Snaptrap laughed as he slashed at Sky-Byte, striking him in the side with a blade and drawing energon. "But you've grown soft. You were, dare I say it, friendly to those two humans. I've always known you. Out of all of Shockwave's clones, you've always been one of the noblest. You only kill when disturbed. You'd rather be left alone. Your legends, the ones the humans crafted around you. You remember what they said right?" he asked, striking Sky-Byte in the leg with his jaw arm, and biting down hard. "They always signified a peaceful death, never violent ones. I remember one time, this Predacon who was going to die via this deadly poison which was slowly killing her, you just ended her life via her request. Euthanasia, as it's called."
He was swiftly interrupted by a blast to the chest from Sky-Byte, who'd fired off an energy blast of his own from his torso.
"Okay," Snaptrap, the phantom of the seas chuckled as he wiped away energon from his mouth. "Maybe I was wrong. Maybe you actually have some bite left in you after all. So, humans thought of you as a God right? Worshipped you even? That must mean you owe them some sort of favor, as I know Gods to be a very proud lot. Let's see what happens with you and your demeanor when they... die." he smirked, before with a swing of his arm knocked Sky-Byte into a rock wall and into unconsciousness.
With that, Snaptrap transformed back to beast mode with a loud shriek and swam up towards the surface spines glowing...
Meanwhile, Juniper finally breached the surface, and threw off her oxygen mask as she rushed up towards the girls. The group's eyes widened, both on seeing Indigo's beaten up state, and her in her Targetmaster armor.
"What the...?" Sour asked before muttering: "Well, there goes our little secret." with a resigned slump of her shoulders.
"Tell me what happened to Indy, tell me!" Lemon shouted, grabbing Juniper by the shoulders and shaking her frantically, as Sugarcoat tossed a stopwatch to Juniper after pulling Lemon away. She'd felt Indigo's heartbeat, and it was not beating. Probably due to the force of the shock. Facial plates were cracked, so she'd likely got in some water in her lungs as well.
"...That." Juniper squeaked out pointing to the surface of the water, where a very distinctive spined form was cutting through it.
"Oh shit," Trixie said in a soft -almost inaudible- tone, as she and Lemon readied themselves for battle and assumed their armored forms. Behind them, Feral dropped his disguise and Knock Out and Swordbreaker transformed.
"Thank God I took basic medical training back at CPA..." Sugarcoat murmured, thinking back.
"Stopwatch, now. Keep time," she ordered and Juniper pressed down on the stopwatch before Sugarcoat turned back to her. "Okay, what we want is thirty chest compressions, four per second. Tilt head back, and two breathes."
"Okay, got it!" Juniper nodded, and Sugarcoat continued to shout out orders.
"Elbows locked, full body weight on them, press hard down on breast bones," she stated completely calm as she tried to get Indigo's heart started again and hide her fear. What they were trying to do wasn't forcing the water out of the lungs, it was to create pressure in the heart so that the blood would start moving in their body once again. The mouth to mouth, it would get air back into the lungs and filter into the blood. ...At least, that was the theory anyways.
Juniper took to this surprisingly quickly, and even as Snaptrap breached the surface eyes glinting with madness and fangs bared, he was met with laser fire from both Lemon and Trixie, who'd transformed into twin rifles for Swordbreaker. Knock Out had just switched his hands out for saw blades.
"Relax, I'm a medic, this won't hurt a bit fish face." he remarked, with a wily grin in spite of the circumstances. Feral was leading the rest of the girls to safety, out of harm's way and out of the firing line of the battle that was about to unfold.
As Snaptrap lunged, he was knocked backwards by the laser fire from Swordbreaker along with a kick to the chest by Knock Out and onto the beach before he shifted forms to his robot mode and drew his blade.
Knock Out smirked when he noted the dent in the Predacon's armor, and the energon slowly leaking onto the sand.
"Relax, a few patches here and there, and you'll never notice," the medic remarked. "Might want to do something about those eyes, very unsightly. Get it?" he laughed.
Snaptrap wasn't amused. As blades clashed, and laserfire flew, Sunder flew over to Sugarcoat and Juniper, who were still trying to spur Indigo back to life.
"Allow me." he beeped out, before giving her a great big shock of electricity, and the next thing anybody knew was Indigo shooting right up coughing up water.
"There there, get it all out of your system girl," Sugarcoat sighed in relief, patting her firmly on the back to force more water out. "Thank God..."
"So, what'd I miss?" Indigo asked, before she saw the heavy metal war in front of her. "...Oh. Please tell me the others, along with Sky-Byte are safe!" she asked, remembering a vague face in the darkness before she lost consciousness.
"Feral's led the girls away, but who's...?" Sugarcoat trailed off in confusion. Her eyes widened, upon seeing Swordbreaker pinned to the ground by Snaptrap, serpent jaws around his neck. Knock Out tried to help, but was kicked backwards.
"Now is not the time for fear. That comes later." Snaptrap whispered out softly, tightening his grip as Swordbreaker began to cough out energon.
Suddenly, a massive great white leaped out of the water, and in midair, transformed and grabbed ahold of Snaptrap by the head with a claw arm and pulled.
"This is for Scylla," Sky-Byte said simply and ripped Snaptrap's head clean off, blue energon flying upwards like a fountain as wires were ripped apart, and the now headless Predacon sparked a little before falling backwards and hitting the ground with a mighty resounding Clang! Thanatos, indeed.
"Your betrayal had hurt, and now I repay with the blue of your blood
I had warned you, not to betray my trust, and you take away Scylla
With your head gone from your spark, so does your tale..." Sky-Byte recited before whispering: "I'm sorry, brother." to himself, going completely unheard.
"That's Sky-Byte," Juniper confirmed, wincing a little at the brutality of the death. Sure, Snaptrap probably deserved it, but... "Wow, just... wow. I'm surprised his spine didn't come out as well."
From the treeline, twin orange avian eyes observed the entire situation narrowing a little, before they vanished. They'd seen all they needed.
Once all the shock had stopped setting over two more (Maybe even more than that, if Scylla's body was any evidence) unknown Predacons on Earth, and a stash of raw energon discovered, questions had to be asked.
"Alright, where'd you come from?" Perceptor asked, showing up via groundbridge once the whole affair was over. Chrysalis had managed to wrangle a few favors and get Snaptrap's remains transferred out of the area via helicopter so no uncomfortable questions would be asked. She'd tried to do the same for Scylla, but an icy glare from Sky-Byte had resolved that notion quite quickly. He would give her a proper burial, not just leave her laying at the bottom of the bay.
"Been here quite a while, long before you and your kind ever bothered to come to this planet. The ancient Greeks called me Thanatos and the Hawaiians knew me as Kane-i-kokala. You'd be surprised on how many of your planet's myths took shape just because of the Predacon species. Look up Quetzalcoatl and reports of winged serpents and other assorted UFOs sighted over South America sometime, why don't you?" Sky-Byte remarked drollfully, rather annoyed by Perceptor's questioning. He had better things to do than talk to curious and frankly rather irritating scientists. "That all you need?"
"I suppose, for now," Perceptor admitted.
"Wait, wait!" Twilight stuttered out. "You're saying all of Earth's myths, are connected to Cybertron in some way?" she asked, about to faint.
"Yes, or were you not listening?" Sky-Byte asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Wow, and I thought Sugarcoat was bad..." Trixie thought to herself, smart enough not to voice this aloud for fear of angering the self-proclaimed 'Death God'. Not that she would argue that title, seeing what Sky-Byte could do.
"I apologize for not making myself known to you sooner," Sky-Byte continued. "But I suppose you can understand why I would want to be left alone."
"Yes, quite," Knock Out said. "Some bots just don't work well in groups. You're not the first loner I've met."
"I wasn't always like this. But that was before..." Sky-Byte trailed off, before thinking better of it and shaking his head. "No, I've said too much already. Now, if you excuse me, I must take my leave. I wish you good luck, Autobots, in capturing those who wish this planet harm."
With that, he transformed and leaped off back into the bay, swimming out to sea as the moon began to rise high into the night sky.
"Think we'll see him again?" Juniper asked in slight worry for the Sharkticon, feeling he shouldn't be alone right now.
"Who's to say?" Swordbreaker shrugged. "Bots like him, they're nigh impossible to predict. He may return to us when we need him, or he may not." he sighed, before looking directly at her. "Now, I suppose a lot of explanations are in order."
"Look, I know how this works. The first rule of robot fight club is that you don't talk about robot fight club, okay?" Juniper replied before Swordbreaker looked at her pointedly.
"You're in danger now. Snaptrap? You think he's the only one of our kind who would wish you harm?" he asked. "Hardly. For your own protection, you're coming back with us to base. At least until the heat dies down. Then we'll let you go, back to your normal life as long as you swear never to tell another soul outside this circle of humans about what you've seen tonight."
Juniper reached out to fistbump Swordbreaker, which he awkwardly returned. Poor 'Bot wasn't familiar with human customs at times. "I... I understand." she nodded. |
Equestria Girls: Transformation | Part 18: Into the Den of Serpents | The Autobase
Howlback crept silently into the base, sticking to the shadows to go unnoticed. Now, her job was a simple one. Get in, get out and report back to Onslaught with any information she might have had. Mind you, she wasn't going to say a word to Onslaught on where the Autobase was, as she wanted him captured. Trouble was, figuring out how to come up with a believable excuse that she'd conveniently 'forgotten' the location and not get slagged in the process.
"Yeah, great plan girl," Howlback thought to herself as she slinked behind a computer console, and nearly let out a sound of fear as Perceptor walked over and began using it, bringing up the status of Road Rage and the progression of the virus in her system. She let out a sigh of relief and quickly regained her composure as Perceptor then turned to walk off and talk to Prowl about something. "Smart plan, real smart plan. By Lio's spark, what was I thinking signing onto this job? I should have taken retirement early, really..."
Howlback fancied herself fairly proud that she was the first member of the Predacon race to be employed by the Cybertronian Government. She'd had to fight for her position really no thanks to some of the bigoted upper-class, but the Cybercat was a strong one and would not be swayed into giving up so easily. She'd clawed -sometimes literally- her way up the ranks, and now here she was, one of the Government's best agents.
"By Sentinel Prime, how they laughed when they said a Predacon was going to be working for the Government. Too wild, and too uncontrollable, just something to be let loose when you needed someone killed." Howlback thought to herself. "Granted, yes, I have had to preform some rather... messy assassinations in the past, but they were all to renegade Cybertronians who would not keep the peace, and insist on bringing back the old Decepticon ways. Hell, I put down a member of the DJD, Vos I think it was, for crying out loud!"
Howlback was well aware of the irony in swearing by Sentinel Prime's spark. Back before the war and when first started up, Sentinel Prime was a known bigot. He, in the end was known to have gone down as a hero facing down the mighty Deathsaurus in his Apex Armor allowing for the rise of Optimus Prime but the truth was far uglier. Before that, he hated anyone who was not a 'natural' Cybertronian or anyone who brought disorder to the planet. That meant Predacons and Decepticons alike found themselves exterminated by the Cybertronian Security Forces.
In fact, Sentinel was only succeeded by his predecessor Nominus Prime in terms of pure madness and bringing disgrace to the title of Prime. Nominus, he had this caste system type crap going on for him. In Nominus's deluded mind, whatever alt-mode you were born with, it led you to being assigned a job based on that alt mode. Say for example, you got a drill for an alt mode. Meant you worked in the Energon Mines. This was something that originally led to the rise of Megatron's ideals, and although successful in the end it led to a bloody war that even in the end, Megatron himself admitted was unneeded.
He'd famously said: "Because in the final analysis, I would happily wade across a river of corpses, chest-deep in rust and grease and engine oil, just to crush the spark of the last Autobot standing. And I would not do so simply as a means to an end. No. I'd do it, Prime, because it would give me pleasure. And the thing is, when those words were in my head I didn't think I meant them; but when they left my mouth, I realized that I did. If the world thinks you're a monster, what does it matter? The world is wrong. But when you start to think of yourself as a monster..."
And that's when he'd formed the famous peace treaty with Optimus to end the war seeing what Cybertron had become, a mere shadow of its former glory.
Howlback's ears perked up at about that moment, hearing a snippet of conversation between Hound and Prowl.
"So, everything set?" Prowl asked, arms crossed.
"Yeah, worked out a few bugs in the Knock Out hologram's interface, shouldn't fritz out on us now like it has the last few times. All in all, Flamewar should be completely fooled. Barring any unforeseen complications..."
"...Like the ones we seem to run into all the time?" Prowl questioned, an eyebrow raised.
"Yes those, but barring those we should do fine. Hey, speaking of Knock Out," Hound remarked. "You know, he did a good job the other day, protecting those kids from that Predacon. Might think of increasing his leash a little further, no? Let him have just that bit more freedom, I'd say he's earned it."
"Interesting..." Howlback thought. She hadn't been privy to this little development, Knock Out now being in the custody of the Autobots and the Autobots planning to trick Flamewar. Gears started turning in her head, and the basics of an idea began to form. This... This she could do something with. Just required the right amount of crazy and cunning, of which Howlback knew she had in spades.
"I'll think on it. In the meantime, I've got to ready my audio receptors for the verbal blasting Fowler's liable to give all of us for nearly getting Indigo killed by that 'Con."
Hound smiled in sympathy, and put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Don't worry, I've had Spitfire head him off. She'll handle things, talk sense into him. You just take it easy and worry about Flamewar. She's the main issue right now."
"Thanks Hound. Don't know if I've ever said this to you, but you're a valuable soldier, and friend." Prowl replied, giving perhaps one of the first real smiles Hound had ever seen him give.
"It's never been needed, I've always known old friend." Hound said, before walking off.
One of the few things that was able to be saved from the Axalon aside from some computer consoles and the CR chambers -And even they were still mostly non-operational and a full-time job to get back online- were the holding cells. That's where Knock Out found himself right now. He shouldn't have expected any less, considering he was after all, a fugitive from the law. He honestly didn't blame any of the Autobots for not trusting him. Slag, considering the evidence packed against him, if he were investigating the case from an outsider's perspective he wouldn't have believed himself innocent for a second.
He didn't judge. He was well looked after, provided fresh energon every day every few hours or so, and let out to socialize given he was on good behavior. Even had access to the television, so he could catch up human horror flicks. It was a passion of his, even if he didn't know quite why. Maybe it was just because of how astoundingly spark-rendingly stupid some of the humans in the films were, and he wasn't talking about the bad acting. Seriously, if you were going to go interface, don't go and do it off alone in the woods where any number of things could get you, serial killers aside!
He, upon hearing the sounds of paws padding against the metal flooring looked up from his TV screen, where some guy with a chainsaw was getting to work on his latest victim. Outside the energy bars of his cell, he saw this dark blue jaguar roaming the hallways, a Decepticon symbol adorning her sides.
"Oh, someone has interesting tastes," the Jaguar remarked. "Didn't know you were into Torture Porn. Kinky. Personally, I'm into BDSM myself, but to each his own..." she trailed off, throwing Knock Out off guard for a couple of moments and leaving him sputtering. Eventually, he regained his bearings long enough to speak his mind.
"I'm sorry, didn't realize the Autobots had captured another one," Knock Out remarked, and the Jaguar actually threw back her head and laughed.
"Oh, they didn't capture me. Fact is, they don't even know I'm here," Howlback remarked, licking one of her paws like a real cat would. "Now, just wanted to check up on you, make sure the Autobots were treating you as well as I would hope they are. So, see you managed to wrangle yourself a deal," she remarked, noting the tracking anklet. "Who's your handler?"
"Road Rage, at least while I'm on base."
Howlback actually threw back her head and laughed. "Oh, now that is hilarious, considering who her fiance was," she remarked. "Got to give Prowl credit though. She can't kill you, or she'd face trial herself. Mind you, I know and I suspect anyone with a brain would know deep down you're innocent of the crimes of which you've been accused."
"Alright then, if you know I'm innocent, how come you can't just get me out of this damned predicament?" Knock Out growled.
"Ooh, feisty," Howlback said. "I'd like to, honestly I'd love to help but I don't have any real proof. More like circumstantial evidence, such as you only just standing over Red Alert, and no actual camera footage of you doing the deed. Now, you must understand my position, right?"
"You haven't even told me what your position is!" Knock Out shouted.
"Alright, alright. Double agent for the Cybertronian Government, and Onslaught's crew. Like to keep to the shadows, that's why you never see me around the Darksyde. Supposed to report back to Onslaught soon on recent developme-"
"Hold up, if you're here, does that mean you know where the Autobase is?" Knock Out interrupted, with more than a tinge of fear creeping into his tone.
"Well, sorta, but obviously, I'm not going to just feed Onslaught the right info, and bring him and the rest of his army right down on your and everyone else's heads!" Howlback scoffed, giving Knock Out a look as if asking if she was that stupid or uncaring. "Could say I got knocked out, made everything a bit of a daze," Howlback shrugged, and pressed her paw to the keypad and unlocked the cell. "I think you can see where this is going, right?"
"Wait, so you want me to punch you? A femme. And then leave you lying in the middle of the hallway for everyone to see? Sorta goes against both my beliefs, and your super-secret agent status, right?" Knock Out questioned. Once again, Howlback threw back her head and laughed. How nobody had heard her by this point, it was beyond him.
"Eh, relax," Howlback said, waving a paw dismissively. "Have some systems installed, that as soon as I go into stasis lock, I'm teleported back to the Darksyde via my own personal groundbridge. Being a member of the Cybertronian Secret Police, gets you all the good perks. Now hit me with your best shot, big boy..." she smirked, with a trace of seductiveness in her tone.
Knock Out looked hesitant as he approached, eyeing the security cameras. Him being seen doing this, would not look good on him in the eyes of his carers. Needless to say, he didn't want to wind up in any more trouble than he already was in. Not to mention, lose access to his beloved human horror films! Seriously, he couldn't live without them!
"Oh, those little ole things?" Howlback asked, taking on a faux southern belle accent for a moment. "Relax, shut them off as soon as I entered the room. Like I said, you get all the good toys when you're in my position. Really, you should consider signing up, pays well really. Then again, knowing you, you'd probably decline in fear of getting your precious finish scratched."
Knock Out then noted the normally green lights were now red. He shrugged, and drew back his fist and then punched the Decepticon, sending her flying back into a wall and as she smacked into it, almost at once she teleported off to presumably the Decepticon ship. Knock Out blinked in shock, before settling himself back down into his berth before groaning as he saw the TV.
"Slag. Just missed the good part!" he muttered to himself shaking his head. "I could really grow to loathe that cat..."
"Hey Knock Out, you there?" a very familiar and very welcome voice indeed asked. Knock Out smiled, his sparkmate and fellow gestalt member Breakdown. Now, all members of Combiner Teams, they had this sorta telepathic bond really, it was hard to explain. It was a side-effect of being bonded so closely, with the only thing even more intimate being the bonds of either a Conjunx Endura or an Amica Endura. Allowed Transformers to share each other's thoughts, and even see through their partner's eyes, though only with explicit permission. That was why Breakdown was currently poking and prodding at Knock Out's mind, asking for him to open the door if you will.
"Yeah, I'm here. So, just wanted to talk, maybe share a few naughty selfies?" Knock Out teased. Breakdown laughed nervously.
"If it were only that. I just wanted to see how you were doing, after I heard you got captured by the Autobots, I got... concerned. We haven't spoken in days, and I thought they'd executed you already!'
"One," Knock Out corrected. "I gave myself up freely, and two, you know as perfectly well as I do that if I'd gone offline, you'd feel it in your spark."
"Sorry Knock," Breakdown sighed. "You know how paranoid I get. Been trying to work through it, but..."
"Yeah, I understand," Knock Out nodded in sympathy. "Hey, that Dead End being asked to be let into our little conversation?" he asked, hearing a crack of thunder in the background somewhere, and rain pounding on a windscreen making him curious. "Say, where are you guys anyways?"
"South America. Grimwing followed that Sky-Byte fellow, and so he got wind of where this human god, -Called Quetzalcoatl in the human tongue- likely to be a Predacon resides. Some old temple -Templo Mayor, I think it's called- not even a few miles from here. Imagine, a Predacon smack-dab in the middle of Mexico City and nobody even notices!" Breakdown laughed. "And yeah, that's Dead End. Been badgering me all weekend to try and see if you were still alive, or had gone to the great scrapyard in the sky as he put it. As you can imagine, didn't help my paranoia any."
"Yeah, I would think not," Knock Out sighed. "Agh, let him in. Maybe it'll shut him up about his doomsday prophecies for a few days knowing I haven't been executed."
For just a moment, Knock Out got a look through Breakdown's eyes, seeing this massive structure in front of him, rain pounding down on the Lamborghini's windscreen as a jagged flash of lightning lit up the sky and thunder rolled. To the left side of him was Steeljaw in his massive LAPV vehicle mode, and to the right side was Dead End in his maroon and gold pinstriped Ferrari 458 Italia mode.
Trees in the nearby jungled swayed in the howling winds, and another flash of lightning lit up the temple completely, allowing Breakdown (And Knock Out) to see it in all it's glory. A stepped pyramid style temple, (Typical of the mesoamerican age) rising high into the night sky, with four serpent heads at each corner.
"So, you're still alive, awaiting to see the day when Unicron comes to call and eats us all alive." Dead End drolled. Knock Out sighed, now he remembered why he really didn't like talking to the 'Con. "Nice to know. Want to see us get eaten alive in a horrible manner by some giant winged snake god?"
"I'll pass, thank you," Knock Out replied flatly. "Also, pretty sure Unicorn's just a legend for parents to tell their Sparklings to behave or just some campfire story really. He doesn't exist, and he never will exist. Simple as that."
"And you have proof of that...?" Dead End asked.
"No, but I prefer to believe in what I see with my own two optics. So unless Unicron himself comes waltzing up to me ready to ferry off my damned soul, I will not believe in him."
Another crack of thunder.
"Y-You hear that?" Dead End stuttered out. "That's the sound of blasphemy! That was Unicorn himself getting angry at you not believing in his existence!"
"Oh please, give me a break..." Knock Out sighed, rolling his eyes. "Look, the humans believed in Gods as you are finding out right about now, and all they turned out be were normal Cybertronians like you or I. I'm simply saying, that if Unicron did ever exist, he was probably just like us, no devil-like figure or anything."
Dead End sighed, knowing his fellow Stunticon would never be swayed on this matter and transformed to robot mode alongside Breakdown and Steeljaw. None of them considered themselves mythology buffs in the slightest, but Steeljaw was the smartest of them, remembering what Onslaught had told him and the other two about Quetzalcoatl in his myths.
Needless to say, he wasn't keen on meeting him. He just wanted to find the damned beast, get in, and get out with it in tow and a new addition to the Decepticon ranks. Actually, that was a lie. He wanted to put the creature down, just to spare himself from chancing getting mauled someday soon in the future, and more importantly anyone else from falling victim to a Predacon's jaws. Although, now that he thought of it, Onslaught attempting to control what was basically a god and getting slaughtered for it was an amusing thought.
Now, to the Maya, the creature was known as Kukulkan, and to the Aztec it was Quetzalcoatl. In both versions of the story, it was a powerful winged serpent hailing from the stars. Curiously, it was a wind deity and a creature of learning. So, although violent to a fault, maybe that meant it was intelligent and could be reasoned with? But what struck Steeljaw curiouser still, was a few other cultures around the region worshipping the same monster? No way this was a coincidence. No, it was more likely, and as much as he hated to even entertain the thought, there were more than one of these beasts.
Each iteration of the beast was slightly different in aspect, but all bore more or less the same basic characteristics. It was powerful, and it flew and it had the nastiest temper this side or Hydrus Four.
"Reminds you a bit of the hunting parties for Turbofoxes Mirage used to take us on back on Animatron, the so-called Jungle Planet, right?" Filch remarked from somewhere overhead in the clouds. "Oh, those were the days, just you, me, him, and that brother of yours, Gekisoumaru."
"Yeah, I remember..." Steeljaw mused. "Mind you, no acid spitting dogs or the like, but humidity's about the same. Doing wonders to my insides! I'm going to have to take a bath in a CR Chamber after this!"
"Who knows, maybe I'll join you..." Flich teased, with that phone-sex murmur she dared to call a voice that made Steeljaw's faceplates blush a bright red. He was so thankful neither Dead End nor Breakdown could see this.
"Oh, oh!" Dead End shouted. "Rader's picking something up, going crazy. If I didn't know better, I'd say we're standing right on top of our little quarry!"
"Ground scanners... Yeah, they're penetrating alright," Breakdown agreed, switching one of his hands out for a drill. "Miles of tunnels right beneath our feet. And I doubt the ancient humans could build them."
They set about searching, for any sort of clue that would lead them to an underground tunnel to the beasts and their lair. For an upwards of about a half of an hour, there was nothing to be found till a shout rang out from Dead End.
"Hey, come have a look at this!" he shouted, gesturing to a fallen pillar. It was very old, that much was certain, and an Aztec style Decepticon Symbol had been carved into it. Steeljaw allowed himself a smirk, their first real clue.
"Well well, leave it to the old cyclops to hide something in plain sight," Steeljaw chuckled to himself. "Logical? More like predictable in my mind."
He pressed down on the crest, and the groaning of ancient gears opened up a deep yawning abyss right in front of them. Picking up a rock, Steeljaw tossed it and waited to hear it hit the ground. After a few minutes, he heard it hitting... something. Something metallic.
Dead End, Steeljaw, and Breakdown all wisely backed up, fearing they'd awoken something very ancient, something very powerful and something very angry.
After a few moments of tense waiting, nothing happened. "Well, looks like whatever it was, it's a deep sleeping. Boys, grab your grappling hooks and prepare to descend," Steeljaw barked out.
"H-Hey Steeljaw," Flich piped up, nervously circling above them in her jet form. "J-Just be careful. I don't want you to be swallowed up by some ancient death god okay?"
"I'll be fine, if anything I'll just throw Dead End to the thing instead," Steeljaw joked. "He'd probably like that."
Dead End made a face, idly considering the possibility. He admitted it was an interesting prospect. Probably a quick if not brutal death to be sure. Probably a better one than he'd endure by Unicron's hands.
"Har har," Filch laughed, not amused in the slightest. "Very funny."
"Okay, so what we got here boys," Breakdown piped up. "Is what's called a cenote. Advanced as they were, the Mayans did have a penchant for human sacrifice."
"Lovely to know," Steeljaw deadpanned. "Any other utterly fascinating trivia?"
"Well, actually-"
"Save it, don't want to hear it. I was being sarcastic, you dunce." Steeljaw groaned as the three rappelled into the sinkhole.
"Just asking here, but what if we do find one of our snake guys in here?" Dead End had to ask, as the darkness of the hole threatened to consume them. "I mean what, should we hope and pray to Primus for our souls to be saved?"
"No, we bargain," Steeljaw said. "We talk, get ourselves to seem like less of an interesting prospect for a meal."
They finally reached the bottom of the cenote after a few minutes, and turned on their various vehicular modes' headlights. A small lake was in front of them, but that wasn't all. No, there just so happened to be this dark green scaled snake, with crimson red wings. A massive door rested beyond, and despite the humidity, Steeljaw shivered. He had to wonder, was that built to keep something out... or something in? Whatever the case, he had half a mind to turn back now and run. He got the feeling he was somewhere he definitely shouldn't have been.
"...Yeah, might want to start thinking of how to bargain soon." Breakdown noted.
Steeljaw noted the various carvings on the walls, some of which looked to be man-made. This could connect with his currently working theory that the snake was friendly in some format, and protected those who showed it great respect, and was only violently territorial. There was a chance, a small one mind you, that they could live to see the next sunrise.
"Let's just take this thing slow, and wake it up... carefully. I don't think even Onslaught, or slag, Bruticus could take this thing on if it went online and got rather cheesed off at us for doing so." Dead End mused.
"Uh yeah, might not have to worry about that," Breakdown remarked, running his scanners along the beast. "To quote a certain TV doctor, he's dead Jim," he said, drawing a light glyph in midair with a finger that was meant as respect for the deceased.
Steeljaw quirked an eyebrow, he had no idea Breakdown watched human TV shows. But then his mind registered what Breakdown had just said.
"Wait, what do you mean he's dead? How could have it...?" Steeljaw trailed off, shuddering at the monster's perpetual stare.
"Well, got a guess and it ain't pretty," Breakdown replied. "He was sealed up in here, probably for Primus knows how long and Primus only knows why but my best guess? Burned up his own internal energy reserves."
"Poor bastard starved to death," Dead End muttered, shaking his head. "Not the way I'd want to go out. What's that old saying? Oh yes, now I remember. "When a Spark goes online, there is great joy. When one is extinguished, the universe weeps," he said, shutting the eyelids of the once great beast.
But something didn't line up. These carvings on the wall, they didn't match up with the age of the beast, who seemed to have been dead for a while now. Actually, come to think of it, the carvings didn't look man-made at all. In fact, they almost looked...
"...Cybertronian." Steeljaw whispered, and slowly but surely the great door behind Kukulkan or whoever he might have been in life opened and out stepped a figure, awash with color and holding one very dangerous looking sword.
"Ahora quien eres y por que has profanado la tumba de mi hermano Skyquake. Habla ahora, o serás silenciado por siempre." Quetzalcoatl spoke.
Back at the Autobase, in Fowler's personal office the former Army Ranger found himself in a... mood. He'd heard about what happened down at the Bay, with Snaptrap, Sky-Byte and Indigo. More specifically, how Indigo had almost drowned no thanks to Snaptrap.
Swearing, Fowler punched the wall, nearly knocking off his desk lamp from the sheer force of the blow.
His thoughts were a turmoil. On one hand, he had Robots risking everything and laying themselves on the line for his family members...
"Fuel line's been breached, you three need to get going now!" Knock Out stated quickly, without hesitation. "Be careful with the woman, spinal fractures. She needs proper medical treatment, like yesterday!"
"E-Excuse me?" Fowler barked out as he began moving the woman to his own car. "Me, take orders from a Con?"
"No, take orders from a medic," Knock Out replied. He'd also noted the way Fowler was carrying the woman, and how he held her tighter than should have been normal for any random person just stopping to help. He also noted that Sunny was casting nervous glances at the woman every now and then. "Now get in!" he barked, even as he transformed back into vehicle mode, and both of his doors opened.
Fowler and Sunny shared a brief look, and then a look back at the trashed car and the fuel leaking from it with electrical lines dangling dangerously above it and beginning to spark. Then, they made their choice.
Fowler, as he wrapped gauze around the woman's neck handed her over to Sunny as he took the driver's seat.
"Floor it!" he yelled, and Knock Out didn't even need to be told as his tires squealed and he peeled off into the distance just as a large fireball was visible in his rearview mirror.
"So... so what do you get out of this?" Sunny asked, her voice growing ever more dangerous with each passing moment even as she stroked the woman's hair as she rested in her lap. Knock Out winced, he could see where she was definitely Fowler's daughter. "I mean, aside from helping to clean up a mess you caused, Decepticon."
"Honestly?" Knock Out mused, even as he drove up the road to Canterlot, his onboard navigation system set to the nearest hospital. "Absolutely nothing, I'm just doing the right thing."
But then again, he had children caught up in a war they shouldn't even be in. They should be worried about things like their grades, pimples, their love lives and not getting blasted to smithereens by stray laser fire or drowned by giant sea serpents. And to make things even worse, now he had a new charge to worry about in Juniper Montage.
"Goddamnit!" Fowler whispered quietly. "They... They shouldn't have this burden placed upon them!"
A door softly opened, and Fowler didn't bother to look up. He already knew who it was.
"You forget, you didn't make this choice for them, neither did the Autobots. Those kids, they chose to get themselves involved of this of their own free will," Spitfire reminded him. "I don't like it either, but we can't force them to just drop this. They want to help. And honestly, given what we've seen so far, with the Autobots' forces as low as they are, they need all the help they can honestly get..."
"Suppose you have a point there..." Fowler admitted, remembering how the Decepticons' forces seemed to be growing in number and power every passing day. God only knew how many Cons really did come to Earth, and now that they knew there were simply ancient Transformers on Earth with no real allegiances -The wild cards if you will- things just got ever more complicated. "B-But you have to forgive me for being concerned here," Fowler whispered. "What if that had been my daughter that nearly died? It could have very well been!"
"Yeah..." Spitfire trailed off, rubbing Fowler's shoulders. "We're insects compared to those creatures, but this is our world as well. This is our fight. Soon as the Decepticons came to our planet, they made it our fight whether we liked it or not."
"Yeah, our fight," Fowler pointed out. "Not theirs. Not the kids. This is a matter that should be left to the adults, fully trained military men of the United States and whatever other countries the 'Cons decide to invade and terrorize. Take Japan, for example. The 'Cons raided a power plant there, so we know they won't stop at the US. God only knows what their end game is, but whatever it is, Onslaught seems intent on involving the whole world in it."
"And we will stop him, along with every one of his followers," Spitfire stated firmly. "We fight, that's all we can do. Just fight, and hope and pray everything will turn out alright in the end. You know, soon as we started this job, I didn't like it either just seeing the Autobots as an unwanted pain in the neck and more paperwork. But now, they're like family to me as I see them lay their lives on the line every day. Semper Fidelis. Always Loyal, Always Faithful. That's how it goes. Never leave a man behind. I'd never leave one of them behind, would you?"
"No... No I wouldn't. Much as I hate to admit it, they're family now as well. Just for looking out for my daughter as best as they can. They've earned that much." Fowler admitted, thinking of Prowl's unwavering stance on bringing these criminals to justice. He had to admire that, never giving up or backing down even in his... condition. "They've helped us so many times, so I think it's time we start giving back eh?"
"Believe me, way ahead of you on that line of thinking," Spitfire smirked. "Next time the 'Cons decide to call, they'll have a surprise waiting for them. I have a few old contacts left, some in the army and some elsewhere. They want to mess with this planet? Well, they've got another think coming..." |
Equestria Girls: Transformation | Part 19: Nature of the Beast | Mexico: The Tomb of Skyquake
"Ahora, te pregunto de nuevo. ¿Que estás haciendo profanando la tumba de mi hermano, Cybertronian? Responda rápidamente, y podría reconsiderar la separación de su cabeza de sus hombros." Quetzalcoatl snarled, his energon blade glinting dangerously, and Steeljaw swallowed nervously, looking up at the tri-pronged crown resting atop Quetzalcoatl's head. Truly a Predaking if there ever was one.
"Slag yourself, you glitch-head!" Steeljaw cursed himself. "Should have calculated that any surviving Predacons here would have adapted and spoke the native language!"
Laughing nervously, Steeljaw switched his translation matrix over to Spanish. Bowing to his feet, Steeljaw spoke.
"Su Alteza, me disculpo por la entrada inesperada y francamente bastante grosera, pero no sabíamos que esta era la tumba de su hermano. De hecho, no esperábamos que estuviera muerto en absoluto. Lo admito, estábamos esperando todo lo contrario y es por eso que nos ven fuertemente armados como nosotros." Steeljaw replied, meaning Your Highness, I apologize for the unexpected and frankly rather rude entrance but we did not know this was your brother's tomb. In fact, we were not expecting him to be dead at all. I admit, we were expecting quite the opposite which is why you see us as heavily armed as we are.
"¿Por que has venido aquí, debo preguntar en ese caso?" Quetzalcoatl asked.
Steeljaw was swift to reply. "Antes de que esto continúe, ¿puedo preguntar su verdadero nombre porque se que no puede ser el que los humanos le dieron, su Alteza y el Senor Quetzalcoatl?"
That one meant: Before this continues any further, can I ask for your real name because I know for a fact that it cannot be the one humans gave you, your Highness and Lord Quetzalcoatl?
"Lord Quetzalcoatl," the Predacon said in distaste at the name, admitting to himself it had been far too long since he had gone by his real moniker. "Sí, admito que ese es el nombre que me dieron las carnicerías antiguas, y supongo que está bien si le doy mi verdadero nombre Onyx Prime: Thunderclash."
"Adecuado, para el guardián del cielo y el portador de tormentas." Steeljaw replied meaning: Adequate, for the guardian of heaven and the bearer of storms.
"Por Onyx Prime, casi me olvido de los títulos pretenciosos que los humanos me dieron." Thunderclash muttered, shaking his head in distaste.
"Now, can we drop the dialect, and go back to our original Cybertronian tongue, Lord Thunderclash?" Steeljaw asked. "I find it... taxing to not speak in my original language."
"Agreed," Thunderclash remarked. "Now, I must ask for you and your fellows' names. It would be rude for me to give up my own, without you giving up yours in return would it not?"
"Um... Yes, quite," Steeljaw replied, rather unnerved. One minute, this Thunderclash character was quite willing to kill them all and now he was speaking quite politely as if they were having a few glasses of Jamaica iced tea. It scared him a little bit, to be honest. "My name is Steeljaw, and this is Breakdown and Dead End. I have a friend up there, a fellow member of the Predacon species named Flich, watching from the skies for any unwanted intruders shall we say."
It wasn't for the fact that Thunderclash could switch between demeanors so quickly that unnerved Steeljaw. No, it was because he reminded him of himself. Even as Breakdown and Dead End introduced themselves, he flashed back to days long ago on Cybertron...
In a contest between resources and ingenuity, never underestimate ingenuity. That's what Steeljaw's brother Gekisōmaru had always told him. Funny how Steeljaw had failed to listen to his advice and now he was currently caught up between a mob war over energon between his boss Thunderhoof's crew, and that of the crew of the former Decepticon turned gangster Black Shadow.
Really, he should have used his ingenuity about then, and got out when it was clear everything had turned for the worst.
But no, he'd been an idiot about things and was now shaking down a soon to be scrap neutral named Roadblock.
"Tell me again, nicely," Steeljaw snarled as he grabbed Roadblock by his throat and shoved him up against a wall. "Where is Black Shadow keeping his energon stash? I'd answer quickly if I were you because my friend behind me here? He's not so nice you see."
He gestured with a finger to a towering aqua Decepticon that seemed to wear antlers atop his head.
"W-Who is that?" Roadblock choked out. That really did it, and the Decepticon let out a snarl, and stamped his foot.
"So there's this bot, see? Goes by the name a' Thunderhoof. Heard of 'im? No? Well, youse is about to..." the now named Thunderhoof growled as he marched forwards energon pistol in hand. Steeljaw held up a hand to stop him, and dropped a very relieved Roadblock.
"Woah woah, no need for such... crude tactics," Steeljaw replied. "There's a simple way to do this," he continued, before turning back to Roadblock. "Listen, I genuinely want to be friends with you here, I do. I'm only being forced to do this by the big dumb lug over there."
Thunderhoof growled, but Steeljaw ignored him and continued talking. "Now, you can tell me where the Energon stash is, and we can go on about our day or I can smash your faceplate in and just ask the next bot standing in line. Promise I'll pay your hospital bills. I'm a nice enough bot." Steeljaw said.
"N-Now listen, I don't know of any Energon stashes! I'm just a normal everyday guy, works a 9 to 5 job down by the docks moving building materials and loading them into trucks, that's all!"
Steeljaw honestly wanted to believe him, as fear and intimidation never got anyone anywhere. To be quite frank, he (Roadblock) was more likely to be telling the truth to save his own spark. But every now and then, Steeljaw and he couldn't explain it, got the urge to smash someone's spark in, and rip it out with his own bare claws.
Which was exactly what happened next.
"...Hey, thought youse was going to be nice about things eh?" Steeljaw asked. "I don't recall killin' the poor bot in anyone's definition of being nice unless it was a mercy kill for what I was about to do," Thunderhoof remarked. "I'll be truthfully honest with you now, he wasn't important. Slag, he wasn't even a member of Black Shadow's gang. I just needed someone to take the fall for all the killings I've been doing, youse see?"
Steeljaw's optics widened in shock.
"Oh, you thugs are so predictable. Youse always think youse is so smart. But word of advice, never underestimates the boss!" Thunderhoof laughed.
"Word of advice," came Nacelle's voice as both Thunderhoof and Steeljaw turned to see both him and Strongarm pointing their weapons at him. Prowl stood behind the two cops, arms crossed. "Don't gloat. Been tracking you two for days, just needed you to commit a crime for us to actually move in on you," he stated as Prowl cuffed them both.
"So the cops let a bot die under their watch huh?" Thunderhoof laughed. "Never would have thought-"
Then, 'Roadblock' faded away.
"Holographic projection, new tech devised by the Elite Guard. Still in the prototype stages, but it works as an excellent stunt double. All the real Roadblock had to do, was say his lines," Prowl smirked. "Take them away!"
So, in the end, Steeljaw learned his lesson even when being led away. His only small sense of satisfaction was that Thunderhoof was going down for the same murder, along with many times more. Sadly, that urge to hunt and kill, which Steeljaw tried to fight back with every waking moment reared itself once again and he escaped from custody not even a few cycles later killing a large number of guards in the process and making him one of Cybertron's most wanted criminals and leading him right into Onslaught's waiting claws. There was only one place left for him now, and that was as an outcast forever hated even by his own brothers and Onslaught, the bastard, knew this all too well...
"So, I get keeping watching over your brother's corpse," Dead End questioned, a finger on his faceplate in thought. "But shouldn't you have burned through your internal energon reserves as well?"
"Yes, under normal circumstances I would have," Thunderclash stated. "However, I had access to this," he stated, holding up a very distinctive golden orb covered in Cybertronian Glyphs. Dead End's eyes widened, being a former archivist he knew exactly what that was.
"That's... that's an Energon Harvester, built by ancient Autobots!" he stammered out in complete and utter disbelief. "But how did you get your hands on such a thing?"
An Energon Harvester, it was simple in design and concept. Built for one purpose, and one purpose alone, to harvest energon veins from otherwise unmineable deposits on various planets. Say for example you had an entire mountain on top of your energon crystals, and it was impossible or just outright time consuming to dig through the miles and miles of dirt and rock. So, this is where the Energon Harvester came in. You simply pointed it in the direction of the deposit, and it sucked all of the energy contained within into a little pocket of subspace contained within the orb. It was a masterpiece of engineering for sure, but one that could have been easily perverted.
The Decepticons, especially ones named Shockwave knew this and reworked the technology into shotgun weapons that sucked small snippets of energon from a target into the user's own internal reserves. Anyone who used these weapons, most notably the personal Seeker squadrons of Starscream known only as the Eradicons -More poetically known as the Silver Arrows- instantly became some of the most feared warriors on Cybertron.
"Y-You mind pointing that thing away from me?" Dead End stammered out, backing away nervously with Breakdown following. "No offense, but having every inch of energon sucked up from you and you trying to go for that last gasp of air before your spark finally goes? Slow and painful way to go out, and I don't fancy it."
"I... I agree with Dead End much as I hate to admit it, point that thing elsewhere will you?" Breakdown exclaimed.
"I was never going to use it on you, I had no intentions of doing so and I never will," Thunderclash said curtly. "My brother, on the other hand, might have, but I would not. As to answer your original question, Skyquake and may Onyx Prime bless his spark swiped it from Shockwave when we escaped his laboratory to Earth via Spacebridge. Been using it to mine ancient deposits on Earth for eons, but Skyquake got too greedy and used up his own fuel reserves striking terror in humankind and showing them his true power to assert his dominance. A fool's death in the end." he explained shaking his head sadly.
"I'm... I'm sorry." Steeljaw said, laying a hand on the slightly taller bot's shoulder in genuine sympathy.
"I have been given plenty of time to grieve," Thunderclash replied. "Now, I presume you four are here because you want something? Like say... to recruit me to your cause?" he asked, as Flich landed nearby and transformed from beast mode to bot mode.
"No, milord! We would never think of-"
"Spare me your lies and sniveling," Thunderclash snarled, and with a swing of his hand sent Steeljaw flying backwards into the other end of the tomb. "Who do you think I am? Stupid? I've been monitoring Decepticon and Autobot communication systems ever since you landed on this planet, and so I figured out you would come for me eventually just as soon as you learned of Sky-Byte, Scylla's and Snaptrap's existence. Do not think that flattery will keep you alive. Such is the nature of evil. In time all foul things come forth." he snarled, the ancient legends of the fury of the Aztec gods coming full force. "Do not take me, nor yourselves for fools Decepticons. Heed my warning. You are being used. You are only ever a means to an end. The coward Onslaught has weighed the value of your lives and found them... worth... NOTHING! He will betray you in the end you know, such as the nature of prideful tyrants like him. Do you not know what is coming? If not, I only pity you. I've heard Onslaught's private conversations with that little whore Flamewar, what he plans to do. Run now, and run fast if you want to live from the coming fire."
Then, the very distinctive sounds of engines roaring and revving reached everyone's audio receptors. "So, the coward finally comes to battle in person," Thunder Clash stated before parts began to shift, twist and merge with a very distinctive sound and Thunder Clash had resumed his beast mode of a rainbow-colored winged serpent, massive in size and with a maw filled with sharp metallic fangs. He turned to Flich. "Tend to your wounded Corvicon. Right now, I must defend my brother's tomb from these... usurpers." he stated in disgust before taking to the skies eyes alright with a rage unseen.
To the Vehicons credit, they were not that intimidated at least on the outside and just drove up out of the jungle in their new Rally Fighter alt-modes -Having ditched their Cadillac Cien modes just for this mission- and their hoods opened up to reveal miniature Gatling guns.
Machine gun fire lit up the jungle as thunder cracked and lightning flashed as Thunder Clash snaked and wormed his way through the clouds only to reappear breathing streams of red-hot flame. Gas tanks ignited, and Vehicons blew sky high. The thunder of twin cannons reached Thunder Clash's audio receptors as a massive anti-aircraft truck clad in a dark military blue with shades of brown smashed through some temple walls.
Thunder Clash coiled himself around the top of a nearby temple, and unfurled his wings and hissed at the newcomer.
"Onslaught, so you finally show your face instead of hiding in that crashed ship of yours," Thunder Clash hissed out, a fork-like tongue jutting out of his mouth every now and then. "And here I was thinking you were just a simple coward who let his men do all the dirty work for him."
Parts shifted and whirred as Onslaught took a bipedal stance with the two massive cannons ending up on his back to act as rifles and a blood-red visor stared the Predacon down as the Combaticon Commander crossed his arms. Onslaught, he was simply massive in his robot form almost reaching Thunder Clash's own height and simply dwarfing everyone else around him.
"No, I'm just ticked off because you decided to decline my generous offer. Have a link with the Stunticons, saw everything they did, and heard everything they did. You dare doubt me and my plans, decline my generous offer?"
"I know your type Onslaught. I would have been a fool to take it. Always hungry for power, you simply just can't get enough of it. Just like your boss. No, that would be incorrect. Apparently, if radio chatter is to be believed, Megatron switched sides and ended the war. You should have been wise enough to follow in his footsteps." Thunder Clash stated.
"Very well, I tried. Destroy him, and take that Energon Harvester." Onslaught ordered.
A barrage of laser fire came down from the skies as Vehicons in jet form rocketed down to obey and attempt to destroy Thunder Clash. Keyword being attempt. They were all either rendered to nothing but ashes by his flaming breath or grabbed in Thunder Clash's jaws and ripped in half sparks and energon fluid flying everywhere with some of the substance staining Thunder Clash's maw. During all of this, he had never moved from his position, still curled around the temple.
Eventually, Thunder Clash uncoiled himself and launched himself right at the next wave of Vehicons and transformed in midair, the sheer impact of the landing sending some of the drones flying backwards while others were either skewered by Thunder Clash's blade or had their energon sucked completely dry by the Harvester. One even just got grabbed and ripped completely in half.
"You want a piece of me?" Thunder Clash asked metalic feathered wings flared and teeth bared as he tossed the remnants aside. "How 'bout two pieces?"
A fist slammed into his gold face, sending him crashing into a grove of trees. "It seems, as always," Onslaught sighed in a half-bored tone, the other half dripping with anticipation. "I must do everything myself."
Thunder Clash, groaning out in pain picked himself up off the ground and spat a bit of energon fluid and a tooth from his mouth. "Well, isn't that just Prime?"
"Easy does it, Thunder Clash or whatever you choose to call yourself," Onslaught mocked, delivering a flurry of punches to Thunder Clash's face, stomach or anywhere else he could reach in unceremoniously brutal fashion. "Are you alright? Can you stand?"
One powerful smack to the face by Thunder Clash's right wing promptly shut that little rant up.
"Can I stand? Can I stand? Kid, and you are one compared to me, I've been standin' since before it was fashionable," Thunder Clash hissed out, rather unimpressed by Onslaught so far. "And you know something? Back on Cybertron, when Shockwave threw me in the old Kaon Gladorital Arena to prove my worth as a proper Predacon clone, I ended up seeing every two-bit, catchpenny Decepticon with a weapon that dared call themselves a warrior and I got the dents in my knuckles to prove every last inch of it. End of the day? I'm ready for anything you can throw at me. So go on then, take your best shot."
"So go on then, show us that famous Predacon fighting spirit you and your kind are known to possess. That nature of the beast that resides with-"
Onslaught was soundly cut off by a punch to the faceplates. "You talk too much," Thunderclash stated, drawing his blade as Onslaught recovered and pulled out his rifles. Shot after shot was blocked or deflected with Thunderclash barely moving an inch and hardly looking fazed. Onslaught roared in rage, and threw another flurry of punches which were either caught or just blocked by Thunder Clash's elbows.
A loud shriek cut through the howling stormy gales and a massive dark blue form lunged out of the jungle claws beared and throat glowing with an orange light before a hot blast of flame was sent towards Thunder Clash who shielded himself with one of his wings. He then grabbed Darksteel by the throat, slammed him into the ground several times before tossing him into Onslaught.
"Bow before your king," he told the hippogriff Predacon, who was now soundly unconscious. "I hope that was a short, sharp enough of a lesson for you."
Well, it seemed he was unconscious before Darksteel's eyes shot open, and he let out a growl. "The only king I bow to is Predaking, you are not him."
"Yes, well Predaking is on Cybertron and last I checked this was not that planet."
As Darksteel let out another shriek of rage, he charged forwards only for his head to be soundly ripped off by Thunder Clash and the body fell to the ground, sparking and energon pooling out below Thunder Clash's feet. Onslaught meanwhile had only just now recovered and drew a blade of his own, wiping away energon from his shattered mouth plate.
"Boring! Is this really the best you can do?" Thunder Clash laughed. Swords met in the storm, blades sparking. Thunder Clash whirled around to slice Onslaught's head clean from his shoulders as he promised he'd do to Steeljaw before but was met with Onslaught's own sword. The Combaticon lunged and stabbed Thunder Clash in the stomach before pulling out his blade making the massive Predacon stagger backwards before another right cross sent him crashing to the ground.
"No, far from it. You know, I was in the Elite Guard back in the day, back before it meant just glorified protection detail for the higher-ups. Back when we were frontline soldiers. There was this incident on Hydrax 4. I was battling one of my future comrades in arms, wouldn't you know it? So the Decepticon says, 'I may not have a gun, but I have a bomb!' And pulls the pin. Wouldn't you know it was a dud? So there he is, optics darting between us and the useless metal sphere in his hand, and he still has the gall to say, 'I AM THUNDERWING! ONE DAY YOU WILL ALL PAY FOR THIS!' I was afraid that not even the stasis cuffs were going to shut him up. Surprisingly, he lived to see the end of the war actually. I always thought Sentinel or Optimus Prime would blast him to pieces. Or maybe even Megatron out of sheer annoyance. In the end, guy fled off to some unknown moon. Nobody's seen him since though I swear he's still out there plotting and planning to stab me in the back and become the new Decepticon leader. Point being, I've learned never to underestimate anyone," Onslaught regaled. "And you are no exception. I grant you the honor and respect of being a fierce foe, but time to end this."
With that, he picked up Thunder Clash, and held him high over his head, before bringing him down on his knee with a sickening Crack! Sound before tossing the broken body aside.
"Such beastial nonsense," Onslaught sighed, and the last thing Thunder Clash saw before his optics closed and he drifted out into unconsciousness was Onslaught smashing the Energon Harvester beneath his feet with a mutter of: "So uncivilized. Such a crude weapon for the modern age."
With that, he Groundbridged out gesturing for everyone to follow. Breakdown and Dead End did, but Breakdown with more than a hint of reluctance. Filch and Steeljaw however, that was a different story.
"Flich!" Steeljaw barked out. "Get your med-kit, we're patching this guy up and damn the consequences! He protected us, warned us about Onslaught and his wrath and we entirely failed to listen until it was far too late. I'd say we owe him one..."
And with that, they set to work hoping and praying to Onyx Prime for a miracle.
Knock Out took a deep breath and sighed to himself. Then he took several more deep breaths. This was all going to go fine and dandy. Perceptor's new invention would work, his spark signature would be hidden from anyone and all he had to do was provide the lines for his doppelganger to say.
A very handsome doppelganger, if he had to admit it to himself. He was absolutely right, he did look good in steel belted radials.
"Something wrong Knock Out?" Hound asked, pointing the projection towards a riverbed. They'd chosen a forest outside of town as the meeting place. Neutral ground, and if everything went sour the only people in danger were the Cybertronians. No humans to speak of. "You need a drip pan or something?"
"N-No, it's hardly that! I'm no creaky old bot!" Knock Out soundly refuted sounding rather offended. To his surprise, Hound laid a hand on his shoulder.
"Relax, everything's going to go just fine. Our spark signatures are hidden, and all you have to do is read off your lines. Back on Cybertron, done this a few times before whenever the police needed a stunt double of sorts. You ever wondered how Steeljaw and Thunderhoof were arrested?"
"Well, now that you mention it, I have always been curious..." Knock Out admitted, rubbing his chin,
"Created a stunt double of this construction worker, guy named Roadblock that Thunderhoof thought was involved with Black Shadow and both he and Steeljaw 'killed' him and that little show they put on? Enough to get them arrested on murder charges, plenty on Thunderhoof's side with all the ones he blabbed about in his gloating. Rule of thumb, if you're a criminal, keep quiet about it in the end I guess. Point being, I know what I'm doing here and so does Prowl so you have nothing to worry about."
"Well, you say that, but earlier I had this little conversation with my Conjunx Endura, Breakdown checking in on me to make sure you lot hadn't done anything to me and just before I shut it off I learned he was going after Quetzalcoatl in Mexico, or at least the Predacon inspiration for him and if any of the myths about him are true, by all accounts the guy had a nasty temper. I... I just don't want to see..."
Hound winced. Although they were on opposing sides, him and Breakdown he still couldn't feel but a pang of sympathy towards Knock Out.
He took a deep breath and sighed.
"Listen, you're not the only one who's ever had a loved one in the firing line. Hell, I've got a Conjunx Endura of my own. Yeah, I know, hard for someone like you to imagine someone as stiff as I am getting spark-bonded but here I am. Guy's name is Hot Rod, has very little impulse control and constantly getting himself into scrapes. But he's in the Elite Guard and stationed on a outpost on the planet of Velocitron. Fitting really, given he loves to race and that planet loves speed."
"Yeah, I know. Been there a few times myself, or at least watched the races on the holo-net," Knock Out replied.
"Point being," Hound clarified. "You needn't worry so much, it's only natural I know but our bondmates can generally handle themselves. Breakdown's as tough as they come, paranoid as he is. Stunticons are hard to put down. I should know. Tangled with Motormaster, the guy did not go down easily when I tried to force him into stasis cuffs."
"Never thought I'd say this, but thanks, man. I really needed that," Knock Out smiled before he saw Flamewar Groundbridging into the area, Prowl and the Knockout holoform awaiting her. "Oh, that's my cue..."
Flamewar strode forwards, her hunter's bow resting on her back. A vial full of a strange green liquid rested on one of her hips. Prowl's optics narrowed slightly, that must have been the cure.
