Once upon a time there was a city. A great city. A great and diverse city protected by a sphere of unimaginable power. The sphere protected a people, a race of people not like the universe had seen before. They were scholars, Scientists, Adventurers, Explorers, Creatives, and Warriors. These people gave the great sphere a name, The Traveler. Many feared the Traveler while others studied it hoping to advance themselves with its knowledge. However on occasions the Traveler would pick out a select few who it deemed worthy. Worthy of power and responsibility. Beings forged in light and worthy of becoming legend. These beings were called Guardians and they protected what everyone holds so dear.
Decades went by as Guardians fought back an enemy they called the darkness. Decades turned into centuries and victories turned into failures. Everything the light cherished was being destroyed until only the City remained. But through the actions of the cities bravest Guardians the darkness's heart was destroyed leveling the playing field for the side of light. Now the battle continues, both sides unable to outdo the other.
"Or so we believed." The Speaker said as he walked into his study area with his student and friend Aron. Aron Williams, a Warlock unlike any other, he was well trained in the power of the Void and well taught by the Speaker himself.
Aron hesitated then decided not to wait. "Why tell me something I already know. This is a story that children are told before bed."
The Speaker took a seat. "Yes, this much is true. But that is why its told to the children. It helps them sleep."
Aron walked over to the many papers attached to the wall which held the recent work of the two and only stared as he turned back to the Speaker. "You've done it, haven't you?"
The Speaker smiled under his mask. "Perhaps. But we may have wasted too much time."
"A spell." Aron began. "A spell able to cross universes and dimensions alike."
"Please." The Speaker said lightly holding his hand up. "You seem to look at things with a much broader horizon then what might lie ahead. It will take you to one place. Not a million different realities."
"You mean us, right?" Aron asked giving a concerned look towards the Speaker.
The Speaker chuckled, "I am much too old for this sort of thing. You'll have to be the one to do it."
"I see. Then Jorden and Tish will most likely accompany me..."
The Speaker cut him off, "No. Your fireteam...Your friends can not go with you. You alone could be enough to through off the balance between our worlds."
Aron held a solid expression, it would be his first time going on a mission alone. "You will be fine. Besides you'll have your ghost with you." The Speaker continued. "Now I must teach you how to properly do this. We don't have much time left as it is."
Aron nodded and listened carefully to the Speakers instructions.
Two days had passed and Aron was ready to go. He had informed his friends of the situation and while they wished they could go they didn't push the subject.
"Farewell my friend." Aron shook hands with the burley Titan known as Jordan. "I'll be back soon." He said as he gave the Hunter known as Tish a quick hug then headed to the Speakers study to disembark.
He shook hands with the Speaker, "And if I'm unsuccessful?"
"Then return knowing you did your best." The Speaker reassured.
With that, Aron backed away and glanced at his ghost. "You might want-"
"Right." His ghost replied as he seemed to vanish into Aron. "No weapons?"
"Not this time. We'll want to seem as peaceful as possible. And if things seem to go south, I think my Void training will be good enough."
With this Aron focused on the spell and before his helmet shielded eyes a portal formed. Taking one last look back at the Speaker he crossed the purple threshold and vanished from sight.
"Good luck Guardian." The Speaker said as he watched the portal disappear.
There seemed to be a pause, as if reality was non existent. Aron couldn't see anything or hardly think for that matter and as fast as he was thrown into this new sensation he was pulled back to his normal self with the force of being hit by a Cabal shield.
"What?" He asked himself trying to take in the new scenery. There seemed to be no notable technology in the immediate area and what seemed to be a hundred faces staring at him in shock.
Are these...ponies?! He thought then slowly raised his hand, "Uh, hi?" With this the crowd broke into utter panic. "Whoa! Wait! I'm not here to hurt you!" The surrounding area fell silent as the creatures ran away and his ghost decided to make an appearance.
"Nice job. You clear areas really well."
"Shut up." Aron responded.
