Faith and Fire: Divided (Sub-story)

“ I do believe you have gone insane, my lord.”

“I would expect you to say nothing less. Yet what I say is true and is the one and only cause for us to investigate the phenomenon personally.” Replied Phebus.

“I believe you, I truly do, but it doesn’t make you any less insane for saying such a thing.” Honoured Veteran Sergeant Ipherion remarked as he marched by the Captains side towards the docked Stormraven.

“Are we headed for the drone Captain?” Morticus asked as he too marched for the Astarte vessel.

“No. Myself and the Chapter Master have agreed that as much as this find must be investigated we still must be careful to honour encounter protocol as closely as we can. An encounter with a society in such a technological age could prove catastrophic for both them and us. Instead, we are headed to a dense forest area to attempt as in depth surveillance as can be achieved with what appears to be a far more primitive tribe of natives. This not only lowers the risk of explosive native reactions, but also the risk of receiving explosive native ammunition.” The Captain finished as his boot met the lip of the gunships boarding ramp.

“The tribes have firearms?” Ipherion asked.

“It would appear that some do, and the surveillance sweep is only fifty six percent complete. Be prepared to meet potential resistance in domains we have not met thus far.”

“Nothing a bolter can’t fix.” The sergeant huffed as he gestured to the boltgun he carried in his right hand, his other encased in a mighty power fist gauntlet.

“I want every firearm fixed to a belt until I say we need them, sergeant.” Phebus informed with a tinge of authority in his tone.

“Very well. You hear that marines? Fix weapons to mag-locks, and don’t even think about using them until you’re already half way down something’s’ throat!” The sergeant called to the other four marines in the Stormraven, all responding by fastening their weapons away with a confirmative snap.

“Pilot, we’re all set. Take us to the surface.” Phebus said over the vox link through his helmet.

“Aye, sir. Closing up ramps, firing up engines.” The pilot replied.

“Let’s take a walk.” Said Morticus as he locked his flight harness over his shoulders.

“I’m telling you that nopony’s having any more luck than we are, it’s the same story four times over. It’s the same with Earthborns’ two sites, Moon and Star and our own. The thing’s stuck in the ground, it’s damned heavy and made out of metal that doesn’t exist in all Equestria.” The ground guard team leader said in a huff of frustration.

“Watch that tone wingless! The other houses failures is no excuse for your own! Get it out of that hole and strip it, that’s an order!” Commander Spitfire roared at the ground guard, who cringed away in the face of the Pegasus’s anger.

“W-we’ll do our best Commander. But please understand, it’s a tower of damn heavy metal and you’re asking us to lift it ten feet in the air. We really need pegasi assistance, and a lot of it to get it that high.”

“The pegasi have bigger worries than a chunk of metal in the ground. Just do your job.” Spitfire growled before turning to take flight towards the sky chariot that hovered mid air with the aid of the four pegasi warriors.

“Come on, let’s get back to Dash and give her the crappy news.” Spitfire sighed as she stepped onto the chariot.

Waiting for her on the platform was Commander Soarin, his eyes peering down at the grey tower of metal and machine. Spitfire gave the call to take flight and without a seconds pause the pegasi formed up at the front of the chariot and sped off towards the city of Windsoar.

“Looks like we’ve got competition.” Soarin said in his usual heavy tone.

“What do you mean?” Spitfire asked while she removed her battle helmet and shook her blazing yellow and orange mane free.

“Who-...whatever made that thing knows the sky. Perhaps better than we do.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, and watch were you say that crap! Dash hears that and you can consider yourself clipped.” Spitfire retorted while jabbing an accusing finger into Soarins’ chest plate of grey and gold.

“Think about it for more than two seconds. The things that made that are in space, probably right now! All I’m saying is there’s a lot of sky between them and the ground, and I’m betting they’ve been around much longer than we have. That gives them a long time to get real good at a lot of things, and one of them is probably aerial skill.”

“Right. Tell you what, I’ll believe it when I se-“ Spitfires rant was cut in half as a deafening roar passed over them and the chariot jolted to the side before levelling out again.

