Chapters Prologue: when the ghosts speak...
War...
A very foreign concept for us ponies, but still our history books tell us of the old wars with the griffon empire, and also i can tell all of you how all this mess started, 4 years have been passed since my coronation as the newest princess of equestria, but old queries started when the general Blackbeak organized a coup the grace against the old emperor of griffonia and succeded, after that, all went downhill...
At first, the griffons cut all the interactions with the other nations, but after 3 years of a isolation, suddenly all the allies to equestria began to fall to a unknown enemy, starting with Zebrika and Minotauria, then Girrafrar suddenly went out of communication, when the equestrians where ready to intervene, a bloodied messenger was all the advice we get.
"Your majesties, the griffons, they have..."
That where his last words, after that, a curved bladed fell from behind, killing a pony after a golden age of peace, behind the messenger, four griffon generals irrumped on the royal hall of canterlot, stepping on the bloodied body without a second thought.
"WHAT'S THE MEANING OF THIS!!! " Luna bellowed, her eyes dangerously narrowed, her mane also charged with electricity, meanwhile, Celestia and I stay behind, horrified with the sudden carnage.
"Shut the fuck up, old hag, in the name of the Griffonian Empire, we are here to ensure the conditions of your rendition" was all the griffon could say just before an magic missile kill him, shoot by Luna.
"RISE MY LITTLE PONIES, THE GRIFFONS ARE ATTACKING YOUR PRINCESSES "
After that shout, Tartarus breaks loose on our beautiful land...
Not being an atletic pony myself, it was hard to breathe after running for so long, if RD had seen me, she probably would have been killed, but still she would have died laughing her flank off as i run out of breath, I may have released all the regalia that was wearing (hey, having already accepted the fact of being royalty, and having Rarity bitting my flank off my first year of reign for not wanting to show my new status) but with the haste evacuation from Canterlot, i only get some mementos from my short reign as we were pushed off our capital city, Celestia all the time was shedding tears of rage and despair, while holding her now battered tiara in front of us.
"Twilight" She say to me in a wisper, "Did you remember the project Aurora?"
Those whispered words produced a chill that ran all over my back, the project that Celestia was mentioning was the first hi technological vessel produced from Equestria as a warship and a colonizer airship, the project were stopped because the peace age that we were having before this, but the chill was because that vessel was planned in order to use the bearers of the Elements of Harmony as the main source of power, the elements themselves have been restituted to us by the Tree of Harmony as soon as we unlocked the box that the tree gave us the first time, inside the mentioned box where six seeds, but in the moment we managed to open it, those seeds where incrusted in our very souls, and gave us the power to wield and direct the elements without getting them from the tree.
"Celestia" I started with a hushed voice, "that project was aborted because the teorical part and also because they need all of us in order to run it, as an integral part of..."
"It was completed, or at least the main part of the vessel" Celestia interrupted me, also getting a look of disbelief at the same time, after all this time, and still she has secrets for me and her sister
"Celestia, why has thou keep that information a secret from thine fellow Princesses" Luna almost shout, but she managed to get only a usher wisper.
"Because that was only a idea at a time, and also, as Twilight here mentioned, the propulsory method was a little... unortodox i think, now, Twilight, hate me if you want, but right now all your friends, also the youngers of Ponyville and Zecora are being moved to the ship, but our priority now isnt make it fly, but put all of you on the stasis chambers and try to hide from the griffons.
"Why you didn't tell me that sooner" I exclaim, my face making an scowl at the time, "I was thinking that all my friends have been murdered because those... those" my voice left me, as i finally sobbed and began to cry, i cried for our lost people, for our nation, after what seemed like hours crying, i steeled myself and i said the most umbelivable words that ever leave my mouth (or so i thought at that time)
"¿When are we fighting back?"
Both princesses looked at me as if i have growth a second head all of the sudden, but the next words from them cut deeply my heart.
"Your priority now Twilight is to get to safety, Luna and I are facing the Griffon armada ourselves"
I wish everything in life were that easy.
It was majestic!!!
Surely, if we weren't at war, it would be easily the most beautiful thing in cross the skies, but alas, now we were at war, and when we entered the airship, immediately we were pointed to the back, where all my friends and a dozen or so colts and fillies where put into stasis chambers and sealed like the changeling pods, a wide open one was waiting for me, my cutiemark on top of the seal
"Princess, we are ready whenever you are" A gruffy twilight guard told me, before putting me in somekind of swimming suit and connecting some apparatus to my own mouth for breathe, my last memory was Raimbow Dash trying to kick some guards that were putting her in her special chamber, while Celestia was silently crying wile all the lights in the chamber went off.
My name is Twilight Sparkle, and i am one of the last survivors of the betraying and rise of the Griffin Empire, and the Fall of Equestria, also meaning the disappearance of the royal sisters, and the last of the alicorns.
