Chapters The moon hung high over the sky, casting its light over the landscape. In the town of Ponyville, the residents were mostly asleep, the streets empty save for one lone, patrolling guard.
Amber Star walked through the barren streets, absolutely bored with her job. In the four months since Discord had appeared and then been beaten back, Celestia had asked that one guard go on to patrol Ponyville, and she had been the only one available. Her job was to, officially, defend the town from any threats. Even though, in the three months she had been doing this, she hadn’t seen anything more than a few ponies going on late-night strolls. Speaking of which, the sound of hoofsteps from around the next corner reached her ears, and she turned the corner, if only to find out who it was.
Ahead of her, Twilight Sparkle was apparently out for a midnight stroll, although for what reason, Amber couldn't fathom. Amber decided to say hello to the resident Element of Magic.
"Hi Twilight!" Amber shouted, causing Twilight to turn around rapidly. She had a breif look of annoyance on her face, a reaction that was priceless to the bored guard. She sighed for a moment, and then looked at Amber.
"Hello Amber. Shouldn't you be patrolling the town?" Twilight asked in annoyance.
Amber shook her head. "No, Twilight. I've been here for a quarter of a year, and nothing has happened, besides from your... Usual adventures, nothing had gone wrong. And especially nothing on the night patrol. So, what are you doing out?"
"Oh, nothing." Twilight absentmindly replied. Amber shook her head. Something was definitely wrong.
"Anything you want to tell me?" Amber asked, hoping for an answer.
Twilight sighed, and then looked at her. "I tried a new spell tonight." She said. Amber raised an eyebrow, waiting for her to go on. She took a deep breath, and then continued. "It was supposed to open a portal between Ponyville and Canterlot, so I could talk to Celestia, but something else happened. I cast it earlier yesterday, and I felt the energy drain, but nothing appeared. No portal, nothing. So, something came through a portal that I made, and I don't know where either end of the portal is - was, actually. I ended the spell shortly after something went through. So, try to be watchful tonight, ok?" Twilight finished, looking at her with a worried look.
Amber didn't think that there was anything to worry about, but she still needed to check Ponyville for anything wrong. She decided to leave Twilight with her thoughts. Saying a quick goodbye, she unfurled her dark blue wings and took to the air, soaring above the landscape. The moon was starting to dip towards the horizon, heralding the arrival of day. Finding nothing except Twilight in her overview of the town, she dipped downwards and landed in front of her small house.
She opened the door with her wing, walking inside, shedding the guard armor as she went. She hung it up on a stand made for it, and walked over to her bed, jumping on it, ready to rest most of the day away.
Several hours later, however, she was roused from her slumber by a loud knocking on her door. Groaning, she crawled from her bed and opened the door. A panicked-looking Cherilee was standing there, out of breath.
"Amber! Wake up, we need you out here to help organize a search party!" Cherilee said, oblivious to the half-asleep pegasus in front of her, just now waking up.
"What for?" Amber asked, "Did the CMC get lost in the forest again?"
The distraught teacher shook her head. "No, this time it's worse. I was taking our class on a brief field trip into the forest, and we were attacked by a manticore. Before it could hurt us, however, a large creature came in and used some sort of loud magic to kill it! Then it ran off. We need your help to find it, and we already have several guards from Canterlot here to help." She explained rapidly, taking a deep breath at the end.
Amber ran back inside, quickly donning her guard armor. She was going through the situation mentally. A large creature? If Cherilee didn't know what it was, then Amber didn’t know who would. A teacher like her new what everything was, regardless of whether she had seen it before.
She rushed outside, meeting the teacher as they quickly ran towards the center of town. Along the way, Cherilee described what she had seen.
"... It was bipedal, too. At least I think it was. It stood on two legs, and had a strange sort of clothing on which seemed to blend in with the surroundings. The only places not covered by clothing were its face and hooves. It didn't have hooves, either, come to think of it. It had these claws that didn't have the normal spiked end, like they were entirely made of flesh."
Amber didn't recognize what she had heard from any of her guard lectures, so she decided to ask some questions for herself.
"How did it kill the manticore?" Amber asked.
"It had a long stick made of some shiny metal, or at least that's what it looked like. I only got to view it for around five seconds, so sorry if my memory is fuzzy." She explained, "Anyway, the long stick had fire on the end of it, and whenever the fire came out a hole appeared in the manticore, like some sort of very fast arrow. We don't think it was a bow and arrow, so it must have been some sort of magic."
Amber was worried. If it had a long-range bow that could hit them at long range, then they would need to get some unicorns here to help deal with it. Arriving in the town square, she immediately ran in front of four pegasus guards who stood at attention there.
"Ok!" Amber yelled. "You all know what to do, so spread out and search for this creature! If you find it, apprehend it however you can and bring it back here. I will lead the search. Now come on!"
She and the other pegasi took to the air, quickly gaining altitude. They established zones of search, and moved back and forth, searching for anything. Amber thought she saw movement for a moment, but it turned it to be nothing, probably some bushes moving in the breeze.
After six hours, the sun was about to set, and they had still found no sign of the creature. Luna had sent a message stating that she had found the creature's dreams, something only possible in a sentient being, and told the guards that it didn't seem to understand her, and it spoke in a language she had never heard.
Once they landed, she dismissed the rest of the guards, and walked back to her house. If she didn't get sleep now, she was likely to collapse of exhaustion. Not even bothering to remove her armor, she jumped on her bed and quickly drifted off.
Amber woke up late next morning, yet again to the sound of frantic knocking at her door. Sighing, she got off the bed, noticing she still had her armor on. Shaking her head, she walked to the door and opened it.
Applejack, another one of the elements in the town, was standing outside, looking furious. Amber Star blinked, and then asked the all-important question.
"What are you doing here, Applejack?"
"That creature of you're broke into mah farm and stole some apples!" Applejack yelled, apparently forgetting I still had eardrums. "I chased it off, but it ran into the Everfree forest. Can you find that darn thing so ah can buck it into a wall?"
Amber used a hoof to rub her head, minding her hurting ears. "Sure thing, Applejack. Come nightfall, I’ll go looking for it. It should be out then, so I can easily find it."
