...Canterlot Palace…
...Six Days After Wedding…
Princess Celestia, the beloved monarch of Equestria, bearer of the sun, teacher of Twilight Sparkle, and sister of Princess Luna. She has been alive for many years, and has seen many things in her lifetime. She has seen what Discord could do to a pony, she has seen the war for Equestria, she has watched as friends came and gone, and she has even seen her own sister turn evil. These things were resolved thankfully, so there was no need to worry about these things… but she was beginning to grow tired. She missed her old friends, and she has felt the pain of being immortal.
She has always somehow managed to keep her spirits up, however, whether it be from a silly prank, or by spending time with her new friends. She loves to watch her little ponies grow and learn, and she has grown fond of her position, even if it grew boring or difficult at times. There would be a little tension between the races of Equis, but nothing she couldn’t settle down. Everything was always kept in peace and harmony, war never being on their doorstep… it came close at times, but never actually knocked.
But, there was still the fact that after everything her home went through, they never did anything all that big. Sure, they stopped ancient evils, but they didn’t necessarily deal with anything too difficult. It felt as though the universe was waiting for the right time to test Equis, waiting for the right time to enter their home and greet them. At least… that’s how Luna felt. Celestia felt that they have been dealing with very difficult tasks, and that they have proven themselves more than once.
Speaking of Celestia, she has been sitting in her throne room for nearly three hours now, dealing with the day court, and doing her best to aid the ponies that need help. It was something she’s always dealt with, ever since she took her first step in the throne room.
Just as Celestia was ready to take a rather quick nap, she heard the hoofsteps of three ponies stepping up to the throne. Looking to see who they were, she gained a small smile upon seeing three ponies from the dig teams. But strangely they seemed to be shuffling in their spots.
“Pipeline, Hail Storm, Hole Digger. What brings you three here?”
Pipeline, a grey coated unicorn with a green mane and tail, as well as having a set of blue irises and a long pipe full of oil as a cutie mark, gave a quick bow before clearing his throat, and pulling on that strange collar he always wore. “We, uh… we thought it’d be best to tell you that… we… we found something.”
Celestia grew curious at that, given they never come to tell her what they found except for old pony ruins. “What might have you three found that is so important?”
Hail Storm stepped up at that. He was a light blue pegasus with a silver mane and tail, holding silver irises, and had a hail storm cloud as a cutie mark. “We’ve found a ruin. it’s… different, from pony ruins. It doesn’t seem to hold any form of our own magic, but… it’s own kind instead.” Celestia’s eyes widened. “The ruins seem to be far more advanced than our own, unknown metals and materials used to build the walls. There are strange lights down there as well, but that’s about it. The best we could come up with from what we’ve seen is that these ruins were here before…”
Hail stayed silent, causing Hole Digger to step up. His coat was a soft brown, with a dirty blond mane and tail. His irises were red, while he had a shovel next to a hole for a cutie mark. “We believe the ruins to have once been home to whatever lived on Equis before the ponies did.”
Celestia was very wide eyed now. “Truly?” They nodded. “I never expected us to… not have been the first species on Equis.” They shuffled awkwardly in their place. “Please, make preparations for myself and the Elements of Harmony. I know they aren’t needed, but I do not wish for the guards to get involved.”
They bowed in response. “Yes, Princess.”
Celestia nodded as they began to leave, while she turned to one of the guards. “Send a letter to Twilight…” She thought for a moment. “Better yet, I’ll send her one myself.”
The guard bowed in response. “Of course, your highness.”
…Two Days Later…
...Excavation Site…
Twilight Sparkle, the bearer of the Element of Magic, number one student of Princess Celestia, and best friends with the Mane Six, sighed softly to herself as she stood on the elevator that was currently taking her, her friends, and Celestia down to the underground while the three dirty ponies next to them were whispering to themselves. Twilight felt awkward next to them, given she could smell them from a mile away, and she guessed they were the ‘Dig Team’ Celestia spoke of.
Celestia then spoke to pass the time. “Twilight.” Said student looked at her. “While we wait to reach the bottom, allow me to introduce you all to the head researchers of the dig team. This is Pipeline.” Said unicorn gave a nod. “This is Hail Storm.” The pegasus grunted as his wings stiffened. “And this is Hole Digger.”
Said pony smirked at them, and spoke. “Ever heard of the song ‘I’m A Dwarf and I’m Digging A Hole’?”
Twilight leaned away from him. “No… I can’t say I have.”
