Zero Sound
Some of Ponyville's residents looked up at the finely detailed carriage, each of them knowing it was from Canterlot. The two royal guards pulling it didn't help to sway their minds from the idea either. Some among the interested onlookers wondered who it was inside that carriage that warranted such a ride. Their curiosity would soon be sated as the guards began their descent towards the town's centre.
The guards circled around the fountain, ever so slowly descending. The carriage landed with a light thud, rocking from side to side slightly before coming to a full stop. The onlooking ponies watched as the side door opened to reveal three entities.
The first to exit was a small baby dragon. His purple scales shimmering in the sunlight. This was accentuated by the leafy green spines and frills along his back and face. He held a checklist in one hand and a quill in the other. He wore an expression of irritation as the second entity exited the carriage.
The second was a pony, a mare with a purple coat that Matched the dragon's primary colour. Her mane and tail were a darker purple with a two-toned pink stripe running down on one side. This mare was a Unicorn, equipped with saddle bags that seemed to carry an assortment of items fit for the dexterous sort.
"I'm just saying, how can she not believe me now? She's always supported my theories no matter how absurd they seemed. It helps further my validity to also mention that I've been right every single time." The unicorn argued.
"Alright Twilight, we get it. You're upset she's not taking you seriously for once. But even you have to admit that your success rating may reflect an air of... Never being wrong. Maybe the Princess thought you were letting it get to your head and needed a break." The dragon inquired tiredly.
"She could have at least listened to my findings on the matter. The evidence is there! This cannot wait!" She whined.
The young dragon sighed at his friend's foalishness. "What do you think we should do, Zero?" The dragon called back to the carriage.
The third entity to leave the carriage was by far the strangest creature yet. He was a human, of that there was no doubt. But his height and posture were so strange the onlooking ponies, despite their superior class to him, backed away in fear. He loomed over the ponies like the statue of Discord. Unlike most humans who were dressed in rags to accommodate their modest nature, (simple clothing at the most) this human wore a finely detailed set of clothes specifically tailored to him. The clothes were snugly fit black and navy blue robes with fine purple inlay the same shade as Twilight's mane. His hood was a dark blue covering his hair. His most notable feature and what frightened the onlookers was the mask he wore to cover his face. It was metal and blue with a black visor that appeared to be glass. It didn't seem to serve any purpose other than covering the user's face, but the overall shape of it was terrifying. On top of that were black and purple plates of armour on the shoulders and chest pieces, both holding similar geometric designs to the mask.
The human named Zero said nothing, but pointed to the scroll in the dragon's hand.
"See? We should just do as the Princess says. Get this preparation for the Summer Sun Celebration over with. You can feed your fixation afterwards." The dragon said.
Before Twilight could respond, Zero interrupted. The black visor on his mask lit up and lines squiggled and went spasmodically upward and downward in time with the voice that imitated the dragons almost perfectly.
"But most importantly; you must make some friends." after that was said, the visor turned black again and Zero was still, his back slightly hunched in a menacing manner.
"Ugh!" Twilight groaned in frustration. "What was she thinking? I have friends! I have you guys!" She began to grow hysterical.
"Twilight, Zero's just a slave like all the others!" Zero's mask chimed in, using a strong but young voice. It calmed Twilight down enough for her to address the issue.
"Zero, you know that's not true. While yes, on paper, you're my human, in my heart you're my best friend. Certainly a better brother than he is." She assured him, referring to the voice Zero had used previously. Twilight reached up to touch his face. Zero crouched down to allow the contact. Twilight wanted to console him further, but the dragon's voice sounded through Zero's mask once again.
"See to the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration." he said, bringing the mare back to the present and out of her train of thought.
"You're right. Spike, what's first on the list?" She asked. The aforementioned Spike unravelled the scroll and looked at its contents.
"Food. Looks like it's being handled by a Miss Applejack. Manager of 'Sweet Apple Acres'." He replied.
To say Twilight and the others caught the attention of the townsfolk would be an understatement. On the way to 'Sweet Apple Acres' ponies of all races and genders wore the same estranged expressions: Curiosity and confusion. Humans were scarce to come by in a town like Ponyville, but to see one looking as menacing as Zero was unheard of. The town guard wanted to arrest him for Disturbing the Peace, but we're too afraid to get near him. Those who had that courage quickly lost it once the human in question turned his head in their direction. There was something about a pony seeing his own reflection on a living breathing moving entity that gave even the hardest of war veterans pause.