Applejack slowly nodded, and wandered off. A short while later, I send a message to Princess Luna about it, and she promised to look into the dreams of the creature and confront it.
A short time later, Amber received a transcript of a dream. Apparently, the creature had slept after it stole the apples, and it had been completely unapologetic, apparently shrugging its shoulders before talking more in its strange language.
Amber still had eight hours until the sun started to go down, so she sat down on her work table and got started on the paperwork she needed to organize a massive search. Six hours later, she took a small nap. Her wings and hooves feeling like she had spent an entire day in training after using them to manipulate the papers and feathers she used to sign an entire stack of documents.
The nap stretched into a long sleep, and it was two hours past nightfall when she finally slipped out of house. Stretching her wings, she activated the helmet's disguise feature, turning her outside appearance into the usual white guard that pegasi adapted. She jumped into the air, quickly taking off into the sky.
She knew she wouldn’t find anything in the air, as the creature had undoubtedly camouflaged it, but from the ground any shelter should be visible - she assumed it had made shelter, for that is what she knew any intelligent creature would have done.
She landed in a forest clearing and started a ground search, moving in lines spaced twenty feet apart and around two hundred feet long. It would take days to cover the entire forest, but they would eventually find it. After a half-hour had passed she came upon a tiny clearing with a small hut inside. Moving to the side of the wooden structure, she heard the sound of breathing inside, and seconds later of something moving.
Amber stopped, listening to the sound. She froze as the creature poked its head outside of the hut, looking one way before turning to her. They both stopped suddenly, and just as she was ready to charge him she heard him give a small yell, feeling an impact against her skull. Darkness overcame her as she felt her helmet fly off, landing somewhere nearby as she fell to the ground.
Amber awoke to the sight of sunlight streaming through the… Branches? She tried to sit up, only to find her hooves were tied up. She gave a small sigh, remembering the night before. She had stumbled onto the creature’s hiding place, but apparently had been knocked out by it. Above her, she noticed a layer of branches resting on a frame. Why she had been put here, she didn’t know, but assumed it had something to do with the giant.
Next, Amber looked down to see what was holding her legs together. After a moment of focusing through her still-drowsy eyes, she noticed two bands of Hzunt vine holding her front and my back hooves together. She gave a small groan, knowing that it would be impossible to get the vine off. Hzunt vines were magical in nature, being virtually impossible to break without serious work. She rolled over, and tried to get them to fray by rubbing them on a nearby rock, only to get just what she expected: Nothing. Somehow, during the mess of moving herself around she found herself in an… awkward position, with her spine bent backwards as she had tried to break the vine.
Amber gave another sigh, rolling over into a more comfortable position. At least she could finally get some rest without somepony knocking on her door every five hours with an emergency. Her only worry was for the town’s safety: What if the creature attacked, and why had it spared her? The questions ran through her head several times before she heard hoofsteps outside of her little shelter. Turning slightly to look at who bothered her, she saw it.
The creature was definitely bipedal, and very tall. It was holding a half-eaten Apple in one hoof – wait, hoof? Amber looked closer, and saw that it was actually some type of paw or claw… Actually, hands, like on a monkey. Its face seemed squashed, and its nose just barley protruded from its face, instead of its entire mouth, like it should have.
It looked at Amber with undisguised curiosity. She shot it an intense glare back, causing it to flinch slightly. It pulled an object from behind it – another apple, she saw, fully untouched. She glared at him, fully expecting a trick. When there was none, she slowly scooted herself up to it and took a bite. Shortly after that, the thing turned around and left her.
She heard some rustling from a few feet away as the creature apparently did something. Seconds later, she heard a low growl, a sound she knew all too well: Timberwolves. Two seconds after that, she heard a small click, followed by a loud *BOOM*. Amber heard splinters flying and hitting the ground, followed by a running sound as the rest of the pack retreated. She simply assumed the creature had used whatever weapon, magical or otherwise, it had used on the Manticore.
A few minutes later, Amber Star heard the sound of the creature leaving the camp, apparently going off to attack Ponyville, or do some other nefarious act. She tried to move her bonds, to break them, for at least another half hour, before giving up. With nothing else to do, she simply decided to daydream.
Her mind wandered, over everything she could think of. She knew there would be no search parties for at least another day; her disappearance had probably caused them to rethink the patrols. She hoped, inside, that she would eventually be found, because she would hate to become a pet to that creature, subject to it.
Above all, Amber knew, she would miss her brother. While it wasn’t common knowledge, both her and her brother, Azure Star, had joined the Royal Guards. They both shared a fascination with protecting others, and that had led to an obvious career choice, even if her Cutie Mark happened to be an amber, four-pointed star surrounded by smaller, cyan stars. Her brother’s was the same, although with an azure star instead of an amber one.
She looked up at the sky, squinting in surprise. It was already darkness, and she hadn’t even noticed the passage of the day. Sighing, she lay her head down on the surprisingly soft grass on the ground, and quickly fell asleep.
The sun woke her up again. She groaned, knowing she had to go through another day of complete inactivity. She heard hoofsteps, and once again the creature came into view. Amber gave it an intense glare, hoping to convey a message; ‘respect me, and I’ll respect you’. She blinked as the creature tossed her another apple. She scooted forward yet again to eat it, enjoying the taste, and the variety it added to her otherwise-dull day. At least the apple had plenty of juice inside of it, although she knew she would eventually need water.
Once again, the creature made itself scarce, a fact of which she heard minutes later when she heard it move out of the clearing. Moving into her daydreams again, she was surprised at how easy it was to lose herself in them. Then again, she had never really had the chance, the last few years being occupied with guard duties and such nearly every day. She couldn’t remember the last time she had ever had a vacation, so compared to her work, this was great.
About five minutes later, Amber decided she had waited long enough. Starting slowly, she tried every method she could of getting the vine off of her hooves, including trying to chew through them. She could even do that, not able to reach her hooves with her mouth. A crunch two feet away announced the creature was back, and she looked at it as it gave her a small, knowing smile. Amber glared at it, unhappy that she had been unable to get out of the freakishly strong vines.
The creature held up a small, partially clear container, which appeared to be full of water. She cocked her head, wondering how she was ever supposed to get water out of it. The creature held out one of its miniature hooves, and then ran off, towards the town. Amber gave a small sigh, knowing she wouldn’t be getting answers from it any time soon.
