Chapters Prologue
Fero peered suspiciously at the wavering outline of the portal before him, wishing he understood the physics behind it better. Although it was still a prototype, the technology behind this black disk had successfully transported live animals halfway around the world. But never anything sentient. And now they had to trust it to take their precious regent to safety.
The idea of trusting such untried technology made Fero shudder inside, and he once again estimated his chances of flying those he cared about to safety. After all, they were small enough not to hinder his flight. He knew that he could carry his three friends well past the fighting, but the distinctive sound of large caliber weapons could be heard even as far away as they were. He didn't know where they had found such weapons that had survived the Tearing, but escape by air was incredibly risky.
He considered the young leader of his little nation as she stood beside him. Amber was tiny; at four foot eight inches tall she didn’t even reach halfway to his shoulder. She was slender with long blond hair that reached mid-back, stopping right between her wings. Fero had often tried to argue with her about giving up her ornamental wings, but his heart wasn’t in it. They were her only vanity, and he had to admit she was one of the few people who could pull off the angelic look.
However, it was neither her size nor her appearance the anyone noticed about her. Amber had a strength of presence that had to be experienced to be believed. Most people were so overwhelmed when meeting her that they never realized that she was shorter than them.
His mental rambling was cut off by Mark’s voice over the intercom. "OK Blackie, Sam's on his way to you and the receiving station has given the go ahead. I'm on the way with the rest of the crew."
"Even at a time like this he calls me that..." Fero grumbled, making Amber interrupt her own musings to give him a quick grin.
A moment later Amber's other guard Samuel arrived. He may have been insignificant in size compared to Fero, but he was still a giant compared to the rest of the population. He had modeled himself after the old werewolf myth and balanced himself well enough that he was comfortable on two legs or four. He had long since mastered the art of knowing exactly what posture was the most intimidating at any given time and his presence at Ambers side had ensured that meetings with even the most antagonistic of people stayed peaceful. But in the very few times that intimidation did not work, he was willing and able to perform truly Herculean feats in the defense of his country and his liege.
Sam had just passed the doorway when an explosion near the entrance blasted him off his feet and across the room. Fero instinctively reached out with a wing to catch the tumbling wulven before he bowled Amber over, but he was too late to catch the piece of rock that clipped her shoulder.
Fero quickly looked over his back at their experimental escape route. He thought the portal still looked stable; but with the building falling apart around them, he doubted it would last.
"Times up Amber. We have to get out of here." A trace of panic was threatening to creep into his usually moderate tone as he transferred Sam’s unconscious form from wing to claw.
"No. We will wait for Mark." Though she must have been in a great deal of pain, Amber spoke the order calmly. Just one of the many reasons Fero admired her.
But it was no longer safe here. Sam had passed out from the blast and Amber was injured. I hope Mark can catch up, "Sorry princess, we're going." And I hope someday she forgives me for this.. .
Fero scooped her up before she could protest and, with one friend in each hand, closed his eyes and launched himself through the portal.
As he passed through the portal it flared brightly and then winked out, closing as all of its power was used in one unexpected burst.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
At the royal palace in Canterlot, Princess Celestia was listening to the first of the day's petitioners for morning court. A carrot farmer was currently describing the his new variety of crop in exhaustive detail. As near as Celestia could tell, this particular farmer didn’t actually want anything, he just wanted to know that she cared. And Celestia did care; she was always pleased by her ponies ingenuity.
However, Celestia was not able to properly appreciate the session. She was thoroughly jolted out of her comfortable morning when she felt the emissions of a spell which utterly shocked her. She had trained herself long ago to detect teleportation magic misfires, as only near instantaneous reaction had any hope of saving the unfortunate victim. Not to mention that very few unicorns that ever mastered the skill, and Celestia knew most of them personally.
What she felt though implied at least two contradictions and one outright impossibility. It was without a doubt a teleportation spell, but it was targeted over a mile in the air where no unicorn would ever teleport to even unconsciously. Like all teleportation spells it was immensely complex, yet was also incredibly clumsy based on the amount of magic leaking. And it was too powerful. Only herself or Luna had the raw power that was contained in that burst of magic, but Celestia did not recognize the magic signature at all.