He chuckled as he looked off in space. “Ah, every time I ask that, ponies give me that same strange look. And to tell you the truth, it’s a very popular song. You should give it a listen when you get the chance.”
Twilight gave her own awkward chuckle, and looked forward in embarrassment for not knowing something that apparently everypony else did.
“This is so boring!”
Hail Storm gave another grunt. “I may be a pegasus, but I never could see why other pegasi couldn’t learn to be patient.”
The one to have made the comment, Rainbow Dash, glared back at him. “I know how to be patient!”
“Then shut your mouth and be patient.”
Pipeline immediately covered his mouth, chuckling just as awkwardly as Twilight. “Sorry about him, he’s… always in a bad mood.”
Hail Storm simply gave another grunt as he looked away from them. Rainbow easily did the same, not liking him at all.
Just as that happened, the elevator touched down, revealing the massive room of the ruins that the three have discovered. This earned gasps from both the Mane Six and Celestia, while the Dig Team had already shared their shock and surprise. It was quite beautiful… for a dusty and old ruin.
As they stepped off of the elevator, and trotted around the room, they took note of the lights coming from the walls and tables around them, as well as what must’ve been a door off at the end.
Pipeline smiled as he trotted around. “Welp, here it is, the ruins of whatever was on Equis before us.”
The Mane Six immediately yelled in unison. “WHAT?!”
Celestia couldn’t help but chuckle awkwardly. “I’m sorry, I forgot to mention that part.”
The dig team simply shrugged in response, while Pipeline stepped up to the only door in the room. “This is what’s been keeping us from getting any further into the ruins, so we were hoping to get some help from you, Princess. We need to figure out how to open this door, and get further inside.”
Celestia nodded as she stepped up to the door, and examined it. After a little examination, she tapped the door, and immediately there was a spark of energy that shot through the door, shocking everypony as it sparked a little more, before shuttering as a strange green light came up. It seemed to be a kind of theme for this place, strange lights everywhere. But once Celestia awkwardly tapped the light, it pulsed before disappeared, and the door slid apart, shocking everypony once again.
Celestia peeked inside, seeing nothing in the darkness, until the lights flickered, revealing many shadowy figures in the room, and earning a gasp from Celestia as the lights shut off. When they turned on in full, the shadows were gone, nothing but the strange room in view.
Celestia gave a long look around, and thought to herself before looking at the others. “Whatever used to live here, may still be alive, and living down here.”
Everypony gasped upon hearing that, while Pipeline was smiling. “Amazing! Living aliens! We may actually find a living, breathing alien! What a great opportunity!”
Twilight shook her head at him. “I agree, this is a great opportunity, but we shouldn’t get excited. They’ve been living down here for who-knows how long, so they could be hostile, if not a bit cautious of us.”
Pipeline immediately gained a black cloud over his head while they began trotting into the room, keeping together.
The room seemed to be a kind of observation room from the looks of it, and there was currently a pitch black room with a window separating them from it. This caused Celestia to step towards it, and try to see inside. But what she saw made her gasp. A set of red eyes looking back at her.
The others looked, and gasped upon seeing the eyes as well. But… the eyes didn’t do anything, simply looked at them.
Celestia took a calming breath, then gave a soft smile as she looked at the eyes. “Hello, can you hear me?”
The eyes blinked, while they heard what sounded strangely like a timberwolf barking, which shocked them. What was this creature hidden in the shadows?
“Do you… understand me?”
The eyes tilted sideways, meaning it must’ve tilted it’s head, which was what a dog did most times if curious. Was this creature a kind of timberwolf or dog?
Celestia thought for a moment, before seeing another light. She tapped it, and a light turned on through the window, and they were shocked by what they saw.
Standing at the window was a… some kind of dog like creature, standing on it’s hindlegs, and wearing a set of black armor over it’s body. It’s arms seemed to be hardened like armored skin, with large claw like appendages that seemed to hold red cracks along them. The creature itself had blue fur, and strange markings on it’s forehead as it gave them a curious look.
Celestia could only stare with wide eyes as it looked at her curiously. It gave another dog like bark, and pointed at a light to the side. This made Celestia gulp, and touch it.
Just then there was a strange, emotionless barking, before it slowly changed to their own language.
“Translation Test Complete.”
The creature then spoke in their language. “Do you understand me now?”
Celestia was shocked by this, but simply nodded.
“That’s good, it’s a pain trying to learn another species' language, so thankfully we got our computers to do it for us.” It… or he, gave a wolfish smile, which must’ve been a sweet smile for their kind. “Might I know your name?”