Author's Note
Only this chapter will be a memory and in first person, the next one will signal the rise of the survivors and the name of the vessel, also the reveal of the world shattering
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Chapter 1: Welcome to the world (well, whats left of it)
"and thats the last of the story of the golden age" The old stallion finishes, getting an groan of deception from his little group
"hey, old timer" one of the other survivors on the island says "If those pony princesses are as powerfull as you say they are, why they doesnt stop the empire back then" he states, a half grin plastered on his face, getting the old stallion to slowly rise himself from the stump where he was reading to the children.
"First off, Gerome, the princesses in that age certainly are powerful, and immortal, but in those times they didn´t know about tecnology" The old pony begrudingly says, "also, how many times i have told you to call me by my name"
"Yeah, yeah, sorry North Star" the gruffy man, Gerome, blurt out a half hearted apology, "Aaanyway, whats the second reason that you have to believe your "allmighty" princesses doesn't have a chance" he states, sarcasm heavily imprinted in his voice.
"That's because of the Dragonsbane" the weathered stallion says, sadness in his voice, "as you know, Dragons are mostly impervious to magic, but still they could produce some of the most incredible magical substances such as scales, dragon bones, liquid fire, etc, the sun and the moon doesn't stand a chance with that type of anti-magic substances imbuded in the armor and the tech all the griffons have, after some calculations made by one alchemist called Swift Potion, the princesses discovered that all the dragons on the griffon empire after the 3 years lockdown where massacred in order to get all the materials to fuel the invading first armada, also, with the arrival of your kind, human , the technological boom of the empire gives them the upper hand and they destroyed any resistance, that is, untill the diamond dogs destroyed the core of the planet, and all the chunks like the one on wich we are where separated from the plantet's cluster."
"Umm, excuse me, grandpa" one of the little ones hesitantly says, gaining over the argument between the old pony and the now flustered human, "but if thats true, what about the other princesses."
"Well my boy" the old stallion says, a sprinkle in his eye, "there is where this story gets interesting, the princess of love managed to seal again her empire from the treaspassers, getting an allmighty barrier in the exterior of the crystal city, and a foreboding warning to all the invading forces, because she cast a charm on said forcefield, that states that anybody, except the ones that wield the harmony could get trough, and also the empire being in the last corner of the world, now where Sheithreth is, the natural coldness of the land proves a great natural obstacle against the hot headed griffons."
"¿And what about the little princess?" Another girl, this time a filly, hesitantly asks, also clutching a little grey and patched doll in her tiny hands
"It is a very curious thing indeed, Amethist" North Star stated, "because the princess of the sun, before banishing, leaves behind a lot of markers to be found, along with one prophecy: "Whenever the time is right, She who wields the magic will return, with the last hope of a war long lost, but that same hope will reunite all the banners from this fractured world back together, to correct the long wronged races. along with her friends and the young hopes from the ashes, she will rise again."
"I sure hope so" Amethist states, smiling sweetly.
"¿Hey Gerome, have you seen Rad and Applecobbler recently?" Another stallion asks, gaining a wary glance around the camp and a sigh, followed by a sound clap, when Gerome uses his hand to slap himself on the forehead.
"Those two are going to kill me" the human mumbles, before looking to the horizon.
"¿Are you sure that's what you saw?" a young, tan earth pony mare asks, also dodging a twig that her partner, a teen human, trows away while walking near the cliff, "because the last time that you "saw" something, it was a wild banhthar that almost got both of us killed" she promptly continues, this time gaining a eye roll from her companion.
"We agreed to never speak of that again" the teen automaticaly answers, "also, this time, i am sure that i saw something strange near the wistling peaks over there, a cavern with a couple of pony skeletons."
That answer only grants an anoying silence, when the human turns around, he notes that the mare has come to an halt, and she was seeing him waringly.
"¿And why in the seven islands you want me to go to check a skeleton for that matter?" The now frightened mare now asks, granting another eye roll from the human boy.
"thats the interesting thing, cobbler, those ponies are wearing a very different armor from the other ones we already have found, also, they still are quadrupeds." that statement comes with more silence, but this time, the pony girl has a pensive expression
"so you are telling me that those two are wearing somekind of different armor, and also that they are still on the first stages of our evolution, lets say... 2000 or so years ago, before human appeareance?"
"Exactly."
"OK, now you have my attention, but Rad, if you get us in somekind of weird traumatic experience, im gonna buck you out the island" Applecobbler sweetly states, also gaining a pained expression from Rad
"Dully noted" he says nonchantantly, while approaching a huge cavern in the western side of the island, also seeing the skeletons, Applecobbler begin to sweat, no because of the long deceased ponies, but because the omnious atmosphere that the cavern gets tho both the bold youngsters, without hesitation, the young human enters the cavern followed by the aprensive mare, both getting their neon flashlights and looking for clues, suddenly, the mare gets a glint from an object on a far side of the cave, meanwhile, our adventourous human boy goes ahead, without considering his friend.