Ten minutes later, the creature came back, holding something in its hands. Amber glared at it as the creature put it on the ground, opening it up like a small pouch. She saw it was made of that cloth that Rarity always used in her waterproof clothes, so she judged he was making a bowl of some sorts. After it had loosened up, he poured some water in and moved out of her eyesight, towards what she now figured was his hut.
She slowly scooted up to the bowl, raising her head slightly and taking a deep drink of water. The feel of it running down her throat was as if Celestia had finally decided to take her into the clouds. Laying her head down on the ground, Amber decided to take a small nap.
Amber was awoken suddenly by the sound of hoofsteps outside of the frame. Groaning, she looked to the side only to see a familiar blue pegasus.
“Rainbow Dash!” She gasped, shocked at her appearance. She had been found!
“Amber Star!” The blue pegasus said, taking in her appearance. “Hold on, I’m going to get the rest of the search teams over here!”
After that, Amber passed out. She faintly remembered the next few hours, including the arrival of the unicorn search team. She was checked out by to less than three doctors during that time, and declared fit for the journey to Canterlot.
Amber rose to her feet off of the hospital bed. She followed a unicorn guard to a waiting carriage outside, for the journey to Canterlot. Apparently, Twilight had finally captured the creature, after a chase lasting well into an hour. Celestia wanted to seek her opinion of the creature, and she was going there to give it.
As the flight journeyed towards Canterlot, Amber felt herself drifting off. It had been a long week, and all she needed now was rest.
With that, she fell into a deep slumber.
Azure Star woke up slowly. She sat up and looked around, finding herself on a cot in the guard barracks. Apparently, she had fallen asleep on the ride back, and they had carried her back here, ‘here’ being Canterlot.
“Good, you’re awake.” A familiar voice to her left said. Turning, she immediately noticed a light blue pegasus; her brother, Azure Star.
“Azure!” She said, kicking off of the bed, taking flight, only to crash into her brother a second later. They crashed to the ground, and quickly got back up.
Azure shook the blow off and turned back towards her. “Hey Amber. Good to see you awake; Princess Celestia wants to talk with you about what you know about the creature. They just enacted a translation spell on it through its dreams, and apparently it IS capable of intelligent thought.”
“I already knew that.” Amber stated. “Staying a captive of it for several days goes to show it is capable of intelligent thought, plus the fact that, several times, it had the chance to kill me, but did not take it. Go easy on the thing if you meet it, ‘kay?”
“Alright, Amber.” Azure said, motioning towards the door, “Come on, we’re late enough as it is.”
They quickly made their way outside the barracks. Upon reaching the staircase, they both took flight, quickly ascending it towards the top. Both of them had their armor on at the moment, minus the helmets, making their flight harder, but not too much so. Amber still didn’t know why Azure had chosen to have a pair of miniature iron wings as an emblem on his armor, but she just chalked it up to her brother’s usual antics.
They quickly took off down the halls, making their way towards the throne room. They landed in front of the entrance, right in front of the two unicorn guards.
“We’re here to talk to the Princess.” Azure stated. The guards moved aside, letting them walk in. The large doors opened, to the sight of Celestia standing at the end of the room. She was standing at the base of the throne dais, obviously waiting for them. Azure and Amber walked forward, doing a quick bow upon reaching her.
“Rise, Amber, Azure.” Celestia said in a calm voice. They rose slowly, looking up at her. “Azure, thank you for grabbing Amber. You are dismissed.” He bowed and walked out, shooting another happy glance at Amber before walking out the door.
“Amber, we know much about the creature, but we want to know your observations.” Celestia said. “It has woken up, and right now we have a scientist questioning it, though as of the last report it seems to be not responding to many questions. What can you tell us about your time during your capture?”
Amber responded quickly. “Well, it was obviously intelligent. When I arrived at the clearing, I saw the hut, and walked up to it. However, the creature walked outside of it and delivered a kick once it saw me, obviously out of surprise. I was knocked out, and tied up with Hzunt vines, so I couldn’t get out.
“The next morning, it gave me an apple, definitely one of the ones that it stole. There are several things that can be gathered from this. The first is that it is obviously intelligent, since it did not kill me in the first place, but rather captured me. Another is that it fed me; this leads to the conclusion that it is defiantly intelligent, and capable of rational thought. It can obviously speak, as it managed to have a conversation with you, or so I have heard, after you did the translation spell.”
Celestia grimaced. “Conversation is hardly the word for it. Luna and the creature immediately got into an argument over you of all things, which escalated into him ejecting me from the dream rather painfully. After that, Luna ended the dream, and he woke up, leading us to now.”
Azure nodded in understanding, then spoke up. “How did he eject you from the dream?”
“He used some sort of metal thing that he conjured up.”
Azure nodded to herself. “You’ll have to ask it about it.”
“That I shall.”
Celestia dismissed her, and she went down to the guard barracks to find her brother.
“Azure!” She said. “Let’s catch up. First off, what are you doing still here? You’re supposed to be the captain by now, or is what you told me in that bar when I got sent off hot air?”
Azure looked at her with a look of sheer misunderstanding on his face. “I don’t even know WHAT I said that night, and you expect me to follow up on it?”
“Yes, I do.” Amber responded in a scolding tone. “So, what happens now?”
One of the other guards spoke up. “The Princesses are going to interview it, and then search through its memories. Azure, remember, you have guard duty outside the throne right about now.”
Azure groaned, before slipping on his helmet, a small golden glow accompanying it as the color of his fur turned a brilliant white, the disguise spell activating.
“Don’t worry,” He yelled out to Amber, “I’ll be back in, say, three or four hours.”
Azure walked out onto the staircase and unfurled his wings, with two quick beats, he was off the stone and climbing quickly. He flew up the wide shaft, the staircase tower being around fifty feet wide.
Half a minute alter, he landed at the top of the staircase, settling into a walk as he went towards the throne room. He passed a couple guards on the way, nodding to his friends, but it seemed like a slow shift today. Ten minutes later, he reached the throne room, and relived one of the unicorn guards on duty.