“You ok, Commanders?!” Called back a pegasi strapped to the chariot.

“We’re fine!” Called back Spitfire as she looked about to see what had happened.

In the direction the chariot had been pulled sped away some form of gigantic bird, almost like a Roc. Spitfire barely had a couple seconds before it become a tiny dot in her sight, apparently coming to a halt over the Everfree forest. Not long after it halted in dropped straight down gracefully like a dragonfly before disappearing into the forest canopy.

“Pegasi, follow that creature!” Spitfire yelled, the chariot swerving to the side before speeding off to follow the monster.

“You can’t be serious!” Soarin shouted frantically.

“You want to tell Dash we just watched an alien bird fly by and didn’t bother to check it out?!” Spitfire yelled into Soarins’ ear.

“Don’t wet yourself Soarin, we’re only taking a peek.”

“Damnable thing! That was close!” The pilot groaned as the Stormraven lurched to the right.

“Anything we need to worry about?” Ipherion asked over the vox link.

“Just the local traffic, Sergeant. Almost at the drop site.” With that the marine unlocked themselves from their flight harnesses with a chorus of sharp cracks followed by a series of low hisses as they disengaged themselves from the ships’ hull.

The Stormraven descended as it found enough of a clearing in the dense forest to land, its’ engines winding down as it prepared to make a metrical drop through the treetops. It must have been a tight fit as Phebus could hear the creak and snap of several large branches over the roar of the gunships’ engines. There was a short pause before a harsh thud signalled the craft had touched down, the assault ramp whining painfully as it opened up before the Astartes. Before the ramp even touched the soil of the forest the marines were already leaving the ships interior.

Phebus was the first to tread the alien planets’ surface, hearing the soft, fertile soils flatten under the tread of his boots. Through his helmets’ HUD he saw foliage all around, thick, green flora of a thousand breeds surrounding him almost threateningly. Yet nothing caught his attention more than the seemingly liquid-thick shadow that consumed the forest just a couple dozen feet from where he stood. Even with his hyper-adaptive eyesight the Captain couldn’t see further than the second or third layer of trees and shrubs, almost as if the forest itself was draining the light the world offered him away, like a parasite.

Such superstition was wiped away from his mind as he focused on the reason he was here, and his squad had fully disembarked and taken positions around him. Although none had drawn their weapons he could see them carefully scanning the tree-line with their orange helmet lenses. Phebus took a few steps forward, his sight washing over the dirt beneath him. No sign of recent activity could be found; no tracks, broken twigs or heat signature.

“We head west. Remain alert.” Phebus said back to his brothers.

The rhythmic thumping of heavy metal boots on soil and plant life slowly faded as the squad left the landing zone, leaving the Stormraven and its’ pilot alone. Nearby the powering down alien machine, hidden in plain sight, a tree began to shake and crack apart.

Phebus could now fully appreciate how the surveillance drones could not operate in this forest. The place was a terrifying maze that boggled the senses and warped any sense of direction, having Phebus and his squad lost in a matter of minutes. The thick, tall and vast trees were so large and Astarte could walk its’ branches over from one to the other, effectively giving the forest a multiple levels. This had led Phebus to believe that somehow this forest had been ‘designed’ to be travelled via these multiple levels, and as preposterous as such a theory was, the Captain had heard of stranger things.

Hours passed before the squad stumbled across a landmark in the form of a river. Once again the trees of the forest were oddly shaped to apparently serve as bridges, for what or who remained to be seen. Some branches and roots were nowhere near large enough to support a fully armoured Astarte, yet some were so large, Phebus could imagine a Land Raider travelling over them with ease. The squad was lead up to one of these colossal roots, the Captain being the first to scale its  width and climb atop the thing.

“Looks stable enough, come on up.” Phebus assured.

The Captain looked to the sky, noticing how dark it was getting.

“Hepiteph, this is Phebus.” The Captain called to the gunship pilot, yet no reply came over the comm link.