Before more could be said the sound of hooves came rushing towards the two. Aron quickly looked at his ghost. "Right, I know." His ghost said as he disappeared into Aron again. It had only seemed like seconds but he was surrounded by royal guard.
Aron tried to stay calm but his mind was rushing with plans and was thinking of what to do. Without a second thought he decided words might be the best option. "Hello, I'm-"
"Silence!" One of the guards yelled. "You're under arrest!"
"Arrest?! Why?" Aron responded.
"Will force be needed to subdue you villain?" the guard asked.
Thinking it over Aron knew he could easily out maneuver these guards. If he wanted he could have simply teleported away at this point. But his goal was to find help, not start a war with another alien race.
Aron put his hands up half way. "No no, force isn't necessary."
"What are you doing?" The ghost inside his head asked which Aron quickly ignored.
"Good." The guard who seemed to be in charge nodded to one of the unicorns who's horn was now glowing. Suddenly Aron felt his hands yanked down to his sides. Surprised at this he tried to move them but they wouldn't budge.
Okay this is new. I've never met creatures with this sort of ability before. Psions are close but even they have their limits. "This way." The guard began to move with one moving next to him. Two bumped Aron from behind to get him moving and the others went off their separate ways. As much as Aron wanted to break their hold he was equally curious to gather information.
Ghost, can you do some scans without being out here?
"No. I have to physically scan it." the ghost replied.
Thought so. Lets hope words won't fail a second time.
"Can you tell me what you are?" He asked.
No response.
"I'm a human if that helps break the ice."
"Quiet."
"I have many questions about your people and-"
"I said quiet. You can save it for the princess."
Princess? Aron looked around. Tall buildings resembling structures from pre collapse paintings. Guards dressed in gold metal armor. The more I look at this place the more I'm reminded of fairy tales and old stories. Just hold out Aron, answers are coming soon... I hope.
The walk didn't take long but it was painfully quiet. Each time Aron wanted to ask a question he'd have to remind himself that he was to remain quiet. He knew he was headed for some sort of prison cell. A dungeon perhaps. And sure enough he was proven right as the metal bar door swung shut in his face.
"Kind of a small cell, don't you think?" He called out as the guards left him behind. "You're not going to 'guard' me or anything?" The guards vanished at this point leaving Aron alone.
Great. Guess we have to wait now. I didn't even get a phone call. "Strange." He said out loud. "Now that I think about it, I haven't seen any technology at all."
The ghost appeared in front of Aron. "We haven't explored much, but I agree. This place seems rather primitive." With that said the ghost started scanning the walls and the bar door. "We could easily get out of this. Lets teleport past this door and do some exploring."
"No, we should wait. If we leave and just start walking around it might stir up more panic." Aron said as he took a seat at the back wall. "Speaking of which, did you see those strange creatures?"
"I did." His ghost replied.
"Have anything on them?"
The ghost thought for a minute making the usual computing noises he makes when trying to solve something. "No. However, I do have a distorted record on the one with the horn. People before the collapse called them unicorns but they were only fairy tails."
"Well this place is certainly different."
"That other one. The one yelling out the commands." The ghost continued. "He seemed to resemble a, well, a pony."
"I was thinking the same thing but they seemed so different."
"True." The ghost replied. "I'm glad they speak English. I wouldn't want to learn a new language."
Aron smiled under his mask at his ghosts remark. "Lets just hope this princess is friendlier then the guards."
The huge wooden door swung open with a royal guard trotting in. "Your highness. We've captured a strange creature that mysteriously appeared in the middle of town today."
"A strange creature?" Celestia asked.
"Yes. It stands on two legs and seems to be wearing... something." The guard hesitated on the last part. It wasn't everyday that they saw armor from a different universe.
"Very well then." She sighed. "I was planning a trip to Ponyville but a court session takes precedence in this situation." Celestia began to pen a letter to Twilight informing her of the recent development.
The guard bowed. "I shall set the hearing for noon then, your highness." Then proceeded to walk out of the room.