Celestia calmed down and cleared her throat, trying her best to find her voice. After a moment, she gave an awkward smile. “It’s Celestia, Princess Celestia.”
The wolf tilted his head. “Princess?” She nodded. “Then who’s the queen?”
Celestia immediately realized the confusion. “Oh! We don’t work like that. We only require Princesses, who are Alicorns.”
“Alicorns?” Celestia nodded. “Huh… we thought your kind were only in myths, creatures of high importance that if one gained the favor of it, they would grant them any wish they requested. It’s never been proven true, but the legend of your kind was something that gave our children happiness in their dreams.”
Celestia smiled sweetly at this. “That’s interesting. But… may I ask you something?”
“Of course.”
“What are you?”
The wolf chuckled lightly. “My race is known as the Blood Wolves. We have lived on this planet, Oremanga, for years, training in war and science. But one day, we all began to hear screaming and cries for help from outside. The doors wouldn’t open, and we soon found ourselves locked in this building for an unknown amount of years. Centuries of blood lines and this building has become our new home. We don’t know how long it’s been… but from the looks of you, I can only guess we have been gone longer than expected.”
Celestia couldn’t help but feel a tear form on her cheek. “I’m truly sorry to hear that. Is there anything I can do to help?”
The Blood Wolf nodded at that. “Let us out of this prison, find us land to call our own so we may rebuild, and we will be a powerful ally in the future.”
Celestia could tell he was serious on this, and truly would do this. “I believe you. We will let you out, and we will let you take a part of Equestria that I know you will find good for your own.”
He placed his massive claw against the window. “We… I, owe you my debt. If there is anything I can do to repay this in the future, feel free to ask.”
Celestia smiled at this. “Thank you.” She then looked around. “Now, how do I let you out?”
“Simple, let us leave how you came in. Isn’t that the only exit?”
She smiled even more. “It is.”
The Blood Wolf then left the room past the window, while Twilight stepped up to Celestia. “A… are you sure we can trust them? We just met them.”
Applejack nodded at this. “Ah reckon so, Twilight. Ah can sniff a lie a mile away. That there feller told us t’ honest truth.”
Twilight stayed silent at that, before slowly nodding.
...Canterlot Palace…
...5:00 PM…
Celestia sat on her throne, staring at the ‘Blood Wolf’ as he had recently introduced his species to be, and had grown quite curious of the wolf like race. The one that now stood in her throne room was, from what she’s seen to be, a magnificent creature. He held curiosity for the entire palace, his snout twitching as he sniffed the air of the room, and the Elements of Harmony standing to the side, completely silent as they kept a close eye on the creature.
After much thought, Celestia finally decided to ask one of the many questions in her mind. “Sir?” The Blood Wolf looked at her. “Do you have a name I could call you by?”
He bowed at this. “I am Helleno Fellonak, one of the… lower class, of our race.”
Celestia was growing more curious by the minute. “What do you mean by ‘lower class’?”
He scratched behind his ear as he answered. “I am not necessarily nobility, or anyone special.” Celestia raised an eyebrow at him not using ‘anypony’. “I was just lucky enough to be the one behind the window when you entered. My pack leader usually deals with this kind of thing. He always tells me to ‘stay silent and don’t tell anyone anything’. He always used me as a paw-stool.”
Celestia was shocked by this. “You mean… you’re a servant?”
Helleno began to play with his claws. “Well… yes and no. I do everything for the pack while the leader deals with major documents and the such… but I’ve managed to talk some of the other pack members into teaching me a thing or two about being a Blood Blade.”
Everypony looked at him when he said that, as Celestia was more curious than cautious. “What is a Blood Blade?”
“They’re like an creed, all brothers in arms, fighting in both stealth and brute force. Some jobs require them to assassinate targets, while others require them to fight in wars or defend the emperor. What they lack for in numbers they replace with skill and determination. I didn’t learn as much as them, but they taught me the basics in claw-to-claw combat, some simple techniques on how to use a sword… and I was about to be taught how to use a revolver until you all came down to our home. You actually saved my hide from the pack leader, he’s been keeping a very close eye on me, and really was getting mad that I was learning these things.”
Celestia smiled at this. “I’m glad.” She then looked at his armor. “If you’re just a servant, then why do you wear armor?”
He looked down at it, and chuckled. “We don’t necessarily use these as armor, and use them more for clothing given they don’t defend us all that well. The real armor is that Blood Wolf Guardian Armor, that thing could stop ten shots of plasma before it actually kills them.”