"Hey Rad, i think i found something!" Applecobbler states, lifting a little cubic cristal, about the size of her fist, but she mets darkness and a dumbfounded expression from her companion.
"Holy maker, what is that" Rad states, when the mare arrive to her companion, she also look upside, also getting stunned, because they both found an very old airship in good conditions, when they flashed their lights in the airship, two bold words were on its hull.
"PROJECT AURORA"
Chapter 2: do you want me to WHAT!!!
"PROJECT AURORA"
"Rad, i have a bad feeling about this" Applecobbler suddenly states, trying to turn around and to the exit of the cave, however, she suddenly stops when she notice that her friend wasn't following.
"¿Rad?"the nervous mare turn around, to find his partner at one of the aircraft stairs, breathing heavily while climbing, as some of the steps were either broken or the amount of rust, water and environment had deteriorated to the point where when stepped, with a metallic crunch the steps sank inward. "Rad, What. The. Buck. Are. You. Doing, get down here, NOW!"
"No way, dont you see Cobbler, if we can get this baby outa here, we can join them" the human exclaim in a excited manner
"Join who" Applecobbler states, before realizing,"Oh no, nononono, dont you ever THINK that we are going to get that airship out of this caverns and join them, besides, with this relic, i dont even think we can actually make it trough the takeoff."
"Whatever... woaaah, hey, move your flank over here and check this out, the door is open", without thinking twice, Rad entered the cavernous bottom of the aircraft, not noticing a small sensor on the inside of the door that just activated when he and a apprehensive Applecobbler set foot inside the massive relic, after that, they began to hear a faint hum while all devices inside the ship began to activate one after another, starting with the electrical system, which lit the lights within the site revealing about 20 fighters in what both explorers now identified as the bay of war, besides the machines designed for maintenance and deployment of these little warriors.
"Wait a sec... i know these little guys" Applecobbler states, gaining a surpised look from her companion, after all the nervousness, the pony girl began to speak in a rather more confident tone "these are the first prototypes of the Efighters, Rad, I begin to believe that we could follow your crazy dream after all, the ship and these appear to be in good condition, if somehow manage to get this huge old piece of history out of the cave, we could try to sell it as a lost technology and sustain the colony at least until we can not see the horizon, it's a great opportunity, I will bring Gerome and old Northen Star, they will know what to do."
"No way, this is our discovery and I want to keep it for me, for us, so we could join Lone Mountain and Crazy Haze, Applecobbler, dont you see? finally we can get off this island and dedicate ourselves to be explorers or even aid the rebellion to end the Griffon Empire" The boy exclaimed in jovial manner, reaching for the filly with one hand, while the other do a sweep in one of the windows of the fighters, taking away some dirt and dust above the glass, "Besides," the boy added, "I need an amazing mechanic who can help me keep this ship and all fighters in conditions, and because of what I've seen, I dont know of another girl, or filly, who can handle a wrench so like you, Applecobbler."
"Let's do this Rad, if we get this pile of junk in this cave out, and WE MAKE SURE that no one cames out and reclaims the airship as theirs, is ours, but for now let's explore more, I think we have not looked a one-third of this ship, and I want to get to the bottom of this mystery, traumatic experience or not." the young maroon mare said as she headed to the next door.
After realizing the time, both youngsters returned to the village , where they where giving the reason that they had lost track of time while looking for parts to repair some of the most urgent things, like the ventilation system in the hospital, or some specialized parts for the only two fighters currently operating in the village, the young mare had to use all his strength and patience in Rad for him not to use one of the fighters inside the ship to reach the village , besides making sure the secret where intact for a while longer , the 6 next days were spent in a similar way , exploring the Aurora , as both began calling the imposing aircraft , checking and changing all the old or weak parts in order to try to get the behemoth out its stone grave.
In a way, the secret of the cave was safe until one day that a slip by Rad forced the mechanical wonder to explain to the old North Star why they were absent so long in the village , skipping its obligations, such as harvesting and collection.
"So, this is what you have been working the last few days, right?" the old pony said, watching the titan hiding in the cave.
"Yes, old man, now we present you the Aurora" Rad said with an exaggerated bow while activating the elevator (which Applecobbler got to run just the day before.) "Almost the entire ship is scanned, it takes the back room, but for more I tried to force the door open it has not budged even a centimeter. "
"Hmm"mused the old stallion, looking all that the young couple had achieved in these few days, "¿can i see that door?"
"Sure, anyway I do not think you can open that door" Applecobbler intervened, while giving the young man a hard look, however, when they get to the door in question, North Star gave it an incredulous look, as he immediately understood why this particular door did not open.