He sighed to himself, ready to begin his shift. He stood at attention in front of the door, pronouncing for the entire world to see that he was practically a statue. For that he thanked the designer who had come up with a brace for the legs of the armor; it held the legs perfectly straight, letting him simply rest them, allowing him to turn his attention towards the surrounding, which he quickly got bored of.
An hour and a half into his shift, however, he suddenly heard a loud voice from the throne room. “Guards!”
He and the unicorn quickly turned, letting another pegasus he didn’t recognize go in first.
“Take the… Human back to his cell.” He heard from Celestia, followed by the – Human, was it? – and the guard walking out. He and the unicorn guard followed them, forming a rear guard. They quickly made their way back to the cells, the unicorn unlocking the door before the unknown pegasus turned towards the Human.
“If I had my way,” He said, “You wouldn’t even get the comfort of a cell, beast.”
“Yea, yea.” The creature said dismissively. “Tell it to the judge. I don’t care.”
Azure stifled a small giggle as the Human walked into the cell, the door closing behind it. Azure simply went back to the guard barracks while the other two guards went off somewhere else. Azure really wasn’t paying attention.
Amber had already gone to sleep, the long days recently taking a small toll on her mind. Azure plopped down on the bunk above her, willing himself to rest while he had the chance.
Slowly, he fell off into his sleep, content.
Azure Star woke up quickly, his long sleep letting him get up faster than normal. He hopped down off of the high bunk, and quickly donned his armor, ready for his first shift guarding the cells below. Specifically, he was supposed to guard the entrance to them. He threw his helmet in the air, catching it on his head, activating the disguise.
He quickly walked down several levels to the dungeons, replacing the Earth Pony guard on duty. Even through the disguise that simulated a pegasi, some telling differences were still noticeable that gave it away. Azure just settled down for a long wait.
An hour later, he heard noises that sounded like explosions and… Something else coming from down the hall. He walked down to investigate, only to hear the noises coming from a cell. More specifically, the cell the creature was kept in.
Azure looked at thre three guards standing outside the door, one unicorn and two other pegasi.
“Hey guys,” Azure said, “Isn’t anyone going to go check out the sounds?”
The pegasus he remembered from yesterday rolled his eyes and walked towards the door.
One of the unicorns unlocked the door, letting the pegasi inside. Azure leaned forward to catch the conversation.
“What in Celestia’s name are you doing?” The pegasi said.
“Meh,” The disembodied voice of the creature answered. “Playing a Video Game. You wouldn’t know, you haven’t even discovered electricity.”
Azure had no idea what a ‘Video Game’ was, or even what a ‘Video’ was in the first place, or what one had to do with games, so he just decided to ask it at a later point.
“Of course we have!” The guard yelled, causing Azure and the others to let out small snickers. “But what does electricity have to do with a game?”
“It’s a simulation of warfare where I come from.” It stated, “You likely wouldn’t understand half of the stuff happening on the screen.”
The pegasi huffed and closed the door, Azure and the other guards erupting into laughter at the scene.
When Azure finally calmed down, he looked towards the flustered pegasi guard. “What was he doing, anyway?”
“Looking at some form of light-giving thing, and sitting on its saddlepack.” The guard said.
One of the other guards snorted. “Just what he was doing yesterday, when the scientist went to question him. I was there, and it WAS pretty hilarious watching one of our best Harmonic Prize winners not understand a word that he, the creature, was saying. Well, we could understand it, just the scientist couldn’t figure out half of it.”
Azure nodded and went back to his post at the entrance to the dungeons. A short while later, a unicorn guard led the ‘Human’ out of the cells and up the stairs. Wherever he was leading the creature, Azure didn’t care.
-=-=-
Amber Star was walking down the halls, headed towards Room 26. That was usually the room where guards were debriefed after a mission, and it was there that Celestia had sent her.
After the absolute failure to get any information out of the ‘Human’, Celestia had asked her to try. She reasoned that, because of a supposed emotional connection the creature might have for her, she would be able to get more out of it. Either that, or nothing would continue to happen, and the effort would have failed. But, at least it could be said that she tried. She walked up to the door, nodding to the guard, before opening it and stepping in.
The human was already there, seated on a cushion. He tensed up for a moment upon seeing her, before relaxing after recognizing her. Amber sat down on the cushion across from him, staring at him.
Around ten seconds into the staring, Amber had finally had enough and spoke up.
“All right, since you decided to tie me up and all that, Shining wanted to see if I could ask you some questions. Is that all right with you?”
The creature nodded, leaving me to ask my first question.
“First off,” Amber said, “Why do you carry around your saddlebags all the time?”
“First off, it’s a backpack, not a saddlebag.” He responded, “And second, it’s so you can’t mess with any of my stuff.”
Amber nodded. She could understand that.
“Second, what is that long club-like thing you carry around, along with the small L-shaped one?” She asked.
“It’s a gun. More on that later.”
The time flew quickly, with her asking plenty of questions and getting few answers. After nearly twenty minutes, Amber felt like she was done. She still didn’t know what the ‘Gun’ was, but she knew she would find out eventually. Strangely enough, he was apparently an Omnivore, meaning he could eat both normal things and… Meat. At the moment she had heard that, Amber knew this would be submitted in written form, instead of face-to-face.
After the creature was taken out, she began to write out her report, dipping her quill in the ink, and writing using her wing. Earth ponies had to use their teeth and unicorns had magic, but pegasi could simply use their flexible wings to manipulate small objects.
Twenty five minutes later, with her report done, she handed it to the guard and began walking back to the guard barracks. She flopped down on the cot above her sleeping brother, Azure, and fell off into her sleep.
Azure Star grumbled to himself. Today, he was the assigned escort to the ‘Human’. Apparently, he had a meeting with Shining Armor and the Princesses in the garden today, and Azure had to wake the thing up and get it over there. Today was not his day.
He walked over to the door, where he waited patiently for the unicorn to open it. It swung open, showing the creature inside of the bag that it slept in. From what I had seen it would be much more comfortable than- No, He cut himself off. ‘Don’t think about that’.
It poked its head out, looking at him. Sighing, Azure began his rehearsed speech.
“Wake up.” He said in a low voice, “Apparently, someone in the ranks thinks you need some time outside. So, we will lead you to the gardens, and you will NOT try to escape. Understood?”