"So, finally ready to give yourself back up to the winning team eh Knocks?" Flamewar cackled, in an almost hyena-like tone. "Gotta say, you were always too nice for your own good. If you ask me, you should just let your captors burn out for what they did to you. Locking you up like that, and letting poor old Breakdown worry about you to no end!"
"Yeah, I'm sorry, but I'm still a medic even if I'm a criminal law. My oath says never to leave a bot behind, even if they're a dick," Knock Out stated, putting on as much of a show as he could. From the Autobase, Perceptor, Road Rage, and Fowler listened in on every word with Fowler having military jets on standby just in case something were to go wrong. "Now, just hand over the cure and we can go on about our day eh? You take me in, and the Autobots you infected get cured. We all win."
Suddenly, to both Prowl and just about everyone else's surprise, Flamewar pulled out her bow and in one clean shot fired an arrow right through Hound's spark casing dispersing the hologram before dropkicking Prowl in the face knocking him flat, with another arrow pointed directly at his faceplates.
"Hound!" Road Rage shouted over the radio as soon as she saw his spark signature go offline. Flamewar smirked.
"How stupid do you think I am, Autobots?" Flamewar sneered, savoring the despair of Road Rage, and everyone else who was listening in. "Seriously, this old tactic? Steeljaw told us about it when we captured him cycles ago, so we prepared ourselves for something like this. Spark-Masking, one of the oldest tricks in the book. It's a new age, or it's about to be. You wanted us to play by your rules cop? Really should have expected us never to play by anyone's rules."
She then craned her head towards the treeline and singsonged: "Oh Knock Out, come out and play! I know you're there!"
Knock Out with a roar of rage and buzzsaws bared swung out his arm and very nearly decapitated Flamewar had she not stepped to the side. Prowl, at this very same moment, leaped upwards and grabbed the vial off of her and pocketed it before punching her with a right cross, his fists now having two brass knuckles glowing with a bright blue energy. The Decepticon Hunter Knock Out had heard about, he figured.
"Perceptor, bridge Hound out of here. He's not going to be meeting Primus just yet, not if I have anything to say about it!" Prowl barked into the comms before he and Knock Out were forced to make a run for it as Flamewar began firing energy arrow after energy arrow. Quickly transforming to their vehicle modes, they made a break for it driving through the treeline towards the freeway they knew was just a few miles away.
"Perceptor, soon as we hit the freeway, get us a Groundbridge!" Knock Out ordered.
"Sorry, no can do. I'm still dragging Hound to the CR Chamber, and hoping and praying to Primus he'll pull through. I've got work to do. You need to fend off Flamewar as long as you can, force her into a retreat! Swordbreaker, Swerve, quit standing around and give me a hand here!" the scientist barked. "Slaggit, sometimes I'm really not cut out for this job..." he then muttered to himself.
Back at base, Road Rage's optics narrowed. "I'm going," she stated, throwing open a groundbridge with a switch. "Don't you dare try and stop me."
"But your condition!" Perceptor shouted, as he was handed patch-kits and hooked up a tube to Hound's opened chest cavity and began feeding him raw energon.
"Screw that, if I have my way that cure will be in our hands soon anyway so you won't have to worry about it! Besides, Hound was and still is my friend here and I think if he dies, I'm damn well going to avenge him. Preferably by taking Flamewar's head!" she shouted, before with a quick shifting of parts she was in her vehicle mode, V-8 engine revving angrily. Fowler rushed over, and threw open the passenger door. "You nuts, Fowler?"
"May not like him, but Knock Out saved both my wife and my daughter's lives on two separate occasions and the way I see it I owe him that much. Plus, you're in no condition to act on your own. You need backup."
"Agreed, and you've got spunk. For a human. Now, hold on!" Road Rage roared and floored it tires squealing and kicking up smoke before she rushed out the groundbridge. |
Equestria Girls: Transformation | Part 20: Rage Against the Machine | Road Rage was mad. No, she was beyond that. She was pissed. And it sure as hell showed in her driving style, physically ramming two Vehicons out of the way not even giving mind to the damage the tactic dealt to her vehicle mode's bodyframe. Tires squealing as they hit the pavement, horns honking and civilians rushing by, the freeway was the scene of chaos.
Fowler felt himself slammed back into his seat as Road Rage swerved in-between the various cars trying as hard as she could to avoid actually hitting any that weren't Decepticon in origin.
She heard the distinctive sound of Flamewar's engine from behind her, and let out a growl. She, she was responsible for this. She was responsible for Hound laying in a CR Chamber close to death being force-fed energon through tubes.
Smashing between the lane dividers making Fowler lurch his head forwards, she pulled up alongside Flamewar and tried to slam her into the side of a stone wall but the superbike only pulled ahead and left Road Rage smashing into the wall instead. The highway, it cut through hills and the valley curving and dipping every so often.
"Focus girl," Fowler advised as he saw Road Rage's speedometer go well over 120 miles an hour. "I'm as mad as you are, but the last thing I want is to explain to my superiors why a Corvette caused a massive traffic accident, and why I was behind the wheel of said Corvette!"
"Screw your superiors, and their damn Bureaucracy and any damn traffic laws," Road Rage growled out in her anger as she resumed the chase. "That bitch needs to pay!"
"Look, that cure's going to be no good to you or Prowl if you smash it up by slamming into everything and everyone," Fowler advised, barely holding back the hamburger he'd had for lunch that day. "So keep your focus, and calm down. You've got two 'Cons coming up from the rear, and coming fast."
Road Rage, living well up to her codename checked her rearview, and confirmed Fowler was right. Two Vehicons, disguised as Cadillac Ciens were indeed coming up from behind and trying to box her in.
Road Rage, if she could have in her current mode would have smirked and let her foot off the gas so the two Vehicons could smash right into each other instead.
Another tried to ram her from the side but was smashed into a wall, and flipped upside down by the collision ending up in a huge fireball via Knock Out.
"Thought you cared so much about your finish?" Road Rage remarked.
"And see my handler get slagged? Nuh-uh, I think I can make an exception in this case," the Aston Martin alt-moded Decepticon remarked in a slightly joking but mostly serious tone. A far cry from his usual self indeed. "I've got the cure, we just need to get out of range of these bozos and get a Groundbridge out of here," he stated before going for comms. "Prowl, what's your status?"
"I'm up ahead, getting in contact with local police forces and asking them to clear the freeway as much as they can. I don't want any more lives lost today. Especially any human ones. Not a single one." the Autobot stated.
"Much as I hate to break it to you," Knock Out replied. "But that's not going to be easy. Piss off or even endanger Flamewar, and you're in a whole heaping of trouble. Congrats, you've done both. My guess is, Onslaught's going to be sending either the rest of the Combaticons or his personal squad of Eradicons to back her up. Neither option is preferable. In either case, you'd best be ready for the fight of your lives." he warned.
"No, they'd best be ready..." Road Rage growled. "If Hound's dying today, I'm going to make sure it's not in vain, and a few Decepticons join the Allspark along with him!"
Knock Out hmmed, before lowering his passenger side window and had his holodriver toss the cure to Road Rage, or more accurately Fowler. He trusted him more than her to keep it intact.
"No leaks, not one single dollop," he stated seriously before the sound of Groundbridges opening reached his audio receptors. "Scrap, here they come..." the former Stunticon muttered.
Sure enough, Vehicons in the form of Local Motors Rally Fighters were appearing in their rearview.
"...Well, that's a new one." Road Rage muttered.
"By Abraham Lincoln's Star Spangled britches..." Fowler murmured to himself. "...I really should have taken that job at the Pentagon like my boss General Bryce advised me to. Nice cushy desk job, and no risk of me being killed by Mad Max wannabes from space!"
"You think he's talking about us or them?" Road Rage asked, as small miniguns popped up from the Eradicons' hoods.
"Does it matter?" Knock Out asked as the sounds of click, click, brrrrrrrrt! started up as the guns began to fire. Fowler ducked his head to keep his brain from being splattered all over Road Rage's now shattered windscreen.
Swerving left and right to avoid the shots, tires squealing out in protest the two Cybertronians continued playing their dangerous game of cat and mouse up and down the freeway.
From a nearby on-ramp, more Cien Vehicons as Fowler would decide to call them entered the battlefield.
"Going to be really hard to keep your guys under wraps after this..." Fowler muttered to himself. "Maybe I should say nerve gas from a terrorist attack causing mass delusions and hysteria, or someone's filming a movie..."
Road Rage's engine roared once more as she rammed a Vehicon head-on causing it to flip end over end several times before it landed on one of the Rally Fighters Eradicons behind Road Rage with the two Decepticons exploding in one huge fireball.
"Yep, movie. Michael Bay movie probably, this is sorta his thing really..." Fowler muttered to himself. "Big explosions, and inane stunts like this? Yep, out of one of his films."
"Who's Michael Bay?" Knock Out asked.
"Beats me, don't care really," Road Rage remarked in reply. "Prowl, best advice?"
"Get off the freeway at the nearest possible chance, take this cross country as the humans like to call it. Only ones that'll be in danger then will be us, not the humans!" he ordered, and Road Rage took a sharp swerve to the left as she smashed through a guardrail with Knock Out following after her into the nearby fields with the Eradicons and Vehicons swift to follow.
"Fowler, any chance of a military assist?" Knock Out asked. "Like a bombing run or something?"
"Sure, let me just call them up on speedial!" he snapped. "Let's get real, even if I had my phone on me and I didn't leave it back at base, I'd have a Hell of a lot of explaining to do on why I just asked for some Skystrikers to bomb farm fields and blow up what looks to be civilian drivers!"
"...Good point." Knock Out acknowledged. "Don't have to like it, but good point."
He saw Prowl finally join them, smashing through a wooden line of fencing, sirens at full blast and light bar flashing.
"Alright then, now that we're out of the civilians way, we can really do some damage," he remarked, as panels on his body opened up, and two small cannons emerged, both firing balls of electricity. Both hit Vehicons, shorting out systems, all of their wheels locking and seizing up and stopping them dead in their tracks. One hit a huge boulder, and went up in a massive fireball with parts flying everywhere.
"Yeah, now that's more like it!" Road Rage shouted as she pulled a full 180-degree turn and two cannons popped out of her chassis, both firing plasma shots at the Vehicon/Eradicon death squad. Few shots hit and lit up the countryside for the most part, even as she drove backwards with Fowler's eyes nearly bulging out of their skull at this madwoman's driving skills. But eventually, Road Rage got her eye in and managed to eliminate most if not all of the remaining pursuers with Prowl's help.
"...Yeah, definitely a Michael Bay movie." He muttered to himself.
Knock Out then shouted "Look out, mad biker incoming!" as Flamewar leaped off a hillside and in mid-air transformed into bot mode and pulled out her bow. Road Rage pulled another 180 and slammed hard on the brakes, with Fowler lurching forwards once more.
"This is where you get out," she said, with Fowler only too happy to oblige that order and finally tossing his cookies. As soon as that was over, he grabbed the cure and ran for cover behind some pine trees as the three Cybertronians transformed with the remaining Vehicons and Eradicons following.
"You know, after a long drive," Knock Out said as he switched out both of his hands for buzzsaws. "It feels good to get out of the car, and kick some tailpipe!" he smirked.
"Gentlemen, would you be so kind as to stop their engines?" Flamewar asked mock sweetly as the Vehicons and Eradicons went for their weapons. "So, Road Rage is it? See you've got a little case of rage against the machine. So nice to see my virus works wonders!"
"You're going to pay for that, and everything else you've done including killing Hound!" she snarled.
"Oh, was that his name?" Flamewar asked still in that mock sweet tone of hers. "Silly me. I've forgotten the names of how many I've killed."
Road Rage let out another growl, bordering on a snarl of absolute fury.
"Easy Road Rage, don't let her get to you," Prowl advised, reaching for his pistol in hopes of firing off one single quick shot through Flamewar's head. Sadly, it was not to be, as an arrow from her blasted it out of his hands.
"Oh, you're such a bad boy..." she remarked. Fancy yourself a gunslinger eh?" Flamewar asked. "Well, my boys here would be happy to take you up on the challenge. Sadly, I cannot. As much as I'd love to stay and chat, I've got other things to do. And as much as I'd wish them to, none of them involve you at this current point in time. Ta-ta!" she said, before opening a Groundbridge and vanishing through it but not before leaving the order of: "Clean up the mess." with narrowed eyebrows.
As soon as she'd left, the firing began. Road Rage pulled out a rifle, and weaved between trees avoiding the shots as they came and happily returning fire. They couldn't risk a groundbridge of their own, not now with Fowler in danger and Decepticons all too happy to learn the location of their base.
Knock Out sliced and diced his way through the remaining squad members. Pinning one Vehicon to the ground, he smirked in an almost devilish manner. "Don't worry, I'm a fully licensed surgeon. This won't hurt a bit," he said calmly, before decapitating the Vehicon in one quick movement, energon flying everywhere. This was about par for the course for the rest of the battle really, the rest of the Vehicons quickly falling to the Autobot weaponry.
Not even the Eradicons were safe, as Prowl had pulled out his Decepticon Hunter, changed it to a bo staff and was spinning it wildly deflecting shots in some cases sending them right back at the shooters themselves. Knock Out had gotten a similar idea, and had pulled out his electro staff and was spinning it wildly in a glow of blue light shoving it through Vehicon and Eradicon chests alike.
"Old shock and drop. Never fails," he smirked.
"You know, keep that up and I may just begin to like it." Road Rage sniped, as she sniped a Vehicon trying to come up at Knock Out from behind.
"What about me?"
"No, I still hate you," she remarked.
"Au contraire, you'll come around eventually... Everyone does." Knock Out said with a wink and a smirk. Road Rage rolled her optics. Eventually, it was finally over and everyone Decepticon-aligned was in a smoking heap.
Of course, this battle had occupied so much of the foursome's attention just trying to outmaneuver the Eradicons and stay alive they hadn't noticed they'd had an observer. An old Toyota Hilux to be exact, parked atop a hillside.
The Hilux seemed to observe this mad dash across the fields and what resulted, almost if it were eyeing every player critically. It then pulled away, and drove off into the timberlands.
"So there are other Cybertronians on Earth... I knew it, I wasn't seeing things!" the little Mini-Bot thought to herself as she thought back. She'd been in Japan, and had seen Hound, Prowl and even her old friend Swerve opening up a Groundbridge along with this human girl she hadn't caught the name of, but she figured perhaps she'd been on Earth too long without contact from Cybertron and had just started imagining things. But now? Well, Smallfoot was only too happy to know she and the rest of the Van De Graaff's crew weren't alone on this planet after all.
The Autobase
Road Rage let out a small groan of pain as she felt the syringe needle pierce her plating but sighed in relief soon afterwards. She didn't feel this terrible urge, this burning hatred to destroy everything in her path anymore like she had for the last few cycles, her T-Cog didn't ache anymore every time she transformed. For the first time in a very long while, she felt... free.
Her face turned solemn as she turned to look towards Hound, all plugged up to all manners of machinery with tubes feeding vital energon from nearby containers. One massive tube, slowly rising and falling as it pumped energon was hooked up right to the hole in his chest, where Flamewar had shot him.
"Now, if only I could say the same for you old friend..." She sighed to herself as the Elite Guardswoman walked up to one of her oldest comrades in arms and stroked his faceplates tenderly before sitting down and fighting back a sob. "By Solus Prime, what are we supposed to tell Hot Rod, he's going to want some answers!"
"I... I don't know, honestly," Perceptor muttered, shaking his head as he patted Road Rage on the shoulder sympathetically.
"The truth," Prowl stated and everyone looked directly at him optics widened. "I don't like it as much as you do, but he has the right to know. What are we supposed to do, hide it from him and say that his sparkmate's alive and well, when it's perfectly obvious he isn't? Besides, Hot Rod, he's already going to have felt it through his bond, that his Conjunx Endura's lights are going out."
"You... You have a point..." Perceptor muttered, even if he didn't have to like said point. Breaking this sort of news was never easy for a medical bot. "I'll... I'll arrange a communique to Velocitron."
Road Rage let out a snarl as she punched a cavern wall, cracking the stone beneath her fist. "And what, we're supposed to just give up?" she barked. "Look, we may not have the best medical equipment but here we are, just telling ourselves to just pull Hound's plug when we can save him if we just try a little fucking harder!"
Prowl sighed to himself, he always hated these sort of situations. What he had to say next would sound incredibly cold, sparkless even but looking at things logically there was only one possible course of action. "Look Road Rage, we have to face facts. Even if we didn't pull the plug as you put it, Hound at best would be faced with a complete reformatting. If we did that, as soon as he emerged he wouldn't be the same bot. He'd have a new frame, a new set of internal workings and most likely a completely new personality!"
"But he'd be alive, wouldn't he?" Road Rage argued.
"There's no way of getting around it, the old Hound would be gone forever no matter what we do. I... I think it's best we let him die a peaceful death, instead of turning him inside out and changing his base workings completely. Look, I know it's hard. By Primus, I know it is. I've seen far too many comrades lost to battle more times than I can count, but-"
"But nothing!" Road Rage barked. "I don't want to just sit here and let one of my oldest friends die, and say I stood by and did nothing in my power to save him!"
"But what can you do to save him?" Prowl asked. "You're not a medic, you're not a Priest of Primus, you're just a simple soldier like I am. If I could, Primus damn if I could, I would help Hound in any way I could! Slag, I'd throw him into a pool of Rarified Energon or Forestonite and watch it do its work! But we don't have that luxury! We barely have enough medical materials around here to patch up minor wounds, much less save a dying Autobot!" Prowl yelled, one of the few times his carefully crafted mask of being this emotionless logical by the book cop dropping completely before he muttered: "Damn you Hound, just damn you. Why'd you have to be so reckless...?"
"No," Road Rage snarled venomously, and for a moment Prowl backed away carefully as it looked as if Road Rage was about to punch him before she seemingly thought the better of it. "Damn you Prowl. Damn you to the Pit," she muttered to herself, before starting to walk off, wanting to be alone with her thoughts.
"Solus Prime, I just got back in fighting condition, but the cost... ?" she thought, taking one last long look at Hound. Then there was a loud crash, and everyone turned and saw Indigo along with the rest of the Shadowbolts holding Lemon, who'd fainted dead away at the sight of Hound.
"H-Hound...?" Indigo whispered tearfully.
"Oh, slag..." Prowl muttered, and mentally prepared himself for the long conversation that was soon to follow. Meanwhile, hundreds of miles away from the Autobase, a very different type of conversation was taking place...
Mexico:
Groaning out in pain, Thunderclash found himself in a deep cavern, undoubtedly somewhere in the miles of tunnels below Templo Mayor and Mexico City itself. At one end of the cavern was the ruins of some old subway tunnel closed off and left to rot. Thunderclash vaguely remembered back in the 1930s or so that the humans living above had tried to create a system before discovering that the deeper they burrowed the more their precious city sunk into the ground and so the project was scrapped. Nobody, except for the occasional maintenance worker ever really came down her anymore, at least this section of the line and so it made a perfect hiding place for him. Humans feared him, and rightly so but that didn't mean Thunderclash had to like it. Long ago, they worshipped him before fear of what he could do turned them against him, forcing him to flee from the very creatures he was supposed to protect.
He did help from the shadows, such as when humans got trapped by landslides due to flooding or lost in the wilderness he helped them to safe passage but they never remembered him and thought him a hallucination or a UFO. They'd stopped believing in Gods and monsters for the most part, and adapted to a new modern age where creatures like Quetzalcoatl and Kukulkan were merely myths, stories to tell and to entertain.
That still didn't help explain any what he was doing here, did it?
"Easy, steady yourself," came Steeljaw's voice. "Took quite a beating from my 'leader'. You need to rest. You were leaking energon quite badly. If Flich hadn't patched you up as well as she did..."
"For that, you have my eternal gratitude, 'Decepticon' and fellow Predacon." Thunderclash said, looking at Filch, who was using a welding kit to close up some of Thunderclash's remaining wounds.
"Yes, well, anything to help my King," Filch said briefly looking upwards from her task to face Thunderclash.
"A king it seems," Thunderclash sighed in disgrace and self-disgust. "Who has been soundly dethroned. I was arrogant, believing I could rule here on Earth over some of the other Predacons in the real Predaking's absence. In my hubris, I allowed myself to believe nobody could defeat me. And yet, in defending my brother's remains I allowed myself to be defeated, thus stripping me of my honor."
"But you were defending your brother's tomb, keeping it from being defiled," Filch replied. "Is that not the code of a real Predacon, loyalty to one's own kin? We're all clones of the original breed, and in a way, I suspect you wanting to rule over the Predacons was loyalty to your own brothers and sisters and keep them from killing each other. Like it or not, they need a ruler here on Earth. Snaptrap's conflict with Scylla and Sky-Byte was proof alone of that."
"So, what will you two do now? I do not think Onslaught takes deserters lightly," Thunderclash asked.
"Believe me, if it weren't for fear of that thing he had as a hunter, we would have deserted long ago," Steeljaw replied.
"What... thing?" Thunderclash asked, raising an inquisitive eyebrow.
"Darksteel, that beast you ever so kindly decapitated in your rage and fury against the defiling of your brother's tomb," Steeljaw replied. "I've seen Darksteel in action, in the Kaon Gladiatorial Arenas, fighting tooth and nail to prove his worth as a Predacon. Believe me, I still have nightmares to this very day about what I saw in those battles he waged..."
"Ladies and assorted Gentlebots, have we got a treat for you tonight!" Swindle's distinctive voice shouted over a roaring and cheering crowd from up in his small box. Chained to his little Roman emperor style throne were two small Predacons, one a midnight blue panther and the other a black wolf creature. "Two beastly experiments from the mind of Shockwave himself, going head to head in a battle to the death!"
The doors on both side of the arena raised up, and the two titanic machines trudged into it, gathering roars and cheers from the crowd. One of which was much larger than the other bot, and made the match feel more like David and Goliath rather than a simple fight to the death.
"To my left, we have the titan of the pits of Chaar, the crusher of chassis, the mountain of metal himself, Infernocus!" He swung his arm to him, and he let out a deafening battle cry, garnering another wave of applause, the skull-like face on the Predacon grinning devilishly. Inwardly, Swindle hoped this match would go better than that last one, the one with the Cybercat Shockwave nicknamed Primal against that dragonbot Hun-Gurr. "And the bot either brave or foolish enough to face him, the one and only, the cybernetic shadow, the ghost that can only be described as Darksteel!" He swung the other arm out towards him, the dark blue and orange Predacon pulling out a double bladed axe with Infernocus drawing a huge metallic sword soaked in energon fluid.
"Trust me, little birdy, you're WAY out of your league here." Infernocus slid his hand over the blade, as if to clean the blood of his victims off of it. "Why don't you just forfeit right now and save me the trouble?"
In the crowd, a teal blue bot watched the proceedings nervously, and hoped that little private transmission to Autobot high command got through. Brutes and clones they may have been, but this wasn't entertainment or sport, this was just senseless violence on Swindle and Shockwave's part. Evil without purpose or reason. For now, Steeljaw reasoned, he would have to sit back, watch, and hope.
Darksteel's only answer was to let out a small growl and bare his fangs. "You've had too many victims fall to your blade, and I'm going to enjoy knocking that arrogance right out of you. Hopefully by returning the favor of so many of your decapitated victims. Blot, Sinnertwin, Budora," he replied, gesturing to the headless bodies lying around the energon soaked arena. "This isn't sport, this is bad comedy," he stated before clenching his fist making it crackle with electricity and pointing the heads of his axe at Infernocus.
"Maybe bad comedy for you, but this is hilarious for me," Infernocus leaned over the bot, his optics glowing a red-hot orange. "Look at how small you are. You're no bigger than a Turbofox to me. I could flatten you with my foot alone and you'd still be a tiny, crumpled up speck on the arena floor."
"Oh, that's intense. You know to be honest, seeing you do that would be quite the spectacle. But it looks like I'll have to choose Option B, knock that horned tiara of yours off your head, and then slice that head clean off and then what's next? Oh, that's where I bust out of this arena and go gallivanting off into the sunset." Darksteel remarked with this smug, cocky little smirk on his faceplates.
"You cannot stop your destruction, or change my mind with simple boasting," Infernocus remarked. "So, why fight it?"
"A, because you're an asshole, and B, you're an asshole. Reason enough."
"Then you've made a grave mistake Darksteel, and I do mean grave in every sense of the word..." Infernocus smiled all the more devilishly, and Darksteel simply shrugged.
"Oh, Predacons make grave mistakes all the time. Mine just seem to actually end up working out," he replied dismissively, still with that cocky smirk on his face before that smirk transformed into an expression of rage remembering why he was here, and what he was here to do. "But enough of this banter, are we going to fight like men... or like beasts?"
"Very well, then. But I promise you, you are NOT going to like this, little one." Infernocus drew his blade and pointed the tip at Darksteel.
"Looks like our combatants are about to rip each other to shreds, so I'd better not keep them waiting!" Swindle swung one arm down in a knife-hand fashion. "Fight!"
Infernocus and Darksteel charged at each other, weapons out and ready to cut deep into one another. As they got closer to each other, they saw just how big and small their foes really were, as Darksteel soon found Infernocus blotting out the very sun above his head. Which, of course, made his sword look even more menacing as it swung up, and then down towards him.
With a shifting and whirring of parts, Darksteel transformed into his beast mode, a massive hippogriff covered in Cyberglyphics and opened up his beak. Throat glowing orange, he unleashed a stream of searing hot plasma right into Infernocus' torso plating making him stagger back.
"Gah! Looks like you've got some tricks up your sleeve. But not enough to save you, I'm afraid." He slammed the sword into the ground, causing it to crack beneath Darksteel's very claws. Channeling energon through it, the cracks became electrified, creating miniature walls of lightning around him.
Darksteel picked up his axe, which had dropped during his transformation and swung it at one of Infernocus' legs hoping to lop it off and topple the giant. Sadly, he only earned a kick to the stomach for his troubles; one that sent him straight into the arena walls as the crowd roared in approval. Steeljaw meanwhile just winced, he hoped the Autobots got here soon.
"Looks like Darksteel's taking a beating out there. But that's what you get when you fight the champ, ladies and gentlemen!" Swindle announced as Infernocus closed in for the kill. "It looks like another easy win for Infernocus!"
"By my fallen brothers..." Darksteel snarled out, each and every one of the glyphs etched on his body a tribute to fallen comrades. "I will make sure nobody else dies in this arena! Not now, not ever!" he stated, before letting out a loud ear-splitting screech and charging towards Infernocus, extending his wings and dodging a swing from the Predacon's massive sword as he flew over it. He then grabbed onto Infernocus's right arm with his claws, and then lunged forwards and bit down on it.
The metal around Infernocus's arm was pierced, and another bite would have severed his servos. The crowd watched with interest as Darksteel continued to thrash and drive his fangs in again for a crippling hit, while Infernocus tried to swipe him away with the back of his free hand. Eventually, he did succeed and flung Darksteel into the stands as the crowd scattered.
"Yeah, not so fun anymore is it?" Steeljaw laughed as the Decepticons fled in terror. Darksteel meanwhile, just opened up his beak once more and fired another plasma blast at Infernocus. This time directly at his face.
"For those of you in the audience who had to run, there's absolutely no refunds or compensation for what you just went through," said Swindle. "For everyone else, WOW! Looks like Darksteel's getting desperate, going for the servos of the champ!"
Infernocus continued to stagger backwards as Darksteel finally gained the upper hand, with the massive titan feeling his faceplates beginning to melt.
"Oh, oh! Could this be it?" Swindle shouted in shock. "Could this be the end of an era, could this be the fall of a titan and the rise of a new champ?"
It certainly was, in some ways as Infernocus now with head comprised only of molten slag fell to the ground with a mighty thud. Swindle growled to himself, he couldn't let this stand! His prize money maker, defeated!
"Chainclaw, Cuttthroat, get him! I will not take me losing my bets lying down! Bring me that Predacon's head!" Swindle shouted.
The gates opened up once more, and a massive bird in tan and purple colors along with a tiger-like bot in yellow paint wearing a silver battle mask charged out, Vehicons urging them out with electroshock staffs. Darksteel readied himself for battle. But he needn't have worried, as laser fire completely blanketed the arena as a massive orange shuttle flew in, before parts shifted as Prowl and another Autobot -Trailbreaker- leaped down into the arena with the shuttle itself turning into a truly massive Autobot bearing the sigil of the Elite Guard, with two massive cannons on his winged back, and a red battle mask covering most of his faceplates. Swindle swallowed while Steeljaw smirked. Sentinel Prime, the Autobot Supreme Commander.
"Decepticons! You are under arrest for fraud and illegal Transformer sport ringleading. Surrender peacefully, or we will have to shut you down with force." He boomed, pointing one of his two guns at Swindle and his Vehicon soldiers, with Prowl and Trailbreaker aiming theirs as well.
"Autobot scum. You always hate money. No wonder you're such poor, pathetic, and weak excuses for machines!" Swindle scoffed back and clicked his fingers. "Decepticons! Bring these bots down!" And without another word, all of the Cons let loose a barrage of laser fire at the intruding Autobot team who returned in kind. Sentinel shifted forms one more, becoming a massive battle train that aimed all of his cannons at the box and pummeled it with artillery shells. The two Predacons Swindle had chained up, they'd broken free just in time and had run for it as the box came down and buried both Chainclaw and Cuttthroat underneath its rubble.
Swindle swallowed, knowing perfectly well when it was time to cut his losses and run before he teleported out in a flash of blue light.
"And to think he used to be one of us..." Prowl sighed sadly, shaking his head at days long by, when Swindle and the rest of the Combaticon brigade were members of the Elite Guard as well.
" Where is he going?" Sentinel barked through a wrist-communicator as he transformed back into Robot mode. "I want his head!"
"Probably long gone from here, sadly," Trailbreaker sighed as he cuffed the Vehicons. The ones still living anyways. He cast a suspicious look at Sentinel. He seemed... unusually violent for the Autobot's current Prime. Then again, war had a way of changing a 'Bot.
"Grr... Filthy bloodsports. I hate them. I hate them so much..." Prowl growled and punched a wall vigorously. "Especially when Autobots are roped into them."
"Calm yourself Prowl," Sentinel advised placing a hand on his shoulders, casting a thankful look towards Steeljaw who could only nod. "No need to get yourself worked up over all of this. What's done is done, Swindle won't dare set up shop here again, and he'll probably go into hiding. He owes far too many debts now. People will be after him, we'll probably see his carcass turn up very shortly. For now..." he trailed off, gesturing to Darksteel. "We have to help this one, along with any others of his kind left alive."
Prowl noticed the disgusted way Sentinel spat out 'his kind', like Predacons were an inferior species. Sentinel, he'd have to keep an eye on that one.
"Not that Prowl really needed to worry, as Sentinel was killed in battle defending the Stellar Galleries a week later by Deathsaurus of the DJD himself," Steeljaw commented, now back in the present day and in the sewers under Mexico City with Flich and Thunderclash. "Good riddance to bad rubbish I say. He may have been a Prime, but he was a terrible excuse for one. Bigoted right down to his very spark, far too war-like to actually do anything about the Hell Cybertron had become. It says a lot about Sentinel, when one of his most famous quotes was: 'In my day, the good knew their responsibility... and the weak knew their place.' Thank the Allspark for the coming of Optimus Prime, eh?" Steeljaw laughed weakly.
"There's something curious about you, Steeljaw. Something that's been nagging me ever since I first met you," Thunderclash remarked. "You've got beastial instincts all about you, even your name screams Predacon, and yet you have a vehicular alt-mode. It's odd that a pure-blooded Cybertronian would find themselves spending time with a Predacon like Filch. No offense intended of course."
Steeljaw laughed again at this. "Who said anything about pure-blooded? No, Flich and I are hardly pure-blooded in any senses of the word. Now this, this is a tale in itself. You're probably wondering what I was doing in the stands of a gladiatorial arena, taking down Swindle and his matches."
"Altruism?" Thunderclash guessed with a small shrug of his shoulders and Steeljaw laughed again.
"Hardly," he said as his wolfish eyes narrowed and his little tail flicking back and forth anxiously. "No, let me tell you a tale..."
There was nothing but darkness. And the occasional flicker of sparks from machines. Jagged, razor-sharp, and menacing spikes and tools could be seen in the brief instances of light. Sitting in a single chair, bound and gagged by tight locks, sat a singular Predacon, thrashing and flailing wildly in the hopeless void. Not a single creature replied to her muffled cries for help. None, except one.
"I know that this might come as a shock to you, but don't dwell on this thought. Rather, think about the future, and how this will benefit us both once the process is complete," A voice echoed through the darkness. "After all, I went through this myself, and now, I feel much better off for it."
Filch's eyes widened in terror, she knew that voice. Every Transformer on Cybertron did. Shockwave, quite possibly one of the most feared Decepticons ever to come online. A tall purple transformer, bearing one cycloptic eye stepped out of the shadows, and Filch's optics widened in terror. She wanted to transform into her bird mode, but the restraints would not let her.
"You know, you fascinate me," Shockwave stepped out into the light. "For being a machine, I would have expected a more vehicle-like transformation out of you. But instead, you take the form of a winged creation; but not a sleek and rocket-fueled one like Starscream or Thundercracker; and instead a more beastial form. It amazes me, a Predacon still surviving to this very day."
Filch just continued to thrash and fight against her restraints, in the hope that they would come loose and give her a chance to escape.
"And yet, still, you disappoint me. You could be something more. Something with potential; a beast with an ambition, a goal, a purpose, even." Shockwave pushed his hands together. "But, luckily, that's something we Decepticons can remedy with ease. This technique was invented, tested, and approved by Lord Megatron himself, so I have high hopes that it will turn you into an unstoppable force, just as it did for those Dynobots. Hopefully, more obedient now that I've refined the CNA in this little mixture." Shockwave chuckled lowly.
"Go slag yourself." Filch whispered, praying to Onyx Prime -the first Predacon- someone would help her.
"What was that?" He leaned in closer to Filch's ear. "I didn't quite catch that. Was that a sense of resistance, even when your mind is about to be subdued?"
He turned on the lights and revealed two tanks, where two Autobots rested in some sort of green fluid. One, blue and gold and bearing spikes all over his torso and the other a teal-blue with razor-sharp claws, a wolfish face and a tail hanging limp. "I've done this before, only in reverse. See these two? Injected with Predacon CNA. Now I'm going to see what happens when a Predacon is injected with Cybertronian CNA," Shockwave mused, and if he had a mouth Flich imagined he'd be smiling. Regardless, he took up a syringe filled with said CNA and pointed the tip at Filch. "Just sit back, relax, and let all the bad feelings fade away. Trust me. I'm a scientist."
Flich whimpered out in fear as the syringe injected the pure Cybernucleic Acid into her systems, and she felt new programming trying to take control. Her whimpers slowly turned into a loud scream as parts shifted and reconfigured the more beastial aspects of her chassis vanishing. Feathered wings sharpened and became more jet-like before fans revealed themselves with her body becoming less angular and streamlined, less like a regular Corvicon and more like a jet's.
"Now then." Shockwave took the needle out once it had done its' job and set it down on the table. "Let's give you a chance to break in this new directive, shall we?"
Of course, there was a small problem with that. Take an already defiant Cybertronian, and screw around with her systems and you just made her more pissed off than normal. Breaking free of her restraints, parts shifted as she transformed into a jet, and fired two missiles at Shockwave, blasting him backwards into the walls of his lab. Hovering in place, she admitted -if only to herself- Shockwave's new 'upgrades' did have their uses, she fired two more missiles and blasted a hole in the roof before transforming back to bot mode. Going over to a computer console, her fingers lit up the keyboard and freed Shockwave's two captives. She noted their names. Steeljaw, and Gekisoumaru. Transforming again and smiling as she realized she still possessed her old alt-mode in some form she took to the night skies. Meanwhile, Shockwave staved off slipping into unconsciousness long enough to see his other two captives break open a door and run for it.
"Well then. This should be interesting..." He said to himself as he fell into the world of dreams.
"Of course, that's not the end of the tale as you might expect," Steeljaw continued. "No, not at all..."
It was late one rainy night when Steeljaw found her, in some long forgotten alleyway in one of Cybertron's under cities quivering and shaking to herself. His optics widened, he recognized her from Shockwave's laboratory. He nor his brother ever got the chance to thank her.
"You alright?" Steeljaw asked, kneeling down and reaching out a paw only for it to get swatted away.
"G-Go away..." Filch whispered. "You're just like all the rest!"
"And all the rest would comprise...?" Steeljaw trailed off in confusion.
"That scientist. He..." Filch couldn't even say a word as she felt the new CNA flow through her body. "I'm a freak. A Trans-Mutate, they call me."
"Trust me, in that area at least, you're not alone," Steeljaw remarked, sitting down next to her. "You think I was born with these claws, or this tail? No, you saw me in that lab. Sho-" Steeljaw noted the flinch at even naming the madman and quickly corrected himself. "That scientist, he pulled me and my brother apart, ripped us open all in the name of science he said. Injected us with pure Predacon CNA, just to create the perfect soldiers for his Lord Megatron."
"He works for Megatron. That robot." Filch flopped her wings to the ground. "He's evil, right? Both him and the scientist?"
"Honestly, it's hard to tell sometimes. The scientist, yes. Evil without purpose or reason, but Megatron? I don't know, I've heard tales he wanted to overthrow the corruption plaguing Cybertron and the High Council. You know the stories right, about how Nominus and Sentinel Prime were loyal to the High Council's ideals of whatever alt-mode you got, dictated your place in life? Megatron, rose up from being a simple miner in Kaon's pits to a politician, and when those plans fell through and his ideas were shot down he turned to war in hopes or making the people listen. Somewhere along the way, I think those ideals of his were lost. You've heard the news right, about that newcomer Orion Pax, I think his name is? It's said he and Megatron were friends, both vying for the same changes."
"Am I... evil?" Filch asked, looking at where the syringe had injected her.
"Only if you allow yourself to be. Me and my brother, we get... urges from time to time. To rip and tear, to kill. But we learned to curb them, with the Zen teachings of an Autobot and former Decepticon named Drift. You don't have to be a monster. No, you can be something else. What that something is, that's up to you." Steeljaw smiled.
If Filch could cry, she would have. Instead, she just reached over and pulled Steeljaw into a hug. "Thank you. Friend. I think... I think I'd like to become a medic. Help those who can't help themselves, a personal screw you to Shockwave. But I've heard rumors of Predacon clones, my sisters and brothers fighting to the death in Kaon's arena."
"So have I," Steeljaw smiled. "Believe me, I have a plan to do something about it."
"And so, there we are, I suppose. That's what happened, how me and Flich met," Steeljaw said. "We've never left each other's sides since, even when Onslaught drafted us onto his crew."
"Sparkmates then?" Thunderclash asked, and Steeljaw and Flich looked away from each other and Thunderclash laughed. So that's how it was. Head over heelstrut for each other, but they couldn't admit it. "So, what do we do now?"
"For now," Flich stated. "You rest and heal. Then we figure out our next move..." |
Equestria Girls: Transformation | Part 21: The Fortunate Ones | Cybertron: The Great War:
It was during the height of the Great War, where Hound and several others had found themselves deeply entrenched in what remained of the city of Polyhex, ravaged by decades of warfare. This battle, it'd honestly been going like this for the last several days with neither Autobot nor Decepticon keen on giving in or gaining any ground in the process. And all the while, both sides kept on expending Energon.
Hound was the de facto commander for this battle with the previous soldier in charge, an Autobot named Guzzle having been killed early on via a shot to the head early in the battle.
Road Rage, she was firing shot after shot at Decepticon snipers, keen on picking off as many as she could before they finally got her.
"You know..." she smiled sadly. "After all of this, when this is over... I think a nice keg of energon at Maccadam's Old Oil House is in order. All of us, just kicking back and relax watching old holovids. Yeah, what do you think Backstreet?" she asked, looking towards her fallen comrade, the late Triggerbot having a hole blown right through his chest courtesy of a Combaticon shell casing. She chuckled sadly, knowing that the Autobot had always hated fighting for the sake of fighting, and to be honest would have rather have been a stellar explorer out amongst the stars, seeking out new life and new civilizations. He probably would have been, had the war not broke out and he'd been unceremoniously drafted. Grumbling to herself, Road Rage muttered: "All the dirty jobs..." before firing off another shot, scoring a headshot right through the cranium of the Seeker known as Nova Storm.
If she lived through this, and that was a very large if, she swore she'd take up Backstreet's job and become a planetorial ambassador, just travel out there amongst the stars and meet all kinds of fascinating new species. She'd name one just after Backstreet, that's what she'd do.
Suddenly, a very loud explosion sent Road Rage flying as her cover was blown to smithereens and parts flew everywhere as the rubble she'd been using was completely destroyed by a blast from the Combaticon known as Brawl. He'd assumed a tripod-legged stationary cannon mode, his usual hover tank alt-mode having been abandoned for the time being.
A shout rang out amongst the battlefield, Onslaught ordering: "Armored Division, assume siege modes and open fire at designated coordinates. We're taking control of this situation, ending this farce!"
"...Oh, guess I never did want to live forever..." Road Rage sighed to herself, noting her rifle's ammo banks had been depleted dry. From her position, she saw the armored division of Onslaught's forces, as per orders dictated assuming similar tri-legged cannon modes.
"Well, this isn't going to be pretty is it?" Hound laughed darkly to himself, his right arm bleeding energon fluid, a lucky shot from a Con named aptly enough Gunbarrel piercing the armored mesh plating. Thankfully, he'd repaid him in kind by shooting the tank transformer through the stomach.
Hound's prediction proved to be spot on, as the Autobot forces were showered with mortar shots, ruins coming down all around them, with Trailbreaker only just barely able to hold back the crumbling rubble with his forcefield generator.
"Again!" Onslaught ordered, pointing directly at the Autobots. "I don't want a single Autobot standing, you hear?"
The armor division began to ready their next wave of shots, as Trailbreaker looked towards Hound.
"Sir, I'm not sure we can take another shelling like that!" he shouted, cracks like little fractures of glass in his forcefield already beginning to show. "Now, I'm all for one final last stand, going out in a blaze of glory and all that and getting tales to be told about us, but this is foolish! I'm opting for a surrender! Maybe... just maybe, we'll get lucky and they'll just take us prisoner instead!"
"No, the Combaticons never take prisoners, they never do..." Hound mused, thinking of his fallen comrades. The dead and rusting, they were the fortunate ones here. Anyone who'd already joined the Allspark could be considered as such, in this tireless seemingly never-ending war that had cut through Cybertron like the blade of a sword and sliced it in two. The ones still left alive... Well, that was another story entirely. Sentinel Prime was gone, destroyed by Deathsaurus in one grand battle that had extinguished most's last hopes at a peaceful resolution to this conflict, and Megatron was pushing for the offensive aiming to take Iacon. "If they wanted to offer us that luxury, they would have long ago."
"D-Don't s-suppose you can pull one of your hologram tricks out of that gearbox of yours, could you?" Road Rage coughed out with energon dripping from her mouth, and Hound shook his head.
"No, the Decepticons would get wise fairly quickly if some giant warrior just showed up out of the blue. They know of what I can do. If we were dealing with a more fearful and foolish lot, it might work, but Onslaught and his brigade? They are neither fearful nor foolish."
"Then what?" Trailbreaker asked, looking towards a very distinctive white flag laying next to the body of Backstreet.
"The flag, use it."
"Of course," Trailbreaker nodded. "I'll just set this up at the front of the battlements and-"
"No, you will use it to bandage my wound, soldier!" Hound barked out, cutting him off. "We never give in, one quick decisive strike right through the heart of Onslaught's forces, they'd never expect it. It'd throw them into chaos!"
"That's crazy, suicidal even!" Trailbreaker shouted.
"Yes, maybe, but right now... I'd say we're all out of options. Nobody cares for us, we're just cogs in a machine. We just have to fend for ourselves, and right now I'd say a little bit of crazy is in order. Now, as Sentinel Prime used to say... Autobots, Transform and Roll Out!"
A roar of triumph went up amongst the remaining forces as they followed Hound's lead, their fighting spirit restored. Small victories Road Rage mused to herself, small victories.
Earth, Now:
"Yeah, never did want to live forever eh...?" Road Rage thought to herself. "We, or what was left of our platoon survived that, and now here on Earth just chasing after war criminals Hound got picked off by a lone sniper." she thought, sighing and shaking her head at the irony.
"So... he's really gone?" Indigo's lips quivered as she stood over the body of Hound, tears beginning to form in them. "No... NO! I WON'T LET HIM DIE!" She pounded the edge of the table with her fists, blubbering and moaning. "He's the reason me and Lemon are still besties!"
"Indy..." Lemon looked at the wreck Indigo Zap had become, then stared up at the lifeless husk of Hound. "Please, Hound... don't die on us yet. We still need you for the fight against those bastard Cons."
Just watching Hound, laying on that table pipes and tubing being his only source of life, and a small machine hooked up to him beeping out slowly, it made Trixie's stomach churn, and the showmare retched. Standing in the background, watching with wide eyes was Juniper. Sure, she'd seen Cybertronians die, hell she watched Sky-Byte rip Snaptrap in half! But seeing this, someone who was supposed to be a friend of hers just laying on a table like that...
"Who did this... Who?" Indigo growled out. "WHO THE FUCK KILLED HIM?!"
Sugarcoat tried to contain her emotions, her voice as hard as steel. "It had to have been one very accurate sniper, see that hole? Only someone with immense training, and a steady hand would have been able to make such a shot."
"How does a sniper leave THAT BIG A HOLE?!" Indigo screamed, turning into a banshee with how high her pitch was. "And what right do you have treating Hound like he was just wires and metal, like he never was alive, to begin with!?!" she shouted, her voice turning into choking sobs about halfway through, before she drew back her fist and tried to punch Sugarcoat only to stumble and fall to the floor.
"You think I'm not as broken up about this as you are?" Sugarcoat asked, taking off her glasses and fighting back tears. "But I'm trying to keep myself contained here. Hound, he wouldn't have wanted to see us like this, fighting and arguing like a bunch of children over who killed him and how!"
"Y'know what, Hound is the only thing that helped me get closer to Lemon Zest. Now that he's gone, she's gonna totally hate me for letting him down! Do you know how cranky Lemon gets when people let her down like that?! DO YOU?!" Indigo barked, stomping right into Sugarcoat's face, causing her brows to skyrocket.
"Indy... I don't hate you for this." Lemon walked over and laid her hand on Indigo's shoulder. "If anything, you're right about me getting angry. But I'm more pissed about those Cons than anything else. The next time I see them, I'm going to rip their Energon out with my bare hands, stomp it into the ground, and make them all watch! Who did this? Just... I just want to know who."
"Flamewar," Road Rage stated solemnly, slowly walking forwards to Lemon, and kneeling down to her level. "Her name was Flamewar. She was the same one who infected me and Prowl with that virus, and now she's added another to her kill count. Prowl and Knock Out, they were working out an exchange for the cure. Hound was projecting a hologram of Knock Out, keeping the real one out of harm's way, and had masked his and Knock Out's sparks. But somehow, don't ask me how, Flamewar got wise to our trick and shot Hound with her bow and arrows."
"Road Rage. Get me my Targetmaster armor. I know what needs to be done," Lemon lowered her head and shielded her eyes with her hair. "I'm going to bury Flamewar myself; no Autobots needed."
"And how in Primus's name do you expect to do that, huh?" Road Rage asked. "First off, you don't even know where Flamewar is, she's long gone! And you'd only turn into a gun, you'd need someone to wield you even if you did find her!" Road Rage shouted.
"Shadowbolts learn fast. And I'm pretty sure my Targetmaster accuracy is off the charts right about now. Add to the fact that I'm a pro speed skater, and I can outrun and outgun any Con you put in my way." She didn't even look up to speak.
"Listen to me, Lemon," Road Rage stated. "Revenge, it's not the answer. You think I don't want Flamewar's head myself? Killing her would feel good, but it wouldn't bring Hound back all the same!"
"So, what are our options then?" Juniper asked. "Is... is there a way to bring Hound back, or do we just..." she trailed off, not wanting to finish the sentence.
"Just one," Prowl stated. "But it would require Hound to be completely reformatted, and if we do that... He may not emerge the same as any of us ever knew him. His body would be rebuilt yes, but his personality would probably completely change."
"But... But there's got to be a way here!" Juniper protested.
"Well... there is a way, but I don't think any of you will like it." Twilight pulled her head up from her notes. "Have you ever heard of the Frankenstein effect?"
Sugarcoat's head whipped around to face Twilight so fast, everybody swore it probably would have probably fallen off. "Twilight. No, just no."
"And what's your answer, Saltcoat? Just let him die?" Twilight sharply retorted. "Look. I know it's bad, but if you really want Hound back, I'm sure we can make an exception."
"Look, I'm not putting anyone's brains in an already damaged body, just to bring Hound back! This isn't science Twilight," Sugarcoat replied. "This is madness!"
"Unleash the Magic? That wasn't madness?" Twilight asked, poking at the Friendship Games in their past. "Tell me, Sugarcoat. To you, and to the rest of CPA, what is madness if it delivers positive results?"
Sugarcoat's jaw dropped, looking as if she'd been slapped. Twilight quickly realized she may have gone too far, remembering that this was a point of shame for the Shadowbolts and something they agreed was not their finest moment for them or CPA.
"Okay, maybe that's not the best metaphor to use, but there's no such thing as madness. Only insanity." Twilight sighed and brushed her hand across the table. "Madness is just something we say is bad, but in reality, it's because we're scared to try."
"No, it's called madness because that's exactly what it is!" Sugarcoat shouted back. "This... All of this you're proposing, I'm sorry, but I can't endorse it."
"Then don't. You're more than welcome to vote against it." Twilight turned to the rest of the Shadowbolts, Trixie, and Juniper. "Lemon Zest, Sunny Flare, Sour Sweet, Indigo Zap, Trixie, Juniper. Your thoughts?"
Nobody had to say a word, they were completely against whatever Twilight was proposing. She could read it on their faces.
"Twilight..." Trixie started. "I love you, honestly I do, but this... I can't allow you to do this. Hound wouldn't want you conducting this, in the faintest hope you can bring him back."
"I understand. I'll tell Perceptor to prepare for the funeral," Twilight walked away from the deathbed, taking one last look at Hound. She looked into his optics one last time and kissed his forehead before looking at Prowl, who only nodded sadly and began switching the machines off one by one and pulling the pipes out of Hound's chassis.
"Goodbye, my old friend." he stated.
"You ever seen the stars look so beautiful tonight?" Trixie asked her girlfriend, laying on a picnic blanket atop a hillside, Maine's forests and mountain ranges in front of them, with Canterlot City just a small little selection of lights nestled in the wilderness. In the background, Hound lay resting in his vehicle mode in a short recharge cycle. Not like he needed to intrude upon this moment anyways.
"No, I haven't," Trixie replied, though in her mind it wasn't just the stars that looked beautiful. "Then again, city lights kinda prevent you from seeing all of... Well, all of this." she continued, gesturing upwards. "Hound, you ever gone star watching?"
"No. I can't say I have," Hound stared skyward, watching as the stars lit up the otherwise black veil above them. "Is this normal behavior for you humans?"
"Well... It is in this part of the planet," Twilight smiled as she tried drawing the stars together using nothing more than her fingers. "I think the Ursas might be out tonight, don't you Trix?" she asked, and Trixie nodded, gesturing to a specific part of the skies.
"You mean the Ursa Major, and Ursa Minor constellations right?" Hound asked.
"Yes, exactly," Twilight replied. "See you've been studying up on Earth constellations."
"Well, they're not just Earth constellations,' Hound replied. "On Cybertron, we can see them as well. They just go by different names, that's all. But like your girlfriend, in the big city lights, you can't see them as well as you can out here. That's the reason I volunteered to do this, just to get a look at them myself."
"So, what do you think?" Twilight asked, lifting a brow to him.
"They're beautiful, I had friends in the Cybertronian Stellar Galleries who told me about all of this... But I never got the chance to observe them for myself really." Hound admitted, with a tinge of sadness in his tone. "Why do you think I jumped at the chance to follow Onslaught's crew to Earth? I wanted to explore new cultures, and see new topographies, and see the stars with my own optics."
"Think you'll ever have something like it ever again?" Twilight asked, holding her hands together.
"On this planet, you mean?" Hound inquired.
"Just in general. Will you ever have something this beautiful like these stars?" Twilight put a hand on his hood.
"Yeah, I already do. Seeing Cybertron as it is now, restored to it's golden age of peace and prosperity little by little. That's all I could have asked for, to see that in my lifetime," he said softly. "And I won't let Onslaught nor any of the other members of his crew destroy that which we've worked so hard to rebuild."
"And I promise you Hound," Twilight replied. "I'll do whatever I can to help you and your team stop Onslaught. Pinkie Promise. Cross my Heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."
Although caught off guard by the strange saying and the movements, Hound understood the sentiments.
"T-Thank you..." he murmured.
Back in the present, Twilight watched, along with her friends and the Autobots' government allies as Hound was loaded up into a rocket constructed by Perceptor that would launch Hound into the sun, as a makeshift funeral pyre. The main body of the rocket had this clear bubble constructed into it, so everyone could see Hound. His body had been restored to it's original glory, and it seemed just for a moment he was simply sleeping. But everyone knew better.
Soldiers stood at attention, rifles at the ready.
"Ready! Aim, and fire!" Spitfire barked out, and 21 shots pierced the night as both she and Fowler saluted. The rocket engines fired up, and the funeral barge was sent flying upwards into space on a direct course towards the sun.
Twilight watched for a minute, before she could no longer hold back the flood of tears that were threatening to break. Tossing her glasses aside, she ran off sobbing with Trixie trying to reach out and grab her to pull her into a comforting hug, but to no avail.
"Let her go," Chrysalis told her softly. "We all grieve in our own ways. Give her time, and then hold her, and don't let her go you understand Trixie Lulamoon? She'll need you now, more than ever."
"Yeah... Yeah, I understand." Trixie sniffled as she watched the rocket join the stars that Hound had so loved... |
Equestria Girls: Transformation | Part 22: Old Friends | Somewhere outside El Paso Texas...
A barren road with nothing but dust, sand, and shrubbery on either side of the highway, just a few miles north of the border was filled with the sounds of two revving engines. One, a V8 right out of Detroit and the other this 15-2 liter diesel engine just over 500 horsepower weighing tens of thousands of kilograms. And that was without the fuel he was carrying onboard in his tanks.
Road Rage VS Octane, that was the current situation. 30 minutes prior, the latter of which had raided an oil refinery and was now on the run from his Autobot pursuer hot on his heels.
"Come on, come on!" Octane bellowed. "What's stopping you from taking me out, where's that fury I heard so much about?" he taunted Road Rage, who was somehow managing to trail behind the massive truck. "Road Rage, the demon of the roads! I never thought I'd take you for a coward!"
His twin smoke stacks flipped back and riddled the road with laser fire, the Autobot swerving right and left to avoid the shots, tires squealing out in protest and smoke and gravel being kicked up as Road Rage drifted alongside the massive Decepticon and slammed into him.
"That enough for you?" Road Rage taunted, and Octane unleashed a bellowing laugh in response.
"Ah, there's that fire I remember, and have heard so much about!" he smirked. "Little Red Corvette tearing up the streets, and here I thought this chase, this game of cybercat and mouse of ours was going to be rather boring! Oh look, oncoming traffic!" he shouted, gesturing to two Vehicon drones in Cien mode coming right at them, twin laser cannons popping up from their hoods. He floored it, and sped down the highway to let the two Vehicons pass him and head right for Road Rage, both intent on slagging her either via ramming her or shooting her full of holes. Neither option was particularly preferable to her at the moment.