"lads, this door can only be opened with magic, and must be specifically unicorn magic in order to reach those mechanisms." the old stallion muses gaining again some disbelief looks from the other two in front of the door.
"The real question here is, why the builders of this ship do this door specifically, and what is hidden behind it."
Author's Note
I need one editor and one proofreader, if you are interested, please leave me a PM
Chapter 3: Rude Awakenings
"Great, the only chance we have to open this damn door is with magic, that, thanks to the empire, no longer exists in the face of the earth" Rag states angrily, "so, old timer, now what?"
"may be true that the empire made the attempt to eliminate all unicorns, but it really was not, Rag, Applecobbler, I need you to forgive this old stallion, since not all unicorns were killed in the purge that the empire made, I am one of the last descendants of the clan Starcaller "North Star looked up, getting glances of total shock both youngsters, because both came to the village through the hard work of the same stallion elder and Gerome, the boss of the village, but, for many of the refugees, they had been pirates, renegades or even victims who fled the empire, the old North Star always won the other villagers, either was telling stories of the past or lending a helping hoof if the situation was dire, and generally being friendly to everyone.
Ignoring the looks of betrayal of both young, North Star approached the door, biting a finger until a little blood passed the old white fur, and the mage began to draw a complex magic circle inscribing runes here and there untill they got into a coherent pattern, stepping back to study his work from time to time,and have spent about twenty or thirty minutes, finally,with a faint smile,the now revealed magician took another step back, pointing to both adventurers do the same, and whisper "that are ready, now comes the hard part"
"What do you mean hard part?" Rag questions offhandedly, "if you are a unicorn, you can cast magic easily no?"
"It is not so simple, Rag, North Star, if you're a unicorn, you should not it have a horn on your head?" asked the young mare, to which was followed by a quiet laugh that came from the sorcerer.
"Right, my young friend, however,in order to hide and try to help future generations, I got to use a drastic measure," the old wizard said as he began to remove his bandana, that all villagers had seen on him at all times placed on his forehead, when the last part of the band fall, Applecobbler emmited a small grasp of shock, because in the forehead of the once proud unicorn, there was only a small stump of what, in his time, would have been a vision of hope for the whole pony comunity on the remains of the planet.
"Lesson for you kids, is not always what you want, but what you have to do, what ultimately makes a difference, "said North Star solemnly, before letting out a chuckle," Well, now, if I remember correctly, I need something to channel my magic, lucky for you, I learned in my youth that magic also can be channeled through gems, and right here in my staff, I have the answer to this predicament "with a mischievous look, he moved his staff under the light for both adventurers could get a better look, at first glance, it looked like a fairly common oak staff, but after a while, Rag observed that between the oak, tiny specks of light could be seen, also, the tip of the cane had a diamond of about 15cm on it.
"Old Crafty stud, so you have the diamond that i found in the ruins" the human exclaims, with a little resentment against the magician, after a while, the boy relented, "I wish you have said it before, after I lost the diamond, i even come to think that Haze had stolen it to pursue his dream of joining the sky Pirates, and ... "Rag stopped suddenly, looking at Applecobbler, the mare with a smile from ear to ear, "why are you smiling, Applecobbler, this is serious!"
"I can not help it" the mare said, stiffing her smile, but after that laughing, "I remember that you even make a bet against Gerome that you could look for Haze and beat him up for stealing the diamond, by the way, you owe me 50 bits."
"Aw man, I did not think you'd remember that," Rad said, renewing the giggles until North Star interrupted the two youngsters.
"Well, no more distractions, let's open this door."
The magician stood in front of the door, watching it carefully , after a while, he closed his eyes, took a deep breath and began to twist his face, grimacing as a blue aura began to appear in the cane and wrap the door, after several attempts, some metallic clicks were heard, and the structure gave way, moving to one side with a metallic rumble, and generating a small echo in the now open room.
After that, North Star entered first, blinking several times, and emitting a little cry of pain when his foot found a metal ledge, cursing in several languages, the hermit just got upset a little more when in response to his misfortune , just listen giggles were heard, while the two young adventurers entered the chamber with lighted lanterns.
"That's right, laugh at the misfortune of others, damn brats " managed to say the old stallion, before analyzing in detail the large chamber, in it, there were several sealed tubes at regular intervals, and they all had the marks of fate that only have ponies when they discover their function or talent in the world, but what finally managed to finish the mage's protests were the first 6 containers, which are more protected , and the marks they had, since they were the marks of harmony.
"You two have just discovered one of the best kept secrets of the ancient kingdom of Equestria, Rad, Applecobbler, this ship has the spirits of harmony, these tubes are magical stasis chambers, and now I can feel the magic in this site, when we entered, we just release them. "
"What do you mean, "we just release them"?" Rad said an apprehensive way, making quotations in the air to illustrate his point, which go unnoticed, since a strong hiss echoed through the chamber, while the top of the first tube moved sideways, falling with a loud thump , and a purple alicorn slowly rose from the container, looking a bit dissoriented at first, then her look switched to one full of surprise while she looked at the other two ponies, and then the human that was slowly turning around to see what had happened.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! A MUTATED MONKEY"
After a 2.000 year gap, those where the first words from the alicorn of magic, Twilight Sparkle
Chapter 4: Changing times...