“Pilot, respond.” Still no reply.

“With a forest this dense, I wouldn’t be surprised if we lost communications.” Gephelik (One of the squads’ two flamer units) said.

“I’m sure he can look after himself, just hope he doesn’t mind waiting the night. I know the Techmarines get aggravated when their hardware is away from home for too long.” Phebus replied as he made his way across the root.

The squad travelled the length of the bridge, its’ surface riddled with smaller roots, thick moss, rotten bark and even small creatures. The root had burrowed deep into the river side and spread out to become a part of the endless sea of forest. An eerily similar experience followed the squad as yet another labyrinth lay before them, and Phebus began to grow concerned as to how his marines and himself would ever find their way out of this surreal place. Even with their HUD compass and general sense of direction the space marine had lost their bearings, travelling so far in so many directions that it was nearly impossible to keep track of where they had been and where they were going. From orbit, the journey should have taken no longer than a couple of hours, yet still the marines marched on into the darkest hours of the night.

However the Astartes efforts did not go unrewarded for much longer as the first signs of civilization came into view. However the term civilization may have been a greatly inaccurate term for what they saw promised them. A brutal form of totem stood before he marines, standing fifty feet tall and as wide as a dreadnought. It was composed of two primary materials; a single width of giant tree trunk and skulls. There were dozens of skulls in each gap between wooden segments, most seemingly belonging to adult natives of what Phebus hoped were enemy tribes to these wildlings. His hopes seemed supported as many skulls still wore their helmets, multiple designs, colours and conditions amongst them. However what was most odd about the display was that, no matter old or new, the skulls and helmets had hundreds of roots crawling through them. The roots were reaching out from the top and bottom of each segment of tree column, each eventually either merging with other roots or the opposing segment after travelling through a skull or two. Any other military unit would have turned tail or at least called in for support, but the Astartes felt no such fears.

“Quite the display.” Tertiran (An aged Astarte with a bionic throat) said in a low voice.

“There are no Astarte skulls in this thing, that’s all that matters right now. Captain?” Ipherion looked to the captain through his helmets lenses for confirmation.

“Aye. Though this does call for us to use even more caution. These people may be aggressive, perhaps even sadistic, but I doubt creatures of such low technological achievement can bring us any harm.” Phebus reassured.

“Assuming they are not of hazardously overwhelming number. I hope there’s a trace of a conscience underneath...this.” Gephelik murmured while looking up at the deathly monolith.

Without hesitation the marines followed their Captain into the uncharted and possibly hostile realm, leaving only the monolith to fuel their imaginations as to what was to come next. To their relief, a path began to form between the mess of trees and other plant life, giving them some hope of finding what they’d come to see. The path was, at first, simply parted and downtrodden foliage that snaked through the forest like a vein. The vein slowly turned into an artery as the path became covered in seemingly ancient cobble stone, its surface cracked and broken into near non-existence. Phebus was on point, and was the first to spot them.

“Halt!” Phebus ordered sharply, raising his right arm up in a fist.

The marines froze in place and looked beyond their Captain to see a somewhat odd sight. A single, lone native sat perched atop a thick tree branch that hung low over the path they walked, and from its’ build Phebus could take a good guess that it was a male. The creature sat perfectly still atop its own hoofed feet, the rhythmic movement of his chest the only true indicator that he was even living. He wore very little, no more than a ragged and poorly crafted pair of trousers, the rest of him being completely exposed say for patches of war paint and a necklace decorated with carnivorous teeth of various sizes. His body was solid and well toned, yet held a lean and agile quality about it, and covered in a sky blue fur. He had a head of dark blue hair, which was long and thick enough to be more of a mane, and a fluid tale composed of the same hair. In his hand he firmly grasped a wooden spear tipped with a crude metal shard that seemed to be coated with a thin layer of green slime, a substance Phebus was certain was a kind of poison. Finally, Phebus noticed his expression; a stony mask of scrutiny and judgement, a vision of restrained aggression.