Two massive laser cannons flipping out from underneath her chassis, she blasted one Vehicon and sent it tumbling end over end before it exploded behind her before she got alongside the second and slammed a spike from her wheel into the Vehicon's like the ones found on old Roman chariots. This Vehicon suffered the same fate as his fellow. Sadly, this little entanglement had provided Octane valuable time and now he was further ahead of Road Rage than he had been before.
"For such a heavy guy, 'Con sure knows how to floor it when he needs to..." Road Rage thought to herself, and revved her own engine to close the gap and make up for lost time. She knew at any moment Octane was liable to either switch to his cargo plane mode or just bridge out. He was toying with her, and she knew it all too well. That was his style, lead the Autobots in pursuit of him on a little chase, wear them out -possibly destroy them- before getting the Hell out of Dodge as the humans liked to say. It was all one big game to him.
Changing lanes, Road Rage kicked up more dirt and dust as she drove up alongside Octane once more, engine revving loud and fast.
"So, still got a little bit of spark left in ya!" Octane laughed.
"Little bit's all I need to take you down..." Road Rage growled, tailpipes emitting small bursts of flame
The vastness of the open road gave both of them a number of ways to escape and chase after each other. There weren't any other cons, or anyone else for that matter so it wasn't like they'd run into anyone and cause unneeded casualties. With the blazing sun streaking down on both of their paintjobs, the both of them were thankful that they couldn't sweat or tire out like humans do, because in this harsh climate, they wouldn't have lasted a chance like that.
Both of them traded blaster shots with each other while endlessly running along the road, not a single building or patch of grass or water passed them by. Nothing but endless desert. They had no idea where they were going or where they had come from, as soon enough, even the signs pointing them in the right directions were non-existent.
"Lost in America, you're Lost in America..." Octane hummed to himself. "Exactly where you are. Me, not so much. I could just bridge out any time I wanted, or take to the skies but this is so much more fun..."
"Do you ever shut up!?!" Road Rage snarled.
"Ooh, touchy..." Octane remarked. "I can see where the name comes from..."
Groaning, Road Rage shot the tires, causing him to swerve slightly before regaining control.
"Feisty, ain't ya? But feistiness is NOTHING compared to the Decepticons." Octane's smokestacks tilted downwards once more as he fired his weapons at Road Rage, blowing out the road in front of her and leaving giant holes in it. Road Rage just used some of the rubble as a makeshift ramp and flew over the holes.
"Oh, seems to me you're a bit angrier than normal," Octane remarked. "Just that bit more determined. Any reason for that?" he taunted. "I did hear over the wire you recently lost a friend..."
"Sh-shut up!" Road Rage's voice cracked, knowing exactly who Octane was talking about.
"Sounds like I struck a nerve. Now for the rest of your body!" Letting another salvo of shots ring out, he landed some blows on Road Rage's trunk, scorching the paint job in seconds. "If it makes you feel better, you'll be reuniting with that friend soon enough..."
"Oh no, ya don't! Trust me, there's much worse comin' your way, mate." a voice sounded across the desert.
Rushing to Road Rage's side from across the desert flats was another Autobot, having taken the form of a sandy colored Toyota Land Cruiser from the early eighties speaking with what sounded like a Nebulan accent, or Australian to Earthfolk.
"Huh, looks like little old Smallfoot was right, there are other Cybertronians on this rock," the newcomer remarked as the roof of his vehicle mode sprouted a cannon. "Just wish Decepticons weren't part of that."
"How dare you side with an Autobot! For that, you'll be joining her in the grave!" Octane let another series of missiles fly out and hammer down on the road like mortar shots.
"Whoa! Careful. Nearly singed my hood there!" the Autobot remarked as he swerved right and left to avoid the blasts, with Road Rage eying his cannon warily.
"Careful, Octane over there? He's carrying Solus Prime knows how much fuel onboard, the last thing we want is for it to go off," she warned.
"Sounds like he'd make quite a light show," the Autobot chuckled. "Normally, I'm not a fan of violence of any sort and would much rather go on a explore, but trust me, seeing Cons blowing up bring a tear to my eyes."
"Noted," Road Rage replied. "Trust me, same here. Never did catch your name, now that I think of it."
"Name's Outback. Autobot, if ya couldn't tell by the logo on me. And I've heard you were in trouble, miss," he said. "Heard that Hound was finally thrown onto the barbie and left to cook. Shame, really. He was a really good guy, had some good conversations with him back on Cybertron. And believe me, if you think I'm going to let his death go unavenged than you've got another think comin'!" Outback growled.
Octane growled to himself, he hadn't exactly been expecting two Autobots to deal with today, just Road Rage and that would be the end of it. By the Pit, he didn't even know Outback was on this blasted dustball. He needed to deal with the situation now, before it spiraled even more out of control for him. He weighed over the options in his head, fight these two and expend more Energon and risk his fuel being blown up, or escape with it. It didn't take him long to reach any sort of decision really, and parts began to shift and move as he turned into a massive C-130 Cargo Plane and took to the skies.
"Smell ya later, Autobrats!" Octane cackled as he radioed for a Groundbridge, with one of the green swirling vortexes opening in front of him, the Decepticon soon vanishing through it.
"Running away so soon, ya cobber? Get back here and fight us like a Con!" Octane howled as he watched Octane's vortex disappear before them.
Road Rage sighed, and transformed into bot mode, with Outback soon following suite. "Yeah, that's about par for the course for us with him really. Third time this month alone he's stolen a huge amount of fuel and bridged out before anybody could catch him.," she grumbled before taking a look at the heavily battered highway. "...Oh, Fowler's going to have a Hell of a job explaining away this one..."
"Who's Fowler?" Outback questioned. "Don't remember a Bot by that name."
"I'm going to have to fill you in, and you are going to have to do the same, given I and Prowl for that matter would really love to know where you came from. Road Rage to base, requesting pick-up for two."
"I'm sorry, two?" Perceptor's voice stuttered out in shock. "What about Octane, did you catch him?"
"No, he got away, but I just met up with an old friend..." Road Rage smiled...
Meanwhile, in up in the hills and sweeping mountain passes of Colorado we find the hills alive with the sound of a revving engine, a stark blue Harley Davidson motorbike flying through a tunnel, a holographic longhaired human with a beard sitting on it.
Taking a sharp turn down a mountain pass as two deep purple Cadillac Ciens followed after him, tires squealing as they threw their back ends into the turn just barely brushing the guardrail sparks flying. Any miscalculations and over the side they would have went, to a very long drop down towards a raging torrent of river rapids below.
"Awww man, these guys are gonna harsh my mellow. I was just getting my groove on too, I mean I know my thing, just drive about on patrol and make sure nobody unfriendly gets to the base like so and yet these guys show up with all their fancy cars and paint jobs and try and kill me so it's like what's the problem, man? Well, nobody's gonna rain on my parade and I'm going to make sure of it, as this cat's got claws see?" the motorbike ranted to himself, before gunning his engine and popping a wheelie. "I mean, by the Allspark what's wrong with taking a peaceful midday drive down the scenic route, just leave a guy to himself with only the road ahead?"
Predictably, the Vehicons grew tired of his ranting and out popped cannons from their hoods.
"Oh, fancy yourselves real tough guys eh?" the unknown Cybertronian remarked and if he could, he'd be rolling his eyes right about now. Decepticons, they were always about the big guns. Had to be compensating for something, like possibly their lack of combat prowess in general. "Well, how do you like this one?"
His tailpipe flipped out, and blasted flames at the Vehicons leaving them with scorched hoods, with the bike laughing to himself. "Not so snazzy now are you? I mean, by Pyra Magna's spark you guys are ridiculously shiny, could mess up a guy's vision if the sun glinted off you in the right way! I mean, I could crash and burn! So not good for my image, brah."
The tailpipe flipping back and resuming its proper position, the Cybertronian smirked as he continued his trek down the mountain roads, the Vehicons still in hot pursuit.
"Man, what is it with you guys? Can't you just leave a simple bot in peace? Man, you guys really need to chill out. Take some Zen classes or something. I heard Drift, my man, he has audio recordings by the truckload that could really help you guys. I mean, haven't you heard? War's still on Cybertron, not here! Not even Hellbat or Guyhawk were as persistent as you two morons!"
As much as Night Ranger loved joking around and screwing with these two Vehicons to throw them off their game, he knew the time for messing about was over. These two could not learn the location of the Van De Graaff, not by a longshot.
"Oh, where's Smallfoot or Outback when I need 'em? I'm just a simple biker, a scout and they get the big tough Toyota off-road vehicle modes!" he thought to himself. "But, right now, it's up to me! Lovely day, lovely day..." he added sarcastically. "But, as an Autobot, it's my job to protect the people of this world. I can only pity them if they ever had to get caught up in this constant war of ours."
Taking another corner, hearing the Vehicons' tires screaming now as he rounded it, and the screams only got louder as he rounded several hairpin corners. Finally, it happened, and the tires exploded with rubber flying with some of it even hitting him.
"Ah, thought so. I know these roads, know how to take them with style and grace, while you just take the frailing about madly route from Tokyo drifters. No, strike that, that'd be an insult to Japanese drift kings. You're nowhere near their level. I should know, I raced a few," Night Ranger snarked as he screeched to a halt, his kickstand dropping to the pavement and engine idling. "So, you want to continue to play around, or should we just end this little game of ours here?"
Take a guess what the Vehicons chose. With a shifting and whirring of parts, they changed to their bot modes.
"...Yeah, I about figured as much." Night Ranger muttered, and transformed to robot mode with his tailpipe becoming his rifle and before the two Vehicons could even fire off a shot they tumbled over the edge and down into the raging torrents below. Night Ranger smirked, and spun his rifle in his hands like an Old West gunslinger before blowing smoke off of its tip. "Yep, still got it." he smirked. A loud crash was heard, and a certain Autobot winced at the sound. That had to hurt. But no time to dwell on that, he still had his patrol to finish, Nexus Prime only knew what else lurked up in these hills. Vehicons were like Scraplets in a sense, there was never more than one.
Tapping into his comms, he radioed back to the ship. "Hey Hoist, how goes the repairs? Any systems aside from the groundbridge up and running yet? Cause I just ran into two Vehicons, I'd really love it if we had autocannons up and running soon brah."
"First off, don't rush me, and secondly don't call me by that name, you know how much I hate it," a British accent filtered through the comms, along with the sound of repair equipment hard at work, patching, and welding. "Me and Hubcap, we're working as fast as we can, but without the proper tools, it's slow going. Look, I have to take this careful. I'm a medic, not a repair technician like Scoop was. Primus, I don't know what I might set off if I'm not too careful here. Could accidentally start up the ship's Auto-Destruct sequencing, old and confusing as this damn thing is. It's not like the ships of today, this thing was practically ready for the scrap heap when we used it to escape Cybertron, hopefully, find a newer more peaceful world."
Night Ranger bit back a bitter laugh. "Yeah, look how that turned out. Decepticons, here!"
"Look on the bright side, Smallfoot reported in that she saw Commanders Prowl, Hound and Road Rage along with that motormouth Swerve, so that means there's Autobots here as well right?" Hoist replied.
"Yeah, true. But that means that they brought the war here as well, which means the humans of this world, wondrous creatures -Seriously, you ever heard any of their music? Steppenwolf rocks!- that they are likely going to be caught up in it sooner or later. I really don't fancy that idea, do you?"
"Not in the slightest," Hoist admitted. "Hopefully, Smallfoot or someone else can hook up with Sentinel or whoever the current Prime is and help send these 'Cons running."
"One can hope. One can only hope..." Night Ranger trailed off.
Meanwhile, back inside the Van De Graaff, the Autobots known as Hoist and Hubcap were hard at work getting crucial systems up and running. A few cycles before Sentinel Prime's final stand at the Stellar Galleries against Lord Deathsaurus and the Breastforce Armada, the Van De Graaff's crew had fled Cybertron in hopes of finding more peaceful pastures, ones that weren't ravaged by the fires of war. It was a wonder how they'd escaped in the battered old exploration ship, possibly managing to avoid the sensors of the larger Decepticon aligned ships in the chaos but in any case, the Van De Graaff had managed to stumble across a wormhole and initiate a slipspace jump. Sadly, this jump had taken its toll on the ship's already battered engines and a good portion of the ship's jump drive had exploded, knocking several members into stasis lock including the ship's captain Pyra Magna and offlining a few more. With only a skeleton crew led by Hoist to guide the ship into a gentle landing, they'd landed on Earth in the mountains of Colorado before the last of the crew slipped into stasis for the next few centuries or so only awakening recently.
Hoist, he was a gentle sort of bot turning into a tow truck aptly enough considering his position. If Perceptor or Rachet were the Autobot's chief surgeons and scientists than Hoist would be a family doctor. Everyone reported to him for their routine check-ups and the like, with Hoist always ready to greet them with a friendly demeanor and a jovial smile.
Hubcap, now he like Hoist spoke with what sounded to humankind with a cultured British accent and was fairly friendly, always with a clever joke and was always this affable bot to be around transforming into this old 30s coupe, not unlike the one you'd find on the cover of ZZ Top's album Eliminator. No small wonder he and Hoist struck up a friendship. His greatest talent, however, was his audio receptors, and back on Cybertron, he was head of the Autobot Communications Hub.
"Primus damnit, there go the lights..." Hubcap muttered. "Going to have to fix that... again. I really should check the maintenance ducts, just in case we've got an infestation of scraplets on our hands."
"Please, don't make me think about that," Hoist said as he used a small tool to weld some wires back together. "I'm already nervous enough as it is, being tasked with repairing as many systems as I can on this ship without having to worry about Scraplet infestations."
"Just saying, on a ship this old you don't know what lurks in the dark..." Hubcap replied. "Can never be too careful,"
"Yes, yes, I know that. But if there were a Scraplet infestation, we'd probably already know by now. Primus, we'd all be dead actually. They'd have taken no time in devouring us all while we were offline or in stasis, you know that."
"Right... Right," Hubcap reminded himself and shook his head. "Silly me. The mind tends to wander though, when you've got very little to do and you're just couped up in one place for too long. Cabin fever, I believe the humans call it right?"
"Just keep your mind on your work, and just that. Doctor's orders," Hoist recommended. "Should keep your mind from thinking up ideas that'll send shudders down all our sparks. Tell you what, I'll ask Night Ranger if he can switch duties with you when he returns, get you out on your wheels again, that'll cure you of your cabin fever right quick I think,"
"Thanks," Hubcap replied. "Now, hand me that power inducer, I'm going to see if I can stir some life into the shields okay?"
Hoist tossed him the item in question and sighed. Bad luck, and poor judgement, that's what it came down to when they chose this particular ship. Once, the Van De Graaff had been a mighty fine ship in her own right, before the dawn of Megatron but that was millions and millions of years ago. Now, it was just scrap. Glorious scrap sure, but still scrap. For a brief moment, Hoist let his mind wander. He liked to believe, and he admitted this was a simple romantic fantasy, that every ship had it's stories to tell. Stories of glorious adventures, daring escapes, fantastic rescues, and dashing crews. He wondered what this ship might have experienced in it's lifetime, where did it go, what did it's crews see? The Klud of Pequod, the Rock Lords of Quartex, or maybe even the dreaded Chaos of the planet Dread?
He shook himself away from those thoughts, he had more important things to worry about right now. His optics drifted towards the Bridge of the ship, where their Captain and commander Pyra Magna of the Cybertronian aligned planet Caminus rested, still in stasis lock. She was in need of an energon transplant, and with their own supplies at the moment so low nobody could provide such a thing. Hopefully, if Outback or Smallfoot made contact with Prowl's group or found a supply of raw Energon than that problem could be remedied but for now all he could do was keep her stable.
"All I can do," Hoist thought to himself. "Yeah, that about sums up my role on this ship so far..."
Meanwhile, miles and miles away off the coast of India lay the island of Sri Lanka. Probably the last place you'd expect any Cybertronian to ever step foot on, but yet here Steeljaw and Filch were, in its jungles and caught in the middle of an afternoon rainstorm.
"You do take me to the most wonderful of places, don't you," Filch drawled. "First Mexico City to meet a massive Predacon with anger management issues, and now here in search of a creature called the Devil Bird by the locals."
"Well, if Thunder Clash says one of his oldest friends is here, someone we can trust, then I have no reason to doubt him," Steeljaw replied. "Besides, think of it as an adventure, like Indiana Jones or Lara Croft. Don't think I haven't caught you watching those human films in your spare time."
If Filch could have blushed, she would have. "So, remind me, what's the so-called cryptid we're searching for here?" she asked.
"Ah yes, the Devil Bird of Sri Lanka. Supposedly, and I do wonder where these humans think up these legends, there was once this jealous husband who doubted the legitimacy of his child. So, in a fit of anger, he killed both wife and child and now the wife roams the skies of the island with her cries of anguish being death omens,"
"Like I said, you take me to the most wonderful places," Filch deadpanned. "Sounds like a load of absolute crap to me."
"It is," Steeljaw agreed. "Most humans these days, at least ones not caught up in superstition believe that the real-life Devil Bird is this Eagle Owl, and because they live in the deep jungles and have widespread habitats all over the island they're a very rare sight these days. However, all legends had to start somewhere right? And I don't mean from some Earth bird..."
"Thunder Clash believes the Devil Bird is this old friend of his right? Airazor, he calls her?"
"Yeah, that's her," Steeljaw replied. "With a bit of luck, we may just find her. No, not luck. I've just broadcasted our spark signature and any Predacon on this island should come to us if only out of curiosity."
"Or to defend their turf," Filch reminded. "Predacons, not the friendly sort. You just got lucky with me."
"Yes, quite." Steeljaw said as he turned back to look at Filch smiled at her, and for whatever reason, the Corvicon felt her face grow hot. "Now, come. Time's not on our side, and I don't want to be caught out here after dark. Not just Predacons we have to worry about after all..."
If Steeljaw had been looking closely, he might have seen a cat-like figure dart between the bushes and off into the darkness... |
Equestria Girls: Transformation | Part 23: The Devils in the Darkness | Sri Lanka:
Sri Lanka, perhaps best known as an island-nation to the south of India, is known to some as 'Teardrop of the Indian Ocean'. Once part of a truly massive landmass known as Gondwana that connected it to nations now known as India, Antarctica, Australia and Madagascar, the country is able to boast over 2,500 years of unrecorded history. But it was this very simple fact, that the country boasts an unrecorded past, makes it shrouded in myth and mystery. It's supposedly witnessed dagger-clawed inhabitants, jaw-dropping monuments and monoliths constructed by aliens and malevolent gods who roamed amongst mere mortal men. Combine all of this and that made travelling to Sri Lanka just that much more exciting. And depending on the time of year and the weather, very, very unpleasant. As Steeljaw and Filch were just starting to find out.
"For the record, I just want to say, I'm completely and utterly against this," Filch stated, as she in her natural beast mode flapped high above Steeljaw, who was traveling along a probably long disused dirt road that was made no better by the pounding pouring rain that turned the dirt into mud. "I mean, ugh... You know how long it's going to take to get this out of my servos? Think I can feel my joints rusting already!"
"You'll manage, and as a medic, I don't think your joints will rust from a simple rain shower," Steeljaw remarked, windshield wipers working furiously against the torrent and in no mood for Filch's bitching for the moment. "You've weathered worse, you grew up in the Sea of Rust for Primus's sake did you not?"
"Just saying, been all over the world with you by now it seems like, traveled half the galaxy and some nice weather should be owed to us by now at this point don't you think?" Filch continued, still ranting. "By Onyx's spark, I'm already getting flashbacks of every sort to Mexico! You absolutely certain we can trust this friend of Thunder Clash's? I mean, Predacons by nature -And I should know- aren't naturally good-tempered and liable to welcome strangers into their dens with open arms!"
"Well, I'll just have to use my charismatic charm if all else fails," Steeljaw remarked.
Filch could barely hold back rolling her eyes. "Yeah, like that's always worked so well before," the Corvicon muttered, shaking her head in mid-flight. Why she liked this idiot was beyond her at times.
"You worry too much, if you ask me," Steeljaw said, rolling his own optics. "If we say Thunder Clash vouched for us, then chances are Airazor won't want to render us to ribbons with her talons,"
"Or she won't believe us and then she'll try and make us her dinner. Did I ever tell you Predacons are all carnivorous? Especially the larger breeds?" Filch remarked nervously. "Actually, on that subject did Thunder Clash tell us what we should be looking for or are we going to be wandering around in the jungles till the slagging Pit freezes over?"
"...Well, no, not exactly," Steeljaw admitted with a touch of embarrassment. "But from local descriptions, and the name I'd presume some large bird."
"No shit, Sherlock," Filch remarked. "Some large bird. Oh yes, that's very helpful." she drawled.
"Hold up," Steeljaw said, pulling to a halt as he saw something dash between the undergrowth. He could vaguely make out a shape, with lightning flashing long enough for a pure white feline head to be revealed "You see that? Something moving out there, in the darkness."
Filch perched herself atop a tree branch, optics narrowing as she trained her vision to where Steeljaw was looking. "No heat sigs, or sparks detected. Maybe your imagination's playing tricks on you."
"Maybe..." Steeljaw commented, though he sounded if he didn't really believe that from his tone. "Or maybe Airazor's not the only Predacon out here. Spark masking, it's a favorite trick of Predacons. And I swore I saw something. Swear by my spark."
"And I believe you, but it could just be a tiger or some other form of big cat though,"
"An albino tiger?" Steeljaw asked, sounding skeptical.
"It happens. Rare, but it happens," Filch remarked. "Okay, so aside from this Devil Bird what should we be on the lookout for, myth-wise?"
"Well, Hinduism and India, in general, has a large number of myths, like the Byangoma, a purely blind bird that supposedly tells your fortune and with a few drops of blood from a donor, their sight can be activated," Steeljaw remarked. "Then there's the Narasimha, an avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu, a creature who is supposed to incarnate in the form of a half lion, half man and uses this form to destroy evil, and end religious persecution and calamity on Earth, thereby restoring Dharma, whatever the hell that is," he muttered, and Filch gave him a look seemingly judging if he was crazy or not. "Hey, I don't make this stuff up, blame the humans!" he shouted in return.
"...Considering the Aztec and Mayan myths," Filch murmured to herself. "That load of slag sounds no less crazier than half of the stuff there. Tamer even, really if you want my opinion. But chances are, considering our track record we might just run into the real-world embodiments and inspirations for those myths," she remarked, almost in a challenging tone seemingly daring the Narasimha to jump out of the bushes and claw her to shreds. After a few moments of nothing happening, she gave out a shrug with her wings and took back to the skies with Steeljaw following after her kicking up mud in his wake. What either of them failed to notice was a pair of yellow felid eyes glaring at them, narrowing slightly with sharp claws glimmering in the moonlight before their owner vanished back into the darkness from whence he'd came. He'd reveal himself in time. For now, he'd let these two just think him a trick of the light. After all, he was a patient sort. Meanwhile, Steeljaw and Filch continued deeper into the jungle.
"Course, interesting thing here," Steeljaw remarked, trying to put his mind at ease by continuing his lecture on Sri Lanka, India, and their myths. "Hinduism isn't the main religion here. No, that title belongs to Theravada Buddhism. Here, that's the big thing, not Hinduism. In fact, Sri Lanka, has 70% of the country's population as followers of this belief. Not to say there isn't any, 12% of the populace is-" he began to ramble on before Filch stopped him.
"I always wondered what you do in your spare time," Filch remarked with a flat look. "Now I know."
"You try staying cooped up in a crashed starship with nothing else to do besides track this thing down, track that guy down. You get unbelievably bored," Steeljaw replied. "So it was hitting the books for me as the humans say to try and relieve some of that boredom. Interestingly, and I think we both should take notice of this, the Burmese version of Buddhism has creatures called Belu or in Hindu terms the Rakshasa which basically amount to humanoid beings capable of shapeshifting and both could be good or evil. Sound familiar?" Steeljaw remarked and it wasn't that hard to imagine that if he was in robot mode he'd be smirking.
"Ah, there's our Predacon then. A Rakshasa. It's not too hard to believe, like the Aztec and Mayan myths of Kukulkan and Quetzalcoatl, that some cultures wound up believing in the same beast," Filch theorized. "Perhaps Sri Lankan myth and Hinduism both have a Devil Bird of sorts, only it's what would be called a Rakshasa or in other words a Predacon," she remarked. "Speaking of Predacons, what do you think happened to Darksteel, started out as this noble warrior fighting for a cause. Think he just lost his way like so many others when the war kicked into high gear?"
"Sadly, yes," Steeljaw replied. "I think that is indeed the case. And in the end..."
"It only got him caught up with the rest of us shitheads and wound up getting him killed, pushing our species further to extinction..." Filch trailed off.
"Yes, quite," Steeljaw replied sadly before switching subjects. "Anyways, we're nearing the human town of Polonnaruwa. There's a few awfully strange reports coming out of there as of late if you're willing to dig deep enough on the human internet, some of which amount to strange blood-curdling screeches in the night. I'd say we've found our friend's current nesting place eh?" he questioned before suddenly his comms crackled to life.
"Steeljaw! There you are, beginning to get worried about you," Breakdown's voice crackled over the comms sounding quite relieved. "Haven't been able to get in touch with you or Filch for that matter for days, not since that disaster in Mexico!"
"Well... Uh, congrats. You found me," Steeljaw replied, sounding somewhat flattered that Breakdown cared about him and Filch that much to actually try and get in touch with them. "So, I presume I'd been presumed dead?"
"For the most part?" Breakdown replied. "Yeah, you pretty much have least amongst those of us who weren't there for the big Predacon VS Onslaught fight. The rest of the crew, like the Vehicons have been trying to claim your quarters and whatever lies within for themselves. It got so bad I actually had to post two Eradicons outside the door just to keep them from ransacking your humble abode as you call it."
"I'm touched. No, really, I am," Steeljaw replied. "But really, you needn't have bothered. I set up a security mechanism that without my handprint to open the door, you're liable to get shot to pieces by an energon cannon. Salvaged it from what was left of Triggerhappy after Darksteel was through with him as his personal chew toy."
"...You really scare me sometimes, you know that right? Just putting that on record," Breakdown replied, suppressing a shudder. "Well, least that solves one mystery that's been nagging at me for a while now. Those Eradicons I placed outside the doors, found a huge bunch of slagged Vehicons laying outside your quarters."
"Yeah, I bet they did," Steeljaw replied. "Vehicons, dumb by default. At this rate, we won't have any cannon fodder left really!"
"Yeah, I wouldn't exactly refer to them as cannon fodder. They just got landed with an unthankful job, really," Breakdown mused. "I mean, I'm surprised they haven't revolted yet. With their numbers, they could overwhelm us easily. There's a reason I try and go out of my way to be kinder to them, like sending them extra Energon when we give them particularly unthankful tasks,"
"You're far too nice to be a Decepticon, you know that right?" Steeljaw replied. "Should have gone and hooked up with the Autobots like your sparkmate did really. You'd fit in well there,"
"Been thinking about that really. Hell, if Onslaught didn't have that personal hunter of his in Flamewar, might just have done that long ago," Breakdown mused. "Look, I'm no fan of this venture, since when did the humans do anything to us? Been thinking, that girl I nearly ran down, the one who's now an Autobot ally, if I hadn't briefly succumbed to my old habits she wouldn't have been caught up in this pile of slag we're all in. Honestly, I say we should have found another world to escape to."
"Hey, not your fault the Autobots managed to catch up with us, and shoot us down over this planet. Still, makes me wonder why this planet in particular. Onslaught never does anything at random," Steeljaw remarked. "It's all part of some master plan to him. We just haven't seen his endgame yet. All I know is, he picked us in particular, out of all the other unhappy former Decepticons on Cybertron for a reason. Something tells me, someday soon, we'll find out exactly what that reason is."
"Yeah..." Breakdown trailed off. "Listen, nice catching up to you. I gotta get back to security patrols. One of the Vehicons swore they saw that black wolf Predacon sneaking about in the vents. Best I go check. Oh, and Steeljaw? Whatever you're doing, stay safe."
With that, the comms clicked off and Breakdown turned to face Swindle and Brawl who were holding him at gunpoint. Behind him, a map of the globe showed Steeljaw's exact location.
"So nice of your friend to finally start talking, eh?" Swindle remarked. "And I'm so glad you're such a good actor." he cackled, before he and Brawl left the small communications room. Breakdown only hung his head in shame.
"Yeah, a good actor..." he thought to himself.
The Autobase:
Perceptor was having a rather interesting day, to say the least after Agent Fowler had shown up and informed him that a month or so back, apparently some sort of winged serpent was sighted above Mexico City, along with military vehicles and supercars taking to the streets and that the Mexican government only now just saw it fit to inform him of what was going on. It didn't take much of a guess to figure out the Decepticons were in Mexico for whatever reason that month and whatever the case, probably wasn't anything good. And it just got more interesting with what was happening now.
"Road Rage to base, requesting pick-up for two." the femme chimed in, sounding rather cheery if Perceptor wasn't mistaken.
"I'm sorry, two?" Perceptor's could help himself, his voice coming out as a stutter of shock. "What about Octane, did you catch him?"
"No, he got away, but I just met up with an old friend..." Road Rage replied.
"Right then," Perceptor replied. "I'll be sending the bridge your way short-" he began and reached for the controls before a small beeping on his computer console interrupted him from his duties.
"Something wrong?" Road Rage asked, her voice suddenly turning concerned.
"Maybe, maybe not. Old Autobot signal, this frequency hasn't been used in years!" Perceptor exclaimed in shock. "Best I have a listen, just in case."
"Woah, woah," Road Rage stated. "How do you know it's not Decepticons, trying to figure out where our base is?" she asked cautiously before another voice chimed in. Nebulan, in accent.
"Well, for one thing, those dingos wouldn't know how to hack even if killed 'em," Outback chimed in making Perceptor's eyes widen. He knew that voice. He just hadn't heard it in ages. "Secondly, I can vouch for that frequency given I, along with the rest of the crew of the Van De Graaff use it. That's one of ours, Smallfoot I reckon given she's the only other one scouting Earth about now. Hell, it's only thanks to her we know about you lot!"
"Okay, well if that's the case..." Perceptor murmured, looking into the exact specifics of the transmission. It was indeed Smallfoot, requesting pick-up via Groundbridge to their base.
"Perceptor?" Smallfoot asked in shock, optics probably widened. "That you?"
"Yeah, it's me. So, where have you been all this time, and more importantly what are you and Outback doing on Earth?"
"Ah, that's a story in itself really. And it's not just me and Outback, few others too like Night Ranger and Hoist. Whole ship's worth. I'll explain more soon as you guys open the door, as it were."
"Okay, I'll bridge Outback and Road Rage in first, then you. The last thing we want is two Groundbridges sent to the same place connecting, and forming a bridge to some parallel plane. Basic groundbridge safety, right then and there," Perceptor replied, and pressed a few buttons on his console, his fingers lighting up the keypad, and soon a swirling blue-green vortex of energy opened with Road Rage and Outback driving through, and then that one closed only to be followed by another with Smallfoot in vehicle mode arriving through that one. Parts shifted, and the entire front half of the truck formed arms with the grill guard winding up on Smallfoot's chest as the back half of the truck flipped outwards and became legs, with a green visor popping down over Smallfoot's optics.
"Well, so nice to see we're not alone on this planet anymore, gotta say," Smallfoot remarked, the minibot femme strutting around the base and seating herself atop a pile of crates. "Road Rage, so nice to see you again! Been decacycles! See you finally got that Elite Guard position you've been wanting for ages!" she chirped merrily noting the winged badge on Road Rage's chest plating. "Where's Hound? Never seen you without him, really."
A discomforting silence fell over the base, and Outback hung his head.
"By Primus..." he whispered. "Never thought someone would do the old slagger in. Thought it was just a rumor, but now...?"
"Who did it, who?" Smallfoot asked, her fists clenched.
"Who do you think?" Road Rage replied. "That bitch, Flamewar. Shot him right through the spark, left us with the options of either reformatting him into a completely new bot, or..."
"Yeah..." Smallfoot sniffled. "I-I understand. Hound wouldn't have wanted that, it'd have been like taking away everything he ever was. Please tell me Flamewar's suffered for that?"
"Haven't killed her yet," Road Rage replied. "But I've made sure she's gotten a few knocks and dings since."
"Good," Outback replied. "Bitch deserves it. Say, where's Prowl?"
"Out on a scouting run, heard of an Energon deposit that might have been worth mining or at least taking a look at. Hopefully, he'll get to it before the 'Cons get wind of it, and send Octane down to sweep it out from under us." Perceptor explained.
"And Sentinel Prime's okay with this? One of his top troops going off on his own like this?"
A loud laughter echoed through the base as Swerve walked up, the minibot clutching his sides in amusement. "Sentinel?" he laughed. "Wooooow, you guys are really, and I mean really behind the times. Sentinel was two Primes ago! We're on Nova Prime now!"
"Well, excuse us for fleeing before Cybertron became even more of a Pit than it was already!" Smallfoot snapped, and before a fight could break out between her and Swerve, Outback managed to step in between the two.
"Woah woah, cool your engines mates," the Toyota alt-moded Autobot remarked. "We're all friends here, right guys? Save the punches for the 'Cons, eh?"
"So, what happened to Sentinel?" Smallfoot asked curiously, eyebrow raised under her visor. "I mean, guy was a jackass at times, but I always thought he'd live forever. He took punches, man oh man did he take them! Seemed invincible."
"Alas, if that were only the case eh?" Perceptor remarked. "Sadly, Deathsaurus had other ideas. And frankly, if you pardon me speaking ill of the dead, I'm more impressed with the Prime who came next. Sentinel, good at leadership and combat, but like you said his personality left something to be... desired."
"Too true," Outback agreed. "Wasn't the most empathic of Primes. I'll say that much. So, who'd we get next?"
"You ever heard of that archivist named Orion Pax, the one who always accompanied Megatron when he was making waves in the political arena?" Swerve asked.
Smallfoot and Outback nodded, before they shared a look with optics widened.
"Wait, you don't mean to say...?" Smallfoot trailed off.
"Yep, right on the money there. Orion Pax, got handed the Matrix of Leadership after Sentinel got scrapped and became Optimus Prime," Swerve continued. "Man, was I, along with everyone else shocked when this massive truck came barreling through the ruins of Polyhex. I remember it like it was yesterday..."
Megatron smirked as he watched one of the walls of the once mighty city-state of Polyhex come crumbling down. The siege was almost over, the Autobots just didn't know it yet. Amongst the spilled energon, the ruined walls, and towers of fire rising high into the night sky, the Decepticon leader drove his forces into the heart of the city. He chuckled. Onslaught had done good work today, the Combaticon leader and his siege forces weakening the defenses of the city for Megatron to give the final push as it were.
His gaze briefly wandered to a nearby battlefield, where he saw Onslaught pointing to a group of entrenched Autobot soldiers. A shout rang out amongst the battlefield, Onslaught ordering: "Armored Division, assume siege modes and open fire at designated coordinates. We're taking control of this situation, ending this farce!"
Parts shifted as tanks became cannons, and shelled the Autobot forces with mortar shots, showering them practically. Ruins of the once great city were coming down all around them, with Autobot known as Trailbreaker only just barely able to hold back the crumbling rubble with his forcefield generator, creating a small energy bubble of orange-yellow light over the group.
"Again!" Onslaught ordered, pointing directly at the Autobots. "I don't want a single Autobot standing, you hear?"
The armor division began to ready their next wave of shots, as Trailbreaker looked towards another Autobot. Hound, if Megatron remembered correctly.
"Sir, I'm not sure we can take another shelling like that!" he shouted, cracks like little fractures of glass in his forcefield already beginning to show. "Now, I'm all for one final last stand, going out in a blaze of glory and all that and getting tales to be told about us, but this is foolish! I'm opting for a surrender! Maybe... just maybe, we'll get lucky and they'll just take us prisoner instead!"
Megatron smirked as he saw Trailbreaker reaching for a flag, only for his smile to drop when he used it to bind Hound's wounds, a small argument seemingly reinvigorating Trailbreaker's lost courage. The remaining Autobot forces charged, right through the heart of Onslaught's own troops catching them off guard and in this momentary burst of surprise they scythed their way through the armored division with Road Rage drop kicking Onslaught to the ground.
Megatron let out a small burst of laughter, he had to admire their bravery and loyalty to their own or whatever it was that kept this group going. He was banking on stupidity personally. Aiming his infamous fusion cannon, the Great Slagmaker fired one shot at Hound, a purple ball of energon heading right towards the dark green soldier. Trailbreaker's eyes widened, and just in time, he threw up a shield which held briefly but shattered and sent it's own flying back into some rubble.
"Oh, such heroic nonsense..." Megatron muttered to himself, shaking his head. "But nonsense all the same." he readied his fusion cannon for another shot, this one aimed directly at Hound's spark. One clean blast, a quick and simple death for the battered Autobot. Practically painless. He deserved that much, Megatron admitted, for lasting this long with nobody coming to back him or his troops up. He admired that in his foes, their tenacity.
Then, before the shot could be fired, he heard the loud rumble of an engine, and his head whipped around to see a ring-adorned metallic bridge beginning to form, metal shifting and merging as from a highway from Iacon came a shape. Red and blue, streamlined resembling a truck of some sort.
Smashing through a small barricade, sending Vehicons flying into the air the truck continued its advance. Megatron's optics narrowed, something about that truck seemed almost... familiar in some way. He just couldn't place this familiarity.
"Well, I have to admire this one for his bravery. And his foolishness." Megatron mused.
The truck picked up speed, and finally Megatron's soldiers recovered from their stunned stupor and opened fire. One of his jets launched a missile at the truck, who simply swerved to the side to avoid the blast. Another missile was fired, this one exploding behind the truck and the ground beneath his wheels began to crumble out from under him, but the truck didn't seem to be bothered, and only picked up speed. He proceeded to begin plowing right through the ranks, sending Bombshock flying skywards and the truck crushing another Insecticon named Chop Shop under his wheels. One Seeker, named Hooligan with a tiger stripe color scheme tried to launch himself skywards, and was indeed launched when he was rammed head-on by this newcomer, Hooligan only having a brief second to see himself in the gleaming red paint of the truck's front end before he went flying.
Kickback and another Seeker, Red Wing tried and all credit where credit was due, tried to fire upon this newcomer but were simply knocked aside with Red Wing getting the worst of it.
It was then Breakdown summed up what was probably on everyone's minds about then with a remark of: "Oh, we're screwed man!" and transformed fleeing the battlefield as with a shifting and whirring of parts the unknown Autobot transformed into a massive bipedal shape. This shape was mostly comprised of a red paint scheme with blue legs, and a blue horned head that had a battle mask flip up over the Bot's faceplates leaving only two stoic blue optics visible.
Several Vehicons, in one last desperate struggle tried to take him on, but were only cut down by an orange bladed battle axe, one getting split right down the middle.
Megatron's eyes widened, as he felt a familiar surge of energy from the unknown Autobot, a surge he'd felt only a few times before in the presence of one other Autobot. The distinctive energies of the Matrix of Leadership.
"You... Who are you!?!" Megatron yelled out at the unknown Prime, a blade of metal flipping out from his wrist.
"Your worst nightmare. You've caused enough destruction for one day... Megatronus." the Prime said, and then Megatron finally placed it, the familiarity. That voice, those colors and the familiarity of the name he called him by. Only one bot with a combination of those features ever existed in his memory banks.
"Orion..." Megatron smiled warmly. Not his usual cruel smile, but one of pride. "So, you've become a Prime now have you? Guess those old fools in the high council really did get desperate, to choose a clerk as the successor of the great Sentinel Prime!" he teased in a lighthearted manner.
"Megatronus, it truly sorrows me how far you've fallen," Orion remarked. "Look around you, just take a look around! Is this what you wanted when you vied for change?"
"It was the only way Orion!" Megatron argued, their blades meeting with a scatter of sparks. "Those stubborn old fools wouldn't know change if it stared them in the face!"
"The name is Optimus now, Megatron," Orion replied, blades meeting once more, each matching the other in equal combat. Long ago, before the two diverged Megatron taught Orion in the ways of combat, just in case the time arrived where he would need to defend himself he would know how. Optimus understood what Megatron meant now, perhaps even back then he was planning his revolution. "Look me in the eye and say you want it ended, and it will end."
"Oh, and it will end Prime," Megatron replied. "As soon as the old world order is torn down, and my ideas replace it. No more with Cybertronians suffer under a classist system, one which delegates their standing in life via their alt-modes!" he shouted, dodging a downwards swing from Optimus's axe. All the while, Autobots and Decepticons alike watched from little hiding holes in the rubble -Swerve amongst them- as the two great warriors and old friends did battle.
"And you'll do this by reducing Cybertron to ruin?" Optimus snarled. "Destroying anyone who stands in your way?"
"Why must you persist, old friend?" Megatron asked, blades meeting once more.
"Don't be surprised, Megatron. This is exactly what you wanted, a common cause united for change. It's just you're not on that cause. And I fight you not as the leader of the Autobots, but as the leader of all Transformers! Understand this old friend," Optimus remarked. "Until I bring you back from the edge of the abyss you so chose to stand on, I will not give in and I will not let Cybertron fall to your warmongering!"
"Understand this. So long as you stand in my way- so long as anybody stands in my way, I will respond by killing. Murder on an industrial scale," Megatron replied, and Optimus hung his head in shame and sorrow, realizing that words would not be enough to sway his old friend from his current path. "Because in the final analysis, I would happily wade across a river of corpses, chest-deep in rust and grease and engine oil, just to crush the spark of the last Autobot standing. And I would do so not simply as a means to an end, no. I'd do it, Prime, because it would give me pleasure."
A sudden roar of rage from Optimus, and a powerful swing cleaved a long gash in Megatron's chest plates, and Megatron, sensing the tide of battle had turned at least for the moment transformed into his jet mode and rocketed skywards Optimus watching him all the while. No, this would not be the end of their conflict. It was only the beginning.
"Now that... That was a day that'll live long in history, don't you think?" Swerve remarked.
"Yeah, the war started to finally turn in our favor for the first time in cycles, I'd like to think," Outback agreed. "Those dingos had a new challenge now, not just a Prime who was skilled in combat and leadership, but one who progressed more than a degree of empathy as well, something that had been lacking from the lineage of Primes for ages. Hell, I think old Ops turned a few Decepticons to the Autobot side just by his offers of mercy or other acts of kindness," he remarked.
"Yeah, that's what we needed," Perceptor agreed. "A leader who was truly focused on ending the war, not just scrapping every Decepticon in sight. Someone who had vision. Seemed like a hopeless dream back then, but..."
"Look at it now," Swerve smiled. "It's a reality. Cybertron's slowly piecing itself back together, bit by bit and for the most part old grudges have been cast aside. Hell, Optimus's successor even made peace with the Predacons! We have both him and Optimus to thank for... well, having good bots like Sunder along," Swerve smiled gesturing to the rafters where the eagle-like Predacon was resting, before bleeping out his usual greeting. "But, like I said, for the most part."
Just then, the sound of a helicopter's rotors was heard from somewhere above, and Perceptor and Swerve shared a nod. "Yep, that'd be Fowler. I remember him saying he was supposed to check up on us, to see if we haven't pancaked a mini-mall or something or other." Perceptor remarked before scoffing. "Like we'd be so careless!"
"Who's Fowler?" Smallfoot had to ask.
"Our handl-" Swerve began before Road Rage cut him off.
"Our official liaison with the US government, amongst other things," she corrected him. "He, along with two others kinda keep our existence a secret from humankind as we all doubt they're ready to handle the idea of giant alien robots existing just yet." Road Rage remarked, and Outback chuckled.
"Yeah, I can imagine." the Autobot commented as Smallfoot shrugged.
"Hey, you guys are so pessimistic," Smallfoot commented. "Who's to say, maybe humanity will welcome us with open arms!"
"Oh yeah, then why'd we take Earth alt-modes?" Outback sniped even as Fowler walked in, blinking as he did so.
"Okay... Am I imagining things or did you guys multiply?" he asked slowly, only for Smallfoot to wave confirming that no, he wasn't on drugs.
"Yeah, hi! Name's Smallfoot, official scout of the Cybertronian ship the Van De Graff. That's Outback, my partner in crime if you will." she said with Outback giving a small bow.
"Greetings mate," Outback smiled. "Pleasure's all mine, first time I've met a human I admit. I was expecting you to be... sorta bigger with the way these guys talk about you. You know, how Primes and other important bots get bigger chassis?"
"Uh... no, I actually don't..." Fowler trailed off, quite confused and a bit flattered he supposed. "So seems my job just got that little bit harder. Please tell me you guys had enough sense to take Earth vehicle disguises?" he asked, and Outback and Smallfoot gave him looks. Fowler laughed nervously. "Okay, stupid question. How many of you guys are there now?"
"Alive or dead, mate?" Outback remarked.
"Alive," Fowler remarked.
"In that case, aside from the ones you already know about, it'd be me, Smallfoot, Hoist, Hubcap, Night Ranger and our commander Pyra Magna," Outback replied, and a few optics were raised, especially at the name Pyra Magna. It was said of Pyra Magna, that her very spark burned with a powerful flame that fueled her absolute, relentless will to survive. She never gave up, never backed down. In some ways, she could be the female counterpart to one Optimus Prime. She excelled at making the hard choices and had many victories to her name. The question is, why would she flee Cybertron on the Van De Graaff?
"Hoo boy..." Fowler muttered, rubbing his temples and phoning someone, possibly the Pentagon or Special Agent Chrysalis at least.
"Nice guy," Outback remarked. "Needs to let off some stress a bit more."
"Yeah, but he comes through when you need him. And for the record," Road Rage remarked. "I so ship him and Captain Spitfire."
"I heard that!" Fowler piped up in the background, knowing exactly what shipping was no thanks to both Chrysalis and his daughter's fanfictions for something called Puella Magi Madoka Magica he'd unluckily stumbled across.
"Never change, never change..." Smallfoot replied, shaking her head. "Anyways, yeah, I did notice you get pursued by Eradicons and Vehicons a month or so back, and before that I saw you fighting a few Decepticons in Japan at a Nuclear power plant," Smallfoot remarked before shuddering. "Primus, can't imagine whoever is leading the Cons these days would want with nuclear fuel rods. I know they can be converted into energon, but not much else."
"You think maybe, and I hesitate to even think of the idea, they're reviving the old Toxitron idea, but in small scale?" Swerve suggested.
"The what idea?" Fowler questioned, hesitating to even ask. Swerve continued on, not really acknowledging his presence. This was normal for him, when he rambled everyone else sorta just faded into the background if you will.
"By Nexus Prime, you remember some of the 'Con Experiments during the war? Like Toxitron? Y'all remember Toxitron right? You know why he was called that right? Dripping with Tox-En!" Swerve exclaimed, fighting back a shudder. Smallfoot wasn't so lucky.
"Yeah, I remember that one. Dripping with that slime, whenever he came along we had to evacuate entire cities! Pretty sure Wheeljack at one point theorized the only way to stop him was a shot from low orbit! Did that ever happen by the way?" she inquired.
"Nah," Swerve replied. "We just got a Dynobot by the name of Swoop to drop a bomb down his throat."
"Sweet Abraham Lincoln and George Washington's lovechild..." Fowler muttered, not for the first time reminded that these guys weren't just a ragtag bunch of misfits but soldiers as well.
"Well, we'll figure this all out," Outback nodded. "Now, we've seen your base. I think it's only fair you see ours right?"
"Quite." Perceptor smiled as Outback fed the coordinates for the Van De Graaff's crash site into the computers, before pressing a button and a swirling green vortex of energy opened up once more.
"Wish we could lay out the welcome mat, but apologies, place is a mess," Outback said as the group stepped through.
"Eh, how bad could it be?" Perceptor remarked. "I've seen Cybertron after the war, this can't be any worse, right?" he asked, looking towards Sunder as if to ask him to keep an eye on things while they were gone. Sunder, understanding him somehow gave him a salute with one of his wings as the group vanished into the groundbridge... |
Equestria Girls: Transformation | Part 24: The Van De Graaff | Greece: The Island of Rhodes
If it were any other time on the Island of Rhodes, Fowler or Spitfire would have every right to be very concerned about hostile aliens being revealed to the public at large. Thankfully, it wasn't a time to be concerned, as for one thing it was under cover of night the Decepticons laid siege to the island in search of a rumored Predacon, and secondly, currently there was a particularly nasty storm front coming through.
The ancient Acropolis, that was the battlefield as weapons fired under the howling, slashing winds and rolling thunder.
It was supposed to be a simple snatch and grab for the Decepticons involved, that's all it was supposed to be. But as ever, things were often easier said than done. The rumors coming out of Greece told of Orthrus, a giant two-headed dog -Brother of the much more famous Cerberus- supposedly slain by Heracles. Evidently, that wasn't entirely the case as shown by the poor Vehicon currently being cooked to a crisp and reduced to molten metal and slag by the Predacon's plasma breath attacks. Nor was Orthrus a two-headed dog, as eyewitness reports and legends stated. No, he was actually a two-headed, twin-tailed dragon calling himself Sinnertwin.
Now, the legends around Orthrus stated he was a guardian of the cattle of some guy called Geryon. Personally, right now Breakdown doubted those myths even as he watched the aptly named Sinnertwin's heads rip one poor Vehicon clean in half Energon flying everywhere. He suspected Sinnertwin would have more likely eaten the cattle.
"Rip Autobots! Rrr, rip and tear!" Sinnertwin snarled as he tossed the two pieces aside, before firing more blasts of plasma at the Decepticons. This led Breakdown to one of two conclusions. A, Sinnertwin wasn't intelligent enough to differate between sides or B, he just didn't give a damn. Breakdown honestly wasn't sure which yet.
Swapping one of his hands out for a massive sledgehammer, he charged towards the monstrous Predacon. "Karma's a bitch, now think twice before attacking an innocent. You're nothing more to me then garbage and hey.... It's garbage day! Time for you to have a little... Ahem, Breakdown!"
He slammed the hammer into the side of one of Sinnertwin's heads and sparks flew as the Predacon staggered to the side, before one of the two heads lunged and grabbed Breakdown by the arm before raising him up high and then slamming him back down into the ground with a mighty earthshaking thud.
As Breakdown picked himself up off the ground metal groaning out in pain, Brawl pointed at the Predacon. "Concentrate your fire, take him out! I don't care what the boss says, this mission's a bust!"
For the record, the original plan was to capture Sinnertwin, throw an electro-shock collar around his neck like with Darksteel to ensure his loyalty but it seems Sinnertwin had severe objections to this idea.
With a shifting and whirring of parts, Brawl shifted to his tank form before firing off several rounds almost as loud as the thunder of the storm itself. "Heh, I've fought bigger monsters than you, you two-headed lizard! Eradicons, suppressing fire! Drive him back and box him in!"
Brawl may not have looked or sounded like it, but he was far more than just some brute with heavy metal muscle and powerful armament. He was Onslaught's second in command for a reason. He knew how to work a battlefield.
Laser fire from the Eradicons drove Sinnertwin back, just in time for a tank shell fired from Brawl to hit and knock Sinnertwin back into some age-old mural, stone flying everywhere. Groaning, the Predacon picked himself up off the ground only to get slammed back into it by another hit from Breakdown's hammer. He didn't move, and Breakdown sighed in relief.
"Thought that'd never end, I'll have to commend Brawl for his tactics. Shame, or perhaps not, about us not being able to bring this one in." he thought to himself. He reached his hand out towards Sinnertwin to feel for a spark pulse and performed a little gesture in the air creating the Cybertronian Glyph for Light Follower.
"And stay down, you piece of slag!" Brawl shouted, only to be caught off guard when Sinnertwin's crimson red eyes shot wide open -Evidently he was faking death- and his two heads lunged and grabbed Breakdown by the legs.
He then held him upside down right in front of the Decepticons' guns, using him as a meat shield of sorts. He was using one head to hold him, and the other to speak.
"So, whatcha gonna do now, slaggers?" Sinnertwin asked, his unnaturally sharp fangs that no creature should have ever had now gleaming in the moonlight that was just barely peeking through the clouds. "You gonna shoot one of your own teammates? I know how much your kind value loyalty..."
Brawl hesitated, although he wouldn't like to admit it at the time but he hesitated to fire. He may have had a lot of flaws his brutality chiefest amongst them but some of his old Autobot programmings still persisted. And that included loyalty to his teammates, no matter how much he may or may not have disliked them.
If it were any other situation, like say if it were a Vehicon being held up as a meat shield he would have pulled the trigger and pumped Sinnertwin with megawatts of electricity from his rifle, but in this case...
"I... I..." Brawl started.
"Just shoot him, you pit-be-damned fool!" Breakdown shouted. Brawl fingered the trigger, but still he couldn't bring himself to fire off a shot.
"Slaggit..." Brawl thought to himself, as he began to lower his rifle. No charged particle shots would be fired. At least... not yet.
Seeing Brawl's hesitance, Sinnertwin gave out a vicious smirk. "Just as I thought. Here, catch!" he shouted, before tossing Breakdown into Brawl's forces sending the Eradicons flying and Breakdown himself into the ruins of an old temple dedicated to the sun god Apollo.
Parts shifting and whirring to the classic sounds of Tsche-chu-chu-chu-tsche! Sinnertwin transformed to Robot mode, necks folding back with the entire rear section of his body becoming the legs, and his front legs becoming arms.
With a loud roar, he shoulder-charged Brawl like this American football player before Brawl simply side-stepped out of the way and fired his rifle sending what he thought would be enough pure electricity to take down Sinnertwin for good. But evidently not, given Sinnertwin seemed to be only even more pissed off than ever. Sinnertwin pulled out a rifle of his own and fired shot after shot at Brawl destroying the ancient ruins around them, bricks flying everywhere.
"Suppressing fire, take him down!" Brawl bellowed at his troops though inwardly he had his doubts given that nothing seemed to really slow down this monstrosity of a Predacon. Sure enough, he was right on the money on that aspect given that even with the fire laid down upon the Predacon, Sinnertwin just barreled through the forces, ripping and tearing them apart with his own bare hands if needed.
Like a lot of his fellow Predacons, Sinnertwin was this horrific insult to nature itself. Back on Cybertron, he'd frequently patrolled his little slice of heaven -or Hell depending on how you chose to look at it- looking for any intruders. And if he found any, he would rip, tear and maul them to shreds just because he simply wanted to. He was a humanitarian in that aspect. Given his multiple heads, and sadistic nature this was something nobody wanted to witness to be quite frank.
Brawl had to wonder what exactly Onslaught was thinking when he asked for this thing to be Darksteel's replacement. At least the Hippogriff alt-moded Predacon once had some semblance of morals. This creature did not.
"Is that fear you are feeling, Decepticon? Yes... my spark, it feeds on terror. Let it grow! Let it consume your circuitry! Feel it, yes, feel it! Feel the fear!" Sinnertwin hissed out. "Your persistence is futile, I can only rise again ever the stronger!"
"Then in that case," Breakdown shouted as he ran towards Sinnertwin with his hammer at the ready. "Let us give you that little bit further to fall!"
With that, he smashed his hammer into Sinnertwin's face, armor shattering on impact and nearly caving in the Predacon's head.
"You know what..." Breakdown growled as he and Sinnertwin grappled each other for dominance. "I'm really slaggin' tired of you and your rhetoric."
With that, he pulled back his fist, and slammed it into Sinnertwin's face once more like a powerful piston or a piledriver making him stagger back. Sinnertwin growled and wiped away Energon from his mouth.
"Oh, so you can actually do something. You're not just this big pile of oil and energon fluid ready to be spilled at my leisure. I do like it when my prey puts up a fight..." He smirked.
"Good, then you'll really enjoy this!" Brawl roared, as he pulled one of Sinnertwin's arms right off at the seams, sparks and energon flying everywhere as he did so before using this very same arm as a bludgeon and clubbed Sinnertwin in the face several times.