He almost sighed over how ridiculous it was, but he had to say it because of protocol. Yet another gift from the higher-ups.
“Yea, I get it… Dickhead.” The creature said. Azure ignored the snickers of the guards behind him and watched closely as the ‘Human’ strapped a metal thing to its waist, before turning to him and walking up to the door. Azure promptly turned around and began leading it through the halls. After ten minutes of walking around, he finally reached the door to the outside, guarded by two of the unicorn guards.
One of them raised its spear at the creature. “Halt!” The unicorn shouted. “Why is this… Beast not back in its cell?”
Azure rolled my eyes as the creature began to respond.
“First off, I have a name.” It snapped at the guard, leaving the unicorn stunned. “It’s Tyler Maddox. Learn to use it, or I’ll throw you around the goddamn castle all day. I’m sure your friends” It said, gesturing towards the Azure and the other unicorn. “would enjoy that. Second, someone apparently thinks I need some fresh air. So, if you’re quite through wasting my time, I would like to get a glimpse of the sky for once.”
Azure figured it was time to step in.
“Just let us through,” He said, “I got the orders from Shining, so I assume that he has a good reason for it.”
The unicorns slowly opened the door, revealing the outside. The creature stepped out and took a deep breath, obviously enjoying the outside. Azure sighed and took point.
“Come this way. I don’t know why I am leading you here, but this is where I was told to go.”
The creature followed him closely until they reached the lake. Standing by it was Shining Armor and the two Princesses, obviously waiting for them. Azure stiffened slightly as the creature stepped forward, but forced myself to relax.
“Ah, our guest has arrived,” Luna said, “Would you kindly answer for what happened two days ago? We have had much time to think over it, and We demand an answer from thee.”
Azure let out a soft sigh as the creature did as well, obviously knowing this was going to be a long day.
“If I had told you,” It – a he, obviously - explained, “Would you have believed me?”
Shining Amor was apparently getting impatient. “Just what is going on, Princess Celestia?” He asked.
Celestia sighed. “We know why this creature-”
“I have a name, for Christ’s sake! It’s Tyler Maddox. Stop calling me ‘creature’, or ‘beast’, or ‘savage’, or whatever you come up with to sooth your mind over the fact that I am clearly intelligent enough to hold a conversation with you, and the obvious evidence that our kind is clearly more advanced that yours!” ‘Tyler Maddox’ was shouting at the end, causing Celestia and Luna to flinch, and Shining Armor to glare at him.
Azure flinched, too, but for a different reason. This was about to go bad.
Shining Armor, obviously, was the catalyst. “How can your kind possibly be more advanced than ours! You obviously have no magic, so how would you advance at all?”
Azure was shaking his head at this point. “This can’t end well..” He murmured out to the guards behind him.
The creature was visibly shaking slightly. “You just don’t get it, do you?” He said in a low voice, “My kind has done things that you have never dreamed of. We have gone into space and landed on our moon, and we have technology beyond your comprehension. My country has an army of six million men, all of whom are armed with weapons beyond your capacity to understand! We have bombs that can vaporize entire cities and all their surroundings, and we have managed to established a global communications network that allows everyone with a cell phone to communicate instantly with anyone else, anywhere. Don’t you dare try to pass yourselves off as more advanced simply because you have something that SHOULDN’T EVEN EXSIST!”
Azure was in a slight shock at this point. All of what it had said seemed to be fiction, but he could tell from several signs – or the absence thereof – that it was not lying.
Shining Armor was shaking in fury. “Guards, take this creature and put it back in its cell. We will discuss this later when it does not suggest such things!”
The creature promptly turned around, as Azure and the other guards led it back to the doorway. He even though he caught a glimpse of his sister, watching from a distance. He shook his head. This didn’t go to plan at all.
They quickly led the creature back to its cell, locking the door behind it. Seconds later, however, a pegasus messenger dropped off a scroll in front of them. Azure picked it up with his hoof, looking through the writing. It ordered him to bring the ‘Human’ to be questioned by… Azure Star. He sighed, knowing only his sister could get caught in something like this, even after what happened. Apparently, from the writing, it had been going on for a couple days now.
He opened the door just to hear the creature begin to talk.
“Damn it…” It said in a low voice, “I shouldn’t lose my temper like that, but that ignorant asshole set me off. I really need to work on that…”
“Yeah,” Azure said, “You should work on that.”
The creature turned around in mild surprise. Seeing the expression on its face, He started his explanation.
“We have another questioning for you. I know it’s been around ten minutes since you blew up on Shining and the Princesses, but, as two days ago, we got somepony else to do it.” Azure explained, motioning to the door with his wing.
The creature quickly packed up its things, slinging the thing it had called a ‘Gun’ on its shoulder. They walked through the same set of halls, until they took a sudden turn, leading us though another series of halls to a certain room. The Human knew what to do; it immediately entered, leaving Azure to stand outside and guard the door. He sighed. It really seemed as though he had all the exciting duties mixed with the boring ones lately.
-=-=-
[Azure, 1st Person]
Fifteen minutes later, the Human – Tyler, I reminded myself – came out of the room. I simply stared at him. Being the door guard, I heard every word. Every. Single. One.
Eight awkward seconds passed after the door closed, after which I finally talked.
“Is what you said true?” I simply asked.
He nodded. “Every word of it. And don’t try to take away either of my guns, or whoever she is” He pointed back at the room, “Will have plenty of notes to take on how dangerous they are. Understood?”
I nodded, glaring at him a bit. “Oh, and by the way, her name is Amber Star. Please refer to my sister as such, or I’ll have your flank, weapon or no weapon. As another note, my name is Azure Star, and yes, we are related.” I finished off with a grin, silently daring him to say something.
“Ok then,” He said. “Let’s get back to my ‘room’.”
I quickly led him back to his cell, where I was scheduled to be on guard duty for a few hours. Almost immediately, however, small booms and some yelling began to come though the cell. I ignored it, choosing to purposefully deny any wish of mine to see what it was.
Two hours later, however, I couldn’t resist. I was supremely bored, and, well, I doubt the Human would try to escape, if he could have at any point from the time of his imprisonment. And it was my break time, anyway.