"Today of all days." Celestia said to herself as she finished her letter.
"What other creatures have the Crytparchs discovered from the collapse?" Aron asked his ghost wanting to know as he much as he could.
The ghost brought up what he had. "Pegasus, a creature similar to what we've seen but with wings. Manticore, broken records say it was a hybrid creature that cared only for destruction. Draconequus and Changelings, only broken text referring on them have been recovered." The ghost paused for a moment while making his usual thinking noises. "Something about an Alicorn, again the text was found severely damaged."
"I see." Aron said. "That's not a lot but better than nothing. It may be possible that all those creatures exist here, maybe even more."
"Well I hope not." The ghost responded.
"Why's that?"
"That Manticore creature sounds terrifying."
Aron shifted his position. "Ghost, does anything seem, well, off to you?"
"Well we're the good guys in a prison cell so, maybe."
"Its not that." Aron pondered. "Those ponies seemed so afraid of me. I understand that I'm very different but that was immediate panic that we saw earlier."
The ghost entertained the idea. "You think something's wrong then?"
"I'm not sure yet." Aron stood and briefly stretched. "It just doesn't seem-"
Aron was cut short as the sound of a metal door opened from down the hall. The ghost was already back in Arons head as he stepped up to the bar door.
"I hope you weren't planning on lunch." Two guards had stopped at the door. "You have an audience with the princess."
Before Aron could respond, his arms were restricted to his sides again and was motioned out of the cell. As he looked around he noticed how the walls were a constant grey brick color which suddenly changed to a cream color with outstanding decorations covering the wall. As his walk continued it only revealed more of the beauty this place had to offer showing huge stain glass windows depicting what seemed like events on them.
Aron looked at one with a purple unicorn leading five others against a confusing looking character. Do you think that's the Manticore? He thought to his ghost.
"I'm not sure. But whatever it was I'd say they beat it." The ghost responded.
Aron turned his head revealing another window showing two unicorns with the pink one having wings holding each other closely seeming to vanquish another strange looking creature who was all black with green eyes but with the same body type as a pony.
"Look at that one. It has holes in it." The ghost stated bluntly which Aron didn't respond to.
The guard in front of him stopped which Aron quickly noticed making him stop as well.
"Stand there. Don't move from that spot creature." The guard ordered as him and the other took positions to his sides.
A few moments passed of nothing but standing looking at an empty throne. Just as Aron was about to ask an obvious question the room filled with a bright flash of light causing the guards to look away and even causing Aron to squint under his helmet. Once the flash of light disappeared a white being with a horn, wings and wavy hair was sitting with an expression of constant judgment on her face staring into Aron's visor.
"I am Princess Celestia of Equestria. Ruler of the Sun. You have been brought here on the account of uprooting Equestrian lifestyle. How do you plead?" Celestia held a serious tone.
Aron was silent for a quick second thinking of a proper response. "Uh, not guilty."
"Then an explanation is in order." Celestia responded.
Oh great, what am I suppose to say?
"Tell her why we're here. She seems to have a lot of influence in this place, if anyone can help us our best bet is her." The ghost responded to his thought.
I noticed that much but how do I explain-
"Are you going to explain yourself or not?" Celestia asked growing unsettled by Arons silence.
After a brief moment Aron decided on what to say. "My name is Aron Williams. I'm not from around here. In fact, I don't even belong to this universe. The place that I'm from is in the middle of a war where both the dark and the light are constantly at each others throats. I'm from the side of light. And though I wish it wasn't true, we're losing... your highness."
"Another world?" Celestia asked beginning to soften her expression.
"I know its hard to understand." Aron started. "But we need help. We've tried everything we can. But we've hit that point where we're out of options."
Celestia looked at her guards for a moment who only stared at Aron then returned her gaze to the creature that seemed so different. "And you have no ulterior motives?"
"I give you my word." With that Aron hoped what he had said was enough.
"Release him." Celestia said.