Finally, from the sheer loss of energon, Sinnertwin fell and slipped into stasis lock. Panting hard, Brawl dropped the arm and motioned for one of the surviving Vehicons to place the collar around Sinnertwin's neck.
"Sure... Sure we shouldn't make it one of those explosive collars like the ones we put on Steeljaw and Filch?" Breakdown advised in a wary tone of voice his spark beat slowly returning to the normal rate.
"Onslaught's specific orders were for this type of collar, but looking at the fight he put up, I'll advise him on it. This one... he's going to be a loose cannon. That much is for sure..." Brawl grumbled, signaling for a Groundbridge and dragging Sinnertwin through it. Breakdown grabbed the arm and followed.
Unknown to them, they were being watched by this massive silver griffon-type transformer with a sword for a tail, who with a shifting of parts turned into this chainmail-clad knight transformer with an Autobot sigil branded over his former Predacon one.
"So, seems the Decepticons are getting just that little bit more active," the wizened old warrior mused to himself, rubbing his faceplates with a finger. One of his hands briefly went for his sword, wondering if he should ambush the Decepticons and finish them off knowing they were undoubtedly tired from the battle with his former comrade, but the Autobot decided against it. Best to watch and wait, see what they did. "Perhaps... Just perhaps it's time for the Knights of Cybertron to step in once more."
This Knight knew the locations of all his former comrades, like Scylla and Sky-Byte. The question was, were they still online or if so did they even want to join the battle once more? Most of them, they'd had enough of the war and the shedding of energon and wanted to be left alone.
"Graah," the Knight mused to himself. "Won't know unless I try. Time to see if I can find that old snake Snaptrap... " he continued to think, before shifting back to his griffon form and taking to the sky. Stormreign, he'd love to know about this new development. Maybe it was time to bring the scourge of the dragonfire back to the earth and wipe the slate clean. It seems even with Megatron's banishment of the Predacons to Earth, there would always be a past that would come back to haunt their kind. Dragonicus just hoped he didn't have to involve the humans in his war against the Decepticons, this was their world after all. The Predacons may have been here first, but humanity took Earth for their own and Dragonicus respected them for that. They were a persistent little species, and he'd love to see how they evolved. And if needed, maybe an old knight in shining armor would be there to protect them.
Colorado: The Van De Graaff
Perceptor honestly didn't know quite what to expect when he stepped onto the floors of the Van De Graaff but what he certainly wasn't expecting was the unmistakable rusting stench of the dead. Even as he ducked his head to avoid some low hanging wires, he saw the body of a Cybertronian, sea blue and lime green in color resting up against a wall, with one of his arms blown off. Next to him, was an old friend Perceptor recognized and did his old spark well to see still functioning. Hoist, having temporarily dropped a medical kit and was shutting the dead Autobot's optics one last time.
"Oh Tow-Line, how little you got to live, and how sad your life was knowing nothing but endless war," Hoist whispered, shaking his head and closing his own optics briefly as he drew the Cybertronic glyphs for light-follower in mid-air with his finger. "May Primus in all his grace show you mercy in the Allspark when this world did not."
"I'm... sorry," Perceptor stated softly, as he rested a hand on one of Hoist's shoulders. He'd never been good with comforting others honestly. There was a reason why he shut himself up in his labs so often, so he wouldn't have to face the realities of the real world. "A friend?"
"Not really, no," Hoist sighed. "Just a fellow refugee, I barely knew him as it was. But he was a kind-sparked one, that much I did know. From what Smallfoot told me, he did idolize me and wanted to be a medical officer just like me." he continued. "Mechanic, that's what his job on the ship was, at least according to the crew manifest."
Hoist held up a small datapad, and Perceptor sadly noted that there were so many names he recognized over the years with a red strike through them. Torca, Alpha Bravo, Rook, Rust Dust, Dust Up, Stratosphere, Greasepit. Just to name a few, really.
"None of them, they weren't just another member of Cybertron's many gun-toting conscripts to me, Perceptor, Some of them... Maybe not all of them w-were my friends."
"I understand your grief, all too well Hoist, lost a friend of my own recently you must understand. But remember and forgive me if this sounds cold but we have to... No, we must concern ourselves with those we can still help. The living."
"Sounds like you've been taking a few cues from Ratchet," Hoist remarked as he turned to look at his old friend. "You were never nearly this nice before. You were always cold, logical. Shut up in those labs of yours."
"Maybe I just didn't have the luxury of that. Being kind, I mean. When you're no longer at war for a time, you can change. Plus, fight's just become that much more personal these days. It's no longer people I barely knew, it's old friends now." Perceptor replied.
"That could do it," Hoist sighed as he began walking down the corridor with the others following. "Only just recently woke up from the stasis of space travel, only now just recently finding the bodies and beginning repairs. With a little bit of luck, maybe just one day the Van De Graaff will fly again. I'm done running from the battlefield. Heard Onslaught wanted to start up a war that's apparently been long over from what Smallfoot told me," Hoist continued, clenching his fist making it crackle with electricity. "I won't let any more friends be lost to a war-monger and his madness."
"Keep up that attitude, and maybe someday you'll make Prime," Smallfoot chirped, always the voice of cheerfulness even in the face of tragedy.
"Don't joke like that," Hoist commented. "Me? A Prime, now that's a good laugh!"
"Who said I was joking?" Smallfoot remarked walking off with a small shrug.
"Well, Optimus did come from being an Archivist of all things..." Perceptor mused, adding in his own two cents as the group continued their walk through the ship's corridors. "Funny how it's always the most humble of beginnings that make the greatest of leaders."
"No kidding!" Outback stated, with a dark laugh. "Nominus, a real bastard as much as I hate to speak ill of the dead, he came from nobility. Think he was as arrogant as the Pit even before he made Prime if I remember correctly."
"Wooooowwww, you guys seem to have really bad luck in leadership," a familiar voice came from behind everyone, and they all turned to look to see Lemon Zest looking up at them. "Just sayin'."
"How long has she been there...?" Perceptor wondered aloud and looked at Smallfoot and Outback who could only shrug.
"Er, do humans have the ability to clone themselves?" Smallfoot asked, as she watched the familiar form of Juniper Montage leap down from the ceiling. Sugarcoat, adjusting her glasses stepped out from behind a crate. "...Because last I checked they weren't with us when we were talking with Fowler."
"Haven't you heard? Humans multiply," Perceptor deadpanned, rubbing his temples. "Really, you had to come along didn't you?"
"For the record," Sugarcoat remarked, rubbing her glasses in annoyance. "I just want to say I was dragged into this by these two numbskulls." she stated, pointing at her friends.
"Hey, an Autobot ship's an Autobot ship," Lemon shrugged. "I wanted to meet the new guys, so sue me!"
"...Same, though I wasn't really expecting..." Juniper continued, trying to search for the right words. "Oh, how do I put this politely? Such a..."
"Mess?" Outback remarked, making Juniper blink in surprise over his bluntness. "Agh, don't worry squirt. You can say it aloud. We all know the ship's in quite the sorry state."
"Wow, you sure like to say things as they are," Juniper remarked in surprise. "...Sorta like Sugarcoat in a way," she teased, nudging a very unamused Sugarcoat with her shoulder.
"Eh, I've never seen sense in beating around the bush really. There's a reason I never became a doctor or a field medic. I'd probably tell someone they're going to die right out, no sense of sugarcoating it at all. I call 'em like I see them. That's my motto!"
"...Yep, sounds like Sugarcoat alright," Juniper remarked. "You sure you aren't her long-lost Cybertronian brother?"
Sugarcoat only harrumphed and tilted her head skywards while Outback just burst out laughing. "You and I squirt, sounds like we're going to get along great! What's your name by the way?"
"Juniper, Juniper Montage," Juniper replied. "Yours?"
"Outback, pleased to meet ya squirt," the Nebulan accented minibot stated, kneeling down to Juniper's level and offering his hand, which Juniper gladly took. "And welcome to our home away from home, the Van De Graaff. Place is a pile of slag and scrap now, but when it was new, one of the shining jewels of the galaxy from what I've been told. Pride of its fleet. Tough old bird, I'll give it that."
"Well, I'll be reprogrammed with a rivet roller," Hubcap remarked. "Humans, actual humans! Never thought I'd see the day when one or in this case three stepped aboard our fine ship," the red Autobot remarked. "Pleasure is all ours. Welcome aboard, miladies!" he said, with a very over the top bow. Hoist just facepalmed.
"Girls, meet Hubcap," Perceptor remarked. "One of the finest communications specialists this side of the Baldigus Belt."
"And my makeshift assistant in repairing this old junk heap," Hoist remarked. "Speaking of which, weren't you trying to get the auto-cannons back online?" he asked, with a critically raised eyebrow.
"Sorry, so sorry. Just heard the commotion, wanted to see what was what. That's all," Hubcap apologized, twirling a wrench in his right hand and holding a welding torch in the other. "I'll get back to work on getting those ready for battle if the time ever comes."
He ran off, before a loud crash and a shout of "I'm okay!" came from somewhere nearby. Hoist facepalmed.
Road Rage, who had been staying mostly silent throughout this whole walk then stifled a sob as she stumbled upon the broken body of a mostly orange Autobot.
"Oh Scoop... " she whispered.
"Was he... I mean, did you know him well?" Juniper asked.
"He... He was a friend," Road Rage murmured, though her tone indicated something more. "Had this penchant for religion, always incorporated it in his combat style."
"You mean he was like this... religious extremist?" Juniper asked delicately, not sure if she really wanted to know. Road Rage gave her a hard look.
"Oh, he was hardly a religious extremist, far from it actually! Scoop, he just had this habit of quoting scripture so often you wanted to shove the Covenant up his..." Road Rage trailed off, and choked on her laughter.
"I... I see." Juniper nodded. "I... I didn't mean any disrespect, just so you know."
"Just... Just don't say anything else, you understand?" Road Rage asked coldly. Juniper got the point, and shut up. After a few moments of silence, Perceptor cleared his throat.
"Okay, so who do we got?" Perceptor asked. "Alive and well, I mean?"
"Well, aside from myself, Hubcap, Smallfoot, and Hoist?" Outback replied. "There's our Captain of this ship Pyra Magna. Plus, Night Ranger should be coming in from patrol any time soon."
"...Small list of survivors..." Perceptor murmured to himself quietly. It was a good crew, it must have been said, but Onslaught was relentless and Primus only knew what his endgame to restart the war was. They'd need all the help they could get, and while Perceptor would gladly take this bunch he would love a few more helping hands. He then noticed Outback and Smallfoot suck in a few awkward breaths at Pyra Magna's name.
"...Something wrong I should know about?" Perceptor asked.
"Oh, how do we put this...?" Hoist murmured. "I know there's that old saying where there's life there's hope, but with Pyra..." he trailed off.
"How bad?" Perceptor asked, getting right to the point.
"Come with me, this is something you have to see for yourself," Hoist stated, gesturing for Perceptor to follow him to the bridge. When they got there, Perceptor's crystal blue optics widened in horror and his jaw dropped.
Pyra Magna was once a fine Autobot, and probably still was if Hoist's information -Which Perceptor was barely paying attention to- was correct. Apparently, while coming to Earth, the Van De Graaff hit an asteroid belt and was knocked around quite a bit. But Pyra, even after the helmsman had been offlined had stayed piloting the ship down to Earth where it had impacted the mountainside it was currently lodged in.
The once majestic Autobot commander was now lying half-offline, a limb hanging loosely at her side. The other had fallen off, and a few energon leaks were present with just a few patch kits here and there barely keeping her alive.
"Did as best as I could, the only right thing to do," Hoist remarked stiffly. "Weathered us through the storm, had to return the favor in some way I guess."
"Okay, judging from the damage and I'm only just getting started with the physical aspects as only Primus knows what kind of damage she has to her psyche," Perceptor mused as he walked over to the much taller Autobot and began scanning her chassis. "I'd say at the very least we'd need an Energon Transfusion, perhaps a total reformatting," he muttered, already getting nightmarish flashbacks to Hound.
"Yeah, I'd suspected about as much..." Hoist murmured, his voice devoid of its usual jovialness. "I'll get a stretcher ready."
Then, they heard a choked back sob, and saw Lemon's form dashing from the room.
"Lemon!" Smallfoot called after her, before running after the young Wondercolt. Eventually, the Minibot caught up with her somewhere outside the ship, at a cliffside overlooking the small towns and rivers and forests below. The sun was setting, casting a beautiful orange glow over the Colorado countryside.
Lemon was sitting on the edge of the cliff, small tears leaking from her eyes. Smallfoot, not entirely sure what to do, sat down next to Lemon and just let her cry into her shoulder.
"Hey, you going to be alright?" Smallfoot asked, dropping her own mask.
"...I... I don't know. When all this started up, I was excited to be around giant robots. Wham, bam! Beating the scrap out of each other, but now... I've just seen so much death and..." she fought back another sob.
"Yeah, I know what you mean. I've lost friends myself, you saw the crew. Who was it for you?"
"H-Hound," Lemon whispered in reply, wiping away some of her tears. "He... He was a friend, helped me get together with my best bud Indigo. Y-You should meet her sometime, something tells me you two would get along. You?"
"Two friends of mine, Shatter and Dropkick. Old friends back during my academy days. Both got lucky enough to be handed the status of Triple-Changer. Wanted them to come with us, but just as the Van De Graaff was being readied for takeoff, we came under Decepticon attack. Held the line for as long as they could, but..."
Smallfoot shut her eyes in remembrance, seeing her two old friends go up in a fireball of an explosion. She had Brawl and another Decepticon, Lugnut to thank for that.
"Listen Lemon, listen well. Cherish the life you have with your friends while you have it, and keep it in your memories, because one day soon they may be just that... Ashes in the wind." Smallfoot stated, and Lemon nodded.
"To old friends?" she asked.
"To old friends."
Far away aboard the Darksyde, Onslaught stood over an operating table with Sinnertwin below him. He pulled out a small blade, flashing with energon. Underneath his battle mask, he smirked.
"Time for my... surgical strike." he said as he lowered the blade to Sinnertwin's torso. |
Equestria Girls: Transformation | Part 25: The Human Factor | The Hoover Dam:
Captain William 'Wild Bill' Lennox considered himself a capable man, he'd been a survivor of the War on Terror, and during that time in Iraq had quickly risen through the ranks to make Captain at the age of only 25. Now, a few years later the Army Ranger found himself doing something less exciting in guarding the Hoover Dam in Colorado. Not that he really minded, as this particular post was actually quite close to home for him, and it allowed him the chance to go home to his wife and daughter without the risk of getting blown up by some insurgent's bomb.
Still, he did have to question why the Hoover Dam was under particularly heavy guard really. Tanks had been positioned in key locations atop cliffs hidden amongst the trees, and army jeeps with mounted turrets patrolled the area.
He, at least in his mind would have liked to chalk it up to just good old-fashioned American patriotism but deep down he knew that wasn't the case. Not too long ago, the Greeks had discovered both the Temple of Apollo and the Acropolis on Rhodes smashed to bits by some unknown force, and it seems tank shells were used to destroy quite a bit of the sites. It was like some great battle had taken place there, and yet because of the storm raging that particular night very few could figure out what exactly had gone on down there.
There had been terrorist groups -local ones mostly- claiming responsibility, but Lennox had heard rumors from a friend of his in Robert Epps that some higher-ups believed that whoever these groups were they wouldn't stop in Greece. There had already been an incident outside Mexico City a few months back where some ancient monuments devoted to some Mayan god had been completely destroyed.
So Lennox suspected that he'd been placed at this particular post just simply because Hoover Dam would probably be next on the list. It was entirely possible everyone was just being paranoid as the Dam wasn't exactly what you'd call a UNESCO World Heritage Site but then again these days it never hurt to be too careful really.
So Lennox just sucked in his gut and followed orders like a good soldier. At least, that's what he'd have liked to have done. He hadn't made Captain just by simply following the orders he was given really. No, there was a moment back in Iraq where he was ordered to pull out of a village when Al-Qaeda troops were closing in on his platoon with heavy armament but the man had stayed his ground.
It may have been the Marine code never to leave a man behind, but Lennox liked to follow that code as well, and he still had men trapped in the rubble of a destroyed house and he was not going to pull out in any form of good conscience by leaving those men behind. One of those men would eventually become the man he was proud to call his best friend, Robert Epps.
"You feel that?" Epps asked him, even as he clutched onto his rifle. "It's... it's that tension in the air. Like something's about to happen, you just don't know what it is, or when it's going to go down."
"Yeah," Lennox remarked. "I feel it. Epps, strange things have been happening lately. You heard on the news a while back, about this brawl on a Maine freeway? Apparently, from the news footage it looked like something out of the Fast and Furious movies."
"Hoo boy, yeah I saw that," Epps replied, shaking his head. "Claimed they were only filming a movie, even had a police car and some local state troopers barricade off the highway but what little I saw of the footage looked too realistic to be some movie to me. Something weird's going on Bill, you and I both know it."
"Tell me about it, World Heritage sites getting attacked, us being re-assigned to guard the Hoover Dam, reports of strange giant monstrous beasts of myth and legend cropping up all over the world? It's like our whole world's gone mad."
"You believe in God right Bill?" Epps asked.
"...Oh, don't start on this. Please don't." Lennox muttered.
"Hey, I'm just saying this could very well be the start of the book of Revelations."
"Okay, when fire and brimstone start falling from the sky, the dead rise from the grave and cats and dogs start living together then I'll believe it," Lennox replied. "Personally right now, I just think it's weird. Not Wrath of God levels of weird but just plain run of the mill weird."
"That's how it starts man," Epps replied. "The good Lord raises up your enemies with his right hand, and then he smites you with his left."
"...I thought it was the other way around?"
Epps shrugged before replying: "It varies." before he and Lennox shared a hearty laugh. "But I will agree with you on this, this post is a strange re-assignment. Not bad of one, there could be worse posts as we could be out there in Mosul or wherever fighting off Boko Haram and his band of nutcases."
"True, true..." Lennox replied. "Thank God for redeployment stateside eh?"
"I'll drink to that," Epps said before he popped open a can of beer. "Quite literally, in fact."
There was a roar of an engine as they, from their current spot atop some jeep's hood saw a deep crimson Chevy Camaro approach, with whoever owned it having apparently put quite a bit of work into it, giving it some matte black detailing on the hood and some nice aftermarket star-themed rims.
"See?" Epps asked as he drunk a bit of his beer. "Now why can't you just go out and buy yourself a nice car like that? Instead, every day you just show up in that God-awful minivan of yours. You do realize you look like a soccer mom, or soccer dad I suppose in that thing right?" he joked.
"Hey, I've got a family to think about, that's why!" Lennox replied. "Gotta drive the kids to school sometimes, and I doubt a muscle car would be particularly helpful in that regard."
"See Lennox, there are two types of cars. The boring soccer dad car, and the fun I want to be a cool fun parent type of car. That Camaro right there? That's the second type. Take a guess as to what's the first." Epps deadpanned.
"...Wait a moment, last I checked civilians weren't allowed on base right?" Lennox asked, ignoring Epp's ribbing.
"How do you know it's a civilian? Could be just one of the guys showing off their fancy cool dad car," he remarked, unable to resist getting in one last gentle ribbing against his friend. "Hell, for all we know it could be the boss."
"...Trust me, I know everyone on base, and nobody -especially not the commander- owns a car like that." Lennox replied, and Epps nodded.
"Good point," he stated before both he and Lennox ran over to the driver's side door of this car and gave a slight tap on the glass. "Um sir, we'd like to see some ID."
Well, in a way I suppose they got that as the car's parts began to shift and move and Epps and Lennox stood slack-jawed as the 'car' began to stand upright before next thing they knew an insectoid-like face with green eyes was staring down at them.
"Oh Hell no!" Epps shouted as he raised his rifle and began firing on the intruder, who simply seemed to brush off the shots. Alarms began to go off all over the dam, and as if to make matters worse both a fuel tanker and the very jeep Lennox and Epps had been sitting on a few moments before followed the car's lead and transformed into massive robots toting equally massive rifles.
"Cleanse the area!" the red robot -Who from his facial features Lennox would call Stinger for the time being- ordered, pointing to the various troops and their vehicles before he grabbed a jeep and tossed it skywards. A cannon shot from a tank positioned high above on a clifftop somewhere rank out just barely missing Stinger's arm before Stinger pulled out what looked to be a massive shuriken -Lennox recognized a few parts of it came from the car's rims- and tossed it cleaving the tank clean in half right down the middle.
The robot who'd transformed from this fuel tanker brought out this giant rotating blade and began cutting a path through the heavy armor firing his rifle at any poor souls who tried to stop him.
"Agh, finally!" Octane shouted. "No more of this robot in disguise crap!"
"You're not kidding!" Swindle agreed as he smashed a troop transport flat with his foot. "I swear, if I had to spend one more day as that jeep listening to human chatter my joints would go numb! They'd lock, seize up! You know how much of a pain that is to deal with?"
Lennox and Epps, during all this chaos took cover behind the wreckage of a building, and Lennox looked at his friend.
"Okay, maybe now I believe you," Lennox stated, as he tried firing off shots with his pistol that seemed to do very little damage against the attacking forces currently razing the place. "Where's your radio?"
"Man, I don't know what kind of backup you plan on calling in to help out, but go right ahead!" Epps shouted in reply as he watched the three robots lay waste to the Dam. "Left cheek, left cheek!"
Lennox quickly grabbed the radio out of Epp's back pocket and called the situation in.
"This is Captain Lennox of the US Army Rangers. We are under attack, I repeat Hoover Dam is under attack by some sort of robot... things!" He shouted.
"This is Special Agent William Fowler," a voice Lennox recognized as one of his old commanders echoed through the radio. "Repeat, over."
"How the...?" Lennox muttered, with a shake of his head. "I said, we are under attack by some giant robot things! That's not the kind of thing you mistake, for fuck's sake!"
"Goddamnit!" Fowler swore in return. "I'll be sending forces your way shortly. Expect GI Joe Skystrikers amongst... other things en route shortly."
"Let's just hope they get here fast," Lennox muttered, as he fired his rifle on Stinger, who was currently engaging in some wanton destruction with another car rim, using it as a chakram to slice a tank in half.
"Oh, now this is just cute," Stinger said as he turned on Lennox, pulling both of his weapons. "Real cute. Some human germ thinking they can go up against me."
"...Yeah, well call it my duty to protect my own," Lennox stated, gritting his teeth as he unloaded more rounds into Stinger's body. During this chaos, he'd noticed very distinctive purple symbols, almost resembling faces on the bodies of the three attacking robots. He didn't know what they meant, maybe they signified their regiment or something. That was his best guess. The Jeep robot, in particular, had a scratched out symbol, a red face with wings on his left shoulder amongst numerous other battle scars.
"You're just like Autobots then..." Stinger remarked as he continued his advance, and lowered himself down to Lennox's level. "Far too loyal to your own. Credit where it's due," he continued, as Lennox found himself backed up against a ruined tank. "You're putting up a fight, but you're nothing against me."
Suddenly, there was a battle cry as Epps leaped out from behind some wreckage, and grabbed onto Stinger's back, the robot flailing about madly as Epps clambered up his backside before he threw a grenade down Stinger's throat.
"Get clear!" Epps shouted as he leaped off Stinger and onto the roof of a car before Lennox nodded and ran for it as Stinger's head exploded, parts and shrapnel alongside this strange blue goo flying everywhere.
"...Well, that's... one minor victory. One down, two to go..." Lennox panted out.
The Autobase:
Meanwhile, currently unaware that their cover had pretty much been blown wide open by the Decepticons, the Autobots had returned Pyra Magna along with the rest of the surviving crew of the Van De Graaff to their outpost deep within Maine's Ghastly Gorge.
Currently, Perceptor had lain Pyra Magna's barely functioning body flat on a table and aside from hooking up tubes to feed her energon and get her internal repair systems back up to full capacity, he with a little help from Hoist was reattaching her missing arm.
"Old girl's as tough as nails, I'll give her that much," Hoist remarked. "Put up a jolly good fight trying to stay alive this long, just hoping someone with more medical experience would find her. She never lost faith."
"And Primus repaid that," Perceptor replied. "You know what they say about Sparks right? When one comes online, the universe gives a cheer of great joy. But when one is extinguished..."
"...The universe weeps," Hoist replied. "Pyra's always been a special sort, you know? That soul of hers, it's always burned with a powerful flame that's fueled her need to survive."
Perceptor cocked an eyebrow at Hoist's choice of phrasing and his tone, but thought nothing more of it.
"Yeah, I believe you, I've heard the stories after all. Her leading her team, the so-called 'Rust Renegades' is proof alone of that," Perceptor replied with a small nod before he took a quick look at her vital signs. "Okay, she's stable, but we need to work fast if we have any chance of saving her. I'm not letting anyone else die, not on my watch!"
"And neither am I," Hoist stated with a firm nod. "Already lost too many, I'm not losing her."
Perceptor nodded, even as he thought to himself. The way Hoist was, so determined to save Pyra above all else almost led one to believe he might have had more than a passing interest in her. But then again, it was just entirely possible that Hoist after losing so many of his crewmates on the Van De Graaff not to mention Primus only knew how many other friends in the war for Cybertron he just didn't want to lose anyone else. Perceptor knew how that felt, it was what drove him to try and save Hound so badly even if in the end he had no choice but to pull the plug.
"We're stronger together than we are apart..." Hoist murmured, reciting an old passage from the Covenant of Primus. Meanwhile, Swordbreaker and Knock Out looked on.
"Stronger together than apart'. Ugh." Swordbreaker muttered, chewing on a cy-gar. Which to Knock Out, looked suspiciously like a bullet casing.
"What?" Knock Out asked. "I rather like the phrase."
Your choice 'Con'. Not mine. It's so... squooshey. I mean, who talks that way?"
"I don't know--nice people?" Knock Out deadpanned. "And just so I can remind you, I was only forced to become a Decepticon because of circumstances beyond my control."
"So you say..." Swordbreaker muttered, blowing a puff of smoke from his cy-gar into Knock Out's face.
"Hey, hey, hey!" the former Decepticon shouted, waving the smoke away as he let out a few small coughs. "Do you know what that stuff does to my internal components? I like to keep my insides looking as good as my outsides thank you very much! Primus above!"
Swordbreaker rolled his optics, before walking off his echoing footsteps being heard throughout the base. Knock Out sighed, and continued to carefully watch Pyra Magna's vital signals ready to be of assistance if required.
"Come on Magna, pull through. If any one of the rumors I've heard about you are true, you're a good bot, and we need more of those right now." He thought to himself.
Unknown to him or anyone else for that matter, Pyra Magna was more alive than they thought, her mind still hard at work even if her body was in considerably poor condition. Even now, she was running through her last moments in the waking world as she piloted her ship and it's crew into a hopefully safe landing.
"I thought I understood trauma," Pyra thought to herself, reliving days of battles long since past in the Cybertronian Civil War. "We were losing so much, and gaining so little. Small wonder why the crew I got signed on to flee Cybertron for greener pastures. But I was fooling myself, loss followed us everywhere we went." she thought, thinking of her first mate Dust Up being blown backwards by an exploding console and joining the great One in the beyond.
"I... I just hope that my mission, in most respects, was a success and my crew -however many remain- are safe and sound." Pyra thought only able to hear what was going on around her thanks to her optics being practically shattered. They weren't beyond repair of course, most of her systems weren't. It would just take time for her internal repair mechanisms to kick back into gear. She was thankful when she heard the voice of Hoist, and let out a mental sigh of relief that her ship's chief medical officer was online and had joined up with Perceptor. Where there was life, there was hope.
She'd heard other voices in the background, although most were too faint to make out, and the ones she did hear she barely recognized as it is. But none seemed to mean her no harm, and given the fact that Perceptor and Hoist were in the area she doubted she'd fallen into enemy hands. If that was the case, chances are Decepticons wouldn't have bothered having Hoist and Perceptor work on her chassis and give her new energon to course through her systems. No, more likely they'd have just finished the job the crash of the Van De Graaff had already started.
That alone gave her hope that she had succeeded in where others had failed.
A new voice joined in, feminine in tone and sounding urgent.
"Perceptor... We've... I just got a call from Fowler. There's... There's an attack. The Hoover Dam,' the woman's voice panted out, sounding as if it's owner was about ready to collapse.
"Chrysalis, is that you?" Perceptor's voice asked, before his tone turned into that of shock. "What's wrong? ...Wait, is that a Decepticon?"
Mentally filing away that name for later, even as her spark raced upon hearing their was a Decepticon in... wherever she was.
"Name's Howlback, and yes I'm a Decepticon. But I'm on your side, I'll explain the details later, right now we have a problem." 'Howlback' replied.
Back at the Dam, it seemed reinforcements had arrived, the roar of jets coming in from somewhere above.
"Damn, they got here awfully fast!" Epps shouted as both he and Lennox ran like Hell to dodge Swindle and Octane's fire.
"Yeah, too fast..." Lennox noted, observing the paint-jobs of the F-15 Raptors that were currently inbound. For one thing, most Raptors in the military today weren't purple or green in shading. And for another, F-15s weren't even in use anymore.
The lead jet, the one coated in this green shading, as he flew in across the man-made lake towards Lennox and Epps seemed to narrow in on them as he left a powerful wake behind him. Then, right before he reached the battleground the exterior of the dam had become, parts moved and shifted as the jet's nose and cockpit tilted backwards and a head popped up with the engines and rear wings becoming legs and arms sprouting out of the 'jet's' shell.
"Oh hell..." Lennox muttered as the Decepticon known only as Acid Storm landed in front of them, pulling out a rifle and smirking as he aimed it at them.
"Well well, so these are the two humans that have been giving ya so much trouble eh?" Acid Storm asked his 'friend' Swindle, sounding a bit like an Old West gunslinger. "Don't seem like much, if yer asking for mah opinion."
"I think you'll find humans are little tougher than they look," Swindle remarked, in a tone of slight respect -Slight- as he gestured to the decapitated body of Stinger. Acid Storm nodded, before he raised his rifle, the barrel glowing green slightly and as Lennox braced for death whispering his last goodbyes to his wife and daughter a voice rang out.
"And we're even tougher!" Swordbreaker's voice bellowed out as he, Prowl and Knock Out jumped out of a Groundbridge, and in mid-air transformed even as Lennox and Epp's eyes went even wider if that were possible.
As soon as Knock Out completed his transformation, he landed a kick to Acid Storm's stomach, the military camoed seeker stumbling back in shock as nearby, other Vehicons landed and transformed laying down covering fire, with Prowl and Swordbreaker returning it.
Back at base, Trixie was watching this whole incident with worried eyes, actually spotting her girlfriend in her armor somewhere in the midst of the chaos.
"I... I wish I could be useful. Like them," she thought to herself even as she watched both Lemon Zest and Sugarcoat change into rifles for Prowl to hold, and be used to gun down Vehicon troopers. "But... But I'm not. Trixie's just a simple magician. She's not smart, she's not a good shot. She's just... well, a boastful braggart who can't even bedazzle an audience. I can't even be out in the field like them, all because I'm such a coward."
Swordbreaker, in fact, was actually living up to his name going blade to blade with Octane, sparks flying off the two metal warrior's weapons as they clashed again and again the two an even match for each other. The Toyota Tundra was soon swarmed by various Vehicons, but he didn't exactly look impressed.
"Have you forgotten who I am?" he roared out, breaking away from his duel with Octane before swinging wide and decapitating the group. One managed to survive, having ducked low apparently knowing of Swordbreaker's reputation before Swordbreaker flipped the cy-gar in his mouth, and fired it at the Vehicon slagging him.
Suddenly, Swordbreaker having apparently forgotten about his prior engagement was shoulder-charged by Octane knocking him flat to the ground with a mighty clang of metal.
"And I thought you were supposed to be tough!" Octane laughed, swinging his blade low to the ground intent on impaling Swordbreaker before the mercenary turned Autobot shifted back into vehicle mode and did a donut all around Octane kicking up a storm of dust in the process.
"What the...?" Octane roared. "For Primus' sakes, I can't see!"
"That's the idea, slagger!" Swordbreaker shouted before he released what looked to be an orange mechanical bird resembling a hawk except slightly bigger and with fans in its wings. The hawk then let out a powerful blast of sound, making Octane stumble back.
"...Huh, guess those wubs are useful for something after all." Swordbreaker muttered, and the bird made a little noise, seemingly offended.
"...Okay, can someone please explain to me what's going on around here?" Epps asked, completely lost even as Acid Storm took to the skies transforming back to jet mode and seemingly flying off leaving a contrail in his wake. Transforming robots, transforming girls in mecha suits. Man, when he signed up to the military he didn't sign up for any of this crap. Before, it was just pointing your gun at the enemy terrorist, and shoot them for God and Country. This was so beyond him now. He needed a raise.
Nearby, Swindle and Prowl were trading blows, Prowl having changed his Decepticon Hunter into a form of riot shield made of energy using this to block Swindle's gunfire, the jeep transformer's rifle now mounted on his shoulder.
"Beats the Hell out of me," Lennox remarked. "But I'm guessing those guys, the ones that just saved our asses are good and the ones ripping up the place are bad."
"Well, you catch on fast," Knock Out remarked admiringly, in his faux-European accent. Nearby, Howlback leaped over his shoulder and pounced on a Vehicon finally showing her true colors to everyone involved in this battle. "Good to know!"
Some more Vehicon troopers ran up, but Knock Out was joined by Lemon Zest who turned into her rifle form and together the two began cutting them down. Sometimes literally, thanks to Knock Out's surgical saw.
"Uh, quick question, was rain supposed to be scheduled today?" Epps asked, even as storm clouds seemingly began to build crackling with lightning. Knock Out's optics widened in alarm.
"Prowl!" he shouted to the bot currently engaging Swindle. "Rainmaker!"
Prowl swore in some unknown language caught off guard by this new development before Swindle landed a resounding right hook to his faceplates.
"Meet our trump card Autobots!" Swindle cackled. "Made sure to coat ourselves in a special paint that wards off Acid Storm's special payload beforehand, did you?" he asked.
"Slag-damnit!" Swordbreaker shouted as the rains began to pour down with parts of his body beginning to rust and fall off, including a hand. Namely, the one that held his sword. Octane used this opportunity to grab him by the shoulder and practically judo-flip the massive Autobot.
"Time ta bring the rain!" Acid Storm cackled, as the clouds continued to open up.
"So it seems an old warrior has his time..." Swindle chuckled as he watched Prowl try and stand, and chuckled even more as he watched Swordbreaker practically collapse to the ground.
"Really Swordbreaker," Swindle continued to mock as both Howlback and Sunder fell to the ground, quite close to death themselves. "For all your preparedness, you should have expected this. Anyone Onslaught deems of use, he makes use of. You should have thrown your lot in with us, might have turned out better for you in the end. Might have lived to see yourself getting paid."
"S-Shut up..." Swordbreaker snarled. "I never go back on my deals, and I especially don't make them with 'Cons. Call me stubborn, call me old, but here's the thing about us old warriors. We're tough!"
Parts on his back shifted, and twin shurikens fired out of his body severing both of Swindle's limbs. Vehicons rushed in to help Swindle in with his retreat, and avenge his wounds, but Knock Out seemingly showing no concern for his own life or limb rushed in, slicing up the foot soldiers.
"Knock Out, get out of there!" Swordbreaker coughed out, having been in the rain the longest.
"No, I'm not leaving you behind. You put faith in me, you never said it, but you did. You could have killed me any time when I was with you guys," Knock Out stated, ignoring a limb falling away even as he picked up Swordbreaker's weapon and sliced a Vehicon's head off clean from his shoulders. The Vehicons, getting the message, grabbed Swindle's limbs and retreated through a portal even as Knock Out collapsed.
"Also, as it turns out we make friends easily, us old warriors. Turns out, humans are a lot tougher than you think." Swordbreaker stated, before Twilight Sparkle leaped out from behind some rubble, and fired off twin magic blasts, her geode glowing purple. One hit Octane. Making him stagger, while another ripped off a part of Acid Storm's right wing, and the Rainmaker decided it was high time to bail out taking his storm with him.
"Twilight..." Trixie thought to herself jealousy, seeing her girlfriend kick the scrap out of the Decepticons and show the courage in which Trixie lacked. Unable to watch any more of this, she switched the viewscreen off and punched a wall, letting out a scream of frustration.
Meanwhile, Twilight was rushing to Swordbreaker's side.
"Are... Are you okay?" the former Crystal Prep student asked, as she placed her hands on Swordbreaker's faceplates, a lot of his body having already crumbled away into rust.
"I'll... I'll be fine, you understand kid?" Swordbreaker asked, an optic falling away. "You... You just live your life. I've had a good run, engine's been good to me for all these years. Guess it's just my time to finally cough out," he continued, systems beginning to shut down with the lights on his body beginning to go out one by one. "The Thirteen, they're waiting for me. I just hope they can forgive this old warrior's sins."
With that, he finally collapsed even as Twilight stifled a sob, before letting the tears flow into Swordbreaker's broken chassis.
As the storm subsided, Prowl began to pick himself up off the ground ignoring the pain in his rust-filled joints and walked towards the humans and lowered himself down to their level.
"I think... I think you and I need to have a talk," he stated, and Lennox nodded, automatically recognizing Prowl's rank for what it was.
"Yes, I agree with you Commander..."
"Prowl. Just call me Prowl."
Meanwhile, in Sri Lanka Steeljaw and Filch had found themselves in front of an ancient temple, worn with age and covered in vines.
Filch suppressed a shudder, fear was unbecoming of a Predacon. But something about this temple, it just felt wrong. Especially if it turned out Thunderclash's information was incorrect and Airazor was not happy about visitors.
And then there was the fact that she suspected the hunters had turned into the hunted, as she still kept seeing this massive white mechanical cat darting between the trees every now and then.
"Airazor, is that what they call you?" Steeljaw asked, yelling out to the interior of the massive temple. "Just want to talk, that's all!"
Suddenly, there was a loud screech, and a flash of dark-colored metal as a massive falcon flew out of the darkened woods and pinned Steeljaw to the ground, before with a shifting of parts became bipedal in nature, a blue and red head staring down Steeljaw. Two massive talons made up her hands, both surely able to render a bot limb from limb.
"Then speak." Airazor stated. |
Equestria Girls: Transformation | Part 26: Let's Bungle in the Jungle | Sri Lanka:
"F-For the record," Steeljaw stammered out, quite understandably wary of Airazor's talons that she called hands. "I had no intent on disturbing your slumber."
Airazor actually laughed at that, somewhat muffled by the deep red battlemask over her faceplates.
"You're a funny one really," the Predacon remarked. "If you had no intent on disturbing my slumber, why'd you and your bunch come tromping through my forest when I wanted to be very well left alone?"
Steeljaw filed that information away for later, presuming he survived this. As far as he was aware, he and Filch were the only Cybertronians aside from Airazor for miles around. Well, them and that mysterious tiger who kept on following them.
"And your little friend or mate or whatever, she can stop hiding behind a tree," Airazor commented, gesturing to a nearby section of undergrowth and forest where Filch in robot mode was just barely managing to hide herself. "Not like I can't see her anyways."
Filch blushed red, although whether that was from the mate comment or just being found out it was impossible to tell.
"I'm... I'm not his..." Filch stammered out while Airazor just laughed her head off. "Oh for Onyx's sake, never mind. Listen, the only reason we're here and I do apologize if we woke you up from your nap but Thunderclash specifically asked us to come to seek you out."
Airazor walked over to Filch, actually being somewhat taller than her fellow Predacon. This, combined with those optics of hers and a battlemask that couldn't help you figure out what she was really thinking all in all gave Airazor this very intimidating posture. Steeljaw looked understandably nervous, and his tail absentmindedly twitched nervously.
"Oh relax... Steeljaw was it, I'm not going to hurt her. If Thunderclash likes you -And believe me, I already know he does, as he normally wouldn't let intruders to his domain leave alive- then I'm perfectly fine with you two as well. Simple as that." Airazor replied with a small shrug of her shoulders.
"...Well, that's a relief." Steeljaw muttered, and Airazor chuckled.
"What, worried your silver tongue wouldn't get you out of this one eh, Wolfy?" Airazor laughed, and Steeljaw's face scrunched up either from such a cutesy nickname or just in surprise. Filch made a hissing sound of possible jealousy. "Oh, don't look so surprised. I've been keeping in touch with radio chatter as of late, seeing what's going on the world. Your name's been cropping up a few times, namely amongst your fellow Decepticons wondering where you scampered off to. Who's afraid of the Big Bad Wolf? Apparently everyone in your squad, and about what you and Quinn King over here would get up to once you went rogue after your little vanishing act in Mexico a while back."
"...Wow, you're as observant as the legends make you out to be Devil Bird," Steeljaw remarked in a deadpan tone.
"By Onyx Prime's spark DeWitt, I swear..." Airazor muttered with a small shake of her head and a groan. "Me, a devil? I think not!" she huffed.
"I'm just happy to meet you at last!" Filch chirped, sounding almost a bit like a parakeet despite what her bird form resembled. "I mean... you're a freaking living legend amongst Predacons!"
"My first fan. That's why I spend all of my time lately living out in forests and called some devil bird by the locals, it's because of the fame and the glamour." Airazor deadpanned.
"...And I'm beginning to see why she doesn't get many visitors." Steeljaw muttered largely to himself, feeling a headache coming on. ...Could Cybertronians even get those, he wondered. For that little comment, Airazor gave him a particularly fierce, downright nasty glare.
"...I get no respect." Steeljaw grumbled to himself.
"You'll get that respect when you earn it Dogmeat." Airazor replied in turn. Filch burst out laughing.
"I-I will not be compared to that dog from that video game series!" Steeljaw exclaimed in a mix of embarrassment and indignity. This made Filch only laugh harder, clutching her chassis in amusement.
"Well, she certainly schooled you!" she cackled, and Steeljaw looked quite put off by this remark.
"...They're ganging up on me," he muttered, with a low hang of his head. Ignoring the now quite thoroughly annoyed Decepticon, Airazor walked back over to Filch and studied her. While she couldn't quite put her finger on it, there was something off about this particular Predacon. Her chassis, it was more streamlined and less beast-like in a lot of respects, which was particularly unusual. And then there were the turbine fan blades in her shoulderpads, something no normal Predacon ever bore. Then again, Airazor had no room to talk about being a normal Predacon really, considering she bore turbines in her wings as well. Unusual CNA mutation in her case really, not something anyone had ever figured out or even really had the time to actually bother to considering how 'well-loved' Predacons generally were amongst other Cybertronians. It'd happened before with a Predacon named Sunder, if she remembered her facts correctly. But with Filch, well she suspected something more was afoot here.
"Have to say," Airazor remarked in a curious tone. "Never seen a Predacon quite like you before. Something different about you really. Actually, something different about both you and Wolfy over there really," she continued, gesturing behind her with a finger.
"Oh, so you noticed that...?" Filch replied glumly with a small slumping of her shoulders. "Yeah, guess it's sorta obvious innit?"
"Hey Tweety it's alright," Airazor said with a small smile sitting down next to Filch dropping her moderately annoyed demeanor. "We're all Predacons here aren't we?" she said, gesturing to the small badge on Filch's chest plating resembling an orange dragon's head. Below it, a Decepticon symbol but partially clawed through. Steeljaw's own, now that Airazor thought of it bore the same distinctive claw marks. It was entirely possible that both sets of claw marks belonged to Steeljaw, given the razor-sharp claws he bore instead of traditional fingers. He, like Filch was rather odd. He possessed quite a few regular Cybertronian features, but then there was that oddity of a tail hanging loosely off his backside and his wolfish face.
"Yeah... I suppose, more of less," Filch remarked, stifling a chuckle at being called Tweety. Airazor seemed to have a love of witty remarks and a passion for nicknaming bots whether they liked it or not.
"Can... Can we just drop it?" Steeljaw asked not really wanting to get into either his or his friend's rather painful pasts, before Filch gave him a look.
"No, she has every right to know. Can't avoid the question every time someone asks it, and I do want to win over her trust so she might as well know what that monster did to us." Filch told her partner sternly, with a trace of shame in her tone.
"So, what exactly happened to you?" Airazor asked, more than a hint of concern in her tone.
"Well..." Filch sighed. "Suppose I should start at the beginning really. You ever heard the name Shockwave before?"
"You know, you fascinate me," Shockwave stepped out into the light. "For being a machine, I would have expected a more vehicle-like transformation out of you. But instead, you take the form of a winged creation; but not a sleek and rocket-fueled one like Starscream or Thundercracker; and instead a more beastial form. It amazes me, a Predacon still surviving to this very day."And yet, still, you disappoint me. You could be something more. Something with potential; a beast with an ambition, a goal, a purpose, even."
Airazor winced. "Who hasn't?" she muttered, her chassis shuddering slightly in a mix of disgust and fear.
"Right... stupid question I guess," Filch sighed and looked away from her fellow Predacon with no small amount of shame. Airazor's optics widened in realization, and she let out a low hiss of anger.
"Bastard. He... He got to you and Steeljaw didn't he?" she asked in a soft gentle tone, that didn't really sound all that right coming from such a rather intimidating bot such as her really. At least in Filch's opinion. Even now, the memories still came flashing back to Filch. They always did, every time she thought about that moment in her life. That cold, emotionless tone and that pain she'd felt. And the shame of being captured and used as some lab rat.
"What was that?" He leaned in closer to Filch's ear. "I didn't quite catch that. Was that a sense of resistance, even when your mind is about to be subdued?"
He turned on the lights and revealed two tanks, where two Autobots rested in some sort of green fluid. One, blue and gold and bearing spikes all over his torso and the other a teal-blue with razor-sharp claws, a wolfish face and a tail hanging limp. "I've done this before, only in reverse. See these two? Injected with Predacon CNA. Now I'm going to see what happens when a Predacon is injected with Cybertronian CNA," Shockwave mused, and if he had a mouth Filch imagined he'd be smiling. Regardless, he took up a syringe filled with said CNA and pointed the tip at Filch. "Just sit back, relax, and let all the bad feelings fade away. Trust me. I'm a scientist."
"Yeah... He did..." Filch whispered lowering her head in shame and disgust. A proud Predacon, laid low by some lowly Decepticon mad scientist who just wanted to experiment on her for kicks. Shockwave might not have been emotionless as they claimed, seemed to her he had quite the sadist side.
Filch whimpered out in fear as the syringe injected the pure Cybernucleic Acid into her systems, and she felt new programming trying to take control. Her whimpers slowly turned into a loud scream as parts shifted and reconfigured the more beastial aspects of her chassis vanishing. Feathered wings sharpened and became more jet-like before fans revealed themselves with her body becoming less angular and streamlined, less like a regular Corvicon and more like a jet's.
"Now then." Shockwave took the needle out once it had done its' job and set it down on the table. "Let's give you a chance to break in this new directive, shall we?"
"Violated me, turned my body inside out. Mutated it into... this." she whispered in shame, gesturing to her body. "Sure, gained a few advantages such as a new alt-mode but I lost my pride as a Predacon in the process. Both me and Steeljaw. While he's never been a Predacon, Shockwave thought it'd be funny I suppose -fine time for him to finally show some sense of emotion I think- to inject him and another Cybertronian with Predacon CNA."
Airazor sucked in a breath, and brought the surprised Predacon in for a hug before releasing it.
"I... see," Airazor sighed to herself. "That explains so much."
"Every day," Steeljaw muttered to himself, clenching his fist and making it crackle with yellow energy. "Every damn day I think about that Decepticon, and think about what it'd be like to crush his head casing and watch that life leave that optic of his..."
He quickly regained his composure and took a few deep breaths upon realizing what he was saying, and what part of him was coming to the surface.
"I... I apologize, being injected with Predacon CNA, it brought both me and Gekisoumaru's more violent instincts to the forefront. We've learned to curb them with the help of an Autobot named Drift, but every so often I... I can't control myself and just want to go on a rampage and rip and tear something to shreds. Even now, I'm fighting back the instinct to just 'hulk out' as the humans say and destroy something. Or someone."
It was clear he was desperately trying to hold himself back, his limbs were twitchy and his tail flicked back and forth, and every so often his eyes darted around. Any nearby wildlife including panthers, it quickly scampered off into the undergrowth in fear of the much larger predator.
"What happened to Shockwave?" Airazor asked. "Did you ever...?" she trailed off, not sure if she really wanted to know.
"No, never got the chance to alas," Steeljaw said, taking a few deep breaths. "After Shockwave tried to create this Predacon combiner, even Megatron saw him mad and actually teamed up with the Autobots to take him out. He said, and I'll never forget his words: "I do this only for my fellow Decepticons. It grieves me that you may also profit." Probably lying through his teeth, master of that but it stunned us all when Megatron turned on one of his right-hand men." Steeljaw stated, and punched a tree in frustration before the tempest was somewhat calmed as Filch rubbed his shoulders.
"It's nice to see such loyalty amongst you two, such a rare thing amongst Predacons really. Or Decepticons, or whatever you two are."
"We're neither," Filch stated. "We're just looking out for ourselves, and that's the end of that."
"I don't entirely believe that really," Airazor remarked. "After all, if you were looking out for yourself, why would you come all the way here on Thunderclash's own recommendations no less to find me?"
"We just need a bodyguard, help protect us from Onslaught and his men. That's it really," Steeljaw replied. Even he didn't believe his own words really however, they sounded rather weak even as they left his mouth.
"Heh," Airazor chuckled. "Yeah, and Primus will appear in his earthly form to bless the Fallen for being a saint. You're not just looking for a bodyguard, are you? You need an army to fight Onslaught, or you're protecting your fellow kind. Not sure which yet, although if you need an army go to the Autobots. They'd kindly welcome you two with open arms, they do adore taking in strays and anyone who'll join their cause. That idiot Repugnus is evidence alone of that little aspect of their occasional bouts of stupidity."
"Don't mince words, do you?" Steeljaw remarked, both he and Filch sharing a wince.
"Hey, I just like to tell it how it is at times, life's done me no favors. I'm a Predacon, part of our lot in life. Primus hates us, or at least the Primes that follow his doctrine at times. Remember Nominus and Zeta, and Sentinel?" Airazor reminded them both. "Such lovely characters to carry the Matrix of Leadership. You know something? Death should be treated with dignity. We're supposed to respect one another's lives. But once we grow out of sparkling-hood, though we should know better all the same we still find ways to cause meaningless death and the shedding of energon. They did to Cybertron as well, devoured her resources to the brink and after all that was over?" Airazor whispered, sounding like she was about to cry herself. "Cybertronians just sought out new places to conquer, casting off those like ourselves that they thought reminders of our brutal past. I used to believe there was this inner god, called possibility, but now...? I'm not so sure of anything anymore. As I said, you're better off going to the Autobots if you want help. I'm not the Predacon you need."
Suddenly, Steeljaw flinched as his audio receptors heard something in the undergrowth, and he shoved Airazor out of the way as a teal blue and white blur darted past. If he hadn't gotten her out of the way just in time, she would have been ripped to shreds by its claws. Steeljaw's optics narrowed, the thing that attacked them was the tiger who'd been following him since he got here.
"You're right," the tiger said as it shifted forms to a bipedal state. "She's not the Predacon anyone needs, she's grown too weak. Too soft! She brings a stain upon our entire race."
"Pounce..." Airazor hissed out as she transformed into her massive beast mode, flaring her wings. "And I'm willing to bet your twin isn't far behind. He never is."
"Right you are on that!" Wingspan's cackling voice remarked as the Predacon landed himself atop a nearby temple ruin. "Nice to see you again, isn't it?"
"Wish I could say the same for you..." Airazor commented.
"Well, you're certainly foolish ones," Steeljaw remarked. "Three on one. Never particularly liked those odds. Bit lopsided for you, isn't it?"
"Oh, we've got friends on the way. That collar of yours," Wingspan remarked as he transformed and landed next to his brother, looking almost exactly alike Pounce except for a few minor differences here and there. "More than just a fancy fashion accessory. It also serves as a tracking device. See, me and my brother here?" he continued, slinging an arm around Pounce. "We cut a deal with your old boss. Let his boys take you and your new friend out, in exchange for joining the newfound gap in their ranks!"
"So, a cheap shot at me is what you're really asking for isn't it?" Airazor snarked as she watched Pounce and Wingspan resume their beast modes. She let out a challenging shriek to Wingspan, who returned it. "Pathetic, I thought you two were above such a thing. ...But then again, you always did flock to the newest guy on the block with all the power. So perhaps I really shouldn't be that surprised at all. Do you want to see who really rules the skies? Fine, I'll take you up on that offer, but warning you right now... This lady, she stoops to conquer." Airazor stated firmly, in a warning tone before both she and Wingspan shot upwards like rockets into the air as a storm broke loose, lightning flashing and rain pouring down.
"And guess that just leaves us," Steeljaw smirked as he bared his fangs at Pounce even as Filch changed into her bird form, the grass beneath her blowing in the wind created by her twin fans. "You really picked a bad time today to mess with me, cause I've been wanting to rip something up. I think you'll do nicely."
With a loud roar, he charged into battle claws and fangs bared with Filch right behind him. Pounce smirked, and lived up to his nickname and actually tackled Steeljaw to the ground with a loud thud and a mighty Ka-Clang! as metal met metal before he leaped off of Steeljaw and grabbed Filch by the wing in his jaws. The Corvicon let out a shriek of pain, and because of her current position was unable to actually transform into her jet mode. However, didn't mean she was helpless in any regard, as she launched her talons at Pounce, and began ripping his chest open as energon spattered her chassis.
Backing off as he roared out in pain, Pounce swore profusely at Filch in ancient Cybertronian.
"Yeah yeah... Blow it out your aft!" Filch shot back, and changed into bot mode before punching Pounce in the face with a solid right hook just as Steeljaw recovered.
"As they say... "Cry 'Havoc!', and let slip the dogs of war!" Steeljaw snarled and transformed with a shifting and whirring of parts into his vehicle mode, engine revving up and kicking up dirt and mud as his tires dug into the ground before finally finding their grip. Giving chase to Pounce through the thick undergrowth, if Steeljaw would have smirked he would have.
"So, little kitty's decided to turn chicken on me!" he laughed, letting his beastial instincts take over for a brief second longer as he smashed through a ruined wall and then drove up a slight hillside before flipping over in midair his wheels facing the sky where high above the tree canopy, Filch followed and awaited her chance for an opening.
Parts shifting once more as he practically did a barrel roll above Pounce, Steeljaw resumed his robot mode and landed on his back 'paws' if you will and struck Pounce across the face only to be surprised when Pounce fired a blast of searing hot plasma from within his jaws. Steeljaw realized just then in that instance what Pounce and Wingspan's plan was, it was to separate the two of them from Airazor and take care of the more dangerous threats first. And it seemed Pounce was well-suited for that task indeed. He was a turbofox in cat's clothing really.
"You gotta be-" Steeljaw shouted in shock before Filch swooped down in her bird mode and grabbed him with her talons just in time to keep him from getting charbroiled.
"What would you ever do without me?" Filch teased, her voice taking on a sassy tone for a moment as she set her friend down in a safer spot. Soon afterwards, Pounce leaped out of the jungle and transformed into robot mode in a corkscrew manner brandishing what looked to be a purple scimitar of energy which crackled into life as soon as he pulled the hilt off his hip holsters.
"Well, someone's overcompensating." Filch teased as she dodged the sword swings with relative ease, before bringing out a small pistol, and shooting Pounce in the shoulder nicking him and drawing yet more energon. He let out a small growl of anger, and pulled out another scimitar and swung wildly with it nearly cleaving Filch's head clean from her shoulders.
She let out a yelp, and backflipped a few feet, landing in a small river behind her with a small thud.
"You do know what cats do to birds, right?" Pounce sneered, his blades crackling with energy, before a part on Filch's arm opened up, and fired a grappling cable at her opponent and pulled one of the swords from his hands.