I opened the door silently, using the level that pegasi and earth ponies could use. The Human looked up at me, silently asking what I was doing here.
“What are you doing to make that sound?” I asked.
“I’m playing a game.” He stated.
“A game? What type of game, and what is it called? And how are you doing a game on that glowing thing?” I asked.
“The game is a shooting game. It has warfare in it, and it’s called Battlefield 3. As for how I am playing it, this is a computer. It’s an electronic device that allows me to do a variety of things, and I have quite a few games of it.” He finished off.
“Can I watch?” I asked after a moment.
“Sure, although I don’t know if you will understand half of what you see, so feel free to ask if you need to.”
I trotted over to the cot he was on, jumping on it and sitting down. He turned the light thing towards me, allowing me a view of a screen that had several words on it like ‘Resume’, ‘Options’, and ‘Quit’. Suddenly, the screen disappeared, and I was left with a view that was obviously from 1st person, slowing a long device sticking out in a pair of the creature’s ‘hands’.
“Is that a gun?” I asked. It looked similar to the one that the Human had, but I couldn’t be sure.
He nodded. “It’s a gun. The name of it is the M16A2. It’s like the gun that I have, only a different type of bullet is fired – or shot, if you prefer that term – from it.”
I stared at the ‘screen’, as he called it, as his view moved forward. Suddenly, a series of high-pitched bangs erupted in close succession, dirt popping up off the ground. There were others of his kind moving from a kind of doorway, holding things that looked a lot like his ‘Gun’, and probably were. Several of them dropped to the ground, obvious dead, after the Human pressed a button on the series of buttons, which made fire spew from the front of the ‘Gun’, which, I knew from what I had overheard, were ‘Bullets’. I could even hear several of the ‘Enemies’ speaking in a language I recognized from a small stint in Saddle Arabia, where I had to learn as much of the language as I could in three days. After a while, I had to drop the question.
“Is that how warfare on your world really is?” I asked.
He nodded.. “It’s pretty close. This is a game, and has inaccuracies that the real world wouldn’t have. For example, on here your character has a health meter that tells you how much life you have left. In the real world, you would simply die, or be severely hurt. However, in a game, some realism is sacrificed for a better experience.”
I nodded to show my understanding, and he continued. After a short while, I recognized a guard from the day contingent in the doorway.
“Azure! Enough socializing, your break is up, and you’re needed on-duty for the wedding.”
I turned slightly to look at the Human. Taking a small breath, I got to my hooves and walked to the doorway, where I spoke to him. “It was… interesting being around you. Although I don’t understand half of what I have seen and heard today, I think I know better than to try and understand it all.”
The door closed and locked, signaling the start of my shift today. With a sigh, I got ready for it. The wedding was tomorrow, and it was going to be chaos until then.
-=-=-
At the end of the day, both Azure Star and Amber Star collapsed on their bunks. They would need all the rest they could get for tomorrow. It was a wedding day, after all.
Things were bound to be crazy.
Amber Star groaned as she got up off of her cot. She looked out the window in the guard barracks, noting that it was the early morning. She had to wait for her assignments, so she went to the main room and got a small breakfast. Most of the guards were on edge, as this was the day of the wedding. If anything went wrong, they would take the brunt of it.
Azure walked up to her table, plopping down on the bench, laying his head on the table. His eyes drooped slightly, showing how tired he was.
“Hey, Azure.” Amber said, shaking him with her hoof. “Are you there? Come on, wake up.”
His head shot up, Azure looking around rapidly, before his eyes settled on his sister, who was struggling to hold in laughter. He scowled, wanting to simply fall asleep on the table.
“Can’t you leave me alone for one minute, Amber?” He demanded.
“No.” She replied.
Azure sighed and buried his head in his hooves. “I hate you, sis.”
“I know.” Came the reply. “Just remember who managed to fly without falling to the ground their first time.”
“That was twenty years ago!” Azure complained, saying it into his forelegs.
“You know what they say, Azure.” She shot back. “Never too late to regret what you’ve done wrong.”
Azure grinned, the perfect reply forming in his head. “Like when I caught you with Dewdrop when you were ten?”
A mild blush formed on Amber’s face. “That was a one-time thing! And it was sixteen years ago!”
“Oh, but you were so cute together!” Another pegasus guard added. “I remember when you two would try to fly in the sky, away from your parents, and-”
“Story’s over!” Amber shouted, interrupting the guard before she could finish. Most of the guards on the tables surrounding them laughed, before returning to their conversations.
A unicorn guard came in and tapped Amber on the shoulder. She looked up at him, her eyes showing that he’d better get on with what he came to say.
“Luna wants you to check on the prisoner, and you should know which one. She also wants you to ask if it needs anything. Strange, though. When I talked to her, it was as if she had seen a ghost. This is an off-duty assignment, so don’t bother donning your armor.” He shrugged, and then walked away.
Amber quickly finished her meal and walked to her cot. She donned her armor, minus the helmet, and started her walk down the stairs to the dungeon – although nopony really called it the dungeon anymore, being replaced with words like ‘jail’ and ‘the cells’, it was still the dungeon to many of the guards.
She quickly reached the cell that held ‘Tyler’. Pretty much every cell was empty, the castle guards not having much a reason to hold onto criminals, most of them being transferred almost immediately to prisons either in other towns or the main one by the edge. The only reason he was here was because he really hadn’t been brought up on any charges, and was held here simply because of the risks of holding him elsewhere, and for convenience if nothing else.
The two guards at the entrance to the cell opened the door for her. ‘Tyler’ was apparently lying on his cot, using his device that Azure had briefly talked about last night. He looked up at her, apparently surprised by her visit.
“Hi, what are ya here for?” He asked.
“The wedding is in an hour, and I was asked to come and check in on you.” Amber said. “Luna is apparently concerned for some reason, so I need to ask; is there anything that you need?”
To her surprise, he nodded. “Actually, yes. If I could have a slice of cake from the wedding, that would be awesome.”
“Any particular reason why? I don’t even know if your kind has weddings – or cake.” Amber said.
“We have both, and wedding cake is always better than regular cake, for some reason.”
Amber sighed, shaking her head in a slight nod. “I’ll see what we can do. Anyway, I have off-duty during the wedding, and I’d rather not waste it.”