After an awkward silence, the 3 beings present in the wake of Twilight Sparkle managed to overcome the stupor of the phrase spoken by the alicorn, seeing her in disbelief.
"Seriously, a mutated monkey?, I've never felt so offended for being human" Rad muttered, crossing his arms and heading for the door, "Elder, Applecobbler, she's all yours, I'll see what else I can do to help to the takeoff" with this, the young man left the room although the three ponies in the room still heared a mutered babbling, something by the lines of "damn crazy unicorn/pegasus lady, does not know what's a human." both normal ponies were uncomfortable about the gaze that the now awake ex-librarian was giving to them.
Both ponies looked suddenly to each other, and then back to the pony that was just out of the stasis chamber, noticing the wings that hung limply at her sides.
"Please, North Star, tell me, what about the war, and also, why we are now tall bipedal... thingies" the former princess said, her eyes showing great pain, trying to put aside the thousand questions she had in mind at that moment, just wanting to know the most important things right now, such what happened to the once glorious kingdom, where Celestia and Luna were, the rightfull princesses and regents of Equestria... and another thousand things went through the head of the former librarian, unaware (apparently) of the change in the mood of the old wizard, and how the young mare avoided her gaze.
"Well, your highness, is not easy to explain this, but to be honest, the kingdom of Equestria fell about 2,000 years ago, after this, the Empire was consolidated as the biggest in the world, but still, there were rebels, the now extinct diamond dogs, they were against all the carnage that griffons made on the surface, after several skirmishes and seeing themselves cornered, the dogs did the only thing they believed that in that time, could stop the butchers who now sit in the summit of power" the old stallion said, barely suppressing the anger in his voice,"those fools detonated a magic bomb in the core of the planet, believing that the subsequent earthquakes would stop the empire, the only thing that the damn fools didn't know whas how wrong they where at the time, and the consequences of their actions." The older pony explained, earning a look of sheer horror on the princess in front of him.
" The planet was separated into several pieces, each of which was stabilized thanks to the latent mana on the earth", Applecobbler says, gaining the attention for the weary alicorn, "we are currently in one of them, what happened to the seas? ,what of the lush green plains of Zebrika? , what happened with the untamed sands of Saddle Arabia?... we do not know" said the young engineer, "more or less by that time, the humans, who are the "mutated monkeys", like Rad, appeared in that early age of chaos, after the disappearance of the sun and moon, or so is written in the old books that still survive in our days."
" wait, wait ... the disappearance of the sun and moon ? " asked the agitated alicorn ,confirming her darkest fears.
"The thing is, your majesty" the white elder continues, "that since the earthquake, the regents of the Sun and the Moon dissapeared, leaving the planet to its own, the griffons ended the war and secluded themselves in what is left of rookhaven, closing the borders again and making sure that us, the ponies were isolated in the floating islands."
" Yes, your Highness, " added a third voice, who belongs to Rad, "Currently we are refugees because after a few years , again the Empire wanted to prove that it is better than all the other survivors of the destruction of the planet's crust , and began a campaign of distrust and segregation against all other races, going as far as to clip off the wings and horns to the pegasi and unicorns, and prohibiting the humans to develop more technology, unless they could found some use for Empire."
At that time, all the presents in the room heard a thud, followed by a pretty unconscious princess who unceremoniously fell on the floor of the room.
"I think we should have explained that we also are wanted people, to put the icing on the cake" Rad sarcastically said, earning a slap on the back of the head by Applecobbler.
"Shut up and take her to the infirmary, mister "wanted person" North Star simply said, eyeing the rest of the tubes before, with a loud sigh, turned around and began to accompany the human and the unconscious alicorn to the nursing wing in the aircraft.
"Ow, my head" Twilight said, lifting a trembling hand and nursing the huge lump on the left side of his head, and looking at the details of the room where she was now, "silly dream, griffons won the war, made the Diamond Dogs blow the planet's crust, and I'm now in the project ... Aurora ... it wasn´t a dream, was it? "ask the alicorn, having focused on the other people who were with her in the infirmary of the vessel.
"Unfortunately no, your highness"replied North Star in a curt way, "everything we said it is a sad reality for us,but a reality notheless however, we want to know what we do now?," he added, looking up with hope in the direction of the nervous princess.
"Well, North Star" Twilight said, hesitating a moment "the first thing that we do is confirm the situation at hand, and see what we can do to help my friends and others in the stasis chambers" she said slowly, "but after that,me and the elements have a new task, trying to mend all that those damn animals did to the planet, and we need all the help we can get." she added, with a fire in her eyes.