"Evidently I didn't get the memo," she snarked back. "And evidently, I don't care."
Blades clashed, and sparks flew before Steeljaw grabbed his partner and tossed her towards Pounce and she aimed a flying kick right at his faceplaces. In the nick of time, and to avoid his head being caved in by his fellow Predacon, he shifted forms once more and ran towards Steeljaw even as Filch rebounded off a tree.
Pounce swiped a powerful claw at Steeljaw's face, drawing energon before the Predacon spun around and kicked Steeljaw in the chest almost like a horse would before he transformed back into robot mode and impaled Steeljaw to a tree just barely missing his spark.
"Now the odds are a bit fairer, don't you think?" Pounce smirked. "...All the dirty jobs." he then grumbled to himself, wondering if his twin was having any better luck dealing with their eternal rival.
He then let out a sharp yell of shock as Filch transformed back into bird mode and used her talons to slam him into a tree, which cracked under the pressure and Pounce was sent flying backwards, the blade slipping from his grasp. It went flying, before impaling itself in a tree. Pounce picked himself up off the ground and managed to punch Filch in the beak and even as she reverted to robot mode, twin parts on Pounce's legs opened up and two bladed wheels flew into his hands. Fire and Wind wheels, if Filch remembered correctly. Traditional Asian martial arts weapons, which made sense she supposed given where she was. Chakrams probably would have been less surprising, but evidently, Pounce was one of those cultured types. Well, as cultured as a Predacon could get anyways.
"Filch, be careful!" Steeljaw shouted as he tried to pry the blade out of his body and free himself. Sadly, for the time being, there was no such luck.
"What do you think I've been doing?" Filch shouted back in return as she leaped backwards to avoid a strike from Pounce's weapons. "Playing hard to get?"
A loud shriek cut through the air just then as Wingspan flew right by the two, Airazor in hot pursuit firing lasers at him, the two cutting through the forest with their sharp wings. In this brief moment of confusion, Pounce had lost sight of Filch and his eye darted from left to right, but then he was soundly drop-kicked in the face by Filch who'd come from above. His weapons went flying from his hands and into Filch's own.
"And I thought you were the one supposed to be doing all the pouncing around here..." Filch teased, before her optics widened in shock as Pounce pulled out two more weapons from his back, twin hook swords. "Just how many fucking weapons does this guy even have?" she thought to herself as she blocked the blade strikes with her newly borrowed weapons, just barely managing to hold back the infuriated Predacon.
Meanwhile, high in the sky above both Airazor and Wingspan were still at it, sharp feathered wings and talons like razors just barely missing each other again and again.
"You know, I normally have a soft spot for cats," Airazor commented as she observed the battle taking below her. "But your brother, well I have to say I gotta make an exception!"
The battle eventually progressed over a small lake, the two swooping down low and leaving behind powerful wakes with their wings. Airazor flew high, and a crack of lightning blinded Wingspan, keeping him from seeing what happened next as Airazor spun like a drill towards him. He just barely managed to avoid the attack and dived beneath the water before transforming and grabbing into Airazor before vibrating his hands. There was something special about Wingspan actually. Aside from being a clone, he was also one of those rare Point One Percenters, which meant his spark had actually mutated and granted him special abilities. In his case, it was literally to vibrate a Cybertronian apart.
Airazor knew of this, of course, and in a flash rapidly transformed back into robot mode and kicked Wingspan in the gearbox, before she bared her talons and pulled him apart wires, gears, and energon floating everywhere away from the now partially bisected Predacon.
Now, there was something you needed to know about Transformers who happened to be twins. Transformers that were twins had a rather special relationship with each other. The two were always intimately linked in such a way that they considered the other to be their other half. And when one of the two twins died, the other would feel the passing of his spark. And it was no different for Pounce, who let out a loud scream of pain as he felt Wingspan get ripped to shreds. In some ways, this was no different than a Conjunx Endura bond but much worse as both would feel what the other would feel.
"She... She killed him!" Pounce roared out in rage, charging directly at Filch his blades bared. "She killed my brother!"
"And you're soon to follow. You're both madmen, and the world would be better off without you, I think!" Steeljaw roared, as he finally pried the blade out of his body and ignoring the pain clocked Pounce in the face sending him spiraling to the ground. It was then he heard the sound of camera shutters going off, and he then remembered exactly where he was. On the outskirts of a small village, with all the locals coming out to gawk at the scene. His optics widened as he saw what was on the local news, and he didn't need to read the text at the bottom of the screen to understand what Stinger and Prowl clashing meant. He read it anyways.
"ඇමරිකාවේ හූවර් වේල්ලේ යෝධ රොබෝ සටන!" it read.
"Hūvar vēllē dævænta robō hǣrīmak!" the newscaster stated in the local language of Sinhala.
"Aw slaggit... Guess the secret's out," Steeljaw muttered before being blindsided by a now furious beyond measure Pounce who nearly cleaved off one of his arms with his blades. "Right, forgot about you." he grumbled, before slamming a fist into Pounce's body dispatching the second of the two twins.
"...Well, guess that's that." Filch commented, as the locals gasped in awe at the two and the gasps and whispers only increased when Airazor landed and transformed into robot mode.
"Good riddance to bad rubbish I say," she huffed. "Going to have to apologize to the natives for dispatching two of their holy Rakshasa and I doubt this will improve my standing in their eyes as a Devil Bird but..." she sighed sadly before Filch put a supportive hand on her shoulder.
"It had to be done, they would have turned on the humans eventually. They just wanted to rip and tear. With them, it was going to come down to kill or be killed, you know that..."
"Yeah, I know," Airazor muttered looking away in shame. "Still, my species count drops even lower now..."
Her optics then turned to the sky as her audio sensors picked up something. Steeljaw's and Filch's were soon to follow.
"Wait, what's that?" Steeljaw murmured to herself before the sound of a jet engine could be heard as a red fighter jet flew over the village guns trained solely on the three renegades.
Soon to follow erupting from the undergrowth were four other Decepticons. Two were mostly blue trucks, the third a Ferrari 458 Italia with gold pinstriping and the fourth and final was this massive tank.
Parts shifted and moved as all five Decepticons transformed into robot mode and trained their guns on both the humans and the renegades.
"Should we slag the humans?" Dead End asked. "Not that it matters in the long run, because we're all going to go to that great rust heap in the sky sometime soon but let's face it... I'm bored as all hell," he grumbled out. Steeljaw swore to himself, he knew what had happened, he knew how they'd been found. And it wasn't because of some damn tracking collars. His optics narrowed, looking at the traitor dead in the eyes.
The jet transformer gave Dead End a pointed look before answering. "No, leave them. They're not part of this."
Meanwhile, Steeljaw looked at Breakdown his optics glistening in betrayal. Breakdown couldn't meet his face, even as he pulled the trigger on his pulse rifle...
BLAM! |
Equestria Girls: Transformation | Part 27: Eyes Wide Open | "Yes, science is my god in a sense. I'm comfortable with the unknown, that's the point of science. There are places out there, billions of places out there that we know nothing about. And the fact that we know nothing about them excites me, and I want to go out and find out about them. And that's what science is. So I think if you're not comfortable with the unknown, then it's difficult to be a scientist. So I don't need an answer; I don't need answers to everything. I want to have answers to find." - Brian Cox, March 2010.
So, fast forward a week or two and the whole world knew about the Transformers. Speculations ran rampant as to why they were here, if they meant harm to all of humankind or if it was simply some of them. Agent Fowler, Captain Spitfire and Special Agent Chrysalis had all been reassigned to desk jobs in light of their failures to keep the world in the dark about the truth about the Transformers rendering them currently useless as Autobot allies for the time being.
"Science is unreasonably effective, it's generated knowledge beyond all expectation. It's also delivered perspective. Yes, we are an insignificant speck in an infinite universe, but we're also rare. And because we're rare, we're valuable. So what are we to do to secure our future? Well, we must learn to value the acquisition of knowledge for its own sake, and not just because it grows our economy or allows us to build better bombs," a English accent, belonging to one Professor Brian Cox stated on TV on some old re-run of one of his science programs. "We must also learn to value the human race and take responsibility for our own survival. Why? Because there's nobody else out there to value us or to look after us. And finally, most important of all, we must educate the next generation in the great discoveries of science and we must teach them to use the light of reason to banish the darkness of superstition, because if we do that, then at least there's a chance that this universe will remain a human one."
Sunny yawned and flipped over to another channel out of pure boredom and sighed to herself. Ever since the Autobots and Decepticons were revealed to the world at large, her mother had won a court battle saying Fowler was an insufficient guardian which meant that yes, Sunny Flare was back with Abigail Cinch once more. They had a stated agreement, which basically said Cinch had to have some involvement in Sunny's schoolwork and Sunny was allowed to do some of the things she liked and spent time with her friends.
Right now though, she was currently neck deep in school reports and had only been allowed to take one little break just to unwind. Even Cinch understood that her daughter wasn't any sort of machine. ...Which surprised Sunny really, maybe that save by Knock Out had changed her. Somewhat. Not completely, but maybe her mother was moving away from being a complete bitch.
Sunny eventually found a talk show and sighed. "500 channels and there's still nothing good on..."
She grumbled something to herself and settled down to watch. Her eyes widened at the topic. It was on the Transformers, on if they were a threat to society at large or not.
"Look, I'm not saying that these guys are going to just enslave us or anything, I mean it's not Terminator Rise of the Machines or anything like that," one William Lennox commented. "I'm just saying, we gotta be careful nowadays. I mean, these guys are still an unknown aren't they?"
"So, what do you think, in general about these beings from another world?" the host, one Vignette Valencia asked him. "Personally speaking, I share your right to be wary. I mean, they're new here and we were first introduced to them properly when they attacked the Hoover Dam. Shouldn't that be a cause for concern?"
Sunny sighed, somehow her and her friends' involvement in the whole affair up till now had been managed to have been kept under wraps, maybe by one last effort from Chrysalis or Fowler. Who was to say? She was just thankful for that, if her mom got wind of it then she'd never hear the end of things.
"Listen, I'm still not sure about all of this. I'm really not," Lennox said. "But let me just go on the record to say that maybe not all of them are bad, you know? I mean, I owe my life to a few of them. Hell, one gave up their life for me so that speaks volumes really. So just for right now, I'm willing to extend that hand of trust."
"It seems to be war doesn't it?" Vignette asked. "I mean, soldiers die in war. No disrespect to the dead intended, but how do you know they were fighting for you? I mean, the news choppers captured plenty of destruction at that dam. They could have just been fighting, not caring who got caught up in the crossfire!'
"Look, I know what I saw," Lennox responded. "I saw a soldier, dying and yet in his final breaths trying to save whoever he can. Maybe they're not all as bad as those who attacked the dam. Like I said, I'm holding out that little hope that maybe, just maybe those beings from beyond the stars -Some, if not all- are here to lend a helping hand,"
"You talk as if they're like us, like they're... human," Vignette replied. "What makes you so sure?"
"You share the trenches with someone, if you will, and you get to know them. Now, while I didn't know these guys for long before I got pulled out I can tell you this. They're very much like us. They bleed, they have emotions. Isn't that enough to think of them as something close to human?" Lennox asked.
"You think these mysterious incidents all over the world have something to do with these Transformers as the public calls them? I mean, not too long ago the Temple of Apollo was attacked in Greece. Think something went down there that we meaning us as the public aren't aware of?" Vignette inquired.
"This is starting to sound less like a talk show and more like an interrogation Ms. Valencia," Lennox responded in a rather annoyed tone of voice.
"It's not, trust me," Vignette laughed. "These were just questions submitted by the viewers. I mean, the public wants to know! They're hungry for information! Chomping at the bit really!"
"Yes, well you can tell your viewing public I'm done answering questions," Lennox growled. "You can get your viewing figures elsewhere, interview some other sap," the man said as he got up out of his chair and walked off-camera in disgust. "I'm done."
"Well, there you have it folks!" Vignette Valencia chimed cheerfully, despite the colossal failure of her interview. "One William Lennox's take on the whole Transformers debacle. I swear, getting that name trademarked. Seriously, I'm going to try. Now, seriously, love you all! Kisses!" she exclaimed, blowing kisses at the viewers. "Just keep sending in those questions, and I'll keep finding those willing to talk in order to answer them. Tomorrow night, Soarin' Skies of the United States Air Force reels in on his whole views on the matter."
Sunny in disgust switched the TV off. Vignette Valencia was a hack, no other way of stating it. She probably only got her show because she spread her legs wide for some guy. Before she got her TV show, she was this social media hound who was always saying who got busted for some offense and who was currently relevant.
Her talk show really hadn't changed much from her early days, she was just now on the TV spouting her nonsense. The only reason her interviewees half the time got on the show -If what Juniper said was correct, and Sunny had no reason to doubt the girl given she knew a lot of famous people- was because they got paid well enough.
Sunny chuckled to herself, she was starting to sound like Sour. The girl must have been rubbing off on her really. Groaning, she turned her attentions back to her paper, and sighed. Life had gotten so boring as of late really, with Prowl not wanting the girls around the base anymore in fear of them getting hurt or worse.
"Took a few levels in jackass didn't he?" a feminine voice said from behind Sunny as mechanical cat paws leaped up onto the couch. Sunny, a few seconds before had heard the sound of her mom's old VCR transforming. "I mean before he was all too happy... Well, as happy as Prowl can get anyways to have you around. Now, he's banning you from the base!"
"H-Howlback!" Sunny stammered out in a hushed whisper. "Mom's going to kill you if she finds you here!"
"Oh well, can't be any worse than being slagged by Onslaught. I'm a wanted fugitive now, least to Onslaught and his boys. Had to find someplace to lay low," Howlback remarked.
"Why... Why did you blow your cover at Hoover Dam? I mean... why did you?" Sunny asked the Cybercat.
"I... I honestly don't know really. Maybe it was for selfish reasons, me wanting to rip and tear. Either that, or it was because I still have some Autobot programming left in me that Onslaught didn't completely corrupt. Freedom's the right of all sentient beings and all that rot," Howlback sighed.
"Speaking of your kind," Sunny replied. "What's with the attack on Hoover? Onslaught never seems to do anything random, so why order an attack on a national monument in broad daylight and blow everyone's cover wide open? What, was he getting antsy about wanting to blow something or someone up?"
"No... I don't think it's that," Howlback sighed. "Heard rumors that something's been buried under there, kept locked up tight by the US government. Your brainboys have been trying to make heads or tails of it ever since it was found in the Arctic Circle by this Archibald Witwicky guy back in the 1890s or so. Not sure what the scrap it is, but... Whatever it is, had Onslaught all a-flutter with excitement -or was it worry- whenever he heard about it," she continued to explain. "So, he ordered a few of his boys to steal whatever 'it' was before the Autobots got to it first. You saw how well that went I take it?" Howlback asked, raising an eyebrow with her cool blue optics looking directly at Sunny.
"Course I did," Sunny replied. "Kinda hard to miss when it's on the evening news."
"Yeah..." Howlback yawned rolling over onto her back. "Sorry about that, blowing the cover of every Bot and Con on Earth wide open,"
"You had nothing to do with it. You didn't order the attack," Sunny replied.
"Might as well have, I hacked into secure servers and provided Onslaught the information," Howlback stated sorrowfully. "So I'm the reason he even knew about it in the first place. I'm the reason why your friend Swordbreaker's one with the Matrix now..." she whispered mournfully.
"What's done is done," Sunny told her sternly. "We can't change the past, no matter how much we want to. All we can do now is hope for the best, and keep our present safe. So stop blaming yourself okay?"
Howlback smiled. "You know something kid, I may just be starting to like you. I can see why you were a good fit for the Autobots. Someday soon, I can see you doing something great, you know that right?"
"Yeah, but first... Well, I gotta ace this science test," Sunny sighed after giving Howlback a brief smile.
"Well, guess that's what I'm here for," Howlback replied. "I'm staying here, so gotta pay my rent somehow right? So, let's see what I can do eh?"
Decepticon Base:
"Man, can't believe we're still on this rock," Dropkick grumbled, his rotors hanging limply on his back. A sign of his assault helicopter based alt-mode. Well, one of them anyways, with the other being this Ford Ute. "I thought for sure we'd have found what we're looking for by now! I'm seriously convinced Onslaught doesn't know what he's even doing anymore!"
"Hey, if the boss has a plan, he's got a plan. Have a little more faith in him why don't you?" Swindle asked fully repaired from his battle at Hoover Dam. It was sorta touch and go for a while, with some of the Cons wondering if the conman would have to get a major reformatting. However, despite huge energon loss Swindle had managed to pull through. "Personally, I can't believe Howlback turned out to be working for Cybertron's government the whole slaggin' time! None of us the wiser!" he complained.
"Well, she played a very good Decepticon," Dropkick admitted.
"To you maybe, but you're as dumb as a bag of rocks!" Swindle snapped back with Dropkick looking rather offended by this. "Me, I should have seen it coming!" he continued on ignoring Dropkick's outraged shout.
"Personally," Dropkick replied after collecting himself somewhat. "What we all should have seen coming was Filch and Steeljaw breaking away from us and trying to form their own third faction in the Predacons on Earth. Meet up with their fellow beasts and all that. Such idiocy..." he muttered.
"Ha!" Swindle agreed. "What, did they not think we'd track them down eventually? All they ended up doing is leading us right to another member of their kind!"
"Think she can be turned?" Dropkick asked him.
"What, willingly?" Swindle replied, before laughing heartily. "No! Not a chance. We'll probably just put the same bomb collar on her like we did with Filch and Steeljaw and the dearly departed Darksteel. Whether she'll comply then is still up in the air as I'm not entirely sure she's afraid of death but I guess we'll have to see eh?"
"Speaking of Predacons..." Dropkick trailed off pressing his fingers together nervously. "What... What about that other one?"
Swindle looked confused for a few moments before his optics widened in realization. "Ah yes, him. The one Brawl says it's in our best interest to terminate. Haven't met him personally, at least while he's conscious so I'm not so sure what he's so scared about but Onslaught has taken... measures to keep him under control."
"Measures?" Dropkick replied. "Okay, now color me curious. If Brawl wants something terminated without even a second thought, then we all should be-"
"What, worried?" Swindle laughed. "Brawl's a brute. His next thought generally consists of what to shoot next! Anyways, if you're so worried I'll tell you what happened as soon as we brought Sinnertwin as he's apparently called onto the base."
Onslaught and Swindle observed the massive yellow Predacon as he was floated in on a platform usually reserved for moving energon cubes. In one of his hands, Onslaught held a surgical knife comprised of pure energon.
"Well, isn't he a big one?" Flamewar observed, casually leaning up against a crate her bow on her back. "And his propensity for violence. Well, girl's gotta admire that!'
"Bit too much violence if you ask me," Brawl muttered. "Damn beast nearly slaughtered me and Breakdown as it is. To say nothing of our Vehicon troops!"
"Aww..." Flamewar cooed. "Is the big bad Brawl scared of one dumb beast?"
Brawl let out a growl and looked ready to throw a punch at the more limber Decepticon before Onslaught held up a hand to stop and shot them both a warning look.
"Every beast can be controlled," Onslaught stated. "A beast's weakness, properly manipulated, can be a sharp tool. And believe me, that thing has one. Everyone does. Now I believe it's time for my surgical strike."
With that, he walked over to the unconscious Sinnertwin and stabbed downwards with his knife. When the Predacon was to eventually awake, he groaned out in pain before letting out a roar as he found himself shackled to the wall, with Onslaught watching him.
"Well, so the beast finally awakens from his slumber," Onslaught chuckled. "And here I thought you were going to stay asleep for the rest of your life."
"Let me go..."
"Oh, I will, in time," Onslaught replied. "Just so long as you understand the rules of what's going to happen here. You're a Decepticon now," he said gesturing to the new badge on Sinnertwin's right shoulder. You shall be an honored member... so long as you never forget one important fact about your new life: It's mine."
"My life shall never be yours!" Sinnertwin snarled and Onslaught chuckled.
"That's all a matter of perspective. See, you're still free to do as you choose. Rip and tear, within reason of course, but remember this..." Onslaught said bringing out a small box lined with energon crystals with a spark in the middle of them. He pressed down on the box, making Sinnertwin scream out in pain as the Predacon realized which spark exactly was in that box. "You belong to me now."
Swindle shuddered in remembrance. His commander, while a good tactician was extremely ruthless and without mercy of any sort when it came down to it. It made it all too easy for Megatron to turn him into a Decepticon playing on his pride. There was a reason back on Cybertron whenever anyone heard the Combaticons were coming, they were more than likely to surrender outright then put up any sort of fight. Mind you, there were those that resisted, but in the end they were overwhelmed with sheer might.
"Great, so now Sinnertwin has a reason to hate us even more," Dropkick muttered. "Anyone else see the flaw in this logic?" he asked turning towards Swindle and then to a few vehicons who were watching this whole exchange with barely disguised boredom. "No? Nobody? Fine, ignore the guy who thinks we should just shoot the bastard before he turns on us all!"
"Dropkick, with me!" a female voice called and he looked to see his partner, a slightly taller crimson colored femme-bot gesturing to him. "Just got orders from up top, Onslaught has a new mission for us!"
"Ugh..." Dropkick muttered, the former Autobot sighing. Mission this, mission that. He needed a break. First, it was him and Shatter recapturing the renegades in Filch and Steeljaw. Now it was something else.
"Heh," Swindle chuckled. "Seems your sparkmate has you on a leash like a little puppy!"
"She's not my..." Dropkick muttered before groaning. "Ugh, never mind."
"Dropkick, are your servos locked up or are you coming?" Shatter questioned, her expression hardening. "Onslaught got to thinkin-"
"Oh, oh. Thinking. That's always good," Dropkick muttered. "Usually means someone like me's going to get placed in the lines of fire. Can't he ever get off his butt and do something himself for once?"
Shatter rolled her eyes. "Continuing on. As I was saying, Onslaught got to thinking that if the Autobots have partners in the humans, why shouldn't we? Seems to be working out for them so far,"
"Personally, I think he's lost his mind. Humans, they just go squish. Too easily broken. If he wants a partner, why not just go ask for a Mini-Con?" Dropkick remarked.
"It's not a matter of their durability," Shatter countered, crossing her arms. "Think for a second, Dropkick; the Autobots constantly pull victories from the jaws of defeat on this planet. Clearly, they're doing something different from us."
"Yeah, gathering all our best troops. Told you from the start that it was a bad idea to use criminals and thugs for half of our forces, and I told you again when Knock Out defected back to the Autobots. But look what happened! Hey, just ignore me!" Dropkick grumbled and if the irony of him being a war criminal had occurred to him he decided not to voice it. "Should have just grabbed as many unhappy former Decepticons as we could have and made a run for it. Less loose ends to worry about!"
"Oh, I'm staying out of this..." Swindle remarked as he walked off throwing his hands up in the air in frustration. "You two lovebirds have to settle this on your own! Peace!"
With that, the tan Decepticon took his leave.
"You don't think we tried getting former Decepticons?" Shatter scoffed. "Not everyone is a yo-yo of a Con like Starscream. Poaching wanted criminals was so much easier."
"So basically you're saying Onslaught's lazy," Dropkick remarked. "Fine, what's the plan? We grovel before the humans saying we're all about love and peace? Yeah, after Acid Storm's little make it rain incident I doubt they'll readily believe that. Primus, our faction name is 'Decepticons'! That might strike a chord, just sayin'."
Shatter actually managed a smile, patting Dropkick's head in a condescending way. "Oh you silly bot, true Decepticons don't grovel. We have a plan to sway the humans." She leaned in, whispering the details to him. `
"Oh, that is good..." he smirked. "Still, that leaves a few loose ends. The Autobots human allies in the government. What if they raise their objections? They could blow our whole plan wide open!"
"It's not our job to worry about them. Acid Storm is already en route to deal with that particular issue," Shatter waved off, her smile not faltering. "Now, are you done arguing?" she asked as a groundbridge opened up behind them. Dropkick sighed before transforming into his vehicle mode and driving through it, with Shatter soon to follow as a muscle car of some sort.
In Texas, at the Lackland Air Force Base the soldiers stationed there were treated to a rather unusual sight upon seeing a blue ute type vehicle and a red muscle car entering their base without any sort of clearance.
"Sir!" one of the soldiers said as he ran into General Bryce's office. "We've got two unidentified signals entering the grounds."
"Well, suppose I'd best go greet our new guests," Bryce replied after taking a sip of his coffee. "First Contact, never was in my job description..."
He, along with a ton of other soldiers loaded down with weapons were treated to the sight of the two vehicles forms' massively shifting and changing till both Dropkick and Shatter stood above them. Shatter opted for kneeling down to their level and gestured for Dropkick to follow.
"W-Wait, what are you doing?" Dropkick muttered under his breath before he sighed as Shatter shot him a look. "Ugh, fine... Can't believe I'm doing this. It's so embarrassing..." he muttered as he followed Shatter's lead.
"People of Earth, we are Decepticon peacekeepers," Shatter began. "We would be honored to have a moment of your time and speak."
"So speak. You've got five minutes," Bryce said as he held up a stopwatch.
"Thank you," Shatter replied, bowing her head. "We Decepticons would like to form a treaty with Earth. The exact terms can be decided upon later, but a free exchange of ideas and technology is the end goal."
"There's a but coming. In all my years as a member of the military," Bryce responded. "There's never been something quite so easy as what you propose. Nothing's given away for free."
"Well, you're a smart one. Cybertron is dead," Shatter told him lying through her teeth. "We would like rights to some land and the means to produce energy for ourselves. All we ask is you helping to keep those Autobot criminals who've come to steal Earth away from us off our backs and in return we will protect you. Is that negotiable?"
"I believe it is yes. What's your name Madam?" Bryce asked not entirely trusting this one given she herself said she was a Decepticon but if she was willing to give answers as to what was going on he was willing to listen.
"Shatter," she answered holding back a smirk. "And yours, sir?"
"Before I give my name away, I must ask about your title."
"Oh, yes. I apologize if that scares you," Shatter replied. "It's just a simple craven Autobot scare tactic. The name was meant to demonize us. Instead, we wear it as a badge of honor, for if speaking the truth is deception, then we are gladly guilty."
"Well then Ms. Shatter, you can call me General Bryce. Now, I believe we have some terms to discuss...?"
The Autobase:
"Bit quiet around here isn't it?" Knock Out asked Prowl as the two took a stroll through the base. "Miss the little pitter patter of human feet,"
"The humans have their own lives," Prowl answered, his expression neutral. "It would be rather cruel to hold them here in the base indefinitely."
"We never were holding them, they were always free to do as they wished," Knock Out replied. "Sure, you maybe held me and not without good reason but the humans? Never! This is in no way related to the recent loss of Swordbreaker is it?" he inquired cautiously.
"I apologize for my poor phrasing. In other news, Pyra Magna is on the road to recovery. She may be able to resume her duties within a few cycles." Prowl replied.
"Well, that's wondrous and all, but you still haven't answered my question. Don't forget, before I got involved in this whole mess I was a doctor. You're deflecting," Knock Out told him. "Swordbreaker's loss. It got to you, didn't it?"
"Of course not," Prowl answered, though he had clearly hesitated. "In conflicts like ours, losses are inevitable. Sometimes bots die. Simple as that. There is nothing to be gained from dwelling on these things,"
"This is the second loss to your crew you've suffered since you've landed on Earth," Knock Out replied. "Hound was the first, and now you just lost Swordbreaker under your command. It's getting to you, isn't it?"
"I have already told you my feelings on the matter. I must ask that you do not inquire further."
"Oh fine!" Knock Out exclaimed in exasperation throwing his hands up in the air. "Hide behind your logic, be robo-Spock if you must!" he continued as Prowl walked off. "But remember, closing yourself off from all of this, in the long run, it isn't healthy!"
Knock Out then punched a wall in frustration cracking it.
"Primus above..." he muttered before he felt a soft hand on his shoulder.
"Don't blame Prowl," Road Rage told him. "It was bound to happen eventually. I've heard stories about this. He's always locked himself behind logic and all of that whenever he's trying to cope with a loss. Exiling the humans from the base? He's just trying to prevent more death if he can, that's all," she explained.
"Better we protect them then let them get killed by angry Decepticons," Knock Out mumbled to himself.
"Who's to say we aren't? We protect them from the shadows," Road Rage told him. "In time, Prowl will come around. He'll realize what an idiot he's being and apologize. You just need to give him time. Everyone copes with it in different ways. Gimu, that's what the Japanese call it. Obligation, in short."
"Pressures of leadership huh?" Knock Out sighed. "That which is the burden hardest to bear."
"We've had worse times, remember?" Road Rage joked lightly although Knock Out didn't look amused.
"Yeah, when do they get better? That's what I wanna know..." he sighed in return.
"Prowl's just feeling boxed in, like the weight of the whole world's on his shoulders," Road Rage continued patting her friend on the back. "The same thing happened to Optimus Prime when the Matrix was passed to him. Optimus learned to live with his gimu and accept it. Now, while Prowl may not be any Matrix-Bearer, he'll have to learn how to accept his duties and work with them. There's not much really we can do to help, this is something he's got to resolve for himself,"
"Don't like it, not one bit but I understand," Knock Out replied before continuing on. "Gimu huh? Nice name for it. In the meantime, I suppose we've all got our other duties to worry about. Not just protecting the humans but trying to figure just how a certain you know what ended up smack-dab on Earth and if it's only the tip of the iceberg," he said as the two entered Perceptor's lab.
In the middle of the room, hovering in a tube of energy was this massive adorned sword with a sharp blue blade. The legendary Star Saber, said to have been forged by Solus Prime herself as a gift for her sparkmate, the now infamous Megatronus better known nowadays as the Fallen. When he fell, Solus used her Forge to smash it into five pieces with Nexus Prime hiding them away. As legend had it, Alpha Trion would later recover the pieces sometime before War Dawn and return them to the Cybertronian archives. Whether any of this was actually true or not was questionable at best but apparently, the Saber itself was real.
How it ended up on Earth was another question, although Perceptor suspected it like many other Cybertronian artifacts were sent off-world as soon as the threat of Iacon being overrun became very real.
In any case, this was what had been hidden in the Hoover Dam by the US Government and somehow the Decepticons had gotten wind of it and staged a full-scale assault in the hopes of recovering it.
"And now it's our job to unlock its secrets and keep as it far away from the Decepticons as possible," Knock Out muttered. "Lovely. We seem to get all the difficult jobs don't we?"
"And it's a task that should be made much easier now that I'm around," a female voice said as the massive form of Pyra Magna walked into the room. "But first, tell me what's become of my crew and my ship." |
Equestria Girls: Transformation | Part 28: Hunted Part 1 | Nebraska:
"Calling all Autobots, calling all Autobots. We are being hunted. The humans... they've turned on us. Hide yourselves, and protect the humans. The mission has not changed. But do not be reckless. Do not take any unnecessary risks. Until we know more about what has changed, we're all targets now."
That was the message Outback received upon a scouting mission for Con activity way out here in the farmlands of Nebraska. The odd thing was, the location the signal was coming from, a massive energon surge indicated that they were here, but Outback then questioned why would the 'Cons concern themselves with miles and miles of... well, nothingness really? That's what sent his mind into overdrive screaming out alarm bells and that's when he received the message from Prowl.
And that's when he heard the roar of engines. A squad of human military vehicles, all emblazoned with this black skull on the side and led oddly enough by this red muscle car.
"Oh Slag... I hate it when they get smart on us..." Outback muttered before burning rubber and taking off down a cornfield. His thoughts ran wild, what had changed? And last he checked human military did not use old muscle cars even albeit heavily customized ones as vehicles in their brigades.
Ripping up the field as the red muscle car broke off from the pack and pursued him along a dirt trail that ran alongside the cornfield, Outback tried to lose his pursuers. The human in charge, this older guy wearing sunglasses and sporting a silver buzz cut rode in the muscle car's passenger seat, an attractive blond-haired woman -at least by human standards- wearing sunglasses at the wheel.
The older human went for his radio, and barked into it: "D-13. You know what to do. Make it rain."
Suddenly, Outback heard the whirling of rotors from somewhere up above, the vehicle in question being hidden by the glare of the sun before Outback suddenly found himself dodging and weaving as missiles lit up the cornfield in blasts of fire.
"Hey, you've never heard of warning shots?" Outback shouted before his comms lit up and a voice responded.
"Those were warning shots, Autobot Trash."
That voice... It sounded vaguely familiar to Outback, although he couldn't quite place where exactly he'd heard it before. Suddenly, he found himself sideswiped by the same muscle car from before even as machine gun fire riddled his chassis.
"Oi, get some driving lessons why don't you?" Outback's holo avatar -a burly looking man with a beard- yelled out at the human soldier as he managed to maneuver himself into some woodlands, kicking up dust and dirt in his wake.
His wheels pounded against the twigs, leaves, and rocks as he made a ran. The sounds of gunfire running past his head was all he could hear, and he tried his hardest not to look back. He looked back only for a split second, and looked back ahead as a dash of bullets ran past him. He jumped to the right using a boulder as a ramp, pushing through several trees and chopping off branches in the process.
"Don't let him escape!" One of the soldiers cried. "You do so, and the boss will have our heads!"
Outback bounced up and down on a bumpy road as he made the turn, swerving into it. When he made it through the turn, the military cars behind him swerved as well, but winded up crashing into a few trees and even into each other. But not too far behind was the same muscle car from before speeding right behind him.
"Who are you?"
Outback's eyes widened when no response was given and instead, the motor on top of the cars hood transformed into a miniature cannon which loaded up and primed itself with a humming sound.
"Scrap!" Outback swore, realizing just exactly what he was dealing with now. Humans... Aligned with Cybertronians.
Outback quickly transformed just in time. He jumped up, just over a tree that had fallen, right before the unknown Cybertronian took her shot. The laser ended up breaking the fallen tree, which she pushed right past. When Outback found himself on the freeways again, he jumped and converted back into his vehicular mode and kept on speeding right into this small town. He rounded a corner, his tires squealing out in protest even as angry horns honked all around him before he smashed right through the doors of an empty warehouse word splinters flying everywhere.
He came right out the other side, swerved a hard right even as laser shots smashed nearby shop windows and overturned a car sending it smashing into the back of a pickup truck. Overhead, Outback could still hear the sound of a certain helicopter's rotors bullets riddling the streets behind him before he swerved down another corner and vanished from sight.
"D-13. Where the Hell has he gone?" the commander asked as his ride sped down a nearby alleyway hoping to catch Outback by surprise.
"Again, I ask you not to call me by that name," Dropkick grumbled as he changed forms into his Ford Ute mode, usually reserved only for these ground pursuit situations. His codename soon became obvious, as the back half of his ute mode bore the phrase 'D-13' next to his Decepticon symbol, both in solid black typeface striking a sharp contrast across Dropkick's otherwise blue bodywork.
"You are a soldier under my command, and so, therefore, you will go by the unit designation I call you by!" the commander bellowed. "Now find him!"
"He's gone off my scanners," Dropkick muttered in disgust making his contempt quite known as he pulled up alongside Shatter and her human companion, whom he'd like nothing more to turn into a puddle of slime to grind beneath his heelstruts. "Must have gone into deep cover mode, hiding his spark from our scanners."
"Damn you!" the commander roared, slamming a fist up against Shatter's dashboard.
Shatter fought back the urge to transform and shoot this James Savoy human dead on the spot or order her companion to do the same. But for now, they'd keep up the ruse no matter how much they hated it. As for Outback, the Autobot had managed to hide himself amongst the rusted vehicles gathered inside a WW2 museum and had ditched his previous altmode for something a little less... of a standout for the time being. Namely, this old Humber Light Reconnaissance Car. For now, this was where he'd stay. He'd keep in contact with the rest of Prowl's brigade, but only minimally and under only important circumstances. No sense in giving away his spark signature, at least not at the moment. Like Prowl had said, they were all targets now...
It was not a smooth ride coming to Earth really. It hadn't been a smooth takeoff from Cybertron either. Fast and quick, that's what it amounted to really. Onslaught had stolen an old Decepticon battleship, codenamed the Darksyde and had made quick work in getting him and his crew as far away from Cybertron as he could without much notice.
At least, that was the plan. After hotdogging through several systems, the two ships had finally caught up with each other, and the Autobots... well, they were taking a pounding really with their craft not exactly meant to go up against a battle cruiser.
"Hull breach in Sector Seven! The guidance systems... They're failing!" Hound shouted over the comms as the Darksyde's cannons riddled the side of the Autobots own ship. "Don't know how much longer we can stay in orbit!"
"So... That's the way it is huh?" Prowl mused before shouting an order. "Prepare for boarding! Onslaught, he's not the take prisoners type! If he wants to get away clean, he's going to want to leave no witnesses!"
Prowl grabbed his gun, and Decepticon Hunter and readied them for battle, with his fellow crewmates swift to follow.
"Got incoming Seekers! Three of them it looks like!" Hound barked, as he brought up a viewscreen that did indeed show three Decepticon seekers in their distinctive 'tetrajet' altmodes on a course bearing right towards their ship, leaving purple energy trails in their wake. One a military green shade, the second a black and bronze and the third and final one a bright yellow, blazing hot as the sun. Hound groaned, this was the last thing they needed. The Rainmakers. "Autoguns to maximum!" he ordered Swerve. "Shoot them down!"
But despite the hail of incoming fire all three members of the Rainmakers managed to dodge the fire and as soon as they got close enough to the ship, parts shifted and moved as they converted to robot modes and magnetized themselves to the hull. The black and bronze one, Sky Shadow had brought out a drill and was automatically boring into the ship. Well, he tried to anyways before a lucky shot from a cannon blew him to pieces.
Acid Storm raised his rifle, and fired with it a glob of Tox-En hitting the cannon shot that had downed his brother and melting it completely. Another cannon was soon to follow, Acid Storm keeping the cannons off his brother's back while Sunstorm drilled open a hole in the hull.
Parts on the hull itself shifted and moved as a hole opened itself up and leaping out of the hall duel machine guns in hand was Sword Breaker, moving from left to right behind cover that automatically sprouted up taking shots at both Seekers. Hound was soon to follow, grenade launcher in hand until a spinning shuriken from Stinger who was bolstering a jetpack knocked it out of his hands.
Stinger was then solidly drop-kicked in the face by Swordbreaker, who then set about riddling Sunstorm with bullets, the Decepticon going up in a massive fireball. A loud shriek caught Swordbreaker off guard and the next thing he knew he was pinned by this massive dark blue and orange Predacon who was trying to rip him open with his beak and claws.
Suddenly, Darksteel's eyes widened when he heard the roar of an engine and looked up only to see Road Rage smash into him headlong sending the Predacon floating off into space.
"You know, one of these days your lust for battle is going to get you killed, you know that right? Need a hand?" Road Rage remarked as she pulled out her rifle and helped Swordbreaker up. Road Rage shook her head. That bot, a stubborn one really. Always wanting to be the first to shed some Energon and collect his bounty. Reminded her far too much of this bot named Repugnus. Granted, Swordbreaker was more tolerable than Repugnus ever was but still...
"No, but-" Swordbreaker started before several shots just barely missed them by mere inches. A green massive tank had landed atop the hull, gravitizing itself before shifting to robot mode, which bore an eerie resemblance to the late Decepticon scientist Shockwave. "Okay, never mind. An assist would be appreciated." Swordbreaker commented as he changed one of his hands into a proton burst rifle, a type of Cybertronian shotgun and took a few shots at the newcomer.
"Boys and their toys..." Road Rage sighed, the two fighting back to back briefly before Road Rage flipped to the side to avoid a blast of Tox-En from Acid Storm. Road Rage fired her weapon in mid-flip, knocking the rifle out of Acid Storm's hands before the seeker was sent flying back by waves of sound from Sunder.
"Get up and shout, ow!" Acid Storm murmured before he slipped into unconsciousness and drifted off into space back in the direction of the Darksyde. Nearby, Prowl had joined the battle, and had grabbed a charging Steeljaw by the shoulder and had slammed him into the ground.
"And stay down." Prowl ordered as he heard shouts from over the comms. Decepticons had managed to board the ship all over. In the engine room, Under-3 and Swerve were just barely managing to hold back Hooligan and Swindle while Perceptor worked his bearings off just to keep the ship from going down. Suddenly, he heard a loud scream as Under-3's life signs went offline, the once proud sports car having been hit by a lucky shot from Hooligan. He would only later find out two things, Swerve had avenged him with a good shot from his pistol and Under-3 hadn't been totally offlined, just sent into stasis lock by a blast from Hooligan's electro-shock rifle.
A familiar loud screech made Prowl's optics widened even as the ship caught fire all around him and he saw Darksteel heading right for him, the Predacon changing forms in mid-air and bringing out this massive battle axe. All the while, Steeljaw was slowly but surely recovering.
Darksteel chuckled. "You know something, I actually thought taking this ship would be challenging. There is no reward awaiting any of you after death. This cruel injustice is all there is and all there ever will be. So, I take pride in the fact that I at least go in the glory of battle."
Prowl lowered his head in shame. Once, the hippogriff Predacon had been a noble, just warrior fighting for the rights of his species. But cycle after cycle had changed him, turned him into this murderous savage. Perhaps Prowl should have seen it coming sooner, he thought. Perhaps he could have gotten the Predacon some help. But now, all that remained was this rabid dog who needed to be put down. "Do you know what kills lions?" Darksteel commented, referring to the name of the ship, the Leobreaker named after the famous Autobot ally. "The relentless persistence of time and the pointless cruelty of life. You'll die the same way."
"Oh, shut up!" Prowl shouted, punching Darksteel in the face and slamming him up against a wall.
"While I don't honestly agree with the savage," Steeljaw commented as he wiped the energon off his mouth. "I must say, you really should give up. Might spare you a lot of pain in the end."
"I never give up. I promised Nova Prime to pursue you and Onslaught to the ends of the galaxy just to bring you back to Cybertron, so you can face justice for your crimes," Prowl said changing his Decepticon Hunter into a bo staff. "You need help Steeljaw, you could control your rages once, why not now?"
"Because... Because," Steeljaw growled out claws bared. "I haven't had anything to rip and tear for cycles. I'm just barely holding myself back as it is, keeping myself from ripping you limb from limb right here and now!"
Prowl managed to block the claw strikes with multiple intercepts from his bo staff, before changing it into a crossbow like weapon, and knocking Steeljaw back with a flurry of energy bolts. Clutching his side in pain, Steeljaw growled. "Another day, another day!" he shouted, before transforming and driving off. Yes, he knew Onslaught would inflict great punishment on him, but it was better than being brought down by an Autobot stooge.
Prowl meanwhile, not caring for what happened to Steeljaw at least for the moment found himself pinned down by Vehicons and dashing for cover, transforming into his hover car mode and trying to outpace the shots, purple toned explosions behind him and a wall of flame in front. Prowl revved his engine and shot through the inferno, before transforming into robot mode long enough to smash through the hull and kick Swindle in the face before shooting down some vehicon soldiers who had come to back him up.
"Thank the Allspark!" Swerve shouted. "Almost out of energy here!"
"Don't go thanking Him just yet," Prowl commented as he punched a recovering Swindle in the face flooring him. "We're not out of here just yet."
Suddenly, a shot flew past his head and stepping out of a groundbridge was the massive hulking form of Onslaught, red optics gleaming in pure undisguised menace.
"So, this is who they sent after me?" Onslaught remarked nearly flattening Prowl with one punch. "I'm not impressed."
He then punched him in the gut, still continuing to speak. "The mighty Prowl, the one who once served as one of Optimus Prime's lieutenants and now a simple beat cop. How the mighty have fallen."
Dodging the next punch, Prowl threw one of his own but it was caught and his hand began to groan out in protest, metal being squeezed by Onslaught's mighty fist. "I... I could say the same. You were once one of us, a member of the Autobot Elite Guard!" Prowl shouted back, the two trading blows atop a catwalk while the Leobreaker's engines burned below them. "What changed?"
"You're the logical one, figure it out," Onslaught commented in reply. "I grew... tempted. By the power that being one of Megatron's most trusted brought me,"
"War's over," Prowl returned. "Megatron surrendered, fostered a peace treaty with Prime."
"Megatron was weak then, I intend not to make the same mistake," Onslaught commented dismissively socking Prowl across the jaw. "You do have this saving bots thing, don't you? You're trying to save me, you tried to save Darksteel and you tried to save Steeljaw. Such a foolish notion. What chance do you have of bringing me back to Cybertron... alive?"
"None... None at all." Prowl whispered before pulling out his gun and fired at Onslaught striking him directly in the chest. Onslaught roared out in rage and pain, before opening a Groundbridge and grabbing Swindle he tossed him through it. Onslaught was soon to take his leave.
"Commander, I can't..." Perceptor shouted over the sound of explosions and weapons discharge. "I can't get the anti-gravs back online. We're going down..."
"Then so be it. Charter us a course, find us the safest landing spot," Prowl ordered even as he looked out a window to see the small blue orb rapidly approaching them. "If we must continue our war on another world, so be it."
Prowl awoke from his recharge with a start. It started out so simple, humans just simply asking them to play by their rules and keep their planet intact. Well, it seemed as of late, Prowl mused as he clenched his fist, the rules had just changed.
Unknown Location:
Once Juniper had heard of the government officially commissioning a branch of the army known only as Cemetery Wind to hunt down the criminals known as 'Autobots', she knew it wouldn't exactly take a genius to figure who was connected to them and helping them.
Small wonder she'd resorted to drastic measures to find a place for her and Feral Steel to lay low. The Autobots had scattered, to all manners of the globe now that they were on the run not just from the Decepticons but the American government as well.
While she and Xiraia were hardly on the best of terms being distant cousins only had only ever met at family reunions, the DJ/Conspiracy theorist was only too happy to help as she held no real love for certain administrations. So, that's how both Feral Steel, -using a light bender to masquerade as Juniper's father, some high ranking government official ironically enough- Trixie, Juniper and the dead body of Stinger found themselves crashing at this junkyard which Xiraia had made a home base.
"Man, I don't get it," Trixie sighed to herself as she popped open a can of some fizzy drink. Jimi Hendrix's version of the Star Spangled Banner blared somewhere in the background. "Trixie just does not get it! Why would the government suddenly turn on the Autobots?"
"Decepticons, it's in the name innit?" Xiraia commented. Turns out she did have a surprising amount of knowledge about machinery, and so was quite able to help Juniper with her little pet project if you will. "I mean, they scream deceivers don't they?"
"...Which makes whoever commissioned this Cemetery Wind crap extremely dumb in Trixie's honest to god opinion. And where's Fowler, and the rest of them? Aren't they supposed to be the Autobots' liaisons with the Feds?"
"Could have been bought off... or silenced," Xiraia shrugged as Feral Steel handed her some wires before she petted the wolfish Predacon on his head. "Just sayin'." the young woman remarked, her already dark skin covered in oil making it even seem all the more blacker, more sun-kissed.
"No, Fowler would never-"
"Kid," Xiraia remarked. "You're going to have to face some cold hard facts, some cold hard reality here soon. The world's not all black or white, not all good or evil. Deny it as much as you like, but these friends of yours... They may have turned on you. Look, I can't speak for you, as I've never met them, so I have to operate on a degree of skepticism, capiche?" she asked, a taser in her back pocket. Just in case any unwelcome guests came calling. Or Xiraia's landlord. The woman was behind on payments, and from what Juniper had figured out and from what Xiraia had told her he was a real dick.
"So what are you exactly doing anyways?" Trixie asked Juniper.
"Tired of feeling useless, tired of sitting on the sidelines only being this movie buff whose only real contribution is just educating your robotic friends on pop culture," the former gofer had replied, Stinger's body having been lifted up on two cranes. "So, time to make myself useful. Hardly a rocket scientist here, but my cuz? That's a different story. Plus, got Feral Steel here to help. ...Although understanding him may take some work."
"...Wish Trixie had your courage," Trixie muttered. "To stand up and do what's right."
Xiraia smiled and placed a hand on Trixie's shoulder. "Ever read To Kill a Mockingbird? Great book. There's this quote in there I really love. It goes: "I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It's when you know you're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what." That's what you should strive for, listen to old Finch. You started this as soon as you and your girlfriend joined up with the Autobots, and saved that bird. There is no are you in or are you out now, not this far in. You've got to see this through to the end, wherever the path may lead, capiche?"
"Trixie... Trixie understands," the guitarist said with a small slow nod of her head before she looked at Xiraia in curiosity. "Okay, just asking, but why are you helping us anyways? Besides the anti-establishment leanings? I mean, what do you get out of all of this?"
"Besides proof that all my theories about alien life existing being true? Not much, I'll admit," Xiraia replied. "But I'm doing this anyways, not because I want riches beyond the imagination or anything like that, but simply because it's just the right thing to do. A family's got to stick together after all..." she trailed off, looking towards Juniper.
"Almost... done!" Juniper grunted out as she slammed her Master Braces together and was covered with a crimson armor not unlike the bodysuits the other girls used as Targetmasters. Mind you, this one had some crucial differences, such as missing any obvious parts that would have indicated the suit changing into some sort of weapon. "See, told you with just a bit of Cybertronian know-how we'd be able to make this thing useful!" she exclaimed, patting Stinger's leg strut.
"What exactly did you do to him... It... whatever?" Xiraia asked curiously, an eyebrow raised.
"Always had a fascination with mecha and the like, so this is me taking things to their logical conclusion," Juniper smirked. "Still, if I'm going to use that," she continued pointing to Stinger's headless body behind her. "We are so getting a new alternate mode aside from that damn podunk Camaro. I like something a little bit classier, ya know?"
Barking, Feral Steel tapped a button and brought up the internet, specifically a web page dedicated to Italian sports cars...
Miles away, at CHS Celestia found herself sighing. Several of her students, including Twilight Sparkle, hadn't shown up for classes in over a week, and she was beginning to get worried.
She eyed this cross between a pickup and a Ford Falcon pulling up outside her school, with this man in a black suit and coat stepping out of the truck-like vehicle.
Celestia stepped out of her office to see the man striding towards her, placing his sunglasses in a side pocket with her students stepping right out of his way. She would actually later compare them to scared animals, trying to run and hide from this larger predator. Celestia let out a small snarl, her students were like her family, sometimes like her children. Every alarm bell in her head was ringing, and she wanted to get this guy out of her school as soon as possible.
"James Savoy," the man introduced himself, flashing a badge but so quickly Celestia couldn't even get an idea of which organization he worked for. "May we talk in your office ma'am?"
"Yes... I suppose," Celestia murmured, wanting to get this guy off of school grounds as soon as possible. "Can I just ask, why are you here?"
"Several of your students, gone missing in the past week and a half," Savoy replied in this somewhat friendly somewhat half gruff tone. "Been getting a few calls of concern. Just call me a concerned citizen. World's a bit different nowadays, rougher. Meaner."
"If you're talking about these giant alien robots, then I'm quite well aware of them Mr. Savoy," Celestia remarked as she sat behind her desk eyeing Savoy like a hawk as he looked through the bookshelf to the side of her. She thought him a shark honestly, that's what kind of predator she'd compare him to. A shark searching for any form of blood in the water, any sign of weakness from her. "But I've heard the government has a task force dedicated to dealing with them am I correct?"
In truth, she didn't trust Cemetery Wind one jot. Seemed like there was something they weren't telling the public, something they were holding back.
"Yes, and rest assured we're taking care of things so you don't have to worry," Savoy replied. Every so often, Celestia noticed Savoy checked his phone. With his back turned, it was impossible to see what he was looking at. If she could have seen, Celestia would have been horrified. Savoy was watching a chase in New Orleans dockside areas from a drone's perspective, with soldiers armed with special bullets created from studies of Shatter and Dropkick chasing down Hubcap who despite managing to get away for a short period in his vehicle mode was blown apart by a missile from Shatter. No mercy was given, no quarter was offered. No chances for surrender. "You have family Celestia?" Savoy asked.
Celestia shuddered slightly, although if Savoy noticed he didn't react. "Yes, of course, I do. Don't we all?"
"Yes, quite. We all have a family. I'm just trying to protect mine as well as yours. Listen, I need to know where those students of yours might have run off to. It's vital to-"
"The US Government's wishes?" Celestia asked, her voice as hard as steel as she strode towards Savoy with all the grace of an angry swan. "You know Savoy, I'd actually like you to leave now."
"I assure you, ma'am, I intend nobody any harm, especially not the lives of young girls who are only just starting out!" Savoy replied no scared of Celestia in the slightest. She was just a teacher after all, what could she actually do to him? Admittedly, a whole lot if she had access to his phone, which was why he'd pocketed it quite quickly when she wasn't looking. "There is nothing you need to fear, I'm just here to help."
"And I've studied history," Celestia replied. "Hell, I actually taught history before moving up a tier. So you'll excuse me if I don't trust you entirely when you phrase your doings in such a manner."
Savoy never lost his nerve, a testament to him really. An angry Celestia was hard to deal with in any situation, and a protective one even more so. "It's not their planet. Never was. Time we take it back," he thought towards the Autobots. All he just wanted was to prevent alien war, and if that meant siding with some of the aliens themselves then so be it. They said themselves as peacekeepers, and while the higher-ups may have believed that he didn't, not in the slightest. It was in the name after all.
"I understand your distrust, so I won't bother you any further. But any information you have, call this number," Savoy said laying a piece of paper on Celestia's desk before taking his leave. After he did so, Celestia shuddered once more, feeling as if she now needed to take a shower feeling rather unclean after her talk with Savoy. Her eyes then drifted towards her phone, and she picked it up and dialed a number. There was someone she needed to call.
Savoy meanwhile, walked towards Dropkick and pulled out his phone and pulled up another camera, where he watched Fowler in chains being poked and prodded at by Swindle. Savoy, for a brief moment, wondered if this was really the right thing to do before that doubt passed. No, this was the way things had to be. He had to protect Earth, and so he relied on that old phrase. The enemy of my enemy was his friend.
"Now tell me..." Swindle asked with an unnerving gleam in his purple optics as he looked Fowler dead in the eye, an absolutely evil smirk cast upon his face. "Where are the remaining Autobots, and where are those human girls...?" |
Equestria Girls: Transformation | Part 29: Hunted Part 2 | "So, that's what it's come to huh?" Pyra Magna thought to herself, her massive vehicular form of a fire engine resting itself amongst piles of junk, somewhere in Colorado. She, like the rest of the Autobots, had scattered to the ends of the earth once word got out the government had turned on them.
She found it fitting really, resting her chassis in a pile of where the humans left their dead automobiles, considering she herself had surrounded herself with dead crewmates. She could list the crew of the Van De Graaff off the top of her head, each and every one of their faces was embedded in her neural processor. And because of her own failure to pilot the ship to safety, half of them had probably died on impact.
"Some leader I turned out to be, huh?" she asked herself bitterly.
She took a look around, sighing to herself. Admittedly, this probably wasn't the best hiding place as a fire truck stood out more than say... a regular car but hopefully nobody would take notice of her. Hopefully. It was actually even a question of the Decepticons even knowing she was still alive, or if she was an active member to begin with.
A horrific thought came to her, and it was as if someone had gripped her spark like a vice. Her crew... her crew. What was the likelihood of them not being able to survive an interrogation, presuming they even got one? She knew Combaticon tactics, and more often than not they had ways of finding the truth. Such as that monstrous device known as the cortical psychic patch. Developed by Shockwave -who else could it have been, really?- during the latter days of the war. It was a procedure that allowed one Transformer to view into the mind and thoughts of another, and unsurprisingly it had quickly garnered interest amongst the Decepticons, especially when they realized it could leave someone with permanent neurological damage if used... incorrectly.