The event didn't last forever as the trio reached the front gates to the orchard. The sign was wooden and moderately we'll kept. Surprisingly so given the environment.
"YEE-HAW!" A voice cried out. Twilight and her party turned to see an orange Earth pony wearing a Stetson atop her blonde mane running towards an apple tree. At the last second, the mare dug her forehooves into the dirt and drifted around, raising her hind legs up into the air before delivering a sharp and powerful buck to the trunk.
Not a second later, the contents of the tree, sans leaves, fell into the well-placed buckets waiting below. As the last one landed perfectly on top of the others, the farm pony cantered over to the trio.
"Howdy!" She said simply, showing no sign of exhaustion in her breathing. Twilight and Spike stared flabbergasted at her skill.
"Uh... Hi. My name is Twilight Sparkle. I'm here on behalf of-." Before Twilight could finish her introduction, the orange mare grabbed her and began shaking her hoof in a manner that seemed to halt all blood flow to Twilight's entire leg.
"Pleasure to meet ya, Twilight! The name's Applejack. We here at Sweet Apple Acres are proud to boast the best apple foods you'll find this side of Equestria."
As Twilight was assaulted by the aforementioned Applejack, Spike giggled beside them while Zero looked around for anything out of the ordinary. In the town below, he spotted a pink pony zipping about talking to others for about three seconds each before defying physics to the next pony. Zero decided to file that pony away for later reference. She wasn't a threat yet.
"Y'all aren't gonna stay for Brunch?" A little filly asked Twilight as Zero brought his attention back to the current events. The filly had a whimpering expression on her face that suggested she would cry if the answer Twilight gave wasn't to her liking.
Zero watched as his Master and friend struggled to try and overpower the puppy dog eyes. To no avail it would seem. "Fine!" His master groaned, earning an excited cheer from the Apple family whom had suspiciously appeared out of nowhere.
As the Apple family sat down and enjoyed their Brunch, stockpiling Twilight with apple foodstuffs from each member of the family, Zero was also given food with a smile on the servers face. Something he was not used to beyond Twilight, Spike or Princess Celestia. However that smile quickly faltered as the young filly caught him staring at her.
All young Applebloom could see was this tall purple and blue creature with a clear black face, no eyes, no nose, no anything resembling the regular human features she'd learned about in school. Her eyes widened in fear as after serving the strange human his food, he turned to look at her. That expressionless face that reflected her own horrified features was enough to give her pause.
"Zero, I think you're scaring the filly." Spike chimed in, hiding a smirk. All eyes were on the spectacle as Zero broke 'eye contact' with Applebloom and stared wordlessly at Spike.
"Uh, Twilight? How's he supposed to eat with that there mask blocking the way?" Applejack asked. Twilight turned to the hat-wearing mare and smiled as she got the opportunity to explain the mask to her. But before she could speak, Spike cut in.
"They don't wanna know how the mask works, Twilight. Just how Zero can eat with it on." He deadpanned, causing the smile on Twilight's face to deflate like a balloon.
"Simply put, the mask is designed to open up around the mouth and eyes in order to allow food." She said with very little enthusiasm.
"How's it do that?" Applebloom asked.
"Magic. I designed it to react to Zero's will so he could take it off and put it back on at will." She replied haphazardly.
Applejack leaned closer to Twilight and whispered in her ear so Zero couldn't hear. "Why's his posture like that? Is he old or somethin'? He should be standin' straight, not hunched over like he is."
"It's just the way he is. Zero was trained by Princess Celestia herself. He's stronger and faster than any Royal guard, and don't think they haven't tried to disprove that fact. On top of that, Zero's incredibly smart. He managed to spring traps the guards had laid out for him without anypony even seeing him."
It was obvious to anypony present that Twilight took a great amount of pride in Zero. From the way she made it sound, Zero was especially engineered by Princess Celestia herself for her. Add the mask, and Zero was the ultimate bodyguard.
"Well he can't be stronger than Applejack!" Applebloom protested.
"Hush now Applebloom! It wouldn't be very kind of us to get into a fight with new friends." Applejack snapped at the filly who looked down in a mixture of shame and disappointment.
"I'm sorry but I'm not here to make friends. I have some important business that I need to take care of as soon as possible. I hope you can understand." Twilight interjected. Everypony looked at her in disappointment. The Apple family loved making new friends and indoctrinating them as honorary family members.