Celestia pulled herself together and addressed the petitioner. “I’m sorry, but something urgent has just come to my attention, did you have any further concerns?”
“Oh, um.. no, your majesty,” He had paused when the Princess’ head jerked up now simply looked confused.
“Very well then, please be sure to register your new crop with the council of agriculture.” Celestia motioned her guard over. “Please spread the word that today's morning court session is over. Also, tell the division captain on duty to meet me in the west conference room.”
She barely waited for his acknowledgement before teleporting herself to the conference room. Once there she began the preparations for a scrying spell. It only took a moment to prepare, but she fretted over every instant of delay.
As Celestia activated the spell, a large globe of magic formed in the middle of the room. Moments later the spell found its target and a scene appeared.
Unfortunately, what they saw raised more questions than answers.
The spell was designed to show two views of the same location, a display of the present as well as a target timeframe. The target timeframe was several seconds before Celestia felt the teleport.
On the bottom half of the globe, showing what was happening in the present was a black dragon, obviously tired, gently spiraling down from a great height.
In top view a hideously violent magical eruption was shown. In its wake the dragon could be seen tumbling about for a moment before diving to catch something. Once it had caught whatever was falling, it settled in to glide toward the ground.
With more questions than answers, she contacted her sister.
<Luna, are you still awake ?> Telepathy had always come easily between the sisters, but even more so as they had become closer after Luna’s return.
<Unngh... You have the worst timing Tia. I had just gotten to sleep, is something wrong ?>
<Yes, I think so... but I’m not sure what. It felt like somepony botched a teleport into our airspace about a mile up. The magic signature was all over the place. >
It took Luna a moment to wrap her sleep-addled mind around that. <I see. Are you in the west conference room? >
<Yes, Thank you Luna, I’ll see you in a moment. >
Even barely awake Luna’s teleport was so graceful that Celestia barely felt it even in the same room. As powerful and practiced as Celestia was, it was Luna that was the artist of the pair, even in magic.
“I’m sorry to wake you little sister, Allow me to replay the spell...”
“Yes, let us see what has disturbed you so.” Luna said, still slowly waking back up. Celestia patiently waited while the image replayed itself.
“Tis a dragon.... Sister, has teleportation advanced so much that a unicorn can overcome a dragon's resistance?”
“No,” Celestia said, “as far as I am aware, what we just witnessed should be impossible. You or I could perform such a spell, but no unicorn alive could teleport a mature dragon very far. It may be possible for several unicorns working together to perform such a feat, but such a group would require a high level of skill, and would never have been as clumsy as what we just witnessed.”
While the princesses were discussing the matter, a pegasus in a division captain's uniform entered the room and stood by respectfully.
Celestia soon addressed the new arrival, “Captain Storm Wind, I will need you to -”
“There is no time sister, look!” Luna interrupted as the dragon’s strength gave out and it plummeted to the ground.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Both princesses could not go to investigate. Equestria did have enemies and should something happen to one sister, the other must be free to act. They agreed that Luna should go, simply due to the fact that Celestia had many other duties during the day.
Luna arrived with Storm Wind moments after the dragon hit the ground. She was too late to help, but was treated to yet another riddle. For some reason the dragon had flipped over and wrapped its wings around itself just before impact, so that it landed on its back. The mystery dragon had however slowed its fall enough that it was still conscious when they descended.
The dragon looked wrong to Luna somehow, but it took a few seconds for her to process the reasons. It had an adult's proportions, but no spines on its crest or tail. Instead, its tail sported an odd sort of fin. Its wings were disproportionately large, and its eyes were oddly small.
Luna’s first impressions were mixed. She was impressed that it was still awake given how far it had fallen. She was also confused by its odd appearance and that, for some reason, it had flipped over at the last second and landed on its back. She also couldn’t help but be amused by its expression.
While not as expressive as the dragons she was accustomed to, there was no denying the expression of pure disbelief the creature had when looking at her and the guards. Had the situation been less serious she would have been unable keep from laughing at the look on its still upside-down face.
"Identify yourself." Captain Storm stepped forward and took the lead while Luna was taking stock of the situation.
If anything the look of confusion grew. But after a moment it turned its head over and responded: "Nerlit hal fintrak?! "
"..."