The guards looked at each other puzzled but they weren't about question their princess and released the magical restraint. Aron was relieved at this and squeezed his wrists to get feeling back in his hands.
"I feel that we have much to discuss." Celestia stated as she stood from her throne. "I'll summon the other leaders here for a meeting, until then you are more than welcome to stay here. My guards will show you to your room."
"Thank you." Aron was about to turn to head out of the throne room but stopped himself and gave bow. "Your highness." Celestia didn't seem changed by the extra remark which Aron quickly noted and decided to take his leave.
Celestia watched the door close and sighed while levitating another piece of parchment to send to the princess in Ponyville.
Dear Twilight Sparkle,
A situation has risen in Canterlot that concerns me. I am hereby asking you to attend a royal meeting to address this situation. A letter will be sent to Cadence as well. If you want a better explanation, I'm sorry. I can't give you one. You would never believe it if I told you.
Sincerely,
Princess Celestia
A quick bit of magic and the letter was away. After sending it she sent her guard to fetch her some tea and started writing the letter for Cadance.
It didn't take long for the letter to arrive at the newly rebuilt Golden Oaks Library and sure enough it did with Spike spitting out the rolled up parchment and Twilight catching it in mid air.
"Another letter from the Princess, huh?" Twilight said as she unrolled the letter and began to scan her eyes over it while Spike continued with his usual cleaning duties.
"What's she want this time. Is she going to be able to make it to Ponyville?" Spike asked dusting another book shelf.
Twilight rolled the letter back up. "No spike. Looks like I have to go to Canterlot. I don't know for how long though."
Spike put down his duster. "Canterlot? Can I come with you?"
Twilight thought for a moment. "Maybe not this time Spike. Besides this sounds urgent. I need to leave immediately and I need you to handle the library and tell our friends where I went."
Spike held a defeated look but decided to go along with it. "Alright Twilight. Are you going to take-"
"The emergency packed bag for when situations come up in Canterlot? Of course Spike, Why else would we have these systems?" Twilight glanced at the closet and brought out the already packed saddle bag with her magic and headed for the door. "I'll write to you as soon as I can. Okay?"
"Yeah, yeah. Take your time." Spike responded.
Twilight gave one last glance towards Spike. "This doesn't mean you can skip cleaning the library and read comic books all day."
Spike looked like he was caught with hand in the cookie jar and waved at Twilight. "What? Me? Come on Twi."
Twilight smiled and took off for Canterlot and tried to imagine just what the princess was getting at. First she said she would be late since a trial came up, but those never take very long. Then she suddenly calls all the heads of Equestria to a meeting which she could only explain why in person. Deep in thought, Twilight hoped it wasn't an issue with a certain Draconequus who loved Chaos and went rogue almost a year back.
Oh well. At least I get to spend some time with Celestia. We never see each other anymore.
Author's Note
I hope you enjoyed it and let me know what you think in the comments.
Aron was escorted to his room by two guards and after a short walk they had arrived. One of the guards opened the door then slammed it shut behind Aron leaving him to his new living arrangements. The room wasn't half bad. It had a bed, a desk with a book shelf beside it with a wide selection of reading material, a bathroom and a decent sized window which overlooked a courtyard with statues dotting the landscape. Aron's ghost had materialized again and began to scan the many books the shelf had to offer allowing him to gather what information he could in a matter of seconds. While doing this, Aron removed his helmet and set it on the desk then directed his view out the window.
"Fascinating." His ghost said while scanning the books.
Aron turned showing his ghost hard at work. "What is it?"
"This collection. It has everything you'd want to know about this place but were too afraid to ask." The ghost finished his scans and looked at Aron.
"Give me the quick version." Aron said.
His ghost made a few thinking noises then began. "They're history must be extensive as the book on it read 'one of two hundred and sixty'. They understand the basic principles of physics and mathematics. Astronomy is somewhat lacking as they seem to believe two beings work the day and night cycles, one we've already met. And they seem to understand a form of magic but nothing like the Void. I would have to see a more extensive library since its title read 'Introduction to Magic'."