"Damn, it was about time, princess, we want to help" Rad said from the door of the infirmary wing, "What we can do?"
Author's Note
Ok reedit this chapter and i give a special thank you to Dark Templar for editing and proofreading for me, dude, you rock!
Chapter 5: Picking up the pieces
After the initial shock, and assuring all the populace that was saved from the war was comfortably accommodated on the huge airship, the element bearers, plus Rad, Applecobbler, and the Eder, were reunited in one of the biggest chamber in the aircraft.
“Are you telling me that we were lost for two thousand years!” Rainbow was yelling at the top of her lungs, “Furthermore, we leave all of our friends outside of Ponyville to die on a stupid war and… and… oh my Celestia” the daredevil stopped, finally understanding what has happened, unceremoniously she plopped on the nearest chair, hiding her face in her hands.
“W-What about the other cities and towns, Twilight, if you can answer me, that is” Fluttershy asks, hugging her pet bunny, Angel, tightly against her chest. After all the ordeal of getting out the Ponyvillians from the stasis chamber, Fluttershy was the most affected by the fact that they are all now in a floating island of their former planet, also that most of the wildlife that has survived out there now were feral.
“Well Shy, being completely honest, i don't know what to do, Celestia a-and Luna went missing after they saved us and I- and I…” the purple princess say, before her voice cracked and she also fell on her knees, heavily sobbing, “I DON'T UNDERSTAND, WHAT HAPPENED, WHY? WHY THE DAMNED GRIFFONS ATTACKED US AND WHY-” before Twilight continues, a hard slap from Rarity effectively silences the alicorn, all the others in the room stay put, flabbergasted, while the fashionista simply loomed over the ex librarian, hand still extended.
“For Celestia’s sake, Twilight, stop crying RIGHT NOW” Rarity yells, “we all are shocked that we lost… well everything that was appreciated to us, but please, you are conducting yourself unbefitting for a princess!” the alabaster unicorn continues her speech, “what do you think Celestia would have do in our position right now, and please, don't tell me that the plan now is sobbing and fussing about the past, because, honestly darling, we are alive NOW, and we can do something about this, but we need to take the wheel of our lives again in our hands, and go forward!”
“She is right, sugarcube,” Applejack says suddenly, accommodating her trademark stetson on her head, “We the Apples are strong and we always try t’overcome all the problems that came ‘r way the best way we can, moving ahead!” the orange mare finishes, also showing a grin, “A’h can bet that this little mare over here is one descendant from the original apple clan!” she proudly says, pointing Applecobbler, which just eeped and jumped behind Rad, causing the human to raise an eyebrow to the suddenly skittish mare.
“You might be right, honest Applejack” North Star pointed, glad to enter the conversation, “Applecobbler is a descendant from the ponies that founded appaloosa two thousand years ago, also I am descendant and the last seneschal from the House Starcall of the old Canterlot, and the last chronist alive.”
“Ok, that means that you are the descendant from Fancy Pants!” Twilight exclaims, “so you probably know or have any documented history that could help us” the ex librarian was jumping on the spot, little stars shimmering on her eyes.
“Unfortunately, Princess, those records are lost in the Ponyville Jungle, that is the nearest island, there are a lot of ruins within, including a crystal palace” Rad interjects, gaining a grasp for all the audience, “also a strange magic keeps the place secured, and supposedly there is a huge dragon keeping everything outside it, also the rogue Changelings, a lot of mythical beasts, and a curse, but hey, your funeral” the human ends, looking surprised the grin on all the faces of the mares present.
“Rarity, you are right” Twilight states, looking to all the ponies and the human, “we are alive now, and by Celestia’s sun, we are going to fix this huge mess, so our first stop would be the Ponyville Jungle!” all the others in the room cheered.
“Ok, so, how we get the Harmony out of the cave?” Pinkie innocently asks.
Author's Note
Short Chapter, but next one will be longer, also i think things are to peacefull for our heros...
Chapter 6: Towards the Jungle
After deliberating a while, all the capable hands on the aurora went outside to check how to extract the airship from the embrace of the mountain in which it was resting, Twilight and Rainbow Dash were doing aerial surveillance to see what they could do from the air, and Cheerilee, Big Macintosh and Applejack were inside, checking the stability of the cave, however, the possibilities of liberating the airship were very few, as all the involved into the endeavor return to the ship to give their respective reports.
“Well, besides a lot of interesting cave formations, this cavern is pretty much solid rock, so we won't concern ourselves with the cave giving in and burying us alive” the teacher from ponyville says, getting nods from the apple brothers. “Also Twi, the rocks in ‘ere are sturdier, if that makes sense, it is like this cave was perfect for hiding us and t’airship” Applejack adds.