Phebus stood still for a few seconds, his eyes assessing the natives own, all the while the creatures’ eyes burning into the Captains lenses. The native made no movement or gesture, simply staring at the approaching Astartes. Phebus gave his hand a quick wave forward before he carefully advanced, his squad following close behind. Phebus’ brow furrowed in his realisation that he had been played as the tactical inferior as his gaze came across more perched natives waiting beyond the bend of the path. What had started as one had quickly turned into five, then twenty, fifty and now a couple hundred wild natives sat, stood and crouched around and on top of an ancient castle ruin. The Astartes trod with as much car as they could, avoiding sudden movements and prolonged lens to eye contact. Soon enough, and after a one-by-one journey across a very unstable wooden bridge, the squad came before a pair of broken and aged doors that led into the castle ruins.

The Captain took the lead and brushed aside one of the doors to enter the crumbling structure. Inside, Phebus was brought before quite the spectacle of nature, as the interior of the castle had seemingly been utterly transformed. Dozens of branches, roots and even whole trees had assaulted the castle from the broken windows and shattered floor, their mass spreading like a river of greens and browns. Phebus could vaguely make out what had once been some kind of astronomical map at the far end of the hall that he stepped into, only now it had been all but consumed by the tidal wave of plant life that occupied nearly every inch of the castle. The horde of tree mass had been, somehow, designed to serve as a what would be considered a throne room had it been made of rockcrete or metal; trees shooting to the roof to act as giant, organic pillars while their roots acted as steps and platforms and braches as a form of decoration. Leaves of a beautiful variety of colours and shapes spread out over the farthest wall of the gigantic room to form something of a mosaic, depicting a swirling hurricane of greens, oranges, yellows and purples, while other branches let their leave to droop sadly to the floor as a form of veil.

This hall was no exception to being clustered full of wild folk, the natives of a seemingly endless varieties of colour waited patiently for the Astartes to enter, yet still simply stared on, their faces frozen in an expression of wariness and tension. However this time there appeared to be several new additional factions looking upon them. The first Phebus noticed were the much stonier faced and striped native variant that wore a set of flimsy armour made of twigs roped together. Another was a large, horned variant that wore next to no clothing, let alone armour and brandished much heavier looking weaponry if any. Then there was what appeared to be a reptilian breed of native, their skulls also decorated with a set of horns, yet they appeared to lack the restraint their more reserved brethren as their wild faces were twisted in an animal fury, their fanged mouths snapped and hissed at the six alien intruders. Amongst these beings slinked and prowled numerous canine creatures seemingly covered in or composed of bark, leaves and some form of fungal matter.

The Astartes walked on until they reached the centre of the hall, coming to a halt and scanning the wilding ranks with their glowing orange visors. Phebus gave the hand signal for the squad to hold position as he took a few steps forward to come to the base of the cluster of roots serving as a set of stairs leading to a landing.

“Well then...you seem to have been expecting us!” Phebus called out to the masses, the rumble of his deep voice amplified by the gigantic stony interior of the castle.

“And we have seemed to have gathered quite the audience.”

“Many have come to witness the sight, of the giants of metal who have come to bring blight!” Replied a voice from atop the stairs.

Phebus’ vision snapped up to see a single figure appearing over the top of the staircase before slowly descending its irregular steps. The individual sounded and appeared to be female, no taller than the bottom of Phebus’ chest plate. Her fluid yet full form was wrapped in a set of dark grey robes linked together by golden clips and held against her form with rope that had a variety of vials linked to them. The vials contained several kinds of fluids of unknown purpose or even origin, yet Phebus made a lucky guess at them having some herbal property to them. Beneath her attire, Phebus could see she was a stripped variant of the forest dwellers, her mane styled in a peculiarly neat Mohawk style with a small braid dropping down from the back, travelling down over her shoulder and over her chest.

“I can assume you are the one in charge of this...community?” Phebus enquired.

“I represent the lady of the forest, and she grows curious of your interest. For you come to our lands most lush and green, yet you are unlike any creature we have ever seen.” The native riddled.