Aron crossed his arms. "Tell me about their system of government."
Another series of thinking noises came from the ghost. "It seems to be a system where there are four heads in power. Princess Celestia whose title is ruler of the sun and day must have been the one we met earlier. Princess Luna whose title read ruler of the moon and night. Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, ruler of love and the crystal empire. And Princess Twilight Sparkle, ruler of friendship. It seems one can make a move on a new law which the others vote on and with the introduction of the newest Princess a secondary system had to be put in place incase of a tie. Which involves a vote by the people."
Aron scratched his head. "How does that even work? Wouldn't the people want more of a say?"
"It's a relatively new system."
Aron was about to say more but was interrupted by a knock on the door which he walked over to answer with his ghost staying out of sight. When the door opened a guard stood staring up at Aron with wide eyes.
"Can I help you?" Aron asked.
The guard almost chocked on his astonishment as he remembered the message he was suppose to give. "Uh, Princess Celestia has set a meeting with you about your situation in two hours. I will return then to escort you."
Aron nodded. "Very well. I'll be here."
The guard backed away still unsure about what he had just saw as Aron closed the door and took a seat on the bed.
"Worried about something?" His ghost asked.
Aron pondered while staring at the floor. "We need to really sell it to them at this meeting. Like I said before, we're not here to make enemies."
Arons ghost continued to stare. "Well, lets get to work on a plan."
A pony wearing an apron brought in a tray of tea for three princesses that had gathered together in preparation for the meeting.
Luna stared at the cup in front of her. "Where is Princess Cadence?"
Celestia took a sip. "She couldn't make it. Apparently today was the day they had planned for the Crystal Castle to be remodeled. I told her not to worry about it, we can handle this ourselves."
Twilight took the initiative to learn more. "So you were saying it walks on two legs?"
Celestia refocused her attention. "Yes. It doesn't seem hostile. At first I thought it might be a trick from-"
"Discord?" Twilight finished her sentence.
"Quite." Celestia said taking another sip of tea.
"Ungrateful whelp. I never believed his lies of friendship." Luna said looking at her reflection in her cup.
Twilight mumbled. "Never really trusted him myself."
"We showed him friendship. What more could we have done?" Celestia asked openly.
Twilight furrowed her brow. "We could have turned him back to stone. I'm sure that with the powers the Tree of Harmony can give us it would make it easy."
Luna jumped in. "Then let him drift through the emptiness of space. A few million years later and he might have learned a lesson."
"What's done is done. For now he seems to be in hiding, he may never show his face around here again but if he does he will fail like always."
The three moved on to the situation at hand and began to talk more about Aron. Celestia described more of what he looked like and what he had told her in the throne room while Twilight started thinking of way to cross dimensions herself. If a strange looking bipedal creature could do it then so could she.
Aron pushed a couple books and some stray paper out of the way on the desk. "Alright, I think we have something here. Lets go over it one more time."
"Right, so you'll introduce me."
Aron nodded. "You'll appear out of my head then as I instruct you you'll display some imagines of Earth on a nearby wall and help reinforce our viewpoint."
"Seems simple enough." The ghost added.
Just as Aron was about to get up and get ready for his meeting a third voice seemed to come out of nowhere. "Oh yes. It seems simple enough."
Aron said nothing as he looked at his ghost. "Don't look at me."
"Yeah, don't look at your floating ball of light, Aron."
Aron jumped to his feet sending his chair over backwards and took a quick glance around the room. "Where's that voice coming from?"
The voice continued. "Stop asking so many questions. You know, that's how your people got to where they are now. So many questions."
"I'm not one for games. I won't take you serious until I can see you." Aron said while still searching the room with his eyes.
"Fair enough." Suddenly a disturbingly mismatched creature appeared sitting on the bed with its legs crossed.
Aron hesitated. "I've seen you before."
"Oh yes. The window. I meant to get to you before you saw that."