“Eeeyup”
“I was fearing to hear that” the purple princess says, sighing heavily, “we with RD here did an aerial sweep over the cave, outside the wildlife and vegetation have taken the place over, so the only thing that we can try is to blast our way out of the cave, but i don't know if the Aurora could sustain the damage of the explosions and the falling debris, besides we don't have the training to use the ships cannons and the aircrafts on it so those are out of the question either.”
“Um your majesty, if I may” Applecobbler begin, “I can train some of your subjects on that regard, at least to operate the airship and all the things that are inside the Aurora.”
“And myself can train the ones that would like to become the wardogs of the ship” Rad added, grinning mischievously, “but if I am to help you, I want something in exchange.”
“Rad, i don't think that…” North Star began, only to be interrupted by Twilight, raising an eyebrow, the old stallion recede and looks at the bold human, a glint of anger on his eyes.
“And what, pray tell, Rad, do you want from us?” Twilight says, eyeing the human, “as you can see, we don't have anything of value and the few things we have are this airship and ourselves, so what do you want then?” she finalizes, anger and disappointment clear in her voice.
“Before you cast your judgement in me ‘princess’, know that the thing that i want is simply letting me go with you guys, i know that you will have a hell of a journey, and i wanna take part on it!” the human says, taking a fist in her chest, “we are tired of waiting for the change, now, we are going to be this change!”
“Hear, hear” Rainbow and Applecobbler says, smiling, all the atmosphere in the room change to a cheery one, only Rad and Twilight were exchanging glares, but the purple princess scowl slowly change into a smile.
“Okay Rad, I think that is a excellent proposition and i gladly accept your price, friend” the princess says, extending her wings fully, all the other mane six also cheering in approval.
“Well, if Rad goes, I am coming too!” Applecobbler says, lifting her hand before Applejack could intervene, “this knucklehead usually stir some problem whenever he goes, and you will need a mechanic, also I am the one that helped to fix and try to run again this relic, so I wanna take part on it!”
“Atta girl” Big mac hollered, also Northern Star walks diligently towards Twilight, when he is in front of the princess of friendship, he bows respectfully.
“Your majesty, I am also coming with you” the old stallion began, “and before you tell me otherwise, I am doing this out of my free will, I only want a world of peace, but apparently the griffons only know is war, so we are going to give them just that, I can offer you expertise in old languages and research and…” he trailed off, smiling to the two youngsters, “I cannot abandon my family.”
“Ok, enough chit-chat, we need a lot to do” Pinkie suddenly burst from one hatch in the floor, making Rad jump back in fright, Applecobbler to hide behind Big macintosh and Northern Star to stand protectively in front of the princess, “I need a pair of barrels of gunpowder, one 15mm fuse cord and a lot of capable hands, oh, and also chewing gum!” the hyperactive pink pony says, after that she simply plop down in the hatch, closing it.
“Uh… Princess?” The elder stallion was the first one to recover from the sudden appeareance of the sugar rush pony.
“Don't mind it, Northern Star, after all, that is known by us to Pinkie being Pinkie” The purple alicorn says, chuckling, “believe me, you don't wanna know how I learned that.”
“If you say so, Princess, but why in the wide world your friend wants all those things” Rad asks, eyeing the hatch
“For liberate the Aurora silly, trust me, I grew on a rock farm.”
“GAAAH.”
After helping the young human, and assuring him that Pinkie Pie was only an earth pony mare, all the capable hands on the Aurora went to their respective tasks, a couple of days were spent teaching all the ponies on the Aurora the basic functions of the airship, however, Rad impatience was growing with the day, a sentiment that, unknown by the human, was also shared with a cyan mare.
“I am going to grow old before I can teach somebody here to fly” Rad says to nobody, while he is checking one of the Efighters on the hangar, bored out of his mind.
“Yo, Wondercolt” a tomboyish voice interrupts the sulking human, causing him to trip over and fall from the stairs right on his rear, when he recovers, he found one mare laughing hard, holding her arms to her sides.
“Oh my ribs jajajajaja” Rainbow Dash says between laughs, “oh… that was just what i need, ok, need a hand?” she says, offering her hand to the baffled human.
“Yeah, thanks, however, you shouldn't be helping your crazy friend?” the human says, turning around and resuming his checking on the aircraft, “or you are goofing around again” he quickly adds, smirking.
“I quit like yesterday afternoon, that Pinkie is doing something that only she understands” Rainbow answers, shrugging, “anyhow, can I ask you something?” she continues, scratching her head awkwardly.
“Uhh, yeah sure, tell me.”
“Can you teach me how to fly any of those?”
“... Come again?”