As if sensing their sadness, Zero stood up from his place at the table and approached Twilight. As the two beings looked at one another, Applejack and the family were filled with awe at the black visor on Zero's face. A line had appeared across the middle and began going crazy in time with the words that were spoken.
"You must make some friends!" Zero said, using Spike's voice. The slight distortion in the background caught everypony's attention.
"Zero, I'm facing a crisis! Making friends isn't going to solve that." Twilight argued.
"This cannot be ignored." Zero replied, combining different words from past sentences.
"Neither can my research. Look, I promise I'll focus on making friends after the potential threat is dealt with." Twilight replied, taking a second to calm down and breathe. "Okay?" She asked.
Zero was hesitant at first, but instead of giving an answer, he just turned around and went back to his seat.
"Uh, Twilight? What the hay was that?" Applejack managed to speak. Twilight gave a sheepish grin in response.
"It's kinda hard to explain. But basically, Zero's eidetic memory is being vocalised through that mask. As you just witnessed, he can also take pieces and put them together in order to make new sentences." She said.
"Why doesn't he just speak for himself?" Applebloom asked.
"There are two reasons. One being his voice box was damaged during training. I did the best I could to give him a new one, but... Let's just say it's scary and leave it at that. The second reason is because he's a man of few words. He rarely speaks at all."
"He really only speaks when he needs to. And only to Twilight. Everypony else he gives the cold shoulder to." Spike added.
The Apple family stared at Zero for the longest of times. "Is he even human anymore?" One of the family members asked.
"That's something you'll have to ask him. Though you may not like the answer." Twilight replied.
An hour had passed in awkwardness. Twilight was given more food than she could handle. Spike made a joke about it being offerings so the scary human wouldn't get them.
"I should have sicked him on them for overstuffing me with pastries." She groaned. Zero said nothing for a good while before mimicking Twilight's voice.
"What's next on the list, Spike?" he asked. Spike took out the list and examined it.
"Weather. Looks like we need to talk to a 'Rainbow Dash'." He replied.
As If on cue, somepony called from the sky. "LOOK OUT!" Zero saw a chromatic Pegasus out of control heading directly for Twilight. On instinct, Zero spun around and threw his leg out over Twilight. The action caused his foot to make contact with the high speed rainbow and stop her immediately... Neck first.
With what was essentially a clothesline, Rainbow landed on her back, struggling to breathe.
"...gugh! NOT... Gack!...COOL!!" She wheezed, clutching her throat.
"Zero, you should think next time you do something like that! You could have disabled her permanently, if not killed her." Twilight scolded.
Zero just took a sentence from his memory and played it. "Zero, I want you to protect Twilight at all costs. No matter what it takes." Princess Celestia's voice reached Twilight's ears and she sighed in annoyance.
"She didn't mean for you to go overboard every time. Being bowled over by an out of control Pegasus is not a life-threatening thing." She argued before turning to the Pegasus. "I'm so sorry about that. Are you okay?" She asked, offering her hoof.
"*Cough* Yeah, I'll be fine. *cough* Just gonna need to drink some water in a bit." She replied.
"Rainbow Dash." Zero said. All eyes went to him.
"Heard of me have ya?" She asked, sounding slightly boastful.
"How do you know this is her, Zero?" Twilight asked.
Zero just pointed to her mane and held his finger there for a moment. Rainbow looked at the offending appendage before shifting uncomfortably.
"Yeah, that's kinda a giveaway, huh?" She grinned. "Yeah I'm Rainbow Dash, fastest flyer in all of Equestria!" She boasted, taking to the sky just to do a backwards loop-de-loop in front of Twilight and the others.
"Right... Well my name is Twilight Sparkle, this is my assistant Spike and my human/bodyguard, Zero. We came here from Canterlot to-." Twilight began to explain, but was interrupted by a gasp that for some reason reminded Zero of the pink pony he'd seen zooming around town.
"Ohmygosh! You're from Canterlot?! That means you must know the Wonderbolts!" Dash said excitedly.
"Actually, Zero here spent some time with them during his training." Twilight replied. Immediately, magenta eyes were on the strange human.
"*gasp* Really?! You actually met the Wonderbolts?! Ohmygosh, what were they like?! I bet they were really cool!" She practically gushed.
Zero didn't even flinch from the Pegasus' fangirling. The visor on his mask lit up and he replayed a memory. This time, there was visual as well.