The ghost moved up closer to the creature. "Who are you?"
"I thought you'd never ask! My name's Discord-"
The ghost finished his title. "Master of Chaos."
Discord smiled at the ghost. "Oh I bet you feel smart now, don't you?"
"Why are you here." Aron asked sternly.
"I wanted to offer you a deal." He replied with a smile.
"No thanks."
"Now don't be so quick to push this away. I'm offering a get out of jail free card for your precious City."
Aron and his ghost quickly exchanged glances. "How do you know so much about me?"
A knock came from the door while Discord rolled his eyes. "Listen human, your City has less time then what you might think. I can help you but you have to do something for me."
Another knock catching Arons attention then being followed by a guards voice. "Sir, your meeting is in two minutes!"
Aron turned back around but Discord had vanished leaving behind a fading sentence. "Think on it. You don't want to mess this up."
A third knock. "Sir?"
"What do we do now?" The ghost asked.
Aron began moving towards the door. "We go meet the Princesses. Hold on to my helmet for me." With this his ghost dematerialized his helmet and vanished into Aron.
"Welcome. I believe you told me your name was Aron Williams, correct?" Celestia offered a warm greeting and motioned him to a seat on the other side of the table.
"That's correct."
"Allow me to introduce Princess Luna and Princess Twilight. Princess Cadence was unable to join us."
Aron took a seat. "I understand. I'm sure you have no end of questions for me."
Twilight spoke up. "If you don't mind. I'd like to know how you got here."
"A spell that allowed me to traverse the barrier between our worlds. It took years of study and hard work."
Luna was next. "How do we know we can trust you?"
Aron thought for a moment, it was a really good question. "I wish I could convince you. Maybe if I tell you more of my story. Ghost?"
With that Arons ghost appeared out of thin air and exchanged looks with all three of the Alicorns.
"Wait, that's a ghost?" Twilight asked.
The ghost responded for itself. "Its a play on words. I brought him back to life and now we're linked. The term 'ghost' seemed to stick."
Twilight nodded in response as Aron began his long tale of Earth and its golden age. His ghost displayed images of cities that were built around the world and on other worlds beyond their solar system. As he continued he explained his enemies known as the darkness and how they were in a losing war against them. Aron didn't hold back, He discussed the Traveler, the last city, he even gave an explanation of the void and its various uses. After what seemed like hours he rested his case and waited for a response.
The three were silent as Celestia spoke up. "I'm so sorry to hear this. It must be....difficult for you and your people."
Aron sighed. "We get by."
Twilight scratched her chin. "I don't know if we can help you. What you're fighting is on a much more massive scale then anything I've ever imagined. It sounds like something straight out of a science fiction book."
"We could aid in supplies." Celestia said while looking at Twilight.
"Supplies would indeed help." The ghost responded.
"Could you send man power? Maybe troops to help us push back."
The three looked at each other with concern forcing Celestia to speak. "We will need to discuss this matter further. Its grown late, I'm sure you must be tired."
Aron sat still while his ghost looked at him. "What aren't you telling me?" Three faces met his while Aron leaned forward. "Your people are afraid of something. I could see it when we first arrived."
"Perhaps its none of your concern." Luna stated as she stared down Aron who looked at each of the three individually.
Aron tapped his fingers on the table. "I see. I'll be on my way then."
Aron moved to exit the room with his ghost close behind with him stopping by the door as Celestia gave a final statement. "You are free to move around the castle if you wish, but please stay indoors. We don't need another incident like earlier."
"Of course." Aron left the room and moved down the hallway at a slow pace allowing his ghost to scan things as he walked.
Luna dug at the table with her hoof. "That may not have been the wisest thing to do sister."
Celestia didn't respond as she lost herself in thought.
Author's Note
Uploads may be somewhat slow as I'm busy with other things right now but the next chapter should be pretty interesting. Also my editor quit on me so I'm doing that now.... Hope you're enjoying it so far!