She quickly trotted out, making her way up the stairs yet again. Why the designers of every castle she knew of decided to make stairs instead of something easier, she didn’t know. At least the tower the stairs wound upwards in was big enough for pegasi to fly up in, if they so desired, a good twelve meters wide.
She finally arrived at the guardroom and joined Azure in an animate discussion involving, of all things, one of the Elements of Harmony.
“Did you see it?” One of the guards asked. “Twilight Sparkle, the Element of Magic and Shining Armor’s own sister, just came in and told off Princess Cadence! She said that she was ‘evil’ among other things.”
Azure shook his head. “I can’t believe it. They have enough guards on duty to tell everyone not to mess around with us. Anypony who tries to mess this wedding up will be very, very sorry they ever tried.”
From there on, the conversation drifted wildly. An hour later, however, several guards came rushing into the room in full battle gear, causing all conversation to pause.
“The Changelings are outside the shield!” One of them yelled. “Cadence got replaced by a Changeling queen, and we’ve got several thousand of them outside the city! Everyone get your gear on and get ready! They’ve got Celestia and the Elements!”
The room spun in a flurry of action. Amber and Azure quickly went to the guardroom and grabbed their spears. Helmets would only restrict their vision in this fight, so Amber left hers, while Azure put on the light version, with improved sight. They ran to the landing/takeoff porch, where Pegasi could land or fly off from, and watched as the shield shattered into pieces. A black swarm began to pour into the city. Several dozen guards rushed past them and took off, beginning to engage individual Changelings in small fights.
Green fireballs began to race to the ground as the Changelings landed. Immediately, spells ranging from a sickly green to all the colors of the rainbow began to race across the Canterlot streets, as various ponies and guards noticed the invasion, and began to fight back. Amber and Azure winced as explosions began to rock the streets, and magical combat began to take place.
“We’ll get killed if we go out into that!” Azure yelled to his sister and several nearby guards. They walked away from the window, breaking into a run.
“Everypony follow us! We need to get to the throne room!” Amber shouted to the nearby guards, who began following them.
The guards quickly reached the staircase. The Pegasi, including Azure and Amber, started to fly up, while the Unicorn and rare Earth Pony guards began to run up the stairs. They quickly reached the top, halting when they spotted several Changelings running towards them.
Spear held tightly by her hoof, Amber took to the air, instantly catching one of the Changelings on it. Several more pegasi guards began to rush up with her, and the unicorns began to cast spells. She rolled to the right, missing a green bolt that was headed for her. She reached the ground and began to engage in combat. A Changeling to her left attempted to blindside her with its horn. She threw her hoof out, catching it in the bottom of its head and tossing it up, to land on its back. She quickly followed with a blow to its head, killing it.
Although she was sickened slightly by the deaths, she knew she needed to do this. Seconds later, all of the Changelings had been killed. More guards joined up with them as they ran down the halls. Only a minute later, however, some of the guards suddenly were enveloped in green fire, as several green bolts flew out from them, hitting several ponies.
“Infiltrators!” Azure yelled out as a column crashed to the ground. The formerly disguised Changelings were near the back of the group, so it was fairly simply to concentrate on them and kill them. More Changelings, however, began to come from where they had been, confirming that the dungeons had been overrun.
The guards quickly scrambled behind several large pieces of marble column as green bolts flew past them, impacting the walls around them. Several unicorns started to fire off shots when they could, trying to hold off the Changelings. It was a losing battle, as they slowly closed in.
Suddenly, several loud booms echoed through the hallway. The green bolts flying overhead suddenly stopped as they continued, several times. Finally, a unicorn raised its head over the column.
“What is that thing doing here?” He shouted. Amber and Azure continued to keep their heads down, glancing at one another.
“He was helping us clear a path to you. He also cleared the Changelings out, as in dead.” A voice responded.
The guard persisted. “How do we know you’re not one of them!”
A familiar voice answered that. “Listen asshole, I just got finished with that little massacre of those things back there, so I’m definitely not one of them. I know they aren’t because I saw them get knocked out by those things, so will you cut the shit out so we can clear this castle of them?”
Amber mouthed the word ‘Tyler’ to Azure, and he nodded in reply. Together, they rose from behind the column. Sure enough, the ‘Human’ stood there, along with two other guards.
Azure spoke up first. “Hey! It’s Azure, by the way. I lost my helmet in the fight, so don’t be surprised. Anyway, we need to fight our way to the throne room and take it back. Word has it that Chrysalis, the queen of this swarm, has captured Celestia and the Elements. We need to get them back, and we need you to do it. We don’t have the ponypower to take it by ourselves.” They had found that out the hard way.
“Yeah!” Amber shouted eagerly. “Let’s beat their flanks back to the Badlands!”
The ponies began to form up, with Tyler standing in the center. They started to move out, headed towards the throne room. The bodies of Ponies and Changelings dotted the halls, with many more of the latter than the former. The halls showed signs of massive battle damage. Apparently, many ponies had not been so lucky. They quickly reached the intersection leading to the throne room, four hundred feet away.
[url= http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0uBjrB\_gHw]Song[/url ]
Azure signaled for the group to gather around, and he started talking. “Around the next corner is the throne room. There were most likely be a lot of Changelings in front of it, so remember to cast your spells correctly. Pegasi, take to the air, we will need the support. Ok, let’s do this. For Equestria!”
With that, they charged around the corner. The guards slowed for a moment upon seeing the hallway. There were several hundred Changelings in it, all turning to look at the dozen guards who charged forward. Amber looked behind her and saw about thirty guards charge out from a hallway a hundred meters away. Apparently, they had been waiting for the right time to attack.
Azure charged into the fight, taking to the air as magical bolts began to fly. He heard several loud bangs, most likely from Tyler’s weapon, and watched as the armored Changeling in back dropped to the ground. Azure spun in the air and kicked a Changeling passing him, knocking it to the ground, He turned in a tight bank as he landed next to it, quickly delivering a strong hit with his foreleg when it tried to rise, smashing its head into the ground. Suddenly, he felt himself being tacked to the ground, and he looked up now to see a Changeling about to deliver a hit. Azure quickly used his greater strength to roll over, kicking the Changelings chest in.