Zero walked into the Wonderbolt academy. His master's spell had allowed him to walk on the clouds like any other Pegasus. But he was wary of the time limit.
The first pony he saw was a yellow mare with a fiery mane and tail. Zero had heard of her. Spitfire was her name. The youngest Captain of the Wonderbolts to date. That alone made her legendary. But Zero had a disliking towards Captains.
"Hey, you must be the human Princess Celestia sent. I can see why she believes you'd be useful. That mask alone could make an entire gryphon army wet themselves. Names Spitfire. And you are?"
The feed cut forward to a later date.
Spitfire and some other Wonderbolts were eating lunch when the Captain brought up a certain topic.
"Hey guys. Did you hear there's a Pegasus in Ponyville who's so fast she managed to do a sonic rainboom when she was just a filly? Rainbow Dash I think her name was."
A blue Pegasus eating a pie looked up from his meal and chuckled. "Yeah, heard she did it fending for her friend. That's the kind of Pegasus we need on this team. So many ponies enter the academy in hopes of fame and fortune. That's why they don't all make it. I'll bet this Rainbow Dash is something Special."
"I'll say. She's already faster than you, Soarin." Spitfire teased. The group let out a joint chorus of laughter.
The feed cut out and Rainbow hovered there, speechless.
"I think you broke her, Zero." Spike chuckled.
"I...I don't believe it. They KNOW ME! They totally know about me! Did they say anything else?" Rainbow asked, the desperation in her voice evident to even the most emotionally impaired being.
This time there was only audio. It was Spitfire. "Let's see how she does at the best young flyers competition next year. If she manages the Sonic Rainboom again, we won't even bother with the entry exams, well just enrol her at the academy."
As Zero returned to being silent as usual, Rainbow's face lit up in disbelief and utter joy. "Awe...SOME!!!" She cried out excitedly. "And all I have to do is wait until the next best young flyers competition. How could it get better than this?"
"Well that was from last year, so you're actually not going to be waiting long. It's in a couple of months from today." Twilight corrected. Spike half expected the chromatic Pegasus to have an aneurism out of sheer excitement. But her eyes simply twitched.
"Course that's a matter for another time. Now, about the weather..."
Apparently, if you want Rainbow Dash to do something, appeal to her sense of vanity. She managed to practice what she preached, clearing the skies over Ponyville in ten seconds flat.
Zero wondered what could possibly possess a pony to want to do something as incredible as joining the Wonderbolts, when she showed none of the discipline required to join. Zero knew discipline, he knew loyalty, he understood right from wrong and that his job required actions that were necessary and at the same time, immoral. Why did he do it? Because he was asked to? No. Because he was a slave? No. But because he wanted to, needed to. Even without a pony's cutie mark, Zero knew his purpose in life. To protect Twilight Sparkle and Princess Celestia. Some day, that purpose would include others, of that he had no doubt. But for now, Twilight was his priority.
Spike had mentioned a Miss Rarity being in charge of the decorations. No doubt this pony, Zero thought would be like Rainbow Dash: extreme. Before then, Zero never regretted being right all the time. He did not like this town.
Twilight and the others stepped into the Carousel Boutique. A stylish home among the other more common households, save that one made of candy that looked like parents should be keeping their young away from.
Rarity was yet another mare. So far the only Stallion Zero had seen was Applejack's big brother, Big Macintosh. The white pony before them styled her mane in a way that accented her coat, and vice-versa. She wore red glasses as she focused on a design.
"Um, excuse me but-."
"Sorry darling, but I'm in the zone as it were. I've got to get this dress finished in time for the Summer Sun Celebration." The mare interrupted. A valid excuse in Zero's opinion.
"That's what we're here about. Princess Celestia herself has asked me to oversee the preparations. Miss Rarity is in charge of the decorations. I take it that's you?" Twilight pushed on. The stylish mare finally tore herself away from her work to observe the impatient ponies that had seen fit to interrupt her. The mare she saw was rather plain looking and lacking in style and flare both. The young dragon to her left was certainly cute, the stylist would even go so far as to call him adorable, but what gave her pause was the incredibly intimidating human staring at her with the mask covering his face.
It wasn't fear that gripped Rarity, but rather shock at some unknown variable. "Oh dear Celestia, what are you wearing?!" the fashionista demanded, approaching Zero. The human didn't move an inch as the one labelled as Rarity eyed his clothes.