“We are Space marines. We have travelled far across the stars in a crusade to claim worlds for our Imperium. In our journey we stumbled across your planet and, as our code dictates, we sent probes to analyse its surface. Upon witnessing your kind speak what we know as Low Gothic, our most common and widely used tongue, my fellow officers and I agreed to at least sacrifice a fraction of our time to witness this miracle firsthand.” Phebus replied, standing as still as he could to not provoke so much as a flinch from the creatures that had him surrounded.

“This land is blessed with the sacred tongue of the Imperium, the very language used by our beneficent Emperor. Such a miracle is testament to the infinite reach of his divinity!” Morticus exclaimed in an outburst of zealous delight.

Phebus cursed the black clad zealot in his own mind. The Captain swiftly put out a hand and gave it the slightest of a wave to signal the chaplain to calm himself. Phebus knew all too well that Morticus suffered more than any others in the instinct to express his devotion and label such events as this as ‘divine miracles’.

“Forgive my brother, he has been quite eager to meet your kind.”

“This one as black as night does speak of your ‘Emperors’ might. As chains of devotion and duty around your wrists have grown, I hope that such shackles are intended to remain your own.” She said with a hint of a threatening tone swimming in her voice.

“Of course not, please, do not think that we come to tread your soil as conquerors. My superiors and I fully realise that, according to Imperial code and law, we shouldn’t even be here.” Phebus replied with a chuckle thrown in near the end, a vain attempt to soften the atmosphere.

The native raised an eyebrow and descended the steps even further, each step making the vials linked to her to clink together in a delicate chorus. Phebus could tell this woman was trying to intimidate him, yet being an Astarte meant that fear and panic did not ail him, and so his boots remained fixed to where he had last left them. The lady came close to Phebus, almost within arm’s reach for the space marine, her eyes scanning him up and down.

“Why are you really here?” She shot at Phebus in a menacingly cold tone, the fact she hadn’t ended her sentence with a perplex rhyme indicating she discarded the wish to exchange pleasantries with the Captain.

“I have only spoken the truth. I swear upon my Primarch and upon my Emperor that all that I have told you is true.” Phebus replied, his own tone flat and straight to the point.

The native looked at him with a bemused expression before turning and climbing the stairs she had just travelled to take herself to their peak once more.

“To be sure that your words do not drip with lies and deceit, there is somepony you must first meet.”

With that she waved a hand up and made a motion with her fingers for someone to come forward. There was a series of grunts and the noise of a light struggle coming from behind a tree pillar at the top of the stairs, along with distinctly heavy footsteps accompanied by several sets of smaller ones. A group of eight creatures shuffled from out of hiding, all holding tightly onto thick ropes drawn taught or a rudimentary form of an animal handling clasp. The creatures were the largely built variant, almost as bulky as a space marine without his armour, all eight however struggled to pull into view a troubling sight.

“Hepiteph! Brother!” Called Ipherion, his power fists hydraulics whining as his mechanical finger stretched out towards the captured pilot out of instinct, his feet taking a few steps forward.

“Hold!” Phebus called out to the sergeant, noticing how his movement caused the hundreds around them to tense up and coil in readiness to lunge at them.

“I am whole brothers.” The pilot called back calmly as the grey creatures that held him attempted to force him to his knee.

“This one who rides the dragon of metal has proved quite troublesome to me, having slain two forest Ents brings us much worry you see. For why would the forest react to your presence so, unless there is something you do not wish us to know?” The native said as she circled the rust coloured pilot.

“I...see that you do not wish us to remain in your lands any longer. Hand our pilot over to us and I promise you we shall leave without pause.” Phebus proposed with a gesture towards his brother.

“And allow you to lead our foes through the trees? Save your bargains and your please.”

“What do you want me to tell you?!”

“The truth you keep is what I seek.”

“I have told you nothing but the truth, and all of it at that!”