Several loud bangs sounded from his left. He looked over to see several Changelings fall in front of Tyler. The Human gave a nod, and Azure returned it, as they went back to their battles.
The ponies were slowly being pushed back as more and more Changelings entered the room from the sides. Fighting went on all around Amber, as magical bolts streaked across the room to impact targets, and pegasi battled in the air and on the ground. She froze as one of the massive Changelings entered the room. It charged its horn and fired, the blast literally vaporizing a pegasi in the air, as well as several Changelings, and blowing a large hole in the wall behind her.
She felt herself being knocked to the ground. Amber quickly got up, finding herself with no damage except some dented armor. She looked out the window, and was slightly horrified at what she way.
The entire city of Canterlot was shrouded in fighting. Pegasi and Changelings wheeled through the air in combat, and magical bolts crisscrossed the streets. The city was in open warfare, no doubt about it. So far, the Changelings seemed to have the upper hand. Everyone, on the streets, and in the castle, they were pushing the ponies back.
Suddenly, a pink wall came flying from the throne room. Amber recognized it as a magical wave right before it passed over her. The Changelings, however, were not so lucky. They were tossed back by the blast, many impacting the walls and instantly dying, but most being pushed out of windows. Within thirty seconds, the wall had pushed the black swarm out of the city, and formed a new shield, the magenta barrier ready as ever. Cheers began to erupt from the city as ponies started to celebrate their victory.
Amber formed up with her brother, walking towards Tyler, who stood, staring through the hole at the city.
“So,” Azure said. “We did it. We beat them.”
Tyler nodded. “We managed to fight them off. Can we go check on Celestia so I can go to sleep?”
Amber nodded, and together they began to walk to the doors. They were suddenly thrown open as Celestia, followed by Shining Armor, the real Cadence, and the Elements of Harmony, walked out of the room. They froze, however, when they saw Tyler.
Celestia was the first to speak. “What are YOU doing here? Were you aiding them? Answer me!”
“Calm your tits, woman.” Tyler said. “I was the guy who got your guards as far as here. I nearly died several times so we could save your sorry ass, so don’t go around and act as if YOU’VE had a bad day.”
“You’re the thing that stole mah apples from my orchard!” Applejack said. Amber sighed slightly as she remembered Applejack’s panicked visit two weeks before.
“So? You try to survive when an entire town is hunting for you, and see if you need to eat. I’m not sorry for it, so don’t try to guilt-trip me.” Tyler replied.
Cadence spoke up next. “Who are you? I heard Celestia and Luna talking about you, but I haven’t managed to see you yet, what with being foalnapped by Chrysalis.”
“I am Tyler Maddox.” The Human responded.
“Why are you here?” She asked.
Tyler sighed. “Well, on my world, I found a portal…”
Azure and Amber listened in rapt attention as he delivered his version of how he had gotten here, from walking through the portal, to Amber’s capture, and on through the time to that moment.
“…Then, a gigantic pink wave comes at me and knocks all the abominations of nature away, which leads us to right now. Happy?” He asked.
“Interesting…” Cadence whispered to herself, before looking up at Tyler. “Well, I am Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, but you can call me Cadence. Thank you for making your attempt at helping us, and I hope you have luck in returning to your home.”
Celestia walked forward. “Let us not forget why we came here. Shining and Cadence, direct the recovery efforts. All of you, we need to prepare.”
“For what?” Tyler asked, causing Azure to mentally facepalm.
She smiled at him. “Why, for the real wedding, of course. For now, though, you can simply rest with the rest of the guards. The events of today have not forgiven you, but I do trust you now.”
Tyler quickly tagged along as Azure and Amber led him back to the barracks, along with the rest of the guards. They walked past the former scenes of battle, including the column they had hunkered down behind. Amber shivered. They had almost died there.
Upon reaching the barracks, the ponies, and the human began to collapsed onto benches and cots. Azure walked over to his cot, along with Amber. They jumped in and almost instantly fell asleep, the stress from the day prompting their bodies to beg for sleep.
As she lay in her cot, Amber smiled. They had survived the invasion.
They had won.
The Invasion - Alternate Ending
This is what would have happened if Tyler had not come to Equestria.
It's what I referred to in the Author's Notes of Chapter 9 'Black Rain', in Falling Into the Unknown.
Note: Obviously, this is not canon to the story.
-=-=-
The guards quickly scrambled behind several large pieces of marble column as green bolts flew past them, impacting the walls around them. Several unicorns started to fire off shots when they could, trying to hold off the Changelings. It was a losing battle, as they slowly closed in.
Amber Star grit her teeth. Two days after coming back for leave, the Changeling just had to attack! Green magic flew through the air as the defenders tried to stave off the black bugs, but they couldn't last long. A unicorn let out a shriek as she took a hit, the unicorn falling to the ground, dead in moments.
Suddenly, a Changeling vaulted over the column. It quickly tried to fire a magical blast at her, but she rolled on the ground, dodging it. Amber charged it, knocking the creature to the ground. She quickly smashed a hoof into its face, the head hitting the ground with a dull thump . Another Changeling jumped over the makeshift cover, right next to her brother, Azure. It charged up its horn and fired.
"No!" Amber yelled out as she watched her brother fall. The Changeling seemed to slow considerably as she ran towards it, not caring for her safety. She rammed into it, the force of her strike slamming the Changeling forwards and into a wall, a sickening crack echoing through the hallway as it hit. She ran towards her brother, but before she could reach him, she felt something hit her, and saw a flash of green out of the corner of her eye.
Amber fell to the ground, raising her head weakly to look at the damage to her side. The magical bolt had gone straight through her armor, leaving an area of several bruising on her side. The worse damage would be internal, she knew. Those class of magical bolts always did their damage like that. She coughed weakly, and saw her vision start to decrease.
A Changeling walked up to her, looking down on the blue pony.
"Your kind always was weak." It said in its buzzing voice. "At least you will never see what we will do here when the invasion is done." With that, it started to walk away.
Suddenly, a pink wall zoomed across her vision. It slammed into the Changeling, sending it flying out of her vision, along with all of the others. As her vision continued to darken, Amber Star raised her last smile.
They had succeeded.
They had won.