The mares gasped in horror, while Celestia managed to keep her serene aura. “Is your species very hostile?”
“No more hostile than a blood raged Hekken.”
“A what?”
Helleno widened his eyes for a second, and motioned his claws to try and give the picture. “Basically it’s a very small creature with very long ears, can hop up to ten feet in the air, and have a bite that could rip off an ear.”
“So… slightly like a bunny?”
“What’s a bunny?”
Celestia couldn’t help but find a small amount of amusement at his knowledge to the new world. He didn’t appear to have that much, so it was like speaking to a foal that has been living in a dream… to her anyways. “Tell me about the world before now.”
He looked up in thought, scratching under his jaw. “Hmm… I only know what I’ve seen in our history books, which is how I knew of a Hekken.” She nodded. “Let’s see… the world used to be ruled over by a great warrior known as Kennionok, who we all bowed down to as he was our Emperor. He was said to have been very kind to his citizens, giving loans out when asked, making big investments in schools and hospitals, speeding up our research on growing food and trying to get rid of a very horrible plague. We didn’t know much about the plague, but they simply called it the Ice Dilemma, because the disease seemed to slowly freeze their hearts until they were dead.”
The mares were horrified by this revelation, while Celestia took a few calm breaths, trying to ease her growing worry on what the world was like back then. “What else can you tell me?”
“Aside from what the books could tell you?” She nodded. “Pretty much what everyone else knows. We’ve had a very uneventful life down in that building, and all we could do was build a small community until you all found us.”
Celestia nodded in understanding. “If your kind plan on living in this new world, you’re going to need to know a few things.”
He sighed heavily. “I shoulda seen that coming.” He groaned as he popped his back. “I guess I’ll be here for a while. Mind if I grab a seat?”
Celestia grew confused. “Where are you going to get a chair?”
Helleno dug into a strange sack he’s been carrying with him the whole trip, and pulled out a strange disk. He then sat it on the ground, tapped on the top, and a strange light in the shape of a seat appeared. After dusting his claws off, he (to the shock of everypony) sat down on it light it was a physical object!
He then leaned forward, claws folding together. “Lay it on me.”
Celestia smiled, opened her mouth, but didn’t get a chance to speak as Twilight spoke.
“How is this possible?!” She rushed up to Helleno’s side and stared at the chair with wide eyes, full of wonder. “How did you do this? Is there some kind of magic you used? Or maybe-”
Helleno smiled as he looked at her. “It’s not magic, it’s science.” Her eyes twinkled. “You see, us Blood Wolves don’t hold magic, so we use what we know of science to do the things we do. One of the inventions being this Holo-Chair. It’s standard for all Blood Wolves that plan on traveling or camping. We also get a Laser n’ Steel, which we use to make fires.”
Twilight had a million questions running through her head on how they did this, but when she looked at Celestia, she immediately backed off.
”Now, the first thing you need to know is that Equestria-”
“Equestria?”
Celestia nodded. “Yes, that is what we call this land.”
“Huh… I was told the land outside was called Wolf Bane.”
Celestia raised an eyebrow at that, but shrugged it off. “As I was saying, Equestria has been in peace and harmony for centuries, no war or fighting has ever been seen… aside from recent years. You need to know that the world is not as dangerous as it once was, and that you cannot fight here.”
Helleno sighed. “Unless absolutely necessary, I get it.”
“No, not even that.” Helleno’s eyes widened. “We do not allow what your kind has been dealing with, no matter the situation. We cannot simply welcome a very dangerous species into our home without keeping tensions from rising. So we need these ground rules.”
“But… what if we get attacked by a Makkoko?!” Raised eyebrows. “A beast about as big as this room, three heads, pitch black, and has control of the shadows! Those things could be lurking around any corner!”
“There are no such things anymore, Helleno. You need to understand that this world is no longer the same. You are not home anymore.”
Helleno stayed silent, trying to find his voice and argue with her, but it proved futile as he simply slumped his head, and nodded. “Yes, Celestia of the Alicorns.” Celestia raised an eyebrow. “I will go and tell the pack, and hope they’ll listen to me.”
Celestia nodded. “That would be best, thank you.”
Helleno grumbled as he trudged out of the throne room. “I’m so going to be turned to a rug…”
Once the Blood Wolf had left, Twilight looked at Celestia. “Princess, I know we did the right thing… but will they even listen?”
“They don’t really have a choice, Twillight. Their world is gone, and now they’re in ours, so they need to learn our rules.”
The Mane Six stayed silent as they stared at the double doors, worried about what this will do to Equestria.