With that the native spun around in frustration and drew a small, curved dagger from her belt and plucked a vial of purple liquid from her robes. Phebus took three steps forward before he was stopped by a swarm of wildings of all shapes and sizes, their attitude changed dramatically. The cloak of cool restraint and composure was ripped apart by an ocean of animal growls and barks that now stared at Phebus with wild, hungry eyes. The lead wildling popped open the cork that sealed the vial and poured the thick, purple liquid over her blade as she approached the pilot who tensed up to prepare for a fight.

“Duskshade stem is quite the potent extract of herb; it’ll stop a victims’ heart before they can utter a word.” She rhymed as she stepped closer to the Astarte who thrashed as the grey brutes around him attempted at removing his helmet.

Phebus had held his hand for far too long already, and would most likely never forgive himself for showing such saint-like restraint. In a heartbeat he had snapped his hand behind him, grasped his bolter firmly and swung it up so his eye lined up neatly with its’ iron sight.

“Don’t make me kill you!” Phebus roared as he took step after thunderous step forward.

He could now hear his squad forming up behind him with weapons drawn. The natives’ faces dropped as they were lit up with an orange hue, terror washing over their primal state of mind. Persior, the second flamer unit, had sent a quick yet still potent burst of promethium fire into the air as he approached the top of the stairs. The effect was excellent as Phebus could see many of the wildlings pushing back against one another, their wild faces flitting between being frightened and furious.

“Perhaps a new bargain can be struck. You hand over my brother or I burn down you, your people and this castle to the ground and caste the ashes into the middle of the deepest ocean.” The Captain said with a hiss in his voice.

The wildlings and their leader were at least a little taken aback by the proposal, the poison brewer even backing up a step. Some of the wild natives before them even looked on in curiosity at their seemingly strange weapons, perhaps not even knowing what a firearm was. However something extremely odd began to happen as the crowd in front of the space marines began to lose focus on the metallic giants and turned to bring their attention behind them. The crowd then began to fall silent, even their leader, and the rear ranks actually seemed to be falling before something that approached. And explosive reaction occurred as the crowds began to fall to one knee in the face of the thing that approached, the reaction washing over all of the castles occupants, say for the Astartes.

Through the now low kneeling crowd walked a single individual. As far as Phebus could tell she was female, in fact, she was very much female. Her frame was that of large, sharp curves that were covered by a set of leather shorts and vest, which in turn was covered by a robe of living, writhing plant life. Flowers of every colour ever thought of covered most of the great cloak that draped down from the girls shoulders, wherever there was green it was in the form of thin and thick tendrils that seemed to adore their wearers fur with loving and gentle strokes. Her mane and tail was a light pink and was long as it was wild, almost appearing to have a life of its own. Her build was surprisingly large for the equivalent of a noble as her arms, neck, legs and stomach were wrapped in thick muscle. This made Phebus assume that perhaps this one had fully embraced the hostility of the realm she, apparently, ruled over and such endurance had built her up over her lifetime. What Phebus saw next made him question such an evaluation. Her eyes, a bright and brilliant cyan, were aglow with an unnatural light that struck the Captain as utterly supernatural. The bright orbs also bore slit, cat-like pupils as opposed to the more common circular variant the other natives had; the reptilians being the only exception.

This one carried herself so much differently than the other wildlings, walking with a strong sense of poise and respect. This individual seemed to emanate a certain degree of fierceness, a fierceness that was made ever the fiercer by how silent she was. Furthermore, her luminous eyes remained locked onto the Captain as she approached him, like a mouse staring down a wolf. Yet something within Phebus felt a level of respect for this creature, a respect that most certainly would have been fear had he been anything other than a space marine, and this respect pushed his wrists down to lower his bolter. All around, even the Astartes, remained still and deadly silent, for all either owed her their adoration or noticed how this encounter would be pivotal in the current dilemma that had halfway unravelled. The girl looked Phebus up and down, her expression stony and serious, analysing the alien curves and edges to his bulky armour. She raised a hand as she came well within Phebus’ reach and dropped it again a moment later; Phebus noticed how the striped leader who had drawn her poisoned blade on Phebus’ brother now re-sheathed her blade, still bowing low while doing so.