"What's wrong with it?" Twilight asked, receiving disbelieving gasps from the white mare in return.
"What's wrong with it? What's wrong with it?!" she screamed. "This colour scheme is all wrong! It's too dark and menacing. Green would be a better option than this. You simply must let me change this crime against fashion at once." the designer demanded. Twilight went to protest, but Zero beat her to the chase.
"No." he said. The word gave everypony pause. Rarity tried to speak, but mere gibberish was all that emerged from her mouth. Before she could fall over her own words, Zero cut in again. "We have more important things to do than to change this crime against fashion." he added, using Rarity's own words. As he spoke, Rarity watched his visor with both fear and intrigue. Never before had she seen such a remarkable feat of magical engineering. She turned to Twilight and began to reconsider her. Whoever she was, she must have been important to have a human like this following her.
"Perhaps it would be best if we started over. You asked me before if I was Rarity. The answer to your question is yes, I am she. In regards to the decorations, they're all finished. All that needs to be done with them is for somepony to place them in the town hall later on." she said, gesturing to the collection of streamers, bows and other assorted decorations.
"Thank you, Rarity. My name is Twilight Sparkle. This is my assistant, Spike, and that's Zero. You'll have to forgive his rejection of your proposal. We tried many different colours, but those were the only ones he liked. Anyway, thank you for your time. Spike, could you check off the decorations list? Spike?" Everypony turned to find Spike staring off into outer space with a goofy look on his face.
"What's gotten into him, I wonder?" Twilight asked as Zero approached the young dragon. He reached down and grabbed the checklist from Spike's claws and checked the decorations box with the quill inside. He then rolled up the checklist and pocketed it.
"We should get going." Zero said, heading for the door. Twilight was as confused as Rarity at this point. Spike had never acted so strangely before in his life, and Zero had never been in such a hurry to leave anywhere. Twilight was not a superstitious pony by any means. But if she were she'd have written these events off as signs pointing towards her theory.
Rarity brought Twilight out of her reverie. "Well I have to get back to work on those dresses. My clients want them ready for the Celebration tonight and I'd like to finish in time to get some sleep before the big event. Ciao darlings. Do feel free to visit anytime you like." she said before turning back to her dresses.
"Seriously, what was all that in there? Spike daydreaming and you rushing to leave as if you needed to go to the bathroom." Twilight asked. The tall human gave no answer as he walked alongside her, Spike resting on her haunches.
"Sorry, Twilight. I don't know what came over me." the young dragon said.
"It's okay, Spike. What’s next on the list?" she asked.
Spike took the checklist from Zero who held it out to him and scrolled over to the final task. "Music. And it's being organised by a Miss Fluttershy. Should we check a concert hall or something?" Spike suggested. Before anyone could reply, the three of them began to hear a strange harmonious sound. Like a chorus of whistling, but stronger. Zero recognized it as birdsong, harmonized into a tune ponies could understand.
Together, the three followed the sound to its source. What they saw amazed them, even Zero. A butter-yellow pegasus with a long pink mane and tail was harmonizing with the birds on a tree branch. There was a moment of synchronicity before one of the birds began chirping out of tune to the others. Miss Fluttershy picked up on this and addressed the bird.
"Um, excuse me mister bird, but your singing seems to be out of tune with the others. If you don't mind, could you try and sing along with them?" she said so softly, Zero almost didn't pick up what she was saying. To the amazement of the three onlookers, the bird understood her and even seemed to blush with embarrassment.
A further minute had gone by before Twilight decided to address the pegasus. "Um excuse me?" she called. The Pegasus was about to turn her head before the scattering of birds drew her attention away for a moment longer. Among the ruckus going on, Zero picked up a startled 'Eep' coming from the pegasus. The human wondered if he should be present for this encounter, given his frightening appearance. But before he could think any further on the matter, it was too late. The pegasus turned her head around to see the interlopers. Zero knew something bad was about to happen when she laid eyes on him for the first time.
Author's Note
Some of you may think that Rarity's session is rather short compared to Applejack and Rainbow Dash's, but lets face it. Rarity's about as entertaining as the ponnequins she dresses.
Also, cliffhanger with Zero and Fluttershy. To answer what's probably an obvious question, yes, Zero is essentially the same as Soundwave from Transformers Prime. I always found the silent types to be the most interresting, but also too difficult to have express themselves, which is why when Soundwave spoke for the first time on the series, I decided to reuse the concept.