Because of this little facet, it had been banned for usage by Autobots, although those like Ratchet and Perceptor had written up texts on the subject just in case a situation ever arose -Primus forbid- that one was needed. Sadly, Pyra Magna had been on the end of one of the things, and it felt like every part of your body was violated, all at once. Mind you, this was when she was conscious, and she supposed if you were in a form of stasis lock it might have been marginally better. Marginally. Needless to say, she didn't really like others poking about in her head and picking her brain.
Nor did she like the idea of some 'Con getting the smart idea of using this on any of her crew. There was a reason when fleeing from the human government, she had rejected the idea of using the crash site of the Van De Graaff as a new base. Aside from holding far too many memories, it would have been the first place the Decepticons would have looked if they got ahold of any one of the Autobots.
"However..." Pyra thought to herself. "There's still that one little issue."
Deep down, she knew there was a reason she had chosen to hide out in Colorado, really. Especially this place, and it wasn't to remind herself of her failures by hiding amongst the dead. No, it was far more than that. No, it was just in case she needed to make a trip to the crash site, she could easily make it there before anyone noticed. At least, that was the theory anyways.
Hearing the roar of a jet's engines somewhere above her, one that looked frighteningly like a human fighter jet Pyra then decided to put that theory to the test. Engine roaring to life, Pyra drove out of the junkyard and hit the highways and took to the long curving, sweeping mountain roads that led up to the Van De Graaff's crash site. All the while, she heard that same jet engine. Maybe some would chalk it up to coincidence, but Pyra Magna never believed in that. Upon reaching the site, she wasted no time and pulled out a rifle blasting the side of the ship open, and then blasting a hole down to the lower levels.
"Pyra Magna, identification code Omega-Omega-Delta." the fembot stated, parts of the ruined ship beginning to shift and change all around her to reveal a hidden storage compartment. In front of her, illuminated by light was this massive golden hammer. Taking ahold of the artifact, she smiled sadly to herself. This was the real reason the Van De Graaff had fled Cybertron. Not just to escape from the war, but to find a special hiding place for this artifact.
Pyra suddenly heard the distinctive whirring of an energon rifle's barrel, and whirled around before her optics widened.
"You?" she whispered out in shock upon seeing Shatter's lurking form stepping out of the shadows.
"Yes. Me. Surprised? Missed me, Commander?" Shatter... No, Dust Up remarked with a small smile. "Wondered if you were still alive after all these cycles. And look at what I found. You, alive and well with the Forge."
Parvus Oppidum, that's where she'd found Dust Up, or whatever she chose to call herself nowadays. Old mining town, just barely scratching the surface of the Rust Sea. Not the Rust Sea of Cybertron, but the one of Caminus. For eons, they'd been cut off from Cybertron proper and on their resource-poor world, the Camiens developed a culture of conservation. They'd often taken to swords and other melee weapons instead of using consumption-heavy ranged weaponry. However, eventually, a scouting team lead by the cybertronian Red Alert had discovered them and had quickly alerted Cybertron to their plight. Pyra had taken Dust Up along with several other Camiens under her wing so to speak, teaching them Cybertronian and had led them into battle against the Decepticons when the war broke out. Sadly, one by one they fell until only Pyra, Smallfoot and Dust Up had remained. And now it seemed, instead of falling in battle like both Pyra and Smallfoot had thought, Dust Up had changed sides.
With a loud roar, Pyra blindsided her former teammate and slammed her to the floor using the sheer force of the massive warhammer she now held before changing to vehicle form and bolting. Wiping energon away from her faceplates, Shatter growled and managed to toss a small tracking device onto Pyra's fender. Next, she radioed command.
"Yeah, get me some Eradicons on standby..." she growled out before shifting to jet form and taking to the skies...
On the other side of the continent, work continued on the form of Stinger, with little by little the frame becoming operational. Soon, a new body was ready to be scanned for the Decepticon-turned mech suit.
"So, you think this will really work?" Xiraia asked. "I mean, I'm a mecha fan as much as the next gal -You know what they say, chicks do dig giant robots- but this one? He had his freakin' head blown off for crying out loud!"
Feral Steel chuckled, and simply tapped a key on the woman's computer displaying the website for the Italian styling gurus Pagani before tapping another key.
"Hey, Trixie is studying the basics of these suits Perceptor gave us, and both me and Juniper figure given enough time we can rework them," the stage magician commented with a small shrug. "Instead of transforming into big guns -which Trixie still doesn't see the point of given Autobots already have built-in weapons- we can probably change their functions to something more... useful for our purposes. And it helps, we have pictures of Stinger's original head!" she chirped, gesturing to the computer which now displayed just that. Changing into her armor, she then pressed a button on her gauntlet which made a visor flip down and scan the image on the computer.
"Trixie hopes she just doesn't wind up scanning the laptop and changing into THAT instead!" the high-schooler thought to herself nervously. She let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding when her armor changed to a deep red with parts reconfiguring themselves for their new purposes. Her point proven, Juniper followed Trixie's lead.
However, the next thing they heard was the sound of a soft knocking at the door. Xiraia pressed a button on the keyboard and brought up images from the security feed. Men dressed in suits, with their leader being dressed in this black coat -He would have been what Xiraia described as a silver fox had he not just extruded menace- were right outside.
"...And there goes the neighborhood..." Xiraia muttered in distaste. "You two, get out of here. I'll cover you! Out the back, go now! Take Feral with you!"
"But what about you?" Juniper asked. "If... If they see Stinger, and they will they'll have some questions for you."
"Eh, if it comes to that I'll just exercise my second amendment rights. Or plead the fifth. Whatever comes first," Xiraia replied, reaching for a gun she'd hidden under her desk. Small Glock pistol, which was quickly hidden in her pockets. "Now listen, I like you two and family always goes ahead of the government. Especially government guys who'd probably throw kids into some gulag somewhere. Now, what are you standing around for, go!"
Juniper and Trixie both hugged the woman, much to her surprise before running for it with Feral Steel following after them.
"Good luck girls..." Xiraia thought wiping a small tear from her eye before mustering up her courage and walking towards the front door.
Opening it with a creaking sound, she put on her best 'good hard working American citizen' smile. "...Oh, so you're not the girl scouts?" Xiraia asked. "Shame, I ordered a few cookies and I do love my Thin Mints."
"Girl Scouts?" Savoy asked as he and his men filed into the building with the man gesturing for them to fan out. "Love the girl scouts, hard working and they do make good cookies I admit. A prime example of future women of America, they are. Guessing you weren't one."
"What makes you say that?" Xiraia remarked. "I actually was, got quite a few merit badges."
"We know who you are Xiraia, your little conspiracy ramblings on your own personal private radio show? Think we don't care about them?" Savoy asked. "Okay, that's mostly true. But you've gone silent as of late. My daughter missed you. Call me coming here just a little request to put your show back on the air,"
"...And your vaguely menacing dudes crawling all over the place? That part of your little request? Because let me tell you, I don't take kindly to suits." Xiraia remarked, one of her hands going for her pistol.
"You watched one way too many X-Files episodes I think," Savoy replied. "We're harmless."
"Funny, there's a quote. Might have heard of it. It goes: "The most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help." Sound familiar? It should, given who they came from. Reagan was from your generation, same as mine. Took his words to heart, I did." Xiraia continued.
As a shout came from one of Savoy's men, the man himself smirked. "Wise woman. I'll give you that much. Okay, I lied. I'm not here to ask you to put your show back on the air. See, we did a bit of digging and found out who you're related to. Juniper Montage, 19 years of age and recently gone missing. Also did a bit of digging, and found her father -Dusk Montage- staying here. That's funny, considering last we checked he was in Switzerland on behalf of the President," Savoy smirked darkly. "You're trying to defend your family. That's admirable. I'm trying to defend the nation from alien war." he remarked.
"War? What war?" Xiraia asked playing dumb even if she was sweating bullets. "Look, I believe in aliens, but if they were here I'd think I'd have reported on it."
Savoy's hand shot out, and smacked Xiraia across the face sending her sprawling to the floor with her gun flying out of her pocket and hitting the floor with a clatter.
"Threatening a federal officer? That's a big offense..." Savoy remarked as he walked up towards the body of Stinger. "Hiding dangerous technology, that's also another offense. My my, you're racking up crimes every second. Doubt you'll be seeing the light of day till you're ready for the old folks home."
He picked up the pistol and aimed it at her head. Outside, having heard the gunshot Trixie and Juniper picked up the pace. No time to mourn, not yet at least.
Darting between boats and cars, even clambering over a few with Feral Steel still at their side, gunshots riddled their feet. Men carrying rifles, they had taken aim at the two young women. It seemed leaving witnesses was out of the question. Trixie's heart had dropped in betrayal as she saw Lennox amongst them.
Doubling back into the warehouse, Trixie looked at Juniper.
"...Are... Are you crazy?" she panted out. "You're letting them box us in! We'll be killed, just like your cousin!" Trixie screamed.
"Am I really?" Juniper whispered before she pressed a button on a nearby film projector and the air around her shimmered revealing Stinger's body lying in front of them. "Me and cuz, we planned ahead for a situation. Hid Stinger in another part of the warehouse, using lightbender technology. The Stinger those creeps saw, just an illusion. A trick of the eye. Xiraia knew this too."
"Then... Then what was the point of her dying?"
"Like she said, it was to buy us some time," Juniper said, changing into her dark-green shaded armor and attaching herself to Stinger's currently lifeless form. Just as the soldiers burst in, they soon found themselves faced with one massive mecha pointing a laser rifle at them.
"Cute," Savoy deadpanned. "I have to ask, what kind of woman sells out her own flesh and blood for alien steel?"
"Have to ask you the same thing," Juniper asked. She noted Savoy now sported a gunshot wound on his right shoulder, the man having covered it up with a hand to stop it from bleeding out. "Because only way I see it, the only way you could have gotten this location? Well, it's almost as if you had... help."
"Well, a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do. All in the name of his country of course," Savoy smiled before shouting: "D-13, take her!"
Juniper was proven correct when Dropkick burst in through a wall and attempted to tackle Juniper before she reached out with Stinger and threw the massive Decepticon to the floor.
Parts shifted and changed before Stinger was now in the form of a Pagani Huayra, doors opening and Juniper shouting for Trixie to get in.
"D-13, after her!" Savoy roared out in anger. "After them both! We cannot let what happened here today be released to the public!"
"Understood," Dropkick stated as he transformed to his Ford Ute mode and sped after the twosome. "Besides, I've got a bone to pick with those who use Cybertronian bodies like puppets."
Engine whining as they took to the streets, Juniper weaved through oncoming traffic, Trixie yelping out in fear as she took a look in the rearview mirror. What she saw nearly stopped her heart, that being Dropkick rounding a corner and transforming to his gunship mode with missiles at the ready.
"Gee, I'd love to see them explain away this!" Trixie shouted in fear even as Juniper now used her new body, wires connecting her to Stinger's own to dart right and left to avoid the missile shower.
"Maybe they'll explain it away as being for a movie, seems to work a lot around here!" Juniper replied as she quickly found herself swerving around another corner, tires squealing out in protest as Trixie found herself thrown into the back of her seat.
A massive SUV, obviously government aligned given the huge blacked out windows and generally menacing appearance nearly slammed into Stinger from the side even as Dropkick flew overhead rotating on a dime. He did this so his front cannon was facing towards them, ready to fire off several shots.
However, what he didn't anticipate -and he probably should have to be honest- was for Juniper to floor it and let the SUV take the blow, the vehicle flipping end over end and Dropkick having to change back to his ground-based mode to avoid being hit. He dropped to the pavement at the very last second, even as the flaming wreckage flew overhead.
"On your left!" Trixie shouted, Feral barking out in alarm as another SUV pulled up alongside them. However, the window rolled down to reveal Lennox at the wheel, with an unconscious Xiraia in the passenger's seat.
"X-Xiraia?" Trixie stammered out. "You're alive? But how...?"
"That gunshot? Me nicking Savoy in the shoulder, managed to drag Xiraia away in the chaos even as 'Stinger' as he seems to be called vanished into thin air and everyone tried to figure out what happened. Sorry about the little chase, had to keep up the ruse."
"Oh yeah?" Trixie shouted. "How do we know you're still not with them?"
"Please, if I was I would have shot you, and killed Xiraia. I'd never sell out to those walking junkpiles, unlike that coward Savoy," Lennox shouted back. "Look me in the eyes, go on! Look me in the eyes, you'll know I'm telling the truth then!"
Trixie studied Lennox hard, and honestly? She couldn't find any hint of deception in his words. "You... You went undercover, didn't you? Just to find out what Savoy was like, how he was getting his information!"
"Yeah, I did. Savoy's a hypocrite through and through," Lennox stated as the group entered a tunnel. "He's led the Decepticons to Fowler, Chrysalis' and Spitfire's location, got them captured. Even now, they're in Decepticon hands."
"Bastard..." Trixie muttered.
"To say the least," Lennox agreed. "Come on, we need to find the Autobots, and then rescue our friends. Savoy, and Cemetery Wind? They've got to be exposed."
"Then let's do it," Juniper stated, opening a channel. "Calling all Autobots, calling all Autobots..." |
Equestria Girls: Transformation | Part 30: The Raid | Colorado
Engine roaring and lights flashing, Pyra Magna drove down the mountainside passes realizing that Dust U-No, Shatter she immediately corrected herself wouldn't be far behind. In fact, she knew the femme bot had probably already thrown a tracker on her and had sent a squad of Eradicons after her.
And considering the rather valuable cargo she was carrying, Shatter would have been stupid not to have done such a thing. Sure, none of the Decepticons probably would have been able to use the Forge considering it required the Spark of a Prime or something very close to it but they would have love to get their greedy little claws all over it just to keep it out of Autobot hands.
Even as she drove, Pyra sighed to herself.
"How... How did this happen? You were one of the best, and here you are Dusty, throwing your chassis in with the 'Cons," Pyra thought to herself, civilian cars swerving out of the way. Seemed taking the form of an emergency vehicle did have it's advantages really. "What... What happened?"
She remembered the battles they fought, her and her team of Autobots. Back on Cybertron, her group was nigh-inseparable.
The Stellar Galleries, that's when it possibly started to all go wrong with the benefit of hindsight Pyra probably thought. The Cons were laying siege to Iacon, the city having become a wartorn Hell worthy of the fires of the Pit.
Pyra's squad had been stationed there, and when a massive Decepticon force led by the Seeker Leozack had arrived intent on claiming the building for their own as a staging ground she was having none of it.
As Pyra went cudgel to sword against Leozack, sparks flying, Dust Up escorted any remaining civilians in the area to safe locale. Trouble was, there really wasn't any safe locale at the moment as fires lit up the skyline with Decepticons swarming in all around and Dust Up found herself breathing and panting hard in abject terror.
On a catwalk above, weapons met once more as Pyra and Leozack went head to head.
"What, you're not so inclined to speak?" Pyra asked as she ducked to avoid a sword swing from the infamous swordsman.
"Talk during battle is a sign of weakness!" Leozack roared, drawing his blade and leaping forwards, the fires making him look as if some kind of demon before Pyra kicked him into another room.
"Only when you're too primitive to do two things at once." Pyra smirked. That smirk was soon to fade as a barrage of missiles came at her from where Leozack once stood. Optics widening, Pyra ripped off a wall panel and used it as a makeshift shield.
"This way, this way!" Dust Up shouted, tearing her attention away from the battle as Scoop and Rook provided covering fire slagging several Decepticon soldiers. Torca's massive tank form was thrown through a wall, the autobot transforming into an equally massive robot form bearing what looked like tusks jutting out from his head. He then began to hold off Killbison grappling him before solidly punching the gold Decepticon in the face. Overhead, three other seekers -In order, Guyhawk, Hellbat, and Thrust- flew overhead lasers firing even as Dust Up lead the civilians into the underground tunnels.
"It's okay. It's going to be okay." Dust Up stated, the civilians cowering in fear as rumbles of the battle raged above them. "We're going to be fine down here," she stated as she began to tend to the wounds of some of the Iacon natives patching up energon leaks and the like. Now, if only she could believe her own words. Liozack's men were here, and to be honest there were only two of them missing. One of whom was a known underground specialist.
Looking above her, she saw Scoop toss Liozack's soldier Jallguar into some Vehicon drones before Scoop shifted into a hover-loader mode and ram the lot of them. Presumably anyways, as all she heard before Scoop vanished from sight was the sound of metal slamming into metal.
"...Well, that's just Prime..." Dust Up murmured to herself deciding to screw pretenses and drop her calm exterior in front of the civilians. To be honest, she really wasn't cut out for this. She wasn't a warrior, she'd just been drafted into Pyra Magna's team because the commander had felt sorry for her. "H-Here I am, trapped with civilians and my team's backs to the wall and I... I can't even get you guys out of here. Slag... Drillhorn's probably bearing down on us right now and we'd never even know it!"
"Listen, you guys are some of the best of the best, right?" one of the civilians remarked. Knock Out, if she remembered his name correctly. "Primus knows how many countless times you've saved lives all over Cybertron. If... No, when we get out of this, I'm going to become a medic. Just because of your heroism."
"Fine time to pick a 'Bot to idolize. Listen to me Knock, I'd suggest you pick a better profession. You can't save everyone. Cybertron's going to the pits right now as it is. Better off you find a way off planet. Save yourself." Dust Up disagreed, watching the hallways and feeling for the tremors underneath the ground with her sensors.
This was what Knock Out would later tell Pyra Magna when she asked what happened in that battle. And this was what Pyra figured triggered Dust Up turning towards the Decepticons and/or adopting the name of Shatter. She was terrified of seeing city after city, friend after friend fall to Deathsaurus and Megatron's combined onslaughts. She just wanted to be on a side that would guarantee her a place that wouldn't see any friends of hers fall. And at the time, the Decepticons probably looked very appetizing given how they always seemed to grow in number with each passing day.
Pyra Magna couldn't forgive her old friend for her cowardice, but she could at least understand her in a way.
"Go, now!" Dust Up shouted as the ground beneath her suddenly started to shake before a blue and white drill tank burst up from underneath her and assumed a bipedal stance. Dust Up grabbed a panel off the walls -more like ripping it off frankly- and tossed it towards Drillhorn knocking him to the floor.
The civilians took the hint, and were quickly loaded into the back of a massive subway train that hopefully led far away from here. Dust Up allowed herself to breathe a sigh of relief as several Autobots she recognized, Cyberwarp and Backstreet led by Small Foot helped them inside keeping an optic out for any unwanted guests.
"For what it's worth..." Knock Out said before he was loaded into the subway train. "You gave me hope where there was none, for that at least you should be thanking yourself."
"Yeah... Maybe..." Dust Up whispered as the train sped off. A wall was blown open in an explosion of purple flame, and Hellbat and Acid Storm waltzed in, rifles trained on the femme bot.
"Hey, which do you think will hurt worse? This photon rifle, or your acid?" Hellbat cackled sharing a downright evil look with his compatriot.
"Dunno, that's what experiments are for. Ah say the acid first, just ta prolong the pain a little..." Acid Storm commented, the military-green Seeker laughing all the while in a crazed fashion.
"Agreed... It's no fun when they die quickly. I love it when their spark goes offline... slowly." Hellbat practically giggled stepping aside. Bravely, Dust Up pulled out a grenade waiting for the opportune moment to bring the entire roof down on top of them all before the loud shout of a truck horn was heard. All three cybertronians' eyes widened before the massive form of Pyra Magna burst onto the scene ramming Hellbat into the subway tracks, the Seeker being electrocuted with amp after amp of electricity before finally exploding. Pyra assumed robot form and grabbed Acid Storm by the arm faster than he could blink and tossed him into a wall knocking him soundly unconscious.
"You alright?" Pyra asked nervously helping her teammate up.
"Y-Yeah... I'll be fine. Sure took your sweet time getting here, really," Dust Up remarked.
"Yeah, sorry... Traffic was terrible, and let me tell you? Leozack? Right pain to put down. He'll be up in about in a bit, nursing quite the headache but let me tell you I wouldn't want to be around when he does come to. Not going to be pleased with us. We've been ordered to evac to the Great Dome. Sentinel Prime's holed up with quite a few of the stragglers and is trying to formulate a plan to take back the city."
"...Well, best we get moving then." Dust Up replied before she transformed to vehicle mode with Pyra following and the two took to the tunnels and up onto the highways never noticing the fact that this massive blue-bodied, red-winged Decepticon was watching them all this time.
Even as they drove, the highways shifted and moved in front of them with gears and cogs whirring and clanking and pistons pounding to accommodate the twosome. Sensors in the road below detected the wheels moving over them and issued ordered to more sensors ahead to change the highway patterns and layout in response.
Pyra swore she heard the roar of a jet engine somewhere above them, but when she trained her sensors to the sound she saw nothing.
"You think we're being followed?" Dust Up asked.
"I'd be foolish to think we're not being. I highly doubt Leozack would let us escape that easily..." Pyra replied.
"Easy, you call that easy?" Dust Up laughed darkly. "I nearly got burnt to a crisp by that crazed Con! What about the others anyways, Torca and the rest? Where are they?"
"When the evac order went out," Pyra explained. "I ordered everyone to go their separate ways. It was better that wa-"
"B-Better?" Dust Up choked out, and Pyra in hindsight would probably point this as to another reason why the femme bot defected. She wanted teammates she knew she could rely on, ones that would never leave her. "Have you lost it? Look around, the city's a warzone!"
"Yes, but my team, our team knows their way around it. Knows every nook and cranny. They'll find a way to safety. Splitting up? Reduces the chance of us being followed anyways. The Decepticons control this city now, we need to think smart. We can't allow any one of us to know the location of the other or our full plans. Nobody's been briefed on everything completely. So if one of us gets captured..."
"...Nobody will spill the full plan. ...I really hate you sometimes, you know that right?" Dust up muttered.
"Sometimes... Sometimes we all have to do things we don't like. Just to survive..." Pyra whispered to herself.
Back in the present day, Pyra repeated these words to herself as she looked down from atop a cliff at a river below, a detonator in her hands and the Forge strung across her back. As she'd predicted, several Eradicons had made themselves known and were now bearing down on her. Also as she'd predicted, she'd found a tracking implant placed on her by her former comrade.
Of course, she'd outwitted Shatter/Dust Up and had placed the tracking implant onto a log slowly floating towards the Eradicons. As they checked their scanners for the implant, Pyra smirked and pressed the detonator. A powerful explosion lit up the pass and consumed the Eradicons in its wake leaving nothing but shrapnel and burnt wood behind.
"...So, that's the best you've got my love?" Pyra asked. "I know you too well, and you to me. This game, it's far from over. So I say to you..." Pyra continued slamming a fist in to her palm. "Bring it on. You've still got a lot to learn, and if you want to kill me... Best you try harder."
Lebanon, Kansas
"Calling... Calling all Autobots..."
This was the signal that went all across the US, reaching Pyra Magna in the mountain passes of Colorado, all the way to Perceptor who had been holed up in the Arctic Circle as a research vehicle for scientists.
"Somewhere, somebody out there gave that order to hunt us down..." Outback said ditching his disguise as he knew that with a wide-ranging signal like that coming from an Autobot signature, it was time to move once more. It may not have been a Prime giving out the order, but to him, it might as well have been. Finally, it was time to move he thought to himself as he roared across the wheatfields of the Great Plains.
"And we've got to find them," Night Ranger agreed as he roared up alongside him, Autobot symbol flashing in the bright sun, and holographic driver ditched. If the world wanted to know about alien lifeforms, he was all too happy to educate them that they existed and at least some of them were friendly. "Agreed?"
"...Yeah, but first things first we regroup, formulate a strategy and then we hit those dingos where it hurts. And trust me, I've been wanting to do plenty of that." Outback agreed.
In a truck stop somewhere outside of Raleigh North Carolina, Juniper and Trixie had resorted to 'borrowing' cash from an ATM using Juniper's credit card -or rather her father's- and knowing they were probably watched held up a sign saying: "We will find you."
In Washington, a certain high-ranking member of Cemetery Wind was enraged to see what was going on and turned to his men. "...I was told they were no-one, teenage girls at that! And yet..."
Savoy showed them the screen on his tablet showing Juniper and co waving at them, along with Lennox. "These nobodies have our tech now and one of our operatives backing them..."
It wasn't long before the local sheriffs showed up on being told there were wanted terrorists in the area, but by the time they did the threesome were long gone and already hitting the highway for the rendezvous point in Lebanon, chosen because it was the exact geographic center of the US and the best place for everyone to meet up.
And so the transmission went out again.
"Calling all Autobots, calling all Autobots..."
Juniper and Trixie's eyes widened in shock when they heard an engine coming up from behind, with a roar that rivaled Stinger's own, and looked behind them to see the very distinctive form of Knock Out coming up from behind.
"Allons-Y girls!" he cried as he flew past them. "Just show me the way, and I'll follow the path! Scrap, might even make a race of it with you and that fancy-smancy automobile!"
"...Is he always like this?" Lennox asked over the radio and Trixie sighed.
"...Yep," she deadpanned before laughing uproariously. "Trixie is so glad to see some things haven't really changed one jot!" she cried, spotting Lemon inside Knockout's passenger seat bopping her head to some unheard music coming from her headphones.
"And where just did you get that fine automobile," Knock Out inquired. "Please tell moi you haven't turned to the dark side and started stealing cars? ...Granted, you would have fine taste if you did but..."
"...Well, we sorta did and we sorta didn't..." Juniper replied to the frankly rather flamboyant Cybertronian. "It's sorta a long story."
"It's a long drive, I've got the time for stories," Knock Out commented. "And you really must tell me where you picked up your friend!" he commented, referring to the massive black SUV that Lennox was driving, Feral Steel in the passenger seat disguised as an ordinary dog -complete with head hanging out the window and tongue panting hard- using lightbender technology.
"Oh, did I mention? Apparently, Lennox here went undercover in Cemetery Wind to find out what they're up to!" Trixie shouted back.
"Well, kudos for him!" Knock Out remarked in a chipper tone. "Good to see not every government-oriented human is aligned with those disrespectful idiots! Oh, did I tell you about the time they shot me up and ruined my paint job down in West Virginia? Oh for Primus' sakes, have they no shame!"
"...Yep, you haven't changed a bit." Trixie chortled.
They then saw a rusted police car drive up alongside them, scanning a billboard and rust, little by little began to flake and then fly off the rapidly shifting body that was now more supercar than an ordinary police cruiser. On the grill, the famed Autobot symbol appeared even as the light bars popped up on top of the roof.
"...Wow, pimp my Prowl..." Lemon said in jubilation as she pulled the sunglasses off her face to get a good look at Prowl's new form.
"C'est impossible!" Knock Out exclaimed in indignation. "Nobody is allowed to look more fabulous than me, nobody!"
"Yeah, well... it's happened," Trixie replied just barely holding back her giggles. "It just happened."
"...Why I oughta..." Knock Out grumbled descending into very rude phrases in Cybertronian that to our ears, just sounded like random whirs and beeps. Even as he continued driving down the highway with his entourage -harem(?)- of frankly beautiful looking sports cars, Knock Out was thrown for a loop when he received a transmission from Breakdown.
"Knock, that you?" Breakdown asked through the Conjunx Endura bond.
"B-Breakdown? Where you been?" Knock Out stammered out.
"L-Listen, I haven't got much time, this is not safe anymore, us communicating like this. The 'Cons, they're starting to get antsy, and it had to do with something I might have did..." Breakdown replied, and if Knock Out didn't know better he could have sworn that was guilt he detected in his bondmate's tone.
"What did you do? Tell me Breakdown, what did you do?"
"It... It was in Sri Lanka okay? I'd found the location of Steeljaw and Filch, looking for help against the Decepticons, and... And I turned on them, me and Brawl along with a few others ambushing them just after they'd helped save a fellow Predacon..." Breakdown explained.
"You did WHAT!?!" Knock Out bellowed out in shock.
"It was them or me, they had a gun to my head," Breakdown explained hurriedly. "A gun to-"
"Then you should have just let them pull the trigger, we do not give up friends locations!" Knock Out yelled at him.
"They were threatening you as well, they knew where you were and were planning to send in a strike team to take you and the humans out! I had to do something!" Breakdown shouted back.
"More like save your own hide!" Knock Out shouted. "You're the reason Cemetery Wind's onto us, aren't you? There's a reason why we haven't had help from Fowler or any of the rest, and I'm willing to bet-"
"No, I had no hand in that, I promise," Breakdown swore. "But I know who did. Shatter and Dropkick... They found them, convinced some higher-ups in the US government that they were enemies of the state and were allowed to hunt them down. Even now, they're here onboard this very ship! Now, I can't make a move against anyone without bringing down the might of Onslaught's entire crew down on my head, but I can give you something, namely the security code to the ship's firewalls. If you could somehow manage to find this ship, you could easily bridge into it with the Autobots and rescue everyone, including the humans!"
"Well... We do have a few more forces of our own since we last talked..." Knock Out trailed off. "If we can manage to get ourselves all together, there might be hope for us yet. Lennox, friend of mine apparently went undercover in Cemetery Wind. Mole, you understand."
"You sure about that?" Breakdown questioned. "Has he gave you more than his word? How do you know he's not lying?"
"He saved a human life from that hunting dog Savoy and blew his own cover in the process. I'd say that puts him in ou-No, my good books don't you think?" Knock Out questioned, having to correct himself. No, he and Breakdown weren't a thing anymore. Not since... this.
"I... I understand, Breakdown out," the Stunticon sighed before adding: "Oh, and one last thing? Be safe okay?"
Knock Out never answered back. Eventually, a few miles outside Lebanon in an empty field everyone finally met up. Shifting and whirring, all of the Autobots began transforming at once much to Lennox's awe.
"...I swear, no matter how many times I see it, that'll never get old..." the soldier muttered with Xiraia nodding in agreement.
"You can say that again..." she added, Feral Steel nuzzling her leg affectionately. "Like a bright light of hope in an ever-changing tumultuous world..."
"Okay, who's the tagalong?" Outback asked, pointing his gun at Lennox noticing his attire.
"Whoa, whoa!" Perceptor stated lowing Outback's weapons. "Let's hear him out, okay? Let him state his case."
"Then we get to decide on if we get to shoot him?" Outback asked.
"We're not shooting anybody," Perceptor disagreed, with Prowl rubbing his temples in frustration. Clearly, he could see that he'd been missed. "That would make us no better than the enemies we currently fight." the scientist continued.
"Exactly," Lennox agreed. "We all make choices, but in the end our choices make us. I was suspicious of the Decepticons approaching us, so was General Bryce for that matter. So, I was sent in undercover to see what was what."
"...Humans, a bunch of backstabbin' little weasels," Outback remarked having read up on the many wars the humans had fought over the centuries. He was decidedly not impressed. "Can't be trusted with their own planet, so why are we helping them?"
"They're young, they don't know better, and can we say we're really any different?" Small Foot asked. "We've been fighting for millennia, and it's only in the last few centuries Cybertron is starting to put itself back together..."
"Yeah yeah, it's just I don't like being hunted down by both Decepticons and humans at once!" Outback snapped, wondering how in the name of the Pit he was going to break to Small Foot that her old friends were now working for the Decepticons. Pyra Magna, for her part, stood silently in the background only just now speaking.
"Find your inner peace Outback," she said. "Loyalty... Well, that's just a flower in the winds of temptation."
"Didn't know you did haikus..." Lemon remarked. "That's sorta awesome... in a flowery poetic way."
"Eh, sometimes I had nothing better to do when just sitting around in a junkyard feeling sorry for myself," Pyra Magna replied, Perceptor eying the Forge strung to her back and optics widening upon realizing what it was. "Trust me, I like Earth, sometimes a Hell of a lot better than I like Cybertron at times. Thought it best to learn more about it."
"Yeah yeah..." Outback grumbled. "But I'm quite disenchanted with this little vacay. I say screw it all, and up and leave!"
Pyra Magna glared at him. "You have quite a lot left to learn young Outback. Humans are not what you say them to be. They're scared yes, but they have every reason to be with us tromping around on their planet. So ask yourself: do you know it in your head, or just your gut? You're a great fighter, Outback. But you have to be more than that to be a great warrior. Sometimes listening is harder than fighting. A true warrior must do both." she lectured promptly shutting Outback up.
"Good to see you haven't changed much," Prowl commented. "Wise as ever, Great Fire."
"Ugh, don't call me that. I hate that name," Pyra grumbled. "Makes me sound far too pretentious like I'm some sort of high priestess or something."
"Noted," Prowl remarked. "So what exactly are you doing with the Forge of Solus Prime?"
"Wait, that thing's a forge?" Trixie asked. "I thought it was just one really big-ass hammer."
"Appearances can be deceiving..." Xiraia stated, beating Sugarcoat to the metaphorical punch.
"It's not just a forge, it's the Forge. The Forge of Solus Prime, the one she used to carve out some of the most powerful and legendary artifacts in Cybertronian history young one," Pyra stated with a slight tone of reverence in her voice. "It's useless to us as it is, at least function wise as it needs the spark of a Prime to activate and we're short on those but..."
"You can crack a few skulls with it, I bet!" Lemon chimed in punching the air. "Wham, bam! It'd be like whack-a-mole!"
Sugarcoat facepalmed.
"So, I reiterate," Prowl questioned. "What exactly are you doing with it, Pyra?"
"The Van De Graaff, it was more than just a way for us to flee Cybertron. In the waning days of the war, when it looked like all would be lost to Megatron, Alpha Trion ordered us to get as many artifacts off-world as possible. Some were jettisoned to the stars in rockets, others like this we took personally and tried to hide them as far away from the Decepticons as possible."
"So that explains what this is doing on Earth..." Prowl murmured implanting the Star Saber in the ground.
"Exactly," Pyra agreed. "They should come in handy... Well, they would if we had a Prime with us, as... Well, to be frank, to activate the Star Saber's real power we would need one. For now, it's just one big thing to hang on the wall of your ship. I'm amazed you were even able to lift it as well as you were..."
"Wait wait wait," Sunny said waving her hands up in the air. "Too many names to keep track of at the moment, all I want to know is right now... can we save my dad?" she asked close to tears with Indigo hugging her and Howlback licking her hand with a metallic tongue.
"That... That would be difficult," Perceptor stated and Sunny's face fell. "But it won't be impossible. Trust me, it's quite achievable. I've been triangulating the locations of the Groundbridges the Decepticons have created in my spare time -and trust me, I've had plenty of that believe you me!- and I've managed to find the location of their ship."
"So we can get in there, and bash some heads finally?" Road Rage asked, slamming a fist into her palm.
"Hardly. The firewall's too difficult to penetrate, some of the best coders I know work for the Decepticons unfortunately. Swindle amongst them. He's made it very difficult for me to get past it."
"And this is where I come in!" Knock Out announced triumphantly. "I do have just such a thing to get past them..." he smirked transmitting the firewall security codes towards Perceptor whose optics widened.
"How did you...? Oh, never mind, Breakdown probably..." Perceptor muttered.
"Yeah..." Knock Out murmured to himself. "Breakdown."
"Should take me a few minutes, but I should have these firewalls slave to my command in just a jiffy and then we can get rolling," Perceptor stated as a little computer of hard light energy appeared on his wrist.
"Uh, guys..." Outback trailed off as the roar of a jet engine pierced the air. "I hate to burst this all heroic bubble we're in, but Juniper was it? You sent that call-out to all Autobots, and I do mean all Autobots on Earth. Even former ones..."
"W-What's that supposed to mean?" Small Foot stammered out before she saw the distinctive forms of Shatter and Dropkick flying towards them and then transforming to robot mode to greet them.
"It means that!" Outback shouted.
"No... no way... it's... it's them." Small Foot whispered scarcely able to believe it. Outback was of the same mindset, though for completely different reasons. Why of all Cons did these two have to show up, and why now?
"..Aw slag," Outback muttered. He swore silently to himself, cursing Juniper for her stupidity. No, it wasn't her fault he mused. It was his own, for not telling anyone sooner about where Shatter and Dropkick's allegiances now lay.
"Who?" Indigo asked and she took a step or so back, seeing the two cons charging at them.
"Shatter... Dropkick... they're alive! They're alive!" Small Foot cheered excitedly waving her arms up and down in the air. WHOO-HOO!!! They're alive!"
Uh... Small Foot, they're coming right at us, I think we should run!" Lemon commented as a Groundbridge opened up behind them.
"Come on, they're friends! Besides, look at them, they don't look the least bit--why does she look like she wants to murder us?" Small Foot squeaked out as she saw the Decepticon badges on the two of them. And then Shatter whipped out twin arm cannons.
"Wha... No, no... It can't be..." Small Foot whispered.
"Afraid it is, Foot," Outback stated sadly with a small shake of his head. Swerve then began pulling her through the Groundbridge laying down covering fire as well as all but two of the group fled through it.
"We'll hold the line, you guys go on ahead!" Pyra stated bringing out the Forge and a battle mask flipping up over her face. Knock Out meanwhile brought out his Energon Prod. "Go on. MOVE!" she barked.
"Well, long time no see Dusty..." Pyra commented. "Wish we didn't have to meet like this, you and Small Foot more accurately but suppose all things have to come to pass eventually..."
"You know, I forgot that about you," Shatter said as she dodged a swing from the Forge before roundhouse kicking her former commander in the face. "You talk way too much! What, you're not so inclined to speak now?"
"Talk during battle is a sign of weakness!" Pyra stated as she let out a battle cry in an eerie echo of what came before even as behind them, Knock Out rolled to the left to avoid a blast from Dropkick's cannon. With that, Pyra drew back her fist...
The Darksyde
"...Well, isn't this a fun time?" Swerve muttered sarcastically, Flanker in his hands and gripped tightly. "Here we are, Decepticon HQ, the big one! The hive! Abandon all hope ye who-"
Outback slammed a hand over Swerve's babbling vocalizer.
"...Does he ever shut up?" he asked nobody in particular.
"Not particularly, no," Small Foot said with a little shake of her head, the minibot sighing to herself. "Mind you, can't say I actually blame him for being nervous... Y'know, considering where we are and all..."
"Hey, you going to be alright there Foot?" Outback asked. "Shatter and Dropkick... they were your friends, and now...?"
"I'd thank you not for reminding me of that, thank you very much!" Small Foot snapped, and Outback actually flinched at that. Seeing this, Small Foot sighed. "I'm sorry, Outie... It's alright, and I'm definitely not fine... Seeing them after all these cycles, and them turning up alive only to have defected to the Decepticons... What happened?"
"I dunno Foot, but you can be damned if I won't try to find out," Outback said resting a hand on her shoulder. "Now, we should probably be quiet. ...The one time I wish that former 'Con was here with us, he'd know the layout of these hallways better than anyone, and the timing of the patrols. Instead, here we are relying on sheer luck."
"Maybe not just luck, no," Juniper said, having resumed her position as Stinger's head. "I'll see if I can access Stinger's databanks. He might have something on them..."
"Hold up!" Prowl whispered as everyone quickly slammed themselves up against a wall as a Vehicon patrol passed by them. It was a tense moment to say the least, as everyone hoped and prayed to whatever God they worshipped that nobody would turn their heads.
Thankfully, nobody did, and even more surprising was what happened next when the Vehicon patrol rounded a corner. Next, crashing and banging sounds came from it and a drone's body went flying into a wall its head smashed in by one powerful blow.
"What in Primus' name...?" Prowl whispered before Breakdown rounded a corner, one of his hands switched out for a giant hammer. He quickly switched that hammer out for his normal attachment.
"Okay, now I'm really confused," Sour Sweet muttered. "Aren't you a Decepticon?"
"...Yeah, well, I'm really re-considering my loyalties around here, no thanks to Brawl. Also have you to thank, that conversation we had back in Canterlot was really... enlightening so to speak," Breakdown replied and all optics and eyes turned towards Sour.
"I'll explain later. Glad to know you know which side you're on," Sour replied. "Shame we couldn't bring Knock Out along with us, your husband would-"
"Yeah, I'm not so sure he's a fan of me at the moment," Breakdown muttered sourly to himself. "At least tell me's alright."
"...He's dealing with Dropkick and Shatter alongside Pyra Magna, so I suppose it depends on your definition of alright really," Prowl said. "Now, if you're really changing sides, prove it. Help us rescue our human friends."
"I'll do more than that, there's two or three bots on this ship I know you'd like to have added to your ranks. Humans?" he asked, and Indigo nervously stepped forwards.
"Y-Yes?" she stammered out, recognizing the voice as the one who nearly ran her over all those nights ago. "Now listen here, you take one toe out of line, and it's my face that you'll never have to forget, understand me? Never."
"Understood," Breakdown rumbled. "You've got bearings kid, I can admire that. And for what it's worth... I apologize for what happened all those cycles ago. I honestly do."
"...And now that we're all together in a Yellow Submarine, can we just get on with things?" Lemon asked exasperatedly.
"Yes. Quite," Breakdown agreed. "Humans, if you can stick to the shadows unseen I believe you might be able to free Agent Fowler and your friends. I will help Prowl and the others free our respective comrades. Agreed?"
"Yes, quite. The detention block they should be down that way," Prowl agreed pointing down a corridor. "Keep this up Breakdown, and we may just perform the Rite of the Autobrand on you yet!"
"...It means nothing if Knock Out is not there with me to witness it," Breakdown said as the Crystal Preppers ran off in their suited forms probably being able to pass as Minicons really. "Promise me he will come back safe,"
"I will not make a promise I'm not sure I can keep," Prowl said unaware of how well Shatter and Dropkick could fight together even with Pyra backing Knock Out. "But I will say that he can hold his own."
"Yes, I can vouch for that," Breakdown admitted as they walked dispatching any patrols in their way swiftly and silently. "How'd you know the location of the detention cells anyways?"
"...Wouldn't be the first time I've been on a Decepticon ship." Prowl said as he blasted a down open revealing Airazor, Filch and Steeljaw restrained to a wall by energon chains.
"...What... What took you long enough 'Bot?" Steeljaw sniped. Meanwhile, the girls had managed to find Agent Fowler, Spitfire and Chrysalis hanging from the ceiling by their arms.
"What are you girls doing here?" Spitfire shouted. "Are you-"
"Crazy?" Indigo asked as she walked up to a console that resized itself for an organism of her size and began pressing buttons. "Perhaps, but you do need rescuing right?"
"...Kids, can't tell them what to do anymore right?" Chrysalis asked with a weak grin.
"Daddy...?" Sunny asked in a nearly heartbreaking tone as she prodded Fowler, who only had this to say.
"Grandma? Is it cookie time?" Fowler asked in a weak, dazed tone.
"...Dammit, Flamewar..." Howlback muttered. "He's alive, that's good at least. We're lucky he isn't dead..."
"The emu says YEAH!" Fowler shouted.
"They only keep them alive as long as they're useful," Howlback said gently shoving Indigo aside and pressing the buttons in the proper order. "Soon as that use runs out... Well, suppose I really don't need to explain that do I?"
"...Gee, I feel so honored." Chrysalis deadpanned.
"I like pie. Can we stop for pie?" Fowler asked as Spitfire holstered the man up over her shoulder.
"...You certainly don't need any more pie," the flight commander muttered. "Hefty enough as it is!" she grunted out.
"So my cat came to rescue me," Chrysalis remarked as Howlback helped her down. "Never knew I was quite so well off!" she chirped.
"Yeah, yeah... Don't let it go to your head m'kay?" Howlback sniped back in a half-hearted tone. "Not your cat, I'm only doing this so I won't have a couple of crying children on my paws. Really hate that..."
Loud crashing sounds and explosions soon echoed from somewhere ahead of them.
"...Well, that lasted about an only good time of about five seconds!" Howlback sniped. "Leave it to the lugnut to give away we're here!"
Sure enough, when they got outside, they saw Breakdown and Brawl grappling, before Breakdown broke the stalemate and slammed Brawl into a bulkhead with his hammer.
"Say Uncle! Say it!" Breakdown grinned. "Consider this my resignation from the Decepticons!"
He whirled around to face an oncoming Swindle and sent him flying.
"Dead battery," Breakdown smirked as the kids beat feet.
"Gotta say," Lemon remarked towards Sour who could only nod in turn. "I like his resume!"
Breakdown continued providing time before he was grabbed from behind in a headlock by a recovered Brawl.
"Now you say uncle!" Brawl sneered.
He was soon hit by a flying side-kick to the face from Night Ranger.
"Dude, you really need to slow your roll, your aura is putting me off brah..." Night Ranger commented, though to who it was unknown as Breakdown simply rubbed his head in confusion.
"...I didn't even know we had uncles? I thought that was just a human game!" he remarked.
"Brah, you've got a lot to learn about quite a lot then!" Night Ranger said. "Seriously though, let's burn rubber! This place is harshing my mellow!"
"Can't believe I'm helping a Decepticon," Perceptor mused as he kicked an Eradicon through a wall. "Strange times indeed..."
"We're still on the same team, Doc. Always will be," Breakdown stated punching out another Eradicon as all of the group made their way outside into a forest clearing high in the mountains. "Believe it or not, I'm tired of all this endless fighting. I just want to see Cybertron at peace. And I'm willing to betray those who I once considered comrades to do it if needs must."
"Oh really?" a voice asked, and Breakdown halted in fear his gears trembling at the very sound. "You see, that's very interesting to me indeed," Onslaught said as he leaped off the top of the Darksyde's bridge and pulled out one of his rifles. "Because I'm not quite just ready to let you go yet..."
Appearing out of the snow-covered woodlands were the rest of the Combaticons, along with Dead End and Flamewar.
"Get to cover, now!" Breakdown shouted to the humans who didn't need much prompting.
"Time to regain control over this situation... Decepticons, combine into Bruticus!" Onslaught shouted, and parts began to shift and merge.
"No... No... Please don't." Breakdown muttered knowing exactly what was coming. Miles and miles away, Knock Out even as he fought off Dropkick heard his sparkmate's screams of pain through their bond.
"Breakdown... NO!" he thought optics widening in horror and was distracted long enough for Dropkick to well... dropkick him through a barn wooden splinters flying everywhere.
Onslaught's arms folded up into his shoulders as massive torso armor appeared, almost resembling a pair of wings with Swindle and Dead End transforming into legs, feet appearing from the bottoms of their chassis.
Brawl meanwhile was cut in a halfway state between robot and vehicular forms as he became an arm for the massive combiner that was rapidly taking shape, the gestalt now easily the size of a skyscraper. Breakdown screamed out in pain and horror as he too was taken in by Onslaught's order and became Bruticus' second arm, a massive hand coming out of his body as Flamewar became additional torso armor. Finally, a massive black head with amber eyes and a silver faceplate appeared, Bruticus grunting and groaning as he came online and drawing a massive yellow saber made of hardened energon crystal almost ablaze with flame.
"Me Bruticus... Me Bruticus crush puny Autobots..." Bruticus grunted out as he stepped forward, the ground below him rumbling with every step. Swinging his sword, Road Rage barely just avoided being cleaved directly in half by the massive combiner before she stepped on a mine set up by Onslaught sometime before in case of this situation and was sent flying out of sight.
"...Yeah, and you may just do that..." Prowl admitted realizing that Onslaught had probably planned all of this in advance. He may not have expected the Autobots to arrive today, but he knew they'd come to knock on his doorstep someday soon and therefore had set the battlefield in his advantage. Mines had been placed everywhere, and it was a miracle he or any of his other troops hadn't been cut down by the autocannons.
In short, between the base defenses and Bruticus... They were slagged.
Watching this in horror as the massive gestalt slammed Steeljaw into the side of a tree with Bruticus calling out: "Timber!" were the girls. Bruticus continued to laugh as he began carving up the ground with his sword and sending rubble flying every which way.
"It slices, it dices, but wait! There's more!" he called, a snippet of Swindle's personality poking through.
"We've got to do something..." Trixie whispered.
"Yeah, but what?" Juniper asked and they could only watch as the slaughter began to unfold before their very eyes... |
Equestria Girls: Transformation | Part 31: Beginnings and Endings | The ground shook as the gestalts footsteps stomped towards the Autobots. They could only look up in terror at the horrifying sight at this colossal giant, merged at last. They still remembered the horror on Breakdown's face as he was forced into the transformation, now one with Bruticus.
"Bruticus, angry!!!" Bruticus roared at the top of his voice. His eyes hummed with pure energy as he looked down towards the Autobots. "Autobots... DIE!!!"
"Take cover!" Prowl ordered, ushering everyone to jump just before Bruticus' foot came crashing down like a falling tree.
The girls rushed to take cover as well, thankfully saved by the hands of some fellow Autobots.
"Maybe you girls should stay out until you have official safety orange," Road Rage quipped just before avoiding slammed into a mountainside from the giant's ankle.
Lemon looked back up at Bruticus with a look of horror. "I take back what I said! This isn't fun at all!" she screamed as Bruticus took one massive swing with his Energon Saber.
"...Welcome to my world," Road Rage muttered, having been able to recover from the mine and was now taking pot-shots at Bruticus' joints with her rifle. The idea was, hit one of the joints that connected one of the arms or the legs to Onslaught who if you may remember formed the torso and force Bruticus into disassembly. Trouble was, this little idea had been thought of and the joints it turned out were some of the most well-protected parts of the entire gestalt. With a loud rumble, Bruticus turned towards Road Rage grunting out his displeasure and her optics widened. "...Oh boy," she whispered.
He swung his sword, and Road Rage braced for death but it never came.
CLANG!
Amazingly, using sheer strength or Primus only knew what else Prowl stood holding the Star Saber in both hands and was holding back Bruticus' own blade. He slid back a few steps in the dirt as sparks flew from both blades as they ground together, Bruticus' overwhelming might pushing him back.
"Move it, all of you! Run! Now!" Prowl barked out. "That's an order!"
"Sorry, but we're not leaving you to just get slagged!" Road Rage replied still taking a few shots with her rifle at the massive combiner. No effect, but it did seem to slow him down a little.
"But logic dictates that-" Prowl began.
"Screw logic for once. You're our commander, and we do not leave anyone behind!" Road Rage barked back. "Besides, we owe it to Breakdown at least a little to save him don't we?" she asked, and up above with a sheer sharp cry the sunlight glinting off her armor Airazor swooped down and fired twin missiles at Bruticus. Amazingly, he staggered backwards long enough for Prowl to pull away from the blade lock.
"Fine... But... But if we live through this you're all going on report!" Prowl replied. "You've all got Petro Rabbits in your logic and self-preservation circuits..." he muttered and if Road Rage didn't know better she could have sworn she detected a hint of fondness in his tone.
"Noted." Airazor said before she swooped in for another pass, muttering: "She stoops to conquer..." before she sliced into Bruticus' armor with her wingtips.
A powerful backhand from the gestalt sent her crashing into some trees, wings bent at an unnatural angle.
"You alright?" Juniper asked to the fallen falcon, beginning to tend to her wounds.
"...Been better, but I'll live. ...By Onyx, this brings back no small amount of memories. Like being in the Gladiatorial Pits, this!" Airazor muttered with no small amount of sarcasm.
"Not sure I really want to know..." Juniper muttered as she took out a medkit.
"Is there a plan here?" Offroad asked, taking a missile launcher out of... somewhere and firing it at Bruticus making him turn his attention to him. "Or do we plan to just hold this guy off for however long till he slaughters us?"
"Firstly," Perceptor stated. "Despite a distinct tactical deficiency..." he began as he transformed into his half-track mode. Next, he began driving around Bruticus in circles making the massive Decepticon not sure where to look or who to target.
"In English please?" Trixie requested.
"He means... we're outnumbered and outgunned!" Sugarcoat stated, having transformed into a second rifle for Road Rage.
"Here, over here you big lug!" Road Rage shouted as she continued firing on the Decepticon, running both left and right to avoid both his weapons and the Autoguns. "Yeah, that's right. I'm who you want!"
"...We confuse the big lug," Perceptor stated. "Then, we commence an operation to disassemble him. Madam Spitfire? Can you give us any sort of backup?"
"Sorry!" Spitfire answered tending to Fowler. "Right now... Not a thing I can do. Got stripped of any and all communication devices and even if I had my phone it'd take far too long to scramble anything."
"Lovely..." Perceptor murmured. "Ah well, I can manage. Howlback, if you don't mind?" he asked before the felid Predacon leaped out of his front seat and began clambering up Bruticus.
"Kitty... Kitty get off!" Bruticus raged.
"Sorry, no can do big boy!" she laughed, before biting into his connection joints with her sharp claws, creating a small hole. "Now Perceptor!"
"Commenci-" Perceptor stated before a kick from Bruticus knocked him onto his side. "...I seem to have been disabled as of the moment."
"You have a gift for stating the obvious," Outback stated and he wanted to try and right the scientist but he then noticed Bruticus striding towards him. "...Oh, Primus..." he muttered before a shot dinged the side of Bruticus' head.
Smallfoot and Road Rage, rifles in hand were firing on the Decepticon vying for his attention. It worked, and he swung his blade at them. Both dived to the ground even as Outback pulled out a very familiar pistol after righting Perceptor.
"...Is that...?" Howlback trailed off not sure if she could believe her own optics.
"Yes, I do believe it is," Perceptor stated. "I believe Hound would have wanted someone to have used it even after he died, so I held onto it till I found out whoever would be right to use it. And then Outback came along."
Outback nodded. "Hound, this is for you mate..." he whispered before firing off a projection. Bruticus' optics widened at who he saw before him. Massive in size, possibly even taller than Bruticus -and that was no small feat you must understand given the combiner was the size of a small skyscraper himself- and bristling with weapons with a truly titanic Autobot symbol on his chest gleaming as red as the evening sun against a white torso.
"Metroplex heeds the call of the Autobots..." the figure stated in a booming echoing tone walking towards Bruticus. If he were smarter, the combiner would have noticed the figure left no imprints in the ground as a robot of his size was sure to do. But sadly or not depending on one's perspective, Bruticus was as dumb as a bag of rocks.
Bruticus lurched backwards as Metroplex's fist closed in on him. He did so long enough for Perceptor's central rooflight to flip forwards revealing what normally was a shoulder cannon. The cannon fired, and it fired a single silver piercing harpoon into the spot Howlback had ripped open.
Groaning and straining, Perceptor pulled the giant forwards and eventually Bruticus let out a roar of pain as Breakdown was disconnected from the combination. Crashing to the ground with a thud, Breakdown took the message and transformed into his vehicle mode driving through a nearby groundbridge.
"Alright, we're moving! We are not staying any longer!" Prowl ordered as everyone followed after him as quickly as they could. "Go, go!" he barked out as the now one-armed Bruticus picked up his fallen sword and began swinging it in a great rage. Metroplex had conveniently vanished, and while Bruticus was stupid he was no fool. Combine this with him losing a limb, and he wasn't exactly... pleased. Needless to say, retreat was the only viable tactic.
"Get in!" Swerve shouted to the rescued humans as they climbed inside. "Now, let's go boys go! The faster the better! I don't want to be around here any longer than I have to be!"
Meanwhile, far and away back in Lebanon, Prya Magna went metal to metal with her former teammate clashing blade with warhammer.
"Look at you, hunting down ancient artifacts," Dust Up/Shatter mocked. "Isn't that what you used to do? And now, here you are using one in a way it was almost most certainly meant to be used!"
This much was true, during the time before the war broke out Nominus Prime had assigned Pyra Magna and her team of Autobots to regain lost relics of the Primes hidden away on other worlds. It was a good paying job, even if Pyra hated the bigoted Prime's spark with a fervent passion. She had been quite happy -even if she never voiced it aloud- when during a political rally he'd been assassinated. Conveniently, the sniper had never been found. Pyra suspected it to be one of her own troops, but she never voiced her suspicions.
"Yes, well... Needs must right?" Pyra asked as she slammed the Forge right into Shatter's head, a battle mask flipping down over Shatter's faceplates to avoid serious injury. Didn't stop her from being sent flying into the ground ripping up a wheat field though.
"Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can't lose," Shatter asked as she picked herself up off the ground leaking energon. "Isn't... isn't that right Commander?"
"Don't call me that. You don't have the right..." Prya growled.
"Look at yourself," Shatter remarked having fully embraced her new role as a Decepticon and landing a powerful series of punches that made her former commander stagger back. "You thought you honestly could win forever? Nobody wins forever," she commented, in a tone that if Pyra didn't know better she could have sworn Dust Up was talking about herself. You honestly thought you could run and hide? Nobody can hide forever... Our demons, they always catch up to us. You just deluded yourself into thinking yours wouldn't..."
Nearby, Dropkick and Knock Out were going head to head, with Knock Out spinning his energon prod around in a masterful and downright artful display of ability. Dropkick was amazingly actually on the defensive, knowing full well what kind of pain he'd be in if Knock Out just landed one blow from that prod. He'd sparred with the medic a few times back onboard the Darksyde and he'd seen the effects of that prod on a few unfortunate Decepticons back on Cybertron.
"Let me ask you this," Knock Out stated, Dropkick using his wrists to block blows from the energon prod. "What do you get out of becoming a Decepticon, what'd those idiots tell you you'd win? Vortex and Blast Off right? That's who probably did it am I right?"
"How... How did you...?" Dropkick whispered throwing a punch which Knock Out simply sidestepped out of the way to avoid before kicking Dropkick in the face.
"Oh, I've read historical records. The Autobots named Dropkick and Shatter simply vanished from Cybertron on the day the Van De Graaff launched all those years ago. A day I knew all five Combaticons were seen as well. Whatever they told you," Knock Out stated punching the slightly taller Decepticon in the face. "I'm here to give you your five-o'clock wake up call. Here's the reality. YOU GET NOTHING! YOU LOSE! GOOD DAY, SIR!" Knock Out shouted finally landing a blow with his energon prod pumping Dropkick full of electricity making him fall backwards. Knock Out snorted. Dropkick... dropped.
"Pyra, we're pulling out!" Prowl radioed. "We've got the humans, rendezvous at the designated coordinates."
Seeing a Groundbridge open up, Pyra transformed with Knock Out soon to follow. Letting out a scream of rage, Shatter fired her arm cannons into the portal even as it closed. "DAMN YOU!"
Templo Mayor
Deep beneath the old streets of Mexico City rested a familiar den of serpents. Neither Steeljaw, Filch nor Breakdown imagined they'd be returning here anytime soon but yet here they were. Breakdown knew his odd but newfound allies would need a place of refuge and so he had suggested the tunnels below the temple.
"Ugh... Can't say I've been in worse places, but still..." Chrysalis muttered to herself as she stepped out of the groundbridge and into the Predacon tomb.
"Hey, I was in Iraq getting shot at while you were a mere paper-pusher!" Lennox remarked in a teasing tone his rifle resting on his shoulder. "So, this place right here? Well, it's peanuts compared to over there..."
"...How do you know I was a paper-pusher?" Chrysalis asked. "I could have been doing stuff that would have made your skin crawl..."
Howlback facepawed before calling out: "Is everyone here? No missing pieces, no leaking energon? Sound off!"
Various beeps and whirs accompanied that, letting her know everyone was still in one piece. Then, another groundbridge opened and weapons were readied before they were soon lowered as Knock Out and Pyra stepped through closing it behind them.
"So, I hear we have you to thank for our new status..." Pyra said, the Forge back to resting on her back. Breakdown visibly flinched at the sight of the massive hammer. Pyra simply chuckled. "Relax, I'm not going to hit you with it. Fact is, we owe you our lives. Perceptor told us enroute that you knew of this location."
"...Yeah, suppose I did," Breakdown admitted sheepishly rubbing the back of his head before turning to a familiar face in hopes of making nice. "Knock Out, I-"
"Save it," the Stunticon muttered still more than a bit miffed that Breakdown had sold out a few of his comrades even if it was to save him. "Not the slightest bit interested in talking to you right now..."
"Oh boy, looks like there's a bit of trouble in paradise..." Xiraia muttered to herself before asking: "So, question, are we going to stay down here forever, or are we actually going to... y'know, fight back? Row, row! Fight the power, go up against the man and all that?"
"I'm... I'm actually content to stay right down here if you ask me..." Twilight whispered having seen the massive gestalt and the battle that followed. Lemon nodded along in agreement.
"I agree with Twilight... The chances of us going up against that... thing again? I don't even want to face it, no sir!" Lemon whispered before she stood up. "Why didn't you tell us the Decepticons could combine? Why didn't you!?!" she asked, eyes narrowed.
"We... We didn't know, honest!" Road Rage stated holding her hands up defensively. "We thought with not all of the Combaticons on Earth, it'd be impossible for Onslaught to form Bruticus!"
"Well, I coulda guessed," Swerve muttered. "It's like I said to Hound when he was alive, Decepticons are obsessed with combining. Put enough of them in a room... Besides, what did you think would happen Rage? It's not just the Combaticons we have on Earth, but a few of the Stunticons as well!"
"...I'm... I'm honestly not sure if I want to help you guys in this war anymore," Lemon whispered. "Not after this. We've been becoming irrelevant anyways, as more and more of you guys join the team. Who needs a few super-suited humans when you've got metal bodies to just throw at the 'Cons and back you guys up?"
"Hey, unless you forgot," Trixie said pointing to Juniper. "It was two super-suited humans Zest, that actually got the Autobots reunited and forming a counterattack against Cemetery Wind and the Decepticons. If you want to go, fine. Door's that way. But for me and Juniper, we're going to continue the fight. This is our planet too you know!"
"But-"
"It's her choice ultimately," Indigo said softly in support of her girlfriend. "But honestly, whatever she chooses I'll be cool with it. I go wherever she goes."
"Indy..." Lemon whispered her lip quivering before she hugged her.
"Hey, if you ask me," Swerve said. "I may not be happy with all of this, humans getting caught up in the crossfire but kids like you? Well, you keep us honest, remind us exactly what we're fighting for. So props to you!"
"Yeah, you little guys?" Outback asked. "You're alright by me. Apologies for what I said earlier, the heat of the moment and all that."
"Yeah, it's no biggie," Trixie said waving him off. "Trixie understands. Us humans weren't exactly in our best showing were we?" she muttered, ashamed for her race at the moment.
"If Trixie's staying, I'm staying," Twilight stated. "Besides, can't let my girlfriend go off and do something stupid without my guidance first right?"
"...Gee, thanks Sparkle..." Trixie muttered with a hint of fondness in her tone.
"Well, if that's the case..." Lemon sighed. "If you're all staying, then so am I. In this all the way, no matter where it takes us. If us little guys keep you honest, then I'm cool with that, and I'm scared yes, but I'm willing to fight for my planet!"
"Well, aren't you full of spunk?" a voice asked as a massive winged figure stepped into view. Breakdown and Steeljaw's optics widened as did Filch's.
"Thunder Clash!" Filch said hugging the 'creator deity' so pleased beyond words to see he was up and about again after his little bout with Onslaught. "I'm so glad you're alive!"
"Same to you little bird," Thunder Clash rumbled in that voice of his before he looked around the chamber and shook his head. "...Leave you guys to go off on your own to find a friend of mine -and I see that you did- and what do you come back with?" Thunder Clash asked with in an unreadable tone as he eyed the humans -but not before giving Airazor a fond smile- making everyone very uneasy. "A bunch of above grounders. If I'd known I'd be playing host to guests once more I'd have prepared myself," he remarked.
"...Uh, who's he again?" Lemon asked nervously quite intimidated by the massive Predacon. Because really, what else could he be?
"Lemon Zest," Airazor introduced. "Meet Thunder Clash, or as you humans might know him... Quetzalcoatl."
"No way..." Lemon whispered in awe as Twilight ran up to the 'god' and began asking him a thousand questions speaking about a mile a minute as Trixie chuckled fondly at her girlfriend's antics.
"Is she... Is she always like this?" Thunder Clash asked, his crystal-blue optics blinking out in confusion. "This small one?"
"Yep. Granted, I can't say I quite blame her..." Sugarcoat noted as she adjusted her glasses. "Quetzalcoatl himself, in the... er, not quite flesh but you know what I mean."
"Yes, I can imagine it would be surprising for you humans to learn one of your ancient gods isn't all he's quite cracked up to be really..." Thunder Clash chuckled. It was a low rumble that filled the chamber.
"So, this is our life now," Chrysalis quipped. "Gods and alien robots... Eh, can't say I'm complaining. Life was starting to get boring before you guys came along really..." she said with a shrug of her shoulders.
Lennox walked up having got off the phone. "Apparently our arrival in Maine and the ensuing battle didn't go unnoticed. GI Joe satellites picked up your groundbridges and tracked them to here. A team should be arriving within the hour or so."
"...Lovely, just when I was hoping for some actual peace and quiet."
"So, we're running again?" Sunny asked nervously tossing a glance towards her father who was still rather out of it.
"You, soldier! You're out of uniform! Put on some pants!" he barked at nobody in particular.
"No, we give ourselves up," Prowl stated with a resigned sigh. "We're done running. We could only do it for so long really... Hopefully we can convince this GI Joe team of yours that we are no threat to humankind or this planet."
"Oh, I'm pretty sure a word or two from us will go a long way, right?" Chrysalis asked, her lips quirked in a small smirk. "That is why you rescued us, is it not?" she asked and Prowl nodded.
"...I see there is a lot I have missed," Thunder Clash noted crossing his arms before taking a look at the looks exchanged -or lack thereof- between Knock Out and Breakdown.
He walked over to Knock Out, massive footsteps echoing through the chamber.
"Something I should be aware of?" he asked. "I'm not normally one to take an interest in such things but you two... well, you two intrigue me. It's been a long while since I've seen a Sparkmate pair really."
"...Which is soon to change if I have any say in the matter," Knock Out huffed and crossed his own arms. Thunder Clash raised an eyebrow before Knock Out sighed and explained the whole sordid affair.
"Did it not occur to you at any point that Breakdown here was trying to protect you?" Thunder Clash asked.
"No... Yes... Well... I..." Knock Out stammered awkwardly. "It's just, when I heard he sold out his teammates..."
"He was doing it to spare your life. They probably would have killed him, if he did not speak. Then killed you. I've seen stranger and more difficult things done for love, believe me. Maybe not this day, maybe not this hour but someday, maybe you'll find it in your spark to forgive him," Thunder Clash lectured. "You are a great warrior, even if you never wanted to be. But you've still got a lot to learn Knock Out of Cybertron. So ask yourself: do you know it in your head, or just your gut? You're a great fighter, Knock Out. But you have to be more than that to be a great warrior. Sometimes listening is harder than fighting. A true warrior must do both. Think about this, understood?" he continued.
"Yes... Yes, I will..." Knock Out trailed off sparing a glance towards Breakdown. Before anyone could say anything else, the rumble of tank treads and the sound of multiple helicopters was heard somewhere overhead.
"Within the hour, eh Lennox?" Swerve remarked.
"Guess we better go meet our friends..." Prowl stated. "No matter what happens from here on in, it's been an honor. I could never ask for a better team," he said to his troops. "I just want you to know that."
"Oh, so you do have a heart," Road Rage laughed. "Who knew?"
As they emerged from the tunnels, the Autobot/Predacon force was met with Mobat Tanks pointing their main cannons at them and Eaglehawks pointing their mini guns at them. A troop transport was being readied for the humans.
Prowl took a deep breath and began holding up his hands in a surrendering motion as Fowler was helped by the Joe member named Lifeline into an ambulance. "I am Prowl, leader of the Autobot Elite Guard of Cybertron and I mean you no harm..."
Miles away, Onslaught's group was trudging away from the Darksyde, looking upon its distant form from a mountain pass. The roar of human jets -GI Joe Skystrikers- was heard overhead.
"So, what do we do now?" Flamewar asked her commander.
"Firstly..." Onslaught said pulling out a detonator and pressing down on it making the base explode in one massive fireball that lit up the night sky. "We erase all traces of our presence. Our location is compromised," he stated transforming into his vehicle mode. "Next, we find a place to hide until a new staging area can be found."
"And then?" Flamewar asked pulling up alongside him in her motorcycle mode.
"We go on the hunt." Onslaught chuckled darkly. "I do not intend to let this defeat and humiliation go quietly into that good night. No, the Decepticons will rise up again another day, and on that day there will be no stopping us..."
With that, he drove off into the darkness... END |
Frightening Little Details | pre | "Hey! What's wrong, sport?" Rainbow put the bottle back down on the table and turned her body to Scootaloo in concern. Her eyes shimmered as she waited for a reply.
Scootaloo couldn't open her mouth. She had her eyes clenched tightly together and her lips were stuck. Her heart pounded as she felt it was coming. She didn't want to. She was too prideful. She especially didn't want to do it in front of Rainbow Dash, but.....she knew.....she couldn't stop it. Not this time. It was too strong....
Rainbow felt a bit afraid from Scootaloo's silence. She was definitely not acting right, not acting like Scootaloo...
All was silent....and then....it happened.
Scootaloo began to burst out in tears. She had rarely ever cried before, but now was one of those times when she just had to. Rainbow Dash had never seen her cry before either, Fluttershy had, but only when she had gotten hurt really bad one time. Neither of them had ever seen her cry because of her feelings, and she was afraid that Rainbow wouldn't take it very well because Rainbow wasn't really the kind of pony to care for that kind of thing unless it came to Fluttershy. Scootaloo was afraid that Rainbow would be mad at her for being so weak. For crying because of another filly, but she couldn't stop it from flowing. Her eyes were swelling as the tears continued to pour out of her and her wails were unbearable to even her, but she couldn't stop.
She felt so embarrassed right now. She felt so alone. She felt like that warmth of love that her mothers had given her were leaving her body and even the presence of Rainbow couldn't stop it from disappearing. But right when Scootaloo felt like there was nothing left for her, when she felt like giving up, she felt arms wrap around her body.
Rainbow Dash had began to embrace the crying Scootaloo. She had her arms wrapped around her waist, and her head was resting in her mane. Scootaloo was shocked, but all at the same time she was so very happy. She reached her arms around Rainbow and grabbed onto her mother as tightly as she could. She never wanted to let go.
"She! She ran away!!! I--It's.....It's all....m-my f-fault!!!!!" Scootaloo wailed into Rainbow's ears, however, Rainbow only tightened her grip around the crying filly.
"I....I.....I love her, Rainbow Dash!!! I love her!!!" Scootaloo screamed. She couldn't stop herself, it was overwhelming.
Rainbow held her daughter close as she let Scootaloo let out all of her sorrows onto her.
Scootaloo didn't even notice that she had finally told the truth... |
Frightening Little Details | The Truth About Sweetie Belle | -The Truth About Sweetie Belle
With her face buried in Rainbow's brightly colored mane, Scootaloo suddenly felt like life around her had stopped. Her heart felt as if it had ceased to beat, and she could no longer hear Rainbow Dash's comforting whispers. Her eyes were blurred by the tears that were pouring out of her, but at the same time, they felt to have stopped as well.
Time had completely put itself on pause for a moment in time as Scootaloo finally realized what had just escaped her lips.
I....I.....I love her, Rainbow Dash!!! I love her!!!
Those words echoed through Scootaloo's mind. They wouldn't stop circling around her. She couldn't escape it.
Had she really just said that? Out loud? To Rainbow Dash?
She closed her eyes tightly as the world was still on hold. She couldn't feel or hear anything anymore. Everything had left her. She was in Rainbow's arms, but for some reason....she felt so alone.
"I....love her....?"
Memories began to cloud Scootaloo's mind. Haunting her.
School days were always boring, and Scootaloo hated it even more because of the fact that she had yet to receive a cutie mark. Almost everypony in her class had one now and she always felt so left out....and occasionally...stared at.
She would usually roll her eyes or something, but truly it really did get to her. She couldn't stand it. It just didn't seem fair to the little filly and for that very fact, she began to cut class.
Scootaloo knew that it was really a bad idea, but for the past few weeks now, she had been able to do it without ever being caught. Cheerilee must have thought she was out sick or something, but whatever it was running through her mind, she didn't seem to be paying Scootaloo's absence any mind. Any mind at all.
This was very convenient for the filly anyways. It was much easier to get away from school without the teacher calling Rainbow or Fluttershy on her. Of course, it wouldn't be so bad if she had called Rainbow Dash, but if Fluttershy found out....Scootaloo knew it would be bad. But so far, she had been getting around pretty well without any obstacles.
The little pegasus walked along the dirt path that she had walked so many times before. She had practically learned it like the back of her left hoof and she considered it her own little place. It was where she was able to get away from her classmates that is. If she wasn't around them, with all of their shining cutie marks, then she felt pretty good about herself. Just the fact of being around a bunch of fillies her age with their own cutie marks just made her feel sick. At least when she was alone she didn't really have to think about it, or most importantly look at it with her own eyes.
Scootaloo found a nice place under a tree and sat her little flank down. She hadn't been walking long and she usually would go further down, but for some reason she had this feeling that told her to stay there. It wasn't really that it was a scary feeling or anything like that, besides, Scootaloo wasn't scared of anything. But she just felt like she should listen to her instincts for a change and just stay put.
She looked up to the sky and sighed. She wished she was able to fly, that way she could just hang out in a cloud or something, but she knew she wasn't yet able to accomplish something like that unfortunately, but she would await that day when she would finally be able to lift herself up with her wings and fly around just like Rainbow Dash.
This thought brought a smile to her face. It was really the nicest feeling she had had in a long time. Usually she would have lots of time to herself to think now that she spent so much spare time walking around the outskirts of Ponyville. Nopony was there to bother her or distract her. She had no school work to worry about, and really, she just enjoyed the time alone with just herself. She never really had that kind of time on her hooves anymore now that she was living with Rainbow and Fluttershy. She would have thought that they would like to have alone time together, but they didn't seem to care too much where they were whenever they decided to have that "alone time".
This thought made Scootaloo stick out her tongue. She was still trying to get used to the whole lovey dovey mother thing going on at home. It wasn't really the fact that she had two mothers, but it was more that it was just embarrassing to watch them be so sweet to each other. Scootaloo wasn't sure what it was about older mares and stallions and love. She could only shiver at the thought of her being that way someday. Loving somepony.... Gross!
Scootaloo shook her head and tried to rid herself of those thoughts. Love was really not her thing. She just didn't understand why so many fillies were obsessed over it. Finding true love and stupid stuff like that. She would rather be out rolling in mud or something....really, she would.
"Who needs that kind of stuff anyways?" Scootaloo chuckled to herself. It was a silly thing to be so excited over. She just wished that everypony would see it her way.
The filly laid her head down in the soft grass underneath her. She poked at a particular stem as if she were intrigued with it, but really she was just insanely bored.
"Maybe I should go back to school tomorrow...." She let her thoughts exit her lips as she talked to herself.
She turned up her brow in consideration, but soon dropped her head down again and scrunched her nose.
"Nah.....School sucks." With her final decision, Scootaloo rolled over on her back and looked up to the bright sky above her head. Clouds were rolling by so peacefully and a cool breeze was running through her mane.
She couldn't help but let herself smile a bit. The sun felt so nice on her fur as she closed her eyes and began to relax all of her muscles.
Her nose wrinkled upwards and she began to toss around. She couldn't help but let her earlier thoughts start to cloud her mind once again. It was making her uneasy just thinking about it. Somepony to love....
"Yuck..." She turned back over on her stomach and pushed her hooves towards her eyes. She tried to knock all of those thoughts out. She just couldn't enjoy herself while thinking about stuff like that.
Her ear flicked at the sound of a crinkle behind her. She turned her head slowly, but nothing was there to see as she thought. Probably an animal or something.
She turned back around as she tried to relieve herself of the constant thoughts. Nothing seemed to be working though, she just couldn't shake it from her. She just couldn't think about anything else.
Her ear flicked again. This time, she didn't bother turning around.
She dug her hooves into her face and began to groan. Now all she could think about was the way that Fluttershy and Rainbow would kiss in front of her sometimes. It was just too brutal to think about, how could they even do that to her? She began to toss and turn about now. Her groans grew louder as her thoughts began to grow stronger and more annoying.
Wouldn't you like to have your own special somepony? NO!
Scootaloo buried her face in the ground as she struggled with the mental fight against her own self.
Once again....her ear flicked. Scootaloo was already irritated enough. She turned around with an angry face. She knew that there would be nothing there, just like the other times, except this time....she was wrong.
A little filly was standing there before her eyes. Scootaloo instantly noticed every single detail about her without even thinking about it.
She had huge green eyes. White fur. She was a unicorn. Her hooves were delicate. Her mane was curly and parted two different ways. It had pink and purple swirled around in each her mane and tail. She was so small, yet she was barely smaller than Scootaloo herself. She had no cutie mark, and a small grin was on her face.
"H-hey?" Scootaloo quickly jumped up from where she was laying. Her heart was racing for some reason. She thought maybe it was because of the fact that somepony had finally seen that she was not in school when she was suppose to be, but really.....that wasn't what it was that was bothering the pegasus....it was something else....something....more complex than that...
"Hi!" Her voice squeaked. It was enough to make Scootaloo take a few steps back.
Somepony to love....
Scootaloo's eyes grew big as she stared back at the unicorn. There was definitely something wrong here. There was definitely something wrong indeed. Scootaloo had never felt this uneasy around any other filly before. In fact, she had never felt this uneasy around anypony before, not even Rainbow Dash herself. This was strange. This was not right. This was.....No! That would be too weird....too coincidental....too.....much....
"What's wrong with you?" The filly looked over with her huge green eyes. Scootaloo could tell that she was moving closer to her.
Her heart was aching now. It was as if....it was breaking....
"N-nothing..." She tried to look away, but she couldn't. The unicorn was luring her in somehow. She just couldn't move away from the approaching filly.
"My name is Sweetie Belle!"
"Oh..."
"Just...oh?"
"I mean.....I'm Scootaloo."
This was getting awkward. Really, very, truly awkward....
"Why are you here?" Sweetie Belle finally stopped moving forward as she was already almost muzzle to muzzle with Scootaloo.
"I....uh...why are you here?"
Sweetie Belle looked down and smiled.
"Maybe we are both here for the same reason."
Scootaloo could hardly breath now. She was just too close to her....too close...
Sweetie Belle looked over on Scootaloo's side. The pegasus took another step back as she noticed where her eyes were.
"You don't have a cutie mark?"
"Well....neither do you..."
Sweetie Belle lifted her head again. Her smile was now fading.
"I guess you're right."
Scootaloo wanted this to end. She just wanted to turn around and run away from this strange filly. Something was just not feeling right and it kept getting worse and worse it seemed.
"Are you going to Diamond Tiara's party?"
Scootaloo looked back up with confusion now.
"H-how did you know I go to her school?" Scootaloo was starting to get down low.
Sweetie Belle smiled again and giggled a bit.
"I've seen you before."
"O-oh..." Scootaloo turned her face away again.
"Well....are you?" Sweetie Belle brought back the question.
"No."
The silence began to kick in now. Neither Sweetie Belle or Scootaloo said anything now. There was really nothing to say, so why was Sweetie Belle trying to keep the conversation alive between her and Scootaloo? It wasn't as if she had any interest in her, she just met her officially just now. So why was she being so pushy?
"Will you reconsider?"
Scootaloo's eyes grew larger as she turned to the unicorn that had broke the silence. What did she even mean by that?
"What....why?" She was starting to feel a bit more comfortable around the filly for some reason. Her words were coming out much clearer now.
"I....I want to go, but....not alone." Sweetie Belle turned to show her blank flank. Now Scootaloo finally realized what was going on. This pony only wanted to use her to get into that stupid party just because she was a blank flank too. Scootaloo had never felt so angry in her life.
"Why would I want to go with you?! I'm not going to let some loser use me to get into stupid Diamond Tiara's party! If you want to go so bad, quit being a stupid baby and go by yourself!" Scootaloo turned her head and began to storm off in the opposite direction.
Usually, Scootaloo wouldn't feel bad about doing something like that to some other pony, but for some reason, she was feeling hurt now. Her heart wasn't pounding against her chest anymore. It was definitely breaking now.....shattering into a million pieces inside of her chest.....but.....why?
"Wait!"
Scootaloo stopped in her tracks. She didn't want to turn around and face that filly again. She just couldn't look into her green eyes another moment, she just couldn't.....But......
"What?" Scootaloo turned her head back to Sweetie Belle who had now caught up with her.
No words were said as Sweetie Belle grew closer and closer to her.
"Please....it's not that....."
Scootaloo's eyes narrowed. What was going on here?
"Then why?"
"It's because.....because....."
Sweetie Belle moved closer and closer. Scootaloo could feel her heart beginning to pick up pace again. This filly was crazy!
The unicorn was now inches away from Scootaloo. She moved even closer and brought her little arms around the pegasus. Scootaloo didn't know what was going on, but for some reason, she wasn't sure if she wanted it to stop or not because she truly liked the way it was feeling.
Sweetie Belle rested her head against Scootaloo's orange shoulder and squeezed against her back tightly as she brought her fur closer to that of Scootaloo's.
The pegasus could feel her hot breath run down her neck. Her heart was throbbing now.
"I......I love you."
Scootaloo's eyes grew beady as Sweetie whispered those words into her ear. She had never heard anything so sweet, so pure, so lovely in all of her life. They chimed together like a beautiful music piece that somepony had composed from the very depths of their heart. It was the sound of the purest love Scootaloo had ever witnessed in her life. She wasn't sure if it was the fact that she had only witnessed Fluttershy and Rainbow's love herself, or the fact that this love was including her. Was it because she could feel it for herself? Was this really the feeling that ponies in love feels?!
"From afar....I have always watched you....I knew....that we had something in common....and it wasn't just that we don't have cutie marks.....it's something else....something different. I think maybe....we share a bond. I think that we....were made to love each other."
Scootaloo couldn't take this feeling anymore. It was too overwhelming. It was too much to take in.
She jerked herself away from Sweetie's grip.
"Love......?" Scootaloo stepped further and further away from the filly.
"Please....don't leave me now.....I've....wanted to say that for a long time...."
Scootaloo wasn't sure what to say. She didn't know whether or not to be scared, or happy. She was completely dumbfounded, however, she found herself moving back towards Sweetie Belle and embracing her once again with a force that she had never felt herself have before.
"Ok."
"Ok what?"
"Ok. I will take you to that party." |
Frightening Little Details | Reconsidering Things | -Reconsidering Things
Those memories were nice. They were refreshing to Scootaloo as Rainbow Dash held her closely. Scootaloo could remember all of it as if it were only yesterday that it had all happened. If Sweetie Belle never approached her that day then they never really would have met and been able to go to Diamond Tiara's party. Not that the party was a good one, but if they hadn't of went then they would have never been able to meet Applebloom. Really....when Scootaloo thought about it, Sweetie Belle had been right that day. There was surely some bond between them, but she still couldn't place what it was exactly...
Scootaloo retreated from Rainbow's grip and looked up at her with a smile that had now formed over her face. Rainbow wasn't sure what to think at first, but she smiled back as she wiped Scootaloo's tear stained cheeks.
"I think....I'm okay now." The filly lowered her head from her mother and looked off to the side. She did feel much better. She felt so fresh and new, but still she couldn't help but wonder....where was Sweetie Belle?
"Well, that's good to know, kid. I didn't think I could take much more of that...mushy stuff..." Rainbow stuck her tongue out at Scootaloo teasingly and got up from where they were sitting. She turned around from the filly and walked off into the living room. Scootaloo followed.
"Where is Fluttershy?" The orange pegasus looked up at Rainbow from behind as she made her way over to the couch where Angel Bunny was resting.
"Um....I....really have no idea." Rainbow shrugged it away as she sat down right on top of Angel. The bunny squeezed out from under her and kicked her in the leg as he hopped off in anger.
It didn't seem to bother Dash too much for she kicked back her back legs and began to stretch out on the sofa. Scootaloo, however, hovered next to her with large eyes as she awaited any conversation. She didn't want to think about Sweetie Belle right now, but Rainbow didn't seem to be much help anymore with distracting her.
The cyan pegasus opened one and and looked at Scootaloo who smiled as she noticed Rainbow looking her way.
"What now?" Rainbow raised her arms under her head as she tried to relax.
"Well....I...uh..." Scootaloo struggled to think of something...anything to say.
"Why don't you go out and try to find Sweetie Belle." Rainbow closed her eyes as she nudged Scootaloo's side.
The orange pegasus looked at Rainbow in awe. She wasn't really expecting her to mention Sweetie Belle right after Scootaloo's break down. Rainbow really wasn't the best pony to talk to about these kinds of things, but that was all Scootaloo had at the moment. Fluttershy would have been the better option, but still....
"But...I....I can't...." Scootaloo could feel tears welling up inside of her eyes again as she tried to hold them back as much as she possibly could. Rainbow noticed in her voice the sorrow Scootaloo was feeling again.
Dash quickly shot up from the couch and placed a hoof on Scootaloo's shoulder. All of this quick movement startled the little filly, but she knew soon what Rainbow was doing. She really was trying her best to be comforting, and Scootaloo appreciated that completely.
"Don't worry so much about it. I'm sure she is fine, but maybe....she is waiting for you to find her...it's....uh....just like a game of....hide and seek? Yeah! Hide and seek. She is waiting for you....to find her." Rainbow lowered her hoof from Scootaloo's shoulder. She smiled softly at the filly who looked at her speechless.
That was really a deep way of putting it. Scootaloo could have never thought Rainbow would be that good at making things a bit less scary for her. Putting it in that context was really a better way at looking at things, especially for Scootaloo at the moment. Maybe Rainbow was even right about it all. Maybe Sweetie Belle truly was waiting for her...somewhere.
Scootaloo looked down in her thought. She wasn't sure where she could begin looking though even if that were the case. Where would Sweetie Belle be that wouldn't be too hard to guess for Scootaloo?
"What do I do now?" Scootaloo turned her head back up for answers.
Rainbow looked up in thought for a moment. Her eyebrow wrinkled as if she were really trying. Then she turned back down to Scootaloo with a cheerful grin.
"Seek." ---
Scootaloo ran out as quickly as she could. She wasn't sure where she could find Sweetie Belle. She had no idea at all, but she knew where she could find help!
She smiled as she remembered that day that they both met Applebloom at Diamond Tiara's party. Yeah, the party really sucked at first and Scootaloo had really regretted offering to take Sweetie Belle, but the party wasn't all too bad once they discovered Apple Bloom there too. It was really a great day for Scootaloo. She had made a new friend, and it was especially good because she wouldn't have to worry about being alone with Sweetie Belle all the time.
If Scootaloo were to choose between them, she would say that Applebloom was her best friend. She wasn't really sure what category Sweetie Belle fell into, but it wasn't a best friend. It sounded a bit harsh when Scootaloo thought of it, but really...it wasn't in a bad way.
She just wasn't exactly sure how she felt about Sweetie Belle's....feelings.
Scootaloo had almost forgotten how all of this started, but remembering it all was really easier on her. Now she wasn't so lost and confused. Now she understood what had really happened.
Scootaloo looked up to the sky. It was starting to get dark now. She could hardly believe that all of this had happened in one day. It felt like it had been days since she last saw Sweetie Belle but really it was just hours ago that she had seen her last. It still hurt though....to be without her for this long....knowing that it was her fault she ran off in the first place.
She tried to shake her mind of those thoughts. If she thought like that then she would surly give up on this hide and seek game that her and Sweetie Belle were playing. She couldn't let those thoughts get the best of her. She just couldn't give up.
But first.....She needed to find Applebloom. ---
Applebloom sighed as she looked behind her at the boutique. Applejack and Rarity had told her that they wouldn't be long and they asked her to wait outside, but really Applebloom just felt nauseous thinking about those words.
She trotted back and forth as she waited. It had already been what seemed to be 10 minutes, and neither of them had came out and got her yet. She could feel herself getting antsy waiting and she began to skip a bit in her trotting. Sometimes, pacing would help her think, but right now, all she could think about was what they must be doing.
Applebloom stuck out her tongue and sat down on the ground. All that thinking was really going to make her sick if she didn't stop now. What she really wanted to think about was Sweetie Belle though. She couldn't help but worry where she might be, and she felt kind of bad about the whole Scootaloo thing too.
Rarity and Applejack didn't seem to be bothered by it as much as she was. After Scootaloo ran off, Rarity said that sometimes when Sweetie was upset, she would disappear for a few hours, and then she would come back home and go take a long bath. If Rarity knew that already, then why did she have to be so dramatic about it when Scootaloo was here. Applebloom knew that it would only worry Scootaloo and she was probably out now trying to search for wherever Sweetie was so she could apologize.
That was really the kind of filly Scootaloo was. She would yell, and she would fuss, but she would always end up feeling terrible about it in the end. Applebloom sighed again. Scootaloo never yelled at her before, but she always seemed to yell at Sweetie Belle. She wasn't really sure why that was, but when she thought about it...they were a lot like Rarity and Applejack.
Applebloom lifted her head with this thought. She could remember the times when Rarity and Applejack always seemed to hate each other. They would call each other names and they would never really apologize about anything they ever said to each other and that is why it was so hard to believe when Applebloom found out about them two. They seemed to hate each other but really....it was just the opposite.
That was how Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle were....
The yellow filly held her breath as she recalled what Applejack had said to her earlier that day.
They still love you as a friend, but maybe there is something going on between them that is a different kind of love.
Applebloom was still trying to wrap her head around it all....was all of what Applejack said really true? She did know that Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle must have known each other longer than they had known her. They were together at Diamond Tiara's party when they all first met, so maybe they had a deeper relationship the whole time they were all together as friends.
For some reason, Applebloom couldn't help but feel a little jealous by that. It wasn't that she liked either of them in that kind of way, but just thinking that they had a special connection this whole time that she wasn't a part of made her feel a little...left out.
She lowered her head slightly and sighed once again. She had been doing a lot of that today it seemed. She turned around behind her and grabbed a bag of chips she had saved on their trip over to Rarity's. There was still a good amount of chips inside and so Applebloom went right for it. She grabbed a hoof full and stuffed it in her mouth. Just as she did, she noticed a pony walking over in her direction....well....more like....hopping.
"Hey there little Bloomapple!" A bright pink earth pony squealed out as she approached the filly who smiled awkwardly.
"Howdy, Pinkie Pie." Applebloom looked around to see if anypony else was with her, but it was just Pinkie by herself. Applebloom sighed and grabbed some more chips.
"What'cha doing all alone out here!? Rarity kick you out again?! Awe! She does that to me alllllllll the time! It's just not even fair!" Pinkie passed Applebloom and walked over to the door of the boutique.
"RARITY!!!!! THAT'S NOT NICE TO LEAVE FILLIES BY THEMSELVES!!!! OR ME EITHER!" Pinkie turned from the door and smiled.
"It works every time!"
Applebloom tried to grin but she was still feeling too down to do so.
"Wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Pinkie's eyes grew large as she noticed Applebloom's silence was a result of her being sad.
She ran over in front of Applebloom and put her hooves on her shoulders and shook the little filly around for a few moments. She then let her go as Applebloom's eyes rolled around as a result. She shook her head after a couple seconds of dizziness and then she looked back at Pinkie with confused eyes.
"What was that fer?" She tried to ask as calmly as she could at that moment.
"Well?!?! Feel better yet?" Pinkie smiled largely as she looked at the filly with huge blue eyes. They sparkled with joy when they noticed Applebloom smiled a bit now too. The filly really couldn't help but smile at Pinkie Pie. She was really fun to be around at times, especially when she wasn't feeling the greatest.
"Thanks." Applebloom nodded her head as she smiled again at Pinkie.
"No problem! Madam Pinkie always knows best!!" She threw her hooves in the air and waved them around for a bit only to find her ear being tugged on by a magical force.
"Owwwiiiiiieeeeee!!!" Pinkie yelled as her ear was still being tugged away from Applebloom.
"Don't you know someponies don't like to be bothered." Twilight came around from the corner as she revealed herself being the one tugging Pinkie's ear. She released her magic from the pink earth pony who then fell down to Twilight's hooves and pretended to cry.
"Oh, give it a rest, Pinkie." Twilight shook her legs trying to get Pinkie's grip from her. The earth pony then jumped up and smiled again. Applebloom watched all of this as if it were television and she stuffed her mouth with chips in the process.
"Do you know where Rarity may happen to be, Applebloom?" Twilight looked down to the chewing filly who nodded her head and then pointed to the boutique while her mouth was full. She crunched down and then swallowed so she was able to speak again.
"She's in the boutique with Applejack, but....I would give it a few minutes...." Applebloom turned away and grabbed another hoof full of chips.
Twilight looked down at Applebloom and then up at the door again. She lifted a hoof back and her face scrunched up as she put the pieces together.
"Well.....okkkayy then." She dropped her hoof back down and sighed.
"Be prepared to do a lot of that..." Applebloom turned to Twilight.
"A lot of...what?" She looked down in confusion.
Pinkie then shot up from where she was standing and let out an overly exaggerated sigh in Twilight's face. The unicorn lifted an eyebrow as she still wasn't catching on.
"Sighing." Applebloom confirmed.
Twilight opened her mouth as she finally realized, but then she shut it again as it was really no use in responding.
"Why do you need her so bad anyway?" Applebloom tried to break the silence of it all.
The unicorn smiled at this and turned to the filly who looked up at her with less enthusiasm as she would have wanted, but she continued anyway.
"She told me she would help me make a new StarSwirl the Bearded outfit!!.....uh...for research purposes...that is." Twilight softened her smile as she tried not to blow her cover.
"Oh..."
"Nah!!! She just likes to wear it around the house and roll-play!" Pinkie grinned as Twilight turned to her with her mouth open.
"No...she's just making that up..."
"Sometimes she makes me roll-play with her sometimes!!! She will wear the costume and she makes me tie myself up and then we----"
Twilight stuffed her hoof in Pinkie's loud mouth. She blushed and smiled at Applebloom as she hoped she hadn't caught on to any of that. The filly just looked up with confusion, this brought relief to Twilight. She turned her purple eyes to the earth pony and scolded her for a few moments before she released her hoof from her mouth.
"Ahehem..." Twilight cleared her throat as she kicked the dirt under her hooves.
"Maybe....I will just come back later....." Twilight turned around and with her magic began to pull Pinkie Pie along with her by the ear.
"Owwwwww, Twilight!!!!!" Pinkie moaned as she was being painfully dragged behind Twilight.
Applebloom stared at the two departing ponies when they were all stopped by a large familiar voice.
"STOP!!!!"
Applebloom, Twilight, and Pinkie all turned to the little Scootaloo who was now standing a good ways in front of them. Applebloom was both happy and confused as to why Scootaloo was here, but really it didn't matter. She was just here, safely, and that was what mattered the most.
"Scootaloo!" Applebloom threw her bag of chips behind her as she got up from where she was sitting.
"What is it Scootaloo? Still having...those problems?" Twilight approached the filly too along with Pinkie who followed right behind her.
"Uh...well...yes..." Scootaloo looked down but then turned back up to the three ponies in front of her.
"What is it, Scootaloo?" Applebloom asked confused.
Scootaloo straightened her back as she stepped a few steps closer to the three. She cleared her throat and smiled.
"I need you to help me seek." |
Frightening Little Details | You Hide and I'll Seek | -You Hide and I'll Seek
Scootaloo ran all over town in search of Sweetie Belle. With the help of Twilight, Pinkie, and Apple Bloom, she felt that they would find her in no time at all; however, it was already getting dark, and finding Sweetie Belle....wasn't as easy as she thought it would be.
It took her long enough to get help from the three in the first place. As Scootaloo sat down and rested she thought back to how they all resisted at her request...
"Seek?" Apple Bloom got closer to her friend as she left the other two a little ways behind her. Scootaloo looked a little sweaty as if she had ran all the way over here....Apple Bloom wouldn't be surprised by that.
"Yeah!" Scootaloo jumped up a little ways with enthusiasm. She was so excited to finally find Sweetie Belle and make things right again.
"Seek?" Twilight lifted an eyebrow at the little filly. She made her way closer to the smaller ponies that were staring at each other; one confused, one jovial.
"Yeah...that's what she just said." Scootaloo pointed an orange hoof at Apple Bloom as she looked up the the tall pony that she had asked guidance from.
The two both looked back at her with questioning glances. Scootaloo couldn't help but feel so frustrated with them both at the moment. It wasn't like she was asking them for something too terribly hard or anything. I mean, why were they making such a big deal over it?
"I think she means help her look for Sweetie Belle because she is super worried about her!" Pinkie jumped in front of Twilight with a pouted face. She then quickly changed from sad to happy as she looked over to Scootaloo who nodded her head slowly.
"Ohh....seek." Apple Bloom looked up to Twilight who was still staring at Pinkie Pie with such an ominous face that even Apple Bloom had to look away.
"Yes, Pinkie." Twilight said through gritted teeth as she turned back to Scootaloo.
"I guess I thought that's what you meant, I just wasn't exactly sure you wanted...our help with such a personal...task." Twilight seemed as if she was trying to get her way out of it for some reason. Scootaloo didn't care though, she wasn't going to let her go too easily. She needed all the help she could get.
"Oh we can help definitely! It's not like we have anything planned later with that Star Swirl the Bearded costume that you had Rarity revise for yo---"
Twilight shoved her magical force into Pinkie's face sending her flying across the lot. The unicorn then smiled oddly at the little fillies as she tried to look another way around the situation.
"Aha...aheh...ahhem....I...um...we could spare a bit of our time to help." Twilight smiled as sweat dripped down her face slightly. Pinkie was already making her way back over to the bunch with a joyful smile.
"Yay! Helping Looscoots find her little fillyfriend mission!" Pinkie jumped as she squealed a bit with excitement.
"No. No! That's not what it is. I just...we need to find her." Scootaloo turned around to avoid Apple Bloom's eyes that were surely headed her way.
"Come on. It's...getting dark."
"Oh, but maybe we should go get some super secret mission attire from Rarity! That would be so super duper fuu---"
Once again, Pinkie was flying back over to her previous landing spot.
"Let's help the poor filly find her friend now, so we still have time for....uh....that book I was going to show you later." Twilight changed her story as much as possible and began to walk in front of Scootaloo who looked at her backside.
"Finally..." She grumbled as she started her way behind her.
"I'm sure we can find her 'round here somewhere!" Apple Bloom said with enthusiasm. That was something Scootaloo needed at the moment. She needed all the support she could have. She just needed to feel sure about this. Finding Sweetie Belle was the most important thing at the moment to her, and she wasn't going to stop until she was located.
"Ooooooooo! I can throw a party when we find her!!!!!"
Scootaloo slouched over as she watched the time go by faster and faster. They had been searching for a good while now, and still no sign of her anywhere. The little orange filly was starting to lose hope. What if she would never find her. What if Sweetie Belle never came home. What if....
No....she wasn't going to let herself think that way. She had to find her. She needed to find her.
Scootaloo got up from her resting position and began to brainstorm. Where could Sweetie be? Where would she be that it wouldn't be too hard to guess for Scootaloo? Where....where?!
She still didn't have any ideas. She was lost in her own emotions. That seemed to be the only thing she really could think about at the moment.
Why?
Why now was this happening? They had been friends for so long. They had fought all the time, so why was it now that Sweetie Belle got hurt so bad that she had to leave? What was different? What was it....
Scootaloo couldn't help but feel like whatever it was, it was completely her fault. She must have done something...something so bad that even Sweetie Belle just couldn't take it anymore. That made Scootaloo feel ten times worse about the whole situation. She only wished that she could just take it all back...
She couldn't help but remember the exact argument....she only wished that she hadn't reacted the way she did. She only wished that Sweetie had never cried. She only wished....
"Scootaloo!?"
The little pegasus quickly looked over to the left of her to see Apple Bloom waving her hoof rapidly at her. Scootaloo jumped up as her heart raced. This was good right? They must of found out where she was!
"Where is she? Is she okay?! Can I see her? Unless she's still mad...I can give her some time, but I need to see her whenever she feels like it!" Scootaloo hurried her way over to the little yellow filly who slowly stopped waving her hoof as she realized that she had just given Scootaloo...false hope.
"Uh...n...no....we...still haven't found her." Apple Bloom backd away slowly as she noticed Scootaloo's face weaken.
"Oh..." Scootaloo slouched back down and looked away from the little farm filly with disappointment.
"I...was...just going to ask how much...longer? It's getting pretty dark and Twilight and Pinkie has already left..." Apple Bloom was only the slightest bit afraid of the dark. At least, it wasn't her most favorite thing to do...be in the dark and all.
Scootaloo opened her mouth as if to respond, but she closed it without saying a word.
"I...guess....a few more hours then?" Apple Bloom turned slowly away from her saddened friend. She didn't want to let her down after all.
"You know what....you go on home...I...can take it from here." Scootaloo looked up with a small smile.
"No...I couldn't just leave you. Finding Sweetie Belle is important...it's just...it's so....dar--"
"I know, and that's why I will let you go on home. I know how you feel about the dark. It's cool, really. I can find her, I promise." Scootaloo lifted a hoof towards Apple Bloom playfully.
"Oh. I know you can! Thanks though...it is getting purtty late...and Applejack...probably wants me home...but...good luck...really...I hope things are much better tomorrow..." Apple Bloom smiled as she timidly looked around.
"I'm sure it will be." Scootaloo smiled softly.
"Well, good night then." Apple Bloom turned away from Scootaloo as she started off in the direction of home, but Scootaloo called out one last time to her. Apple Bloom turned around to look back at her best friend.
"I thought you might want these." Scootaloo tossed a bag towards Apple Bloom who had caught it as it flew in her direction.
Scootaloo turned back around and walked off into the darkness.
Apple Bloom looked down at the bag to see that it was a new bag of hayseed chips. The filly smiled as she clutched the bag closely and headed home. ---
Scootaloo was tired. She was cold, and all she really wanted at this point was to crawl in bed and forget it all. She really didn't want Apple Bloom to leave her, but she knew she couldn't make her stay, it wouldn't be right, after all....it was her mistake in the first place. This was something she had to fix herself. Getting help from her friends didn't really do any good, though she was still at least a little happy that they tried, that was all she could have really asked for. And when she thought about it more, she began to feel it was better this way. She would rather find Sweetie Belle alone. She would rather be the one to do it, because when she did find her, she would finally be able to apologize to her in the way she felt needed be best a secret.
The filly smiled to herself with that thought. It was the thought she had running through her mind ever since they began searching all together, but now, her thought was even more believable and possible...now that she was alone.
She wanted it to happen. She wanted to do it with all she had, but first thing was first...she had to find Sweetie Belle in order to get to that point, and at the moment, she was a little far from that, but she wasn't going to give up now. Not after all this hard work, not after all this persistence. No. She was going to find her tonight. She was going to find her before the sun went up. She was determined.
Scootaloo walked a little more forward when it finally dawned down upon her. The place. The perfect place. The only place! The place where Sweetie Belle....had to be!!
Scootaloo changed her pace and direction and began heading in the opposite. Why didn't she think of it sooner? Why now was she just thinking about this?! It was all too obvious! Way too obvious!
The little orange filly ran with all her might. Her little wings moved quickly as well to make her step all the faster. It was a time like this that she wished she had her scooter. She guessed she should have thought about that before she wrecked it last week in one of their Cutie Mark Crusader missions. But that was okay, she could get there even without her scooter. She felt like she was fast enough just on hoof.
Scootaloo's heart was pounding with sheer happiness. She was so relieved that she had finally found out where Sweetie had been all this time, it was just so easy. All this time and she had been right within her reach. Why hadn't she thought sooner? It could have been already done with.
Scootaloo shook those thoughts again. She wanted to stay positive. At least now the feeling of joy would be fresh in her mind when she lay in bed tonight. That thought made her smile and she began picking up her pace.
Sweetie must have ran off, hid in the woods, and then sneaked back whenever Scootaloo and Apple Bloom had left. That was definitely it!
Scootaloo's eyes finally fell upon the sight she so desperately wanted to see. Finally...she was back at the Crusader's clubhouse...that was where Sweetie was this whole time. That is where Scootaloo will walk in and make things right. That is where everything will be blown over and their friendship will be restored. That is where Scootaloo....will finally open up what she had been keeping hidden all this time.
The pegasus leaped up the stairs to the clubhouse with a pounding, happy heart. This was it. Finally...she had finally found her. She had won the game. Their game of hide-n-seek!
"I found you!!" Scootaloo thrust open the door and a large grin on her face. She was breathing heavily as the door slammed on the inside. Happiness was pulsing through her body and then it began to slowly drain.
Scootaloo looked around slowly. All her hopes. All her dreams. All her work. Thrown away into an empty room. A room where Sweetie Belle was not. A room full of junk food, untouched except by the hooves of Apple Bloom. A room that took Scootaloo's happiness and punctured through it. Spat in her face, and threw her to the ground. Scootaloo's hopes were now crushed as her last resort was a failure. ---
It wasn't easy trying not to cry as she slowly walked home in the pitch black night. She could feel the urge to burst out into humiliated sobs of anger and despair. It was all over. She never found her. She lost...she lost their game. Sweetie Belle won, and now she would never find her. Never again would Scootaloo get the opportunity to ask for forgiveness. Never again would she be able to open up. It was all over.
She walked until she felt like she couldn't walk anymore, luckily she felt that right as she walked up the steps of the familiar cottage that she had been living in for such a long time now.
She tried to suck up all the sadness she knew that she was wearing upon her face at the moment. She really just wanted to go to bed, she didn't want either Fluttershy or Rainbow Dash bothering her with questions...at least she knew Fluttershy probably would unless Rainbow already told her. She doubted it though, Rainbow wasn't good with stuff like that, Scootaloo knew.
She tried to make herself presentable before she opened the cottage door. When she thought she was stable enough, she went ahead and opened it up; as she did so, her emotions decided to attack and she began to sob right as the door was opening. She just couldn't help it, she couldn't quit thinking about how much of a failure she was. She just couldn't handle the pain she was holding inside.
The door slowly creaked open as she stepped inside, her vision blurred by the tears rolling down her face.
She couldn't see anything but blurred colors and watery images, but something she saw, she couldn't mistake for anything or anypony else in all the world of Equestria.
As her tears dropped from her eyes to the floor, she stood as Sweetie Belle stared back at her next to Fluttershy.
Her heart stopped completely.
Rainbow, still snoozing soundly upon the living room couch. |
Vinyl Scratch, Mentoring is AWESOME! | pre | "Umm..." Apple Bloom and the others still looked uneasy.
"What's the worst that she'll do?" Dusk asked. "Tickle torture until one of us spills its location. She's not a mean mare."
"Not normally..." Apple Bloom said. "Listen, ya need ta understand something. If she lets ya wear it for a bit that's one thing, she drops it on ma head all the time. But you do not, I repeat, you do NOT, mess with that hat." Lightning looked at her with confusion. "She would never hurt one of us per say... let me tell you what happened last time we tried."
(***)
Like ah said, AJ loves that hat. So ya'll know ah could never damage it. Scootaloo wanted to throw it in the pig pen and Sweetie said she would hide it with the hats in Rarity's shop, however the pigs would have messed it up and someone might a' purchased it in the boutique. I'm not sure why AJ likes that hat so much, but ah wanted to mess with her, not hurt her.
During a sleep over I took her hat while she was asleep an' just hid it in ma closet. Me an' the other girls then waited in ma room until a frustrated Apple Jack knocked on ma door. "C'mon in sis," I shouted, all three of us standing in the doorway.
"Gosharnit Apple Bloom. Ah know ya probably don't know either, but... hrrrr... ah just can't find ma' hat anywhere. Ya know ah just can't start ma chores until ah have it... just don feel right."
"You sure you checked everywhere?" asked Scootaloo. "I mean it's a big farm. You could have set it down anywhere."
"Could have blown away in the wind if you set it down," Sweetie blurted out, getting a quick glare out of me.
"Ah... ah hope not. I've had that thang forever," she said. "Sheesh... how could ah be so irresponsible?"
"Weeellll... you could have left it... or somepony could have taken it... ya know... not sure who... rr... maybe ah am... ya know," I started.
She smiled at me. "Ah see what's goin' on here."
I grinned. Me and my friends got ready for bolt for the door as soon as she gave chase. It would only be a matter of time before she caught one of us and tickled her until she spilled the hat's location, but we were gonna make it last as long as we could.
"Now... no... ah can't hurt ma sister... no... hat... ya gotta get it ta me sis... before it's too late... sis the voices, they're comin'... they're comin'."
"AJ, what'r you talkin' bout?" I asked. Suddenly her face went blank and she just stared at us from the door. "AJ?" She didn't move. Sweetie and Scootaloo started moving away from me ta start running. However ma sis just stood there, her eyes stayed on me, big and unmoving. Ah edged to the left, those eyes following me. Her eyes weren't even blinking, or at least they were taking longer than normal to do so. Her eyes were wide, but she had no expression at all.
Scootaloo and Sweetie started looking around, shifting uncomfortably. "Shouldn't we start running?" asked Scootaloo.
"Where?" ah asked. "We're on the second floor of the barn. She standing in the only exit."
"Um..." Scootaloo began, looking around.
Sweetie looked at her, speaking out of the side of her mouth. "Get the hat- get the hat!"
Scootaloo threw open ma closet door and pulled out AJ's hat, bravely jumping on her back and putting it on her head where it belonged. It broke whatever spell was on AJ.
(***)
Apple Bloom shook her head. "She was normal the rest of the day so ah figured not ta make a deal of it an' all. Just leave that hat alone. Ah don' want no one takin' ma sister off to da looney bin r' nothin' so ah just make sure she always wears that hat."
Lightning chuckled. "Oh brother. You're lying."
"No ah'm not," Apple Bloom said, watching Lightning, who was now flying about three feet above the ground. "Can ya stop that? Ah mean is it so hard to just sit still? Ah was tellin' a story, we'll start doing things soon enough alright?" Lightning looked out the club house window.
"Harder than you might think," Lightning said. "Oh here comes AJ right now."
The sound of the hooves of the yellow pony came up the tree house ramp. Apple Jack opened the door and looked around the room. "Am makin' dinner in a little bit, whose all stayin' over... Vinyl you joining the CMC too or something?" I looked around, starting to think about how I should reply to that. "Oh sheesh sugar cube, don't be so nervous. They've had me stay up here a few times too teachin' em' rope tricks."
"Hey Honest Apple!" Lightning yelled. AJ looked at her with a grin. "Heads up!" Lightning shouted. She grabbed Apple Jack's hat and shot out of the club house.
The three original club house members stood shocked as she flew away. Myself I smiled. Until I saw that look on AJ's face. "Well..." she started. "Um... I recon ya'll better hope she just comes back.
Those eyes... they just didn't move. And there was no way out... I looked at the CMC members and Dusk. I was too scared to write.
Tickling
Rainbow Dash had come to eat at the Apple farm as well.
After the meal, we three mares started walking through the Apple family corn crops just talking.
'Now I guess I'm going to have to do an all nighter to keep my promise,' I wrote.
"Ma sister and her friends el' understand if you can't write a song by tomorrow," AJ tried to assure me.
'I've been letting my fans down for long enough!' I replied. 'No more!'
AJ and Rainbow both smiled. "You know it. That's the attitude you need!" Rainbow cheered.
"Been meaning ta ask ya Rainbow, how's Scoots doing these days at home? She seems normal enough now but ah'm just wonderin'," AJ said.
"Actually that's one of the reasons I came over today," she looked at me. "You and Scoots have some things in common... I was hoping you wouldn't mind giving me some pointers on dealing with an adoptive foal. And maybe... on dealing with a disability?"
I rolled my eyes, that was coming up a lot recently. Well she was asking for a pretty honest reason so I shrugged. 'Ask anything you want, but not sure how much help I'll be. Scoots was born unable to fly, and I was adopted at four. I remember Octy helped make the transition easier, but I can't remember specifics on how. She did prank me a lot.'