“If you’ll excuse me for asking, but what are you?” The yellow girl asked, her voice so sickly sweet and gentle that Phebus thought for a heartbeat that his legs may fail him.

“We are space marines. And we would like our brother returned to us, unharmed.” Phebus replied, his tone as solid as diamond.

“I, um, I meant what are you...really. You were machines like clothes, but isn’t there something living under there?” She spoke again, almost sounding concerned.

Phebus had almost forgotten his helmet was still firmly fastened around his throat and skull. The Captain pondered a moment his options, for he knew well what this wild girl was implying. If he removed his helmet, he may well be open to the foreign poisons that he had witness these creatures possess, and ones he knew they could easily use against him. Then again, these people seemed to only relate to what was natural, and such displays of machinery and alien technologies was what was most likely provoking them. The Captain was in no condition to risk igniting some grudging feud between his chapter and the people of this forest, and in turn, the people of this world. Phebus took heed to his judgement, courage and compassion; he lowered his bolter and locked it to his belt, he raised his armoured gloves and grasped the inside of the edge of his helmet. With a click and a hiss the seals were released and he carefully lifted the hardware from his face.

Gasps, whispers and even the odd snarl could be heard in response to the creatures face. Fluttershy hadn’t seen anything like it, it’s features were utterly and completely alien in nearly all respects. It had two eyes, two nostrils, two ears and a mouth, but aside from these qualities everything else that made up its’ face was far from anything like a ponies’. It had no fur that Fluttershy could see, instead was a leathery, tan coloured flesh that was riddled with small scars with one ugly gash reaching from the things eyebrow to down over its’ lip acting as a hideous canyon carved through its’ face. Its’ ears were rounded and freakishly small in comparison to the rest of its head, while its’ nose was a fleshy triangle that almost seemed to have been thrown into its’ face, bearing little sign of natural appearance that Fluttershy could tell. Its’ lips were thin and wrinkled slightly as if it had pulled far too intense expressions before returning to normal, along with its’ forehead that also seemed to bear deep wrinkles that almost seemed to be scarred into the flesh.

The aliens’ mane was short yet thick black hair that seemed to have some form of thick wax or possibly dirt clumping it together into glossy spikes, having no particular pattern or flow to it as the hair was thrown about in messy directions. It eyes were by far the worst piece of the puzzle that was the creatures face. Bright, lava-like orange surrounded by the deepest black stared into the Pegasus with a fierceness that would cause any other to turn and flee. She had been foolish to think the orange lenses of their helmets were designed for intimidation, their natural eyes being far brighter and far more intense to stare into. Yet Fluttershy held firm, knowing that even if events turned sour, the forest would protect her.

Yet, even Fluttershy found her unbreakable loyalty and faith in the Everfree liege shaken slightly as she looked up at the monolith of metal and machine mixed with alien flesh that stood before her. The lady of the forest knew that nothing short of a hydra would stand a chance at tearing this creature apart. Even her mighty Ents had failed to bring just one down without aid from their brothers, which made her think:

How many more of these creatures could there be? Hundreds? Thousands?...Hundreds of thousands?!

It occurred to the Pegasus that perhaps, as much as the forest was destined to rule this world as nature intended it to, these things were not from this world and therefore could not be conquered nor contained by nature and her servants. Perhaps, as much as these creatures encroached upon her treasured and sacred lands, punishing them in any way could bring about unwanted attention from forces that could, possibly, tear this world in half. Perhaps they were telling the truth, perhaps the truth was a long forgotten myth to them, but either way Fluttershy had to play this out carefully.

“You’re...kinda scary.” She commented, trying to soften the atmosphere with a crooked smile.

The aliens’ venomous glare softened the tiniest degree, yet its burning eyes flitted quickly to Fluttershys’ grin. She quickly closed her lips together and looked about awkwardly as she realised he had taken note of her elongated teeth, a blessing the forest had granted her in the form of her teeth developing into predatory fangs and sharpened molars.