“Ugh” the rainbow mare says, annoyed, “Can. You. Teach. Me. How. To. Fly. These. Machines?” she says, patting one of the sturdier aircrafts
“Yes, but as your princess tells us, we need first to get out of the cave before we can get out the fighters, anyhow, I can try and squeeze us out, there is one launcher here on this level that points to the exit, but we will be a little uncomfortable, those are designed to get only one pilot per fighter.” he continues, but he soon realizes that the mare is trying to get into the cockpit.
“Awesome, do your thing, i'll be waiting for you!” Rainbow says, trying to get into the reduced space.
“this is gonna be great!” the human thought to himself, pulling a lever to open one of the doors and then accommodating the aircraft into launch position.
Outside the cave
“Ain’t this world strange big bro?” Applejack casually says, checking the gun that the old Northern Star gives to all the ponies who are in guard duty.
“Eeeyup” the giant behemoth answers, also looking the mare checking the equipment, “and what about-” whatever he is going to say, were lost when an increasing roar was heard from the cave, both brothers looks worriedly to each other, before ducking away when something maroon fly past them, but they could hear the laughs of a certain stuntmare above all the noise.
“When i get my new hands on Rainbow Dash, she will desire that she was never born” Applejack mutters to herself, before turning around “ YO BIG MAC, PLEASE KEEP THE GUARD UP, I AM GOING TO REPORT THIS TO TWILIGHT!”
“WHAT?” the stallion yells back
“OH HORSEAPPLES, THAT MARE IS SOOO DEAD!”
Unknown to both brothers, someone is also watching the scene unfold
“Quick, report to the nearest outpost, apparently the rebels are on the move, we need backup” a blackened figure says, before crouching again and checking for further movements from the cave.
“And this time, we know EXACTLY where they are!”
Rise of the Aurora (part 1)
“ARE THEY MAD???” Twilight bellowed in the royal canterlot voice, startling some of the ponyvillians in the airship, “WHENEVER I PUT MY HOOVES-”
“hands” Northen Star says, interrupting the purple princess
“Thanks” the princess says, smiling, then turning around again to face applejack, “WHENEVER I PUT MY HANDS ON THOSE TWO, RAINBOW WILL KNOW ONE OF THE PUNISHMENTS CELESTIA DO TO ME, AND FOR RAD...”
“Don't worry your little princess head, your highness” Applecobbler says, a dangerous glint in her eyes, “I know exactly how to punish the little brat” the mare finishes, punching one of the panels near the door, leaving a deep mark on the alloy.
“Just asking” Applejack says, pointing the mechanic and then to Northern Star, “that is normal for those two, sugarplum?”
“Remember me that once Rad is back and Applecobbler doesn’t cripple him to tell you all the story of the banthar, that was hilarious, and nearly got both of them killed” the stallion says, wiping away some tears on her eyes, and oblivious of the horror face on the Apple mare, “anyhow they act like any other pair of siblings I know of.”
“Wait just an apple pickle minute here” the mare says, eyeing the stallion in disbelief, “those two are siblings?”
“its more like orphans, Applejack, for the situation on the islands, here are a lot of... individuals, from the big islands and the capitals, so think of this island like a dumpster, nobles in disgrace, bastard sons, refugees, political nuisances, usually all of them end up here,” the stallion explains, gaining more uncomfortable looks, “however we receive all those who want to earn their keep here without questions, and we do the impossible for those who want to move on.”
“What about us, sugarcube, we ain't doing anything, and yet you folks are helping us, honestly, why?”
“Actually is no bother, fair Applejack, we want this and we will help you through this journey because we crave for the change, those griffons have been too long in power and all the world is suffering, if we can represent a tiny change, so be it” the white stallion answers, looking to the farm mare with a conviction and a glimmer in his eyes, “and I personally am here to check on those two, they discover the Aurora, but I fear for their safety, because Rad is reckless and Applecobbler, while she is level headed, when provoked she is a force to be reckoned with.”
“Let’s hope then that Applecobbler leaves something left of Rad when she finishes with him” Rarity chimes in, “honestly, I personally think that it is RD fault, she was cooped up here long enough, and maybe that is what made those two disobey and go out, hopefully, this doesn't give us any trouble, but Twilight, if I may, I am concerned about our fellow Ponyvillians, a warship hardly is a place for civilians to be, and that without counting my sister and her friends.” she says, batting her mane out of the way.
“I know Rarity, but we don't have a home anymore, all of us now are refugees, that is troublesome, but if we stay together, we can overcome whatever problem that would appear in the future, also, I prefer to have all the ponies in which I can trust near me, and the majority of Ponyville will agreed that, despite our actual situation, they would prefer to be in a warship that stranded in one of these islands, without offense, Northern Star.” the purple princess says, looking at the old stallion apologetically.
“None taken your highness, however-” before the stallion could continue, a siren blares out, making all the ponies in the room to jump up in fear, before anybody could check what was the siren about, Applecobbler appears in the door, a look of concern and fear plastered on her face
“Rad and Rainbow Dash are under attack by two empire fighters!”