"Well I'm kind of afraid to do that," Rainbow replied. "I'm the prank queen and all, but I think Scoots' trust is kinda fragile these days, at least as far as adults are concerned. Can't blame her either." Rainbow Dash stopped walking. She appeared to be gritting her teeth.
"Still rememberin' that day in the hospital sugar cube?" AJ asked.
"Wish I could forget," Rainbow replied. "Scoots has woken up in the middle of the night yelling for her mom three times this week alone."
'Hospital?' I wrote.
"She was a neglected filly," said Apple Jack. "There were a few things the docs had to take care of. Scoots' then mother, Mrs. Purple, stopped by ta' let us all know she wasn't givin' up her daughter without a fight."
"As if she had any right to fight!" Rainbow almost shouted. "That house was empty of any food and Scoots let me know recently that she sometimes went months without seeing that... that... mare... She went to talk to Scoots in the outpatient room. That's when it all happened. The squirt started asking Mrs. Purple all sorts of questions about what was going on. And then she asked her mother if she ever loved her." Rainbow paused. "That bitch went into this long winded speech about the pains of labor and giving up four years of work to care for Scootaloo. Mrs. Pruple asked how anyone could ever even like doing that. She told a filly to her face that she was nothing more than a burden she was keeping alive so she wouldn't look bad. She even said it "no, I don't love you, I never did"." Rainbow snorted in fury. "Rarity was there at the time and chewed that bitch out and she's lucky the nurses dragged me out or she'd have lost more than the two teeth I knocked out with the first punch." I gave Rainbow a quick side hug. "Yea... Scoots needs that more than me. I'm just not always sure what to do."
Apple Jack punched her shoulder. "Hey, but there was some good news right?"
"Yea," Rainbow said with a chuckled. "Turns out the castle of Friendship has a dungeon. Twilight put Mrs. Purple down there when she was finally sentenced for foal neglect. I'm not allowed to go down and deliver the fear of Celestia to that freak, but I'm happier just knowing she's gonna be stuck down there for a LONG time!"
'I'm pretty sure I can't say anything to help with that,' I admitted.
"Well she's in therapy for that."
'As of... well you two remember what happened,' I looked towards the club house. 'Lightning is in therapy too. I thought if she went it would have been for her hyperactivity, but like you two saw in the hospital, something much more serious than a little ADD is going on with her.' I smiled. 'So about that hat thing AJ...'
"Oh that?" Apple Jack asked, starting to laugh. "Ya have to know ah was just messin' around."
'Scared me for a minute there all the same. You could have let someone go get Lightning.'
"Wouldda messed up the joke."
"Dinner was an hour late because of that joke," Rainbow said rolling her eyes. "Oh and by the way, I didn't tell you it was okay to prank Scoots yet now did I?"
"Well no, but she seems okay," AJ said, giving a small side grin. "Maybe I should have let the prank go, but c'mon sugar cube, do you have any idea how long ah had to practice in front of the mirror to get that scary face just right? Apple Bloom has seen some scary things in her time, short as its been. Ah had to be smart about it. Pranking her with just a face is hard work."
Rainbow grinned. "I understand, and you're right, Scootaloo seemed okay. Still, you're going to have to come clean if she starts freaking out alright?"
"Course."
"And then there's the issue of well..." Rainbow reared back and shot into the air over Apple Jack, grabbing her hat in midair. "You mess with my daughter you mess with me!" Rainbow shot up into the clouds.
"Ha ha... that's funny sugar cube," AJ said looking up. "Sugar Cube... look ah didn't think ah would tramatize Scoots... in fact ah'm pretty sure ah didn't."
"I know that," said Rainbow, sitting on a cloud fifteen feet up from us. "Still, it's a nice hat. Think I'll keep it for a few weeks ya know?"
"Gosharnit... Rainbow that's a gift from ma' father!"
"I'm not gonna hurt it," Rainbow said. "Still, you messed with my daughter, I'm a good mother. It's mine."
"It's yers huh? Is that so? Vinyl?"
Rainbow, Pinkie and AJ were always close to each other, but not me. Still we had all hung out in our teen years for a while. In that time, we all learned a quick trick for reigning Rainbow Dash in. I cast my spell at her quickly.
I then listened. "Hey you guys aren't even gonna try to get me? I... wait... Vinyl that's not fair... no, nope... no-" She shot down to the ground. As she touched down she quickly dropped AJ's hat, but it was too late. Rainbow dropped to the ground snorting and snickering. "No, stop!" she flapped her wings out of unison squirming. "Not the tickle spell! NO, that so unfair!" Finally she stopped trying to resist "HAHAHAHAHHAH! STOP PLEASE!" I released her. Panting she stood up, looking at Apple Jack as the earth pony put her hat back on. AJ grinned. "Oh yea? Tickling like that isn't easy to take... bet you can't take it as long as I can!"
"Oh brother Rainbow, r' ya really wantin' that as a challenge? I thought ya hated ticklin'."
"Technically I'm getting used to it with Scoots, it's a quick way to get her to smile sometimes. Besides, don't tell me you're a fan."
"Ah've got a big brother who tortured me all the time growing up. He knows better now but then well... you'll never beat me Rainbow. Not on this. Really ah'm only ticklish if ah wanna be."
"You think so?" Rainbow asked back. "Care to put your hoof where your mouth is?"
They both looked at me. Were they serious? The tickle spell was one of the easiest to pull off, but still, most ponies weren't fans all the same. Fun to cast, but only fun to be a victum of if... well if you liked being tickled. I didn't have a problem with it personally, but Rainbow hated it and it didn't sound like AJ liked it any more than she did.
"Well?" Rainbow said. "Neither one of us is laughing. C'mon. We could just go ta Twilight to settle this... but she likes tickling a bit too much."
"Not even gonna chance talkin' ta Pinkie!" Apple Jack said. Both mares looked wide eyed at that statement. "Don't make us go over to the town with this challenge, kinda an embarassin' one."
I shrugged and cast my spell.
I have never seen any ponies ever last that long against the tickle spell without yelling for mercy. They rolled and laughed loudly but kept egging each other on. Soon enough the foals were out watching with bewilderment. They kept going for a whole fifteen minutes, both of them starting to hyperventilate. Finally I just released the spell on both mares, them laying the field still laughing. "Ah c'mon, *chortle*" AJ protested. "She was about to give, ah'm sure of it..."
"Ha ha! Not likely. I've crashed into a brick wall without flinching you think tickling scares me?"
"Ah wouldn't brag about that sugar cube."
"True!"
The five member CMC all seemed to grin at me at the same time. "I'm wondering," Sweetie said. "What does it sound like when a mute pony laughs?"
I rolled my eyes. As if any of them could get me before- and just like that Lightning was next to me. She poked my left flank and zipped away. She suddenly appear on my right side and poked me again.
Over the next few minutes I learned a few things. First off, something about Lightning Strike's powers allowed her to move pretty fast, way faster than I could cast a spell at her. Next, yes, a series of pokes to the flank can eventually bring you down laughing. Finally, eventually isn't too long when the filly you're trying to fight as a set of batteries in her that just won't quit.
Oh yea and, never get in a tickle fight in front of five foals, they're liable to join in. Guess this was all the universe's way of reminding me that I was, in fact, a little filly. I was laughing like one anyway. |
Vinyl Scratch, Mentoring is AWESOME! | Therapy | When I went to tell Lightning the good news- well really bazaar news from my perspective- that I was going to be her part time care taker, some odd things happened.
First, when she met my surprise guests for the occasion, Rainbow Dash and Apple Jack, Lightning Strike proceeded to tell us all a story. The story itself was actually pretty good, especially for a kid, but something went wrong. Lightning somehow scared herself with the story and I had a lingering feeling that making her brother the villain who gets smashed at the end wasn't the only thing her young mind had a problem with. In my own mind I started going out on a limb and suspect the story was actually an unintentional allegory for something. Course for the life of me I couldn't tell what.
What worried me more, was what happened after the story however- or rather what happened before that I wasn't around for.
After Lightning Strike's story and my revelation, I left my new charge in pretty high spirits. Her brother, whom I suppose by consequence was also to become my charge, stayed with her as myself and the two element bearers walked out of Lightning Strike's hospital room.
A nurse who had been in the room when I told Lightning my news, waved for me to come talk to her while the other mares left. She gave me a clipboard with a series of notes scrawled on it. "So I take it you're her care taker as it were?" I shrugged and nodded, looking at the notes. "Then you should probably be the first to know why she was put under such heavy sedation while you were gone."
I put the clip board on a nearby table and levitated out my own pen and pad. 'I thought that just seemed normal for such a big operation.'
"You don't normally need to be sedated to have a broken shoulder set and wrapped. Local anesthesia and a MILD sedative should have been enough." I raised an eyebrow. I was supposed to know things like this... how? "I'll just get to the point. While you and the colt, Dusk, were gone, Lightning Strike had a panic attack. She was hyperventilating and moving so fast she was making her injury worse. Normally we need permission to give powerful drugs to a minor, but something had to be done to protect her from herself."
None of this was processing well. 'Panic attack?' I wrote. I remembered when I first met the filly. Lightning had the ability to control electricity for Luna sake, sure there were ponies out there who would laugh at that, but it was a respectable power in its own right. What did she have to be afraid of?
"She kept yelling for her brother "Where's Dusk, where's Dusk?"" over and over. "Eventually turning her cries into a pitiable "why would he leave me?" repeated as well. She started crying and struggling and just throwing a fit like she thought her brother had abandoned her for good."
'I think I may have noticed a fear of rejection from her but nothing like that.' I noted.
The nurse nodded. "We took the liberty of signing her up for a consultation with an in house therapist. Foal psychologist Killy Filly."
I had to think for a minute. 'Do you not have a... "Happy Filly" on staff or something?'
"Sued for malpractice."
'I might have known.'
She smiled. "His name makes a lot of ponies nervous, but I assure you he is one of the best in his business with a very calming demeanor. Also, an added benefit, given Lightning's unique physiology, he's a doctor who believes very little in drug based solutions."
'Unique phyzi-fizi... screw it-biology?'
"High iron and bazaar micro electro magical constructs can be found throughout her blood stream. We're not sure what they do, but they did neutralize one of our sedatives entirely... by the way, we will be keeping her for observation for a few days regarding the two sedatives we had to give her... we just want to make sure we didn't do anything bad there."
'Um... that doesn't sound very... well...'
"Like we know what we're doing? She shocked one of the doctors with that electricity she throws around when she gets upset and like I said, neutralized a sedative entirely. We understand the basics of her biology to be the same as any pony, but there are differences. By the way Dr. White is alright. The shock was mild."
'She did say she was in a lab experiment...'
"You should seek out the notes from that experiment." I nodded. "Now, just to make sure she is at ease with all this, would you mind escorting the filly to her therapy appointment tomorrow? Oh and make sure to assure her that her brother will be waiting outside the door." She nodded, looked ready to turn, but then turned back to me. "Um... considering we don't want her to start shocking everypony again, we can provide him with an extra bed, can Dusk stay here for a few nights?"
'I'll see if Spike can send a letter to their father.'
"You have access to Spike as a message service?"
'Sort of. Twilight is letting me use him to communicate with the foal's father... who is a dragon... so yea, Twilight seems to think it's important that we keep him informed as to what happens with his kids while they're here, something about not wanting to play with fire.' I winked, hoping the nurse would get my joke. Instead her eyes went wide. 'I'll just take care of things, trust me.'
(***)
The following day, with some concern, I read over Dr. Killy Filly's notes. Interestingly enough he had a decent narrative to his writing so it wasn't a technical mess... I'm learning to just roll with all the weird things happening to me. Anyway, so I read:
Greetings care takers of the young Lightning Strike. Here I have made an account of your charge's words and behavior during her visit with me. These notes are to be considered confidential however you have been given permission to view them by the state and by the foal herself.
When I heard about young Lightning Strike's outburst, I already had my suspicions as to what her issues might be, but I tried to reserve my judgement for when the filly and I actually met.
Still it may be of use for me to list my first guesses as to her issue. Lightning screaming for her brother marks him in my mind as someone very important to her. Why beyond simple familial bonds, I'm not sure. He is a source of security for her. Perhaps in less familiar environments his presence helps her to feel a sense of normalcy. I doubt there's anything he does in particular, especially after discovering he's only six years of age, however she has attached much value to him.
I suspect a strong fear of being abandoned by him, though I can only speculate on why. One key to keeping Lightning able to speak freely during my visit with her, may be to assure her that her brother is simply on the other side of the wall, and not gone. I may even have to let her check a few times. This should not be an issue as even if his guardian has to excuse herself, other nurses can be summoned to watch him. Entertainment can also easily be provided in the form of a few books and toys for him. If he does prove to be her security blanket I must admit that there will be no way around what may end up being a rather unpleasant prescription, as attaching oneself to another pony like this is not acceptable behavior. It could be damaging to both foals and their growth as individuals. I will have to design a program to slowly adjust her to being isolated from him. I seriously doubt she will like that, but it may be necessary.
When walking into my office, Lightning Strike seemed to be an, at least outwardly, happy filly. She smiled and moved quickly to the center of the room, her eyes darting about the room to and fro. I did notice her checking the open door several times, looking to be looking for someone. I got up from my chair and walked over to that door and moved to close it, however I hesitated, seeing some distress in her eyes.
"I want you to feel comfortable here, however I also want this visit to be confidential. Would me shutting this door upset you too much?" her eyes grew wide and she bit her lip. I gamboled that my earlier deductions might have had some basis in truth. "This is about Dusk?" She didn't respond, simply looking out the door. I looked out in the same direction. Sure enough she was looking at a small colt sitting on the floor reading a children's book with their current care taker Vinyl Scratch. (I might note that Vinyl herself didn't seem very interested in this activity, but I will compliment her apparent patients.) "He'll be just outside this door during this appointment. You can trust me." I chuckled. "You do let him go to the bathroom on his own of course right?" She nodded. "Well just pretend it's like that." I closed the door, watching her expression.
Lightning watched the door for a few seconds with concern. "Trust me, he won't leave." The filly appeared to relax and then started looking about the room again. Seeing that my plan was working at least for the moment, I returned to my chair and motioned to the couch next to me.
"That's a weird looking couch!" the filly enthusiastically commented.
"Yes, I suppose it is. Do you want to have a seat?"
"I guess..."
"If you would be more comfortable standing that's alright." Lightning just sat in the middle of the room on her flank. Her eyes were still darting about the room. I also noticed her right hoof was silently tapping. "Do you find it difficult to sit still?"
"Um... do I need to?"
"Not really, I'm just asking. I want you to be comfortable while we talk. I'm noticing that you keep moving. Do you mean to be doing that?" I watched with some hidden amusement as she consciously stopped her tapping foot, and her tail started wagging like a dog's behind her. "I didn't say you had to stop. It doesn't bother me." Her left hoof started tapping and her tail was still again. I was about to start speaking when she quickly started flying, literally darting around the room. I smiled, but nonetheless felt the need to reign her in a little. "Alright, we've established that you like being active, but I am going to need you to settle down."
"I have so much energy... I can't stop!" she yelled hovering by my desk to the right.
"It can feel that way I know."
"But a mad scientist put all kinds of electricity in me, it makes me go fast all the time," she said hovering in the middle of the room.
"I will accept that that is true, but I'll ask you to what degree? After all, you were able to sit for a while just a few seconds ago. Did something change?"
Over by my bookcase on the left side of the room she looked to be thinking. "I don't think so."
"Then I want you to try something. Come sit in the middle of the room again." She did so. "Now let your mind wander a little, even as you still listen to me. Imagine yourself flying, but don't actually do it." Lightning's foot was still tapping, but she seemed to be thinking. "Are you still listening to me?" She nodded. "What's two plus two?"
"Four."
"Good. Why don't you keep doing that."
"Won't I get distracted?"
"The mind can occupy itself with more than one task at a time. Some ponies actually find it easier to have more than one thing going at a time. For instance, did you know most writers love to listen to music while they create?" Her eyebrows lit up at this revelation. "See? Your need to be constantly in motion, at least in your mind, is not that unusual. In fact fidgeting, like what you're doing with your foot, is normal long into adulthood for many of us. I have many friends who do it, you'll just eventually learn to make it less obvious." Lightning smiled at this. I'm not sure, but I have some inclination that she felt better having me tell her that she wasn't as unusual as she might have thought.
"I'm thinking about more than just flying."
"What are you thinking about?"
"DJing! I'm thinking about scratching records, listening to the crowd and making up dances from a booth. Did you know I've never actually seen a DJ really dance, just tell others what to do? My brother can dance, maybe he can help me be a dancing DJ!"
"So I take it you want to be a DJ some day?" Lightning nodded vigorously. I looked at her flank, which was blank. I had to think for a moment on that. Lightning clearly knew what she wanted to be, she was fantasizing about it and was even attaching herself to Vinyl Scratch from what I had been told. So why was she still markless? Of course this was not something she herself would know the answer to no doubt, so I didn't ask. "Something I'm curious about. Your brother, he seems to be very close to you. Do you think about him often?" She nodded again. "You seem afraid when you suspect he might not be around. Do you feel like this when he's just in another room?"
"Sometimes... not always."
"When you're separate at home, do you feel the same fears as when you're out and about?" She shook her head. "Do you think you might know why not?"
"Because we're home!" she proclaimed. "I know he's safe there. Besides the cave mouth overlooks a cliff, he can't simply walk out."
"So I take it you have two fears regarding him. You're afraid of him being hurt, do you often find yourself afraid of that?" Lightning's foot stopped tapped and her eyes starting looking at the carpet. She nodded slowly. "And you're afraid of him leaving you. You're afraid of this often?" Again she nodded. "Has he ever threatened to intentionally leave you for good?" Lightning looked up, but instead of the fear I believed my suggestion might elicit, she shook her head with confidence. "He's the only pony who hasn't- or just ran away- well Vinyl hasn't."
"Aren't you exaggerating there?"
"Well, my parents left me and because of this," Lightning struck the ground with her right hoof and a bolt of lightning blasted out from it, ripping through the ceiling of my room. I quickly hit an outgoing button on my in office phone and informed a nurse that nothing was wrong. "You're not running away. Why not?"
"I'm a pegasus myself. Every pegasus I know can use some electricity, nowhere near that much that easily, but why should I be afraid? You can do something I think looks unique, but you have yet to threaten me."
"I wish most ponies looked at it that way." I made a mental note that she may need a magic discipline teacher. I've actually met a number of young unicorns that have difficulty with their powers. They rarely hurt others, but often their powers seem to have a mind of their own and even cause others to be afraid of them, causing them to feel isolated much like Lightning Strike.
However, I'm afraid a feeling of isolation and Dusk being some salvation isn't enough to explain Lightning's connection to him.
"Do you know why you're afraid of him being hurt?"
The filly closed her eyes and nodded.
"Can you tell me?"
"I... he... I told you about the scientist who made me like this?" I nodded.
"You mentioned it."
"He was trying to make me into a weapon, but he was also experimenting with immort-immo... making ponies live a long time. I was used to him tying me up all the time during experiments. I didn't like it, but one time... I was scared by more than just not being able to move. Ever since the scientist pony adopted me, he adopted Dusk, telling me he would hurt Dusk if I didn't cooperate and sometimes when I fought him... he did. However this one time, I was tied down and... and... so was Dusk. He said he was going to sacrifice Dusk to make me immor...immor... immortal. I was scared, Dusk was screaming, I don't know what the scientist pony did to him, but it hurt him. He was hurting him so much... He said he was gonna kill him. He was going to kill Dusk... MY DUSK!" I did my best to shown concern, but keep from looking afraid. Her story was scaring me though. "Dusk stopped screaming... seconds passed... minutes maybe. I started screaming for Dusk to talk, to see him, I wanted to move... I couldn't move!" Lightning started to fly again, but I decided not to mention it. Of course I started to rethink my calmness when a blue haze started to surround the fill and sparks began to manifest in the air all around her. The blue mist was growing thicker and thicker
"But you both survived. You're both here, together, yes?"
The mist started to fade. "Luna saved us. She had talked to me in my nightmares. She found us. I don't know what she did to the scientist... but it didn't sound like he was happy with it. She wasn't happy with him. She broke the straps holding me down. I asked if it was okay if I called her momma Luna and she said, "We do not care how you refer to us, you are not our-" what was that word... "progeny, but if this gives you comfort, than for the moment, we will accept the title. Again, just so you understand, we are not thine mother. Nor do we accept the responsibility." She made me feel better. She took me to Dusk. He was just sleeping. He had a lot of injuries, but he was just sleeping. He was breathing... he looked really hurt. Luna looked... upset. She didn't like looking at that. She carried us both to a hospital and then left us... I kinda wish she stuck around. She looked upset when she left."
'Oh dear', I thought to myself. Seeking an audience with the princess of the night herself to understand more fully what happened that night would be difficult for any pony, let alone a lowly child therapist. For the time being, I contented myself to believe there was nothing significant about Luna's appearance. She was only upset at seeing children hurt. That would upset any reasonable pony. "So you're afraid of him being hurt, because someone really did hurt him?" Lightning nodded. "I see." I had to think for a minute. So, trauma? This is always a difficult subject.
My time was running out for the visit, so I started trying to figure out how to let her leave without letting her just dwell on a terrifying memory. Such would probably make her dread coming to see me. "Why aren't you afraid at home?"
"My daddy is a dragon now. He adopted us. No one wants to fight a dragon, I know Dusk is safe with him!" I nodded.
I started reaching in my mind for something that would match that in normal life. What would make her feel he was safe? "You are aware of the bearers of the elements of harmony?" She nodded. "They live here, you know right?" Again she nodded. "Well, you're aware they protect the foals of Ponyville right?"
"All of them?" I knew I was creating little more than an illusion for her for the moment, but I nodded.
"Discord has joined them too. There's probably very few places safer for him than Ponyville. He's just as safe here as with you father you see?" She nodded and smiled.
I'm under no illusion that I solved her problems right then and there, however I let her go after leaving her on this thought. For now I would recommend follow up visits as well as working with a magic discipline teacher to help her control not only her unusual ability, but her constant desire for motion. This too may be a problem rooted in her traumatic experiences but we should give her a chance to overcome it separately, just in case it is unrelated.
For her anxiety, I'm not entirely sure what to do. I strongly recommend against removing her from her brother without her knowing. This carries the chance of making her even more afraid in the future, even making her afraid of anyone she see's as isolating her from him. There is the hanging carrot approach, telling her she can do something she likes if she's away from him. Whatever we do, for the moment I would recommend making sure she knows he is safe. I wouldn't seek to hide the fact from her actively, but I also wouldn't look to remind her that she may be bothering him by staying too close, this will probably have the effect of making her feel trapped, wanting to give him space so he isn't driven away, but afraid to because he might be in danger.
For now, I would like Vinyl scratch to indulge me in a small experiment. I want her to give Lightning a little bit of schooling in being a DJ. If at all possible without driving her to anxiety, have Dusk do something in a different room or just outside, so she knows where he is, but is functioning without him. I want to start putting on the path to pursing her own interests separate from Dusk.
(***)
Well... I guess I just got my first real assignment as a mentor. Lightning would be released from the hospital eventually... good, because I have no idea had no idea how to give a class and I'm pretty sure Lightning knew very little about how to DJ. We would be equally lost... yay... help! |
Vinyl Scratch, Mentoring is AWESOME! | Practice for Comback! | It didn't take long after her hospital release for Lightning and Dusk to become full-fledged members of the Cutie Mark Crusaders which... I'm not sure what to think about that, good or bad. With her injury the former trio were having to slow down a few of their antics, but when they kept talking about how eager they were to get back to things like, artillery testing... I started to wonder if I was developing a mother's worrying tendency.
A week and a half went by and finally I had developed what I believed would suffice as a lesson plan for teaching a foal to DJ.
I would start by having her just listen to different music and see if she could sense how to move with it. This was different from dancing, as a DJ you have to add to a song, not just react to it. You have to respect a song and figure out where to add your special touch, without ruining the original product. Writing your own music was of course an advanced form of DJing and I wasn't sure if Lightning even wanted to do that yet, so I wasn't planning on going into it.
I decided I would concentrate mostly on teaching her how to perform as a DJ and appeal to a crowd rather than write music. She wanted to incorporate dance, which would mean less song writing and more doing shows. A DJ has to move around a lot and tell a crowd what they're supposed to be doing... hence why it's not easy to figure out what to do when you're mute, but that's off subject. Most DJs do a little dancing when on stage, so I'm not sure what she meant about incorporating dance and saying not many DJs dance. Course after a while dancing and DJing become different things, as you can't change the records and keep your feet moving the whole time. Course, Lightning was eight, so there could be many misconceptions in her young mind about the art she wanted to pursue.
As I got a feel for how she reacted to music, I would start trying to get her a small audience to see how she wanted to work with a crowd.
I would eventually get to the technicals of everything, how to read music, what everything is called, that kind of thing. Actually I was planning on just incorporating some of that naturally into other lessons as I went along. For me, long vocabulary lists were boring and learning to read music sheets was the hardest and least fun thing about my job. Even as much as I incorporated the technicals, I knew eventually I would have to sit down and make sure Lightning actually understood them. For that... I wondered if Twilight was still hosting those foal teaching classes. She used to teach the CMC after all... did she still? Twilight loved technicals, but I was hesitant to ask her for favors, seeing as she was a princess after all.
There was an added angle to all of this though. After Lightning's first therapy visit, I was assigned to try to use my lessons to try to instill in the filly an interest that drove her away from obsessing over protecting her brother. Killy Filly (gotta love that name for a therapist) made it clear Dusk had to be somewhere else when she was learning. In another room, across town, anywhere that made him not visible to Lightning.
Anyway, so Tuesday came, the first lesson's day. Was I waiting to hear a knock... hey, who's supposed to be who's fan here? I was rocking out to Atreyu and some other heavy metal albums trying to get into a groove for making some new songs of my own.
'Like a whisper to the dusk, an oath against the shadows denying the dark!' Why yes, I was writing to no one while listening to music. What, you don't sing to no one?
"Knock, knock, knock," on the door.
'Like medals of hope, like medals of hope'. Finally Octy had to tap me on the shoulder and show me that Lightning was there with her brother.
Lightning was of course flying while her brother was just sitting on the floor.
Personally my head was still rocking but I slowly started putting things away. I switched my CD to something more quiet. Evanescence oughtta do. I levitated Dusk over to Octavia.
'Can you keep him in here, I think he could use some practice of his own.' Octy looked at me cross eyed. 'Well of course, if you can't handle making a tap dancing melody, I'm sure there is a better celloist out there...'
"First off Vinyl, it's spelled c e l l i s t. Second... how good is he?"
'He tap danced to Itolabrothers. He makes it up pretty much as he goes.'
"So... that's interesting." She looked down at the colt. "Think you could stand doing something more formal?"
"Um... maybe?" Dusk asked. Octavia nodded and shrugged, waving with her hoof for Dusk to come to her side of the room.
"Oh cool can I watch?" Lightning asked.
'Nope.' I walked out, levitating the startled fully capable of flying filly alongside me.
I went around back pulling the filly behind me, not hard as she probably weighed a grand total of fifty pounds. I walked over to a small mix track set I had set up in the back yard of mine and Octavia's house. "But... Dusk..." Lightning started when I set her down on the ground on the opposite side of the record set. I remembered the therapist's recommendation not to scare her.
'He's just inside my house, Octavia is watching him.'
"Is she powerful?"
'She has a black belt.' She did actually. As I said that I remembered all the times little sis Vinyl decided to be helpful in that pursuit and ended up on the floor in pain.
"Is that good?"
'Yes. It's very good.' Had to remember this kid was only eight. 'She can beat anyone up.'
"She won't hurt Dusk, right? He's not very tough."
'If she does, I will hurt her. And she knows that.' Lightning still looked worried. I took my headset off and listened... there is was, tapping hooves. 'Hear that? He's happy, he's dancing.' Lightning listened and slowly started to smile.
"He likes dancing." I nodded.
'Now to this business I worked out with your father, something about teaching you to DJ... you wouldn't happen to like that idea would you?' Lightning's eyes lit up.
"The most awesome DJ in Equestria teach me? YES!"
Wow, this filly was a trip, my ego was approaching cloud nine. I cast my audio sharing spell and put my headphones back on. Lightning hesitantly looked at the house. 'He's fine.' I noted. She nodded, looking wide eyed at me.
It was a looked that said, "That's my brother in there... I'm trusting you..." all by itself. This filly sure knew how to tug at a pony's heart strings.
'Now, I need to see how good you are at gaging music, following a beat.' I switched CDs again. Icon for Hire seemed like a good choice. Something more subtle might be a little difficult for her to get a feel for. 'I'm gonna play a song and I want you to do just whatever comes natural. Do whatever you feel like, move with the music.'
"Can I sing along?"
'If you want.'
"Can I dance?"
'Kid, this is me you're talking to. Go crazy. Actually...' I thought for a moment. 'Consider this a warm up. Cut loose a little.' Lightning smiled.
The music started. Lightning just stood there, closing her eyes. She seemed a little like her brother in this. When the main singer came in, suddenly so did she. She spun around and started to pretend she was singing to a crowd.
"Cause everyone so scared, we don't wanna go there, we don't wanna make a move!"
As she kept singing, yelling the lyrics, I'm sure others could hear. Lightning was your typical kid in that regard. She could barely hear herself over the music so she started to belt out the lyrics... it was good for what it was.
The CMC must have heard her, and being the supportive friends they tended to be, they actually ran around the house and suddenly were there in front of us. They looked rather confused, Apple Bloom chuckling, so I decided to start playing the song on my mix track along with the appropriate accompaniment. Not an easy feat... well unless you used to do it for a living.
Scootaloo started to rock her body with the beat, apparently loving it, Sweetie just smiling. As for herself, Apple Bloom just sat there. She rolled her eyes, but stuck around.
Lightning must have opened her eyes because she suddenly stopped singing during the second verse. Sweetie nodded her head however, doing her best to encourage. I started revving up for the chorus.
Lighting started to fly, electric bolts surrounding her in the air. She began singing again.
"Somepony make a move!" BOOM! A powerful bolt shot out from one of her wings. The three filly audience jumped, Sweetie Belle shooting behind her braver friends. Another lightning bolt shot out, the sound shaking the ground.
True to Lightning's title for her as the "bravest filly alive" Scootaloo actually walked towards Lightning, grinning and watching as weaker lightning bolts came off of the flying filly in near perfect time with the beat.
As the song climax hit, I hit on an idea.
I cast an audio amplification spell, one I often use at clubs. It's a spell I use to draw a crowd, or get them off their flanks and on their feet.
"Pointing my finger the problems still linger!" Lightning pointed her hoof at the CMC members a bolt of energy flying over them. It missed them by a mile but still startled Sweetie.
In seconds Rainbow Dash had a cloud set up over the group, a big grin on her face as she watched what was happening. I had to agree, this was something to see. On the one hoof, it was hilarious to hear the filly' singing so out of sync with the music, on the other she was so into it, and her bolts were so well timed it would have been worth an admission fee just to see it.
Lighting sent out two more bolts as she screamed "Somepony make a move!" She then shot down to the ground and three bolts shot out from her front hoof as she touched down. The ground shook and every pony there jumped, including Rainbow Dash on her cloud. I nearly fell off my feet behind the mix tracks. I think I was supposed to be teaching a music lesson, but that got derailed somewhere.
By the way, Rarity showed up too. It's always fun to see the resident fashionista dance, as she is amazing at that!
The slow down hit and I quickly made the mix track silent, punctuating the song's statement. Then I slowly started to build the sound up again. Honestly by this point, I was getting into the song myself and kinda reminiscing about DJing parties. As the chorus hit again, I ramped up the volume, not failing to notice Pinkie had showed up, along with Derpy and her daughter Dinky, the two having chocolate shakes.
Lightning's electric shocks got weaker and weaker so they weren't completely drowning out the music, or at least I suspect that was the reason. However at the end of the song, "We all know what's going on!" BOOM! As Lightning hit the ground a huge bolt was sent into the sky and the ground shook, the sound almost making me deaf as well as mute.
I had closed my eyes for a few seconds, hearing the cheers of our small audience. And then of course I heard "What the heck was that?!" from a certain purple alicorn.
I looked at Twilight, producing my note pad. 'Cool right?'
"Cool?! There was lightning shooting out of your back yard!"
'Did it hit anypony?'
"If it did I would have been here a lot quicker."
Rainbow Dash flew down next to her. "Calm down Twi, I think this was a practice for Vinyl's come back concert... right?"
I was about to write down that no such thing was in the works... but oh boy was I caught here. Was I supposed to say I just wasn't paying attention and allowed a filly with dangerous powers to just spontaneously start using them, especially with the CMC around? Honestly I wasn't thinking of the potential consequences of my actions until just now. I had gotten used to Lightning's abilities to an extent. However I was going to have to make sure Lightning was being careful in the future... odd how she never hit anyone I might note.
I nodded. Twilight looked down. "I... were you going to invite me?"
'When I know the date.'
"Can't wait!" Twilight shouted. I'm not sure if she actually was a big fan, or if she was just being supportive. "However... your back yard is not a place to start practicing a pyrotechnics display." I grinned sheepishly. "You scared a lot of ponies... and you made a certain colt very upset that he couldn't come and watch."
'Dusk? There's an issue there. I'll explain later if you'd like.'
"Actually Button Masher." Twilight said with a chuckle. "His mother was afraid for his safety, but he so wanted to see what was happening back here." Twilight sighed. "Look, I don't want to look like a party killer, but you're going to have to move this out to a field or something. Given how many ponies you made happy," she waved at my growing audience, "And how excited everypony will be to know," she turned around and shouted, "DJpon3 is back everypony!" Yells and cheers began from just that small audience. Twilight turned back to me. "I'll let you off with a warning. Next time however, I'm gonna have to fine you for disturbing the peace." I sighed and nodded. She was right of course.
Twilight flew away.
I smiled, beaming at Lightning Strike. "What?" she asked.
'I love you kid!'
"Huh?"
I learned a couple things that day. First, I seriously need to get some advice from a real music teacher because dear Celestia did I get off track. Second, my student was becoming a bit of a... I don't know what. She inadvertently lifted me out a slump and now she had somehow forced me into my own comeback concert. Not even knowing what she was doing, Lightning was bringing back my career. |
Vinyl Scratch, Mentoring is AWESOME! | Threadbare | The next day.
Well now I had done it. Or more to the point, Rainbow Dash and Lightning Strike had done it. I was stuck having to plan a comeback concert. Okay so that's not so much a bad thing but it complicated matters. Lightning was still coming over to visit on a daily basis now and I needed time to concentrate, a task which was darn near impossible around a pegasus filly with a worse penchant for hyper activity than even myself at her age.
I was making up plans for the lighting arrangement as she came bouncing in my front door (yesterday I gave her a key so she could just come in and out). She immediately started flying over my work, like a giant bumble bee and asking questions. "What's all this?" she asked. "Can we do another lesson... I'm not sure I learned anything yesterday, well not about DJing anyway. You just had me dance in a field for a few hours. Sure was fun though."
I cringed on the inside. Truth was, she was right. Yesterday I had completely abandoned the idea of teaching Lightning and I was pretty much getting set to use her to my advantage. Her electricity seemed to radiate with the beat of any given song and when she danced, just like any little kid, she liked to try to make big moves during significant changes in the music. Normally this would look kind of silly, but whatever silly move she made would be punctuated by huge bolts of lightning, which not only gave me a kind of pyrotechnics display, but a loud boom to punctuate my musical statements and shake a crowd off their hooves. In a word it was AWESOME!
To be fair, I wasn't entirely being selfish here either, or dishonest. If Lightning was a star attraction at my show because of her powers, this would no doubt help with her issue of constantly scaring other ponies away with her powers. Also, in order to get her to practice right I did have to tell her I was helping her with her dance moves and her timing. It's not like she was a robot and just did things automatically.
Still, DJing was what Lightning wanted, not pyrotechnics performer... which... I've never heard of the latter.
"What's this symbol... and this one-or this one- or this one?" Lighting was about five feet above the paper so I actually didn't know what symbols she was pointing to on my light display anyway, let alone could I answer. "Tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me!"
I finally broke out my pen and notepad. 'So... I see you stopped by Sugar Cube Corner before coming here.'
"How'd you know?" Lightning asked.
'I am totally psychic.'
"That's amazing!"
'Yes, yes I am.' I sighed. Toying with a philly's head and getting ego trips was great but it didn't get things done. I had actually planned for somepony else to look after Lightning today, but strange to say, her antics were growing on me and I liked the company. Still, 'Lightning, would you mind staying with a friend of mine today?'
"Rebel Rainbow?"
'Rainbow Dash lives about fifty feet in the air and I don't know the cloud walking spell to keep your brother up there.' Dusk was there by the way, he was just being his usual much quieter self. 'Just come with me.'
I walked out my front door and a few blocks away from my home, the two foals trailing behind. Finally I reached my destination. I knocked on the door of a kind of mint colored house. The door opened to reveal my gray hoodie wearing friend Threadbare.
Threadbare was green with brown hair and red eyes. She and I had been buddies since we were about ten and we discovered we both had red eyes. Yep, a decade old friendship started over eye color... we were kids. I'm not gonna say she was like another sister, but she was still great to hang out with and there for me in a pinch. Also I loved to argue music theory with her. Oh and before you ask, yes, DJ's know music theory better than some more classical composers, we have to.
'These are the kids I wanted you to watch,' I wrote, looking at my friend. She smiled at Lightning and Dusk, which was easy to do simultaneously because at the moment Lightning was carrying her brother.
"They're adorable. You say they're brother and sister. Looks like they get along."
'Oh you wouldn't believe how well,' My eyes went wide as I realized that statement. As often as they were around each other and as different as they were, I very rarely saw a fight come up and stick for these two. Dusk was pretty docile, however Lightning always conceded to him almost immediately when he stood his ground on something. 'The colt is quiet, a breeze to watch. Keep both eyes on the pegasus though, you really never know what she'll do next.'
"What makes you think any kid is predictable?" Threadbare asked. I nodded over at Dusk. "Is he now?"
I looked at him. 'Well... he is a pretty good dancer and I think... I think Scootaloo is his role model.'
"Iffy choice there." I shrugged at this. "Well you want to come in for a bit before you go?"
'Got work to do, sorry.'
"Good luck with the upcoming show!" I nodded for Lightning to carry her brother into Threadbare's home.
(***)
Threadbare's Point of View
Once inside my home, Lightning gently set down her brother and took off. She started zipping from one side of the room to the other, looking at the books on the one side of my house, and then in the blink of an eye she was buzzing around my coats.
I looked at the two foals. Lighting was yellow with a blue mane and her brother was cyan with a blue mane with yellow highlights. They both looked cute. That was about as far as my assessment of them could go however as I had to keep up with Lightning.
"Do you wear all of these?" Lightning asked, picking through several of the coats. I didn't really care as long as she didn't hurt anything.
"Oh goodness no kiddo, I sell them, only during the winter though... well Rarity buys my scarfs out of season, but I think those are for accessories." I thought for a moment. "Doesn't make a lot of sense that."
"Who can understand Rares? She's a dweeb," Lightning said.
"Hey!" I scolded. "Would you like someone to call you that?"
"Hmmm?" Lightning asked going through a nearby stack of scarves. "Wouldn't that mean they stuck around long enough to get that impression?" she chuckled. "I guess I WOULD like that."
"Stuck around?"
Lightning sighed and touched down on the ground. "Let's get this over with." She stomped her front hooves on the ground and a bolt of electric energy shot out from her form, blasting through my roof and sending me into impulse mode. Before I knew it I had grabbed little Dusk from his spot on the floor near my books and hid behind a desk. "I should leave right?" the filly asked, avoiding looking at me.
I stood back up and shook my head. "Well... my poor roof! I hope it doesn't rain today."
"I could stack a few books over the hole-"
"You most certainly will not! Water destroys books!" I shouted. Lightning backed up a little, biting her lip. She didn't seem afraid, just like she was waiting for something bad to happen. Dusk ran from behind the desk with me to stand beside his sister. He didn't say anything, he just smiled at her and she seemed to almost instantly relax. Still she wasn't smiling.
Vinyl was right, they were an odd pair. I nodded at them. "No, I won't kick you out... would it be too much to ask that you not do that again?"
"Well for one THAT powerful to come out I have to mean it, or get really mad, but no matter what, when my mood changes lightning starts to appear around me. Really happy? Sparks and blue haze. Really mad, bolts. In fact I think there's always something happening even when it can't be seen." Lightning shook her hoof, staring at it. "Can't prove it though."
"I won't piss you off alright?"
"Just don't hurt my brother, you should be fine."
I walked over to them and hugged Dusk to me. "How could I ever hurt a cute little thing like this?" Dusk smiled, not giving the usual disgust of a colt his age.
Lightning finally smiled. She started flying again. "If we had a unicorn here we could just plug the hole with piece of wood or something."
I looked at the hole. I was counting on protecting my walls from crayons and my books from being randomly ripped apart. A hole being torn through my roof by a little filly though... I shrugged. I had actually experienced something like this before while watching foals. Foalsitting has nothing to do with my cutie mark, which is a needle and red thread, but it brings in money.
Not too long ago I had taken care of Dinky. Dinky had two parents that weren't unicorns, Derpy Hooves and Dark Writer. As a result, her magic lacked many of the natural inhibitors that a normal unicorn has. I took one of her toys away when she was being cranky and she blew a hole in my wall. I knew better than to be afraid of this however. Most unicorn foals with poor inhibitors at least had their life preserver inhibitors still intact, meaning they didn't hit other ponies with their magic unless they really wanted to.
However I wasn't really aware that pegasi even had enough magic for that to be a problem. I actually was a little nervous here. Then again, I trusted that my friend Vinyl would not intentionally put my life in danger... a warning still would have been nice!
I rummaged through a small toolbox I had on hoof and pulled out a staple gun. I then pulled out a small bit of tarp fabric. "Can you staple this up there for now? I'll contact a carpenter pony later." Lightning took care of it quickly. Yes I trust kids with staple guns, not like it's a complicated tool. She did a sloppy job but oh well, the tarp stayed in place. "Now, lunch is a ways off, so what do you two want to do?"
Lightning landed back next to her brother. Dusk shrugged, but Lightning got a huge grin on her face looking at him. She crouched down like a cat. I realized immediately she meant to rough house. Dusk just stood there looking at me, boy was he in for a surprise.
Lightning rocked back and in an instant was- knocked right off her hooves and onto her back, Dusk moving with a sudden speed and slamming straight into her. I smiled watching them rough house. "So the colt is the docile one?" I mused to myself. Lightning was much faster and more coordinated, but it was like a dog fighting a cat. Dusk used his whole body to keep her off balance and he was actually dominating her. That is of course until she took to the air and crashed him into the ground a few times (gentler than it sounds, but still rough).
This was cute, but I knew it would probably get out of hoof pretty quick. I pulled a book off one of my shelves. Pinocchio. "Would you two like to hear a story?" I asked. They both immediately stopped fighting, looking at me with enthusiastic eyes.
And so I read to them, Dusk laying on the floor next to me and Lightning buzzing above my head. As I started to tell the tale, I made sure NOT to keep to the story proper, because where's the fun in that? Pinocchio, in my version, had a crazy sister puppet that followed him everywhere he went. They both wanted to be real foals and together they faced the challenges of the story.
There were several points in the story where Lightning seemed scared, like when she and her brother were swallowed by a whale and when they were transformed into lizards. However a quick tug to her tail usually changed her mood quickly, letting her get out of her trance. She was really into the story!
Dusk wasn't so much. Instead he was apparently listening, but also looking around the room and basically exploring with his eyes.
Lunch was a few pp&j sandwiches, three for Lightning as she was extremely hungry.
We visited the hardware store to find someone to fix my roof. There was a large brown earth pony with a pub cap who was very rude to me when I asked for his help. Around strangers I'm actually very shy, at least strangers over age of twelve.
"I said two hundred bits!" he yelled.
"I-I... I don't have-"
"You don't have? You don't have what? You must have it somewhere! You want your roof fixed or not?"
"Well I do, I do, but you see... well... I think I'm just gonna go to somepony else-"
"Oh no you're not! You're going to sit there and wait for me. I'll fix the roof and you'll owe me, got it?"
"Um... well... you see-"
"Got it!?" He started glaring at me.
I heard a loud clap and a light flashed. I looked to my right, seeing the ground smoldering a few feet away. I looked back to the stallion to notice a little yellow pegasus was now flying in his face. "Leave," she said simply. He did, very quickly I might note. She could be handy, I started to wonder if I could "borrow" her from Vinyl more often.
As I walked away I heard a familiar sing song voice. "Oh darling I was actually hoping I would find you... Threadbare is it?" I turned around to look at Rarity. I knew Rarity as a customer but only as a customer, what she wanted I had no idea. I looked at her nervously, eyes wandering to the left a little. "I've been creating this dazzling red dress for ponies of your particular complexion."
"What complexion is that?"
"Well... green. It's a difficult color to offset properly."
I looked at my hoodie. "I just wear gray," I said, starting to wonder if it looked wrong.
"Oh yes I can see that gray... can... go with anything in a pinch," I could easily read between the lines on that statements. For my part it might have been better had she started cussing me out, it would have been easier to know how to feel then. Also Lightning would have scared her off too but that was just a temporary bonus. "Look, I don't like putting ponies on the spot..." If she didn't like doing it, Rarity sure was good at that. "Perhaps, if you like the dress, I could trade for a few scarves or a discount?"
"Well um...."
"I really need a green pony. You would be surprised how many customers I have that are green and I have to get this right."
"I-I" I needed a way out, an excuse. I spotted Lightning Strike flying overhead. "Might be up for it later but as you can see," I pointed a hoof at Lightning who was currently hovering about twenty feet in the air. "I'm foal sitting right now. That one in particular- I'm not even sure where she gets her energy from, but I'm a little nervous about having her just wander off."
"She looks old enough to run with my sister and her friends... oh dear," Rarity began, looking at the foal. She called up to Lightning. "Darling, can you come down here?" Lightning Strike flew down in an instant a huge grin on her face. Rarity chuckled, "You weren't kidding about her energy." Rarity turned her hoof in the air, "If you would be so kind child, just spin once, let me get a look at you."
I had never really taken in Lightning Strike's appearance, but now that somepony was calling attention to it... she was adorable. Yellow and blue was a common color combination for ponies, but she had other traits that stood out. Lightning's mane was jagged, coming out in three long spikes which receded in length as they reached the top of her skull. On the top of her head then were three long hair spikes, like long weeds growing out of her scalp. Her tail was just a normal long haired pony tail, thick and not really styled, just looking natural. Then there was the poor filly's face. The right side of her face was swimming in a random arrangement of freckles. However the left side of her face was clear. Honestly with children you see all sorts so even with really strange ones you tend to just pass things off.
Rarity looked concerned. She held a hoof up to her chin. "I can fix this... I'm pretty sure I can fix this- come with me."
"Why?" asked Lightning.
"How do you feel about make overs?" Rarity asked back.
"Never had one."
Rarity nodded and mumbled to me, "I can see that." She then spoke up. "Darling, you're cute to some adults, but I think your current appearance may turn other children away."
"You think others not liking me has something to do with the way I look?" Lightning asked.
"Well I won't say it's right of them, some of the best ponies I've met have been the ugliest-"
"Ugly?" Lightning asked, starting to look dejected. I glared at Rarity. That was beyond uncalled for.
"No-no, you're not ugly... not particularly..."
"Um... I need to be fixed?"
My glare started to intensify, no one messed with my charges. Rarity started stumbling on her words. "Fix... um... fixed is the wrong word... improved upon. You no doubt have a beautiful personality, why don't we make sure you're outside matches the inside yes?" Hearing that statement I choked back a laugh. To be honest, Lightning's outward appearance rather did match her personality, goofy, full of energy and a little hard to predict at times. Still, looking at her and remembering the hint she earlier dropped about not having many friends, Rarity fixing up her appearance couldn't hurt. I sighed and decided maybe Rarity was in the right, just not so good at wording things.
Lightning looked over at Dusk, who just shrugged. "I'll have to talk to Vinyl about you giving her a makeover however," I noted. "I don't really have the money for such things right now. Actually I'm just looking for someone to fix my roof-"
"A carpenter? I know several darling and..." Rarity half whispered in my ear, "Besides the filly really needs help, this is practically charity, I'll do it for free just let me help." And there was Rarity's famed generosity and not so... complimentary tongue, both on full display. "Listen, you can model for me tomorrow, but I simply cannot allow this to go unaddressed, both of you, come with me."
"Her brother?" I pointed at Dusk.
"He can follow if he likes... I didn't even notice him, he's quiet." I nodded and shrugged at this. We all walked into Rarity's small dress boutique.
(***)
After about thirty minutes, Rarity came out with Lightning Strike. Lightning looked... different. Her back mane had been slicked back and fluffed out a little and her front spikes had been laid down, the hairs made even. Rarity gave an awkward grin and walked away from her a short distance with me. "I'm at a loss for what to do with her freckles. My first instinct was to just cover them up with makeup, but they're just too many and they're too dense, she would look lopsided with that much make up on only one side of her face, even more than she does right now. And evening it out would look like she applied the makeup herself. However the hair was easier. Honestly I'm not even sure how it got-" Behind us both we heard what sounded light a subtle electric shock followed by a loud clap. Rarity and I looked back to see Lightning's mane returned completely to its former self. Lightning had been looking in a mirror and her smile started to fade.
In only a few seconds Lightning looked ready to cry, Dusk running over to her from the waiting room where he had been playing with a set of blocks. Lightning looked at the ground as he stood beside her, trying to give her a huge smile chalked full of its own energy. "I'm ugly!" Lightning shouted. Dusk put a foreleg over her shoulder, again trying to show her a big smile.
"No you're not," Dusk said so casually it was like he had not a single doubt in his mind that she was wrong.
Lightning looked back at the two of us adults, I tried to smile, but the shock on Rarity's face blew away any positive vibes I could manage. Lightning started crying and ran out of the boutique.
Watching the filly run out Rarity just stood there. "Um..." She stammered. "That's... that's never happened before. I mean I've heard of unruly hair but that was ridiculous." She reached out a hoof as if to pull back the filly who had just run off. "Um... I didn't mean to upset her."
I sighed, partially enraged.
"I'm not good with kids. Maybe I should just-"
"Oh no, you're fixing this. Follow me," I walked out.
Just as I suspected Lightning hadn't run far, she was just sobbing outside the store. I walked around the filly. "Lightning, you're not ugly." I said. Rarity walked on the other side of the filly. Dusk finally appeared running out the doors after us. The filly actually was ugly by this point, tears streaming down her cheeks, snot coming out her nose and her face scrunch up with her lip protruding. "Rarity, you're going to have to be the one to set this straight." I said, trying to calm down. Lightning was fast becoming a bit of a friend to me and I didn't like ponies hurt my friends. Still I tried best I could to realize Rarity's point of view. Rarity wasn't a mean pony. Still, she had messed up and she needed to own it, at least in my mind.
Rarity put a hoof on the filly's chin and lifted her face. She smiled warmly at the filly. "Listen child. I guess I can forget that a lot of us aren't very blessed when it comes to physical appearances," Okay that didn't sound like it was going to help, but I bit my tongue for the moment. "You should have seen me at your age. You'll change as you grow, trust me. However for now... now that I look at you... you're different. You actually pull that look off, which isn't easy to do- what's you're secret?" Lightning looked as confused as I was. "Well I simply must know. I mean, the freckles, the strange mane, the non-matching tail, but you pull it off... well not right now. Let me see that big grin you were wearing earlier." Lightning grinned at Rarity slowly. "There! I knew it was there. You're look is very... well just very you. I'm honestly a little jealous. I'm generic by comparison. They should call you Rarity."
"And you Lightning Strike?" Lightning asked.
"Well that name might not fit me very well, but I think you get the idea." Rarity nodded to herself. "You're not always going to feel pretty, but when you don't, just remember all the ponies around you who accept you anyway." She looked up at me. "There's Threadbare, apparently Vinyl Scratch, you're brother and me, just to name a few. You can't be as bad as I'm sure you're thinking, if we still like you, now can you?" Lightning's grin faded, but it was replaced with a far less forced normal smile.
(***)
My little group, minus Rarity, left the boutique. Rarity did however give me the contact information for a few good carpenter stallions. She also apologized profusely. Before I went to the carpenters, I did however stop by sugar cube corner to give the foals strawberry shakes. Lightning seemed to need a pick me up after all.
(***)
I finally hired someone far less expensive than the pony Lightning scared off.
After hiring the mare that was to fix my roof, she informed me I would need to stay outside while she worked. I was about to suggest to the two foals that we design a game, however Lightning almost immediately preoccupied herself flying over the roof and watching the carpenter pony. We also got some rather unexpected company.
Seeing us outside a young orange filly turned her scooter sideways and skidded to a stop, hitting Dusk with a small dust cloud. She hopped off yelling "Hey Dusty!" I was about to come to my charge's defense, however as he growled at her, he still had a bit of grin on. "I got something to show you." She parked her scooter by the side of my house. "You're not the only one with sweet dance moves. Check it out." And away little Scootaloo went. Spinning, jumping and a few odd slides. Instead of the expected shouts of "cool" or "sweet" like one would expect, Dusk just watched the filly with rapt attention. Course I just then realized I was doing the same thing.
Finally the filly had done her whole routine, whatever it was supposed to be and trotted to a stop. "So, what do ya think? Pretty cool right?" Dusk just nodded. "Oh just a nod huh? Think you can do that stuff?" she asked. Dusk seemed to think for a minute.
"Maybe?" he asked. "I mean, it did look kind of hard. Maybe if you showed me again?"
"Hmm?" Scootaloo asked. "You mean you want me to teach you?" He nodded. "Well... for a teacher you could certainly do worse."
"Well before that, I've been kind of wondering if you could show me how you do things on that scooter of yours."
"Oh that?" She looked over at her scooter. "It's nothing special. Do you have a scooter?"
"Not right now."
"Well I can't really teach you without one."
Dusk grunted. He then looked back to Scootaloo. "Well how do those dance moves work, they were really neat."
"Neat?" Scootaloo didn't seem to know how to take that statement.
"Yea."
"Okay..." Thus I witnessed a kind of junior teaching session. Dusk was actually rather graceful for a kid his age, not to say he didn't fall flat on his face several times. However the colt was determined and in about an hour he had at least a few steps memorized.
As this took place I also watched Lightning circling overhead, not seeming to be doing anything in particular, just flying for the heck of it. Finally I pulled out a book I had with me and started reading, every so often looking up to make sure the kids weren't getting out of control. Mentally I noted to myself that with the amount of energy my two charges had, I was so glad I wasn't going to be taking care of them into the evening. Putting them to bed would no doubt be a chore.
Scootaloo ran over to me. "Hey Threadbare, got any stories for me... please?" Oh yes, I was a bit of a story teller in general, sometimes making them up on the fly. Before I could say anything Scootaloo yelled back, "Dusk, Lightning, c'mon you guy have got hear one of her stories, they're really good."
Dusk was quickly beside his friend while Lightning didn't seem so enthusiastic. She was still flying, but actually starting to look tired for her part. I had to think for a minute.
"Well um... Let's see..." However it was just then that I noticed Vinyl coming over to me. I sighed, actually kind of wishing to keep going with these two, but all things come to an end I suppose. However instead of interrupting, Vinyl took a seat in front of me and smiled, waving for me to continue.
Lightning dropped down beside the older mare. She smiled and then laid down. She fought her eyes to keep them open and then I about laughed out loud as she suddenly just lost the fight and passed out.
"My audience seems to be growing... and shrinking somehow." I chuckled. "Let's see, a story... where to I begin?" |
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