“Now, will you release our brother?” The alien asked, its’ voice a deep growl akin to that of an engine.

“What would follow if I did?” Fluttershy replied.

“We would leave your lands and never return.”

“Why should I trust you?”

“You shouldn’t. Considering the circumstances, and if our roles were reversed, I wouldn’t trust you.”

Fluttershy grew confused, did this creature want them to attack? Was this all part of some unseen plan she had failed to notice?

“You’re, uhm...not really making a very good case.” She pointed out as she took a couple of steps towards Zecora.

“I can only offer you the truth at a time like this. There is no reason for you to trust us, however, there is a reason to see us leave your lands. Above this world rests a fleet of our space craft, a fleet that remains passive and offers you neither insult nor threat. However our demise will bring down the fury of their weapons, delivering such an attack that will see nothing in this forest stands again for a thousand years. We do not wish to assault people as...such as yourselves, but any action you take now is being watched and shall be judged accordingly.” The alien finished as he put his helmet back on, the device making a sharp click followed by a hiss as it linked to the rest of his armour.

Fluttershy did not bear the legendary ‘sight’ that the brute Applejack had, but she knew now that the alien spoke the truth about such devastating weapons that could well be aimed directly at Everfree. As much as she may have wished that the alien was lying, she couldn’t help but believe every word it said, perhaps through the tone it spoke in or perhaps that if it was correct, and Fluttershy saw the creatures dead, the price would be far too great to pay. The Pegasus noticed how many of her children began to stir, shuffling in unease at the news, some even readying to attack. She simply raised a hand, more than enough to see every soul in the castle silent in an instant.

“I understand, creature. Very well, you and your brother may leave my forest, unharmed. But know that this is our land, and it is protected by powers you cannot begin to imagine. Once you leave, you are to not return.”

“As you wish it. Your lands are your own, and we shall leave them be.” Fluttershy couldn’t help but hear ‘for now’ echo in the back of her mind.

“Your name?”

“Captain Phebus Diomedes.”

“Well Phebus, I am sorry our encounter did not come under better circumstances.” Fluttershy said with a warm smile, something she had not done in far too long.

“I’m sure my brother is deeply sorry for destroying your, ‘Ents’,” The Captain took a quick glance about the castle, “We seem to have caught you at a bad time.”

“We are gathering for a most grand event. A great pilgr-“ Fluttershy suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder.

Zecora looked at the Pegasus with a stern expression and gave her head the slightest of shakes. Fluttershy cringed inside, realising she had nearly spilt the forests great plan to creatures that could well hold the power to see it ruined.

“...It...is of no concern. Now go, all of you. Remember what has been spoken this day.” She finished as she waved her hand to the minotaurs’ behind her.

The giant bulls, who had been struggling greatly to keep the alien in check released their prisoner, who immediately gave a wide stretch before glaring at the nearest bull for just long enough for it to be uncomfortable.

“We shall head for our ship immediately.” The captain replied, giving a bizarre salute of some kind across his chest before turning to head out the castle.

As the last creature left the ancient ruins Fluttershy turned to her advisor to speak.

“We much less time than before. Make sure that the expedition launches tomorrow. Anypony left over must simply make their own way and hope to catch up to the main war-band.”

The marines had pushed themselves into a jog as soon as they’d crossed the river. Phebus could only hope that he and his squad could find the gunship faster than they found the ruins.

“Captain, that did not go as well as we anticipated!” Morticus announced in mild frustration.

“Yet did not turn out as bad as it could have!”

“For a minute there I thought we’d be drowning in those damned things! I thought you said these people were collected into smaller camps?!” Ipherion called out from behind.

“Aye, they were. But you heard their matriarch, they have gathered for something!” Phebus called back.

“Did you make out what they planned to do?!”

“No, but it is no concern at this time. However, I have a strong feeling we shall find out soon enough!” Phebus replied as he vaulted over a large trunk, carrying with him news that would bring up more questions than they had brought into this forest.