There was a pause as the ponies tried to make sense of the odd sounds emanating from the creature. Luna could not believe her ears. She was completely unable to understand. The thought of a creature speaking but not being understood was completely alien to her. "Can you not understand us?" She gently asked, stepping up beside the guard captain.
Once again it took a moment to respond. This time the sounds it made were more fluid like her own speech, but still unfamiliar.
"En vou lin yomalta, yin va nedderwa? " The question obvious even though they could make no sense of the words.
"I'm sorry, I still don't understand..."
This time, instead of responding with words, the dragon slowly and carefully unfurled its wings, which had been wrapped around its barrel, and gently unclasped its front claws. Resting inside were two more strange unconscious creatures.
One was large, about the same size as Luna herself. It looked like a cross between a diamond dog and a timberwolf. She could not tell if it was meant to walk on four legs or two. It had reddish-brown fur and was wearing an unfamiliar style of armor. Mostly Luna noticed the muscles. This was obviously a very strong specimen of whatever species it belonged to. Even asleep it was intimidating, she imagined it could be outright frightening awake.
The other one was, if anything, even stranger. A bit smaller than an adult pony, it was pale and furless under its clothing. Its golden mane had seen better days and it appeared female. Luna guessed this one was bipedal like a diamond dog or a minotaur, but where those two races appeared coarse and brutish, this one was slender and built gracefully. To top it all off it sported a pair of small white pegasus wings.
Then Luna noticed that the female was bleeding from a deep cut on her shoulder. A quick look at the dog creature showed that it too was bleeding, but from its ears.
"Grathta nothru... " The dragon spoke in a soft voice which belied it's massive frame, "Tath tra so sen sentra, teth grathta. "
There was no mistaking the pleading in its eyes, and no real need for any words. Luna simply meet the dragon’s gaze and nodded solemnly.
With a small sigh of pure relief, the massive creature passed out.
Chapter 1
Luna surveyed the structure she had just created. She rarely had the opportunity to turn her hoof toward the more practical crafts, but one would never be able to tell from the building she had just risen from nothing more than the earth underneath her hooves.
Situated in a large plain to the west of Canterlot, it blended seamlessly into the landscape. The royal palace itself was barely in view, and there were no other dwellings for many miles in any direction.
On the inside it resembled a common brick cottage, the only real difference being that it had only one room and the floor was recessed several feet. It was also large enough to comfortably house the three strangers twice over. The challenge had been to make the temporarily house blend in, as she and her sister agreed that they did not want the public aware of the newcomers until more was known, and weather patrols flew overhead regularly.
To that end Luna had styled the structure as simply as possible. Grass grew on three slopes and over the roof. Several windows were carefully hidden from view by clever vine growths. The side of the building with the entrance looked, from a distance, like a simple break in the ground. To facilitate the illusion she created a shallow gully extending past the entrance in either direction.
Luna realized that she was letting her artistic side run away with her when she started pulling up a spring to feed a small decorative stream.
After a small reminder to herself that this task was not for her own pleasure she sent a telepathic nudge to her sister.
<Yes Luna? >
<Their new house is ready Tia, go ahead and send the furnishings. >
<It will be there in a few minutes, where do you want me to put it? >
<Just put it around me, I’ll have it moved inside. > It had been a long time since she and her sister had been able to truly work together, even at such a distance as this. Luna continued her work with a smile on her face and a slight prance in her step.
True to Celestia's word, various articles of furniture started popping into existence around Luna. First was a pair of extra large beds, followed by a table and a set of chairs. Finally a stack of carpets and blankets.
<That’s all the furniture, Luna. Let me know when you’re ready for the doctors. They should be ready to go in ten minutes. >
<Thank you Tia, I should be ready for them about then > Luna gently closed the connection with her sister.
With that taken care of, Luna turned to where the strangers slept on the hill behind her. They were still unconscious and now surrounded by guards. A full dozen pegasi, hoof chosen by her sister, had been sent in case any backup was needed.
“Captain, Please have some of your guard move the furniture inside. I will see to our guests.”
“Of course, your highness.” With a few gestures and words Storm Wind detailed half the squad to furniture duty and the other half to remain on guard. He himself stayed by the Luna to act as her personal guard and aide.
With the arrival of the doctors, Luna approached the strangers once more. The first thing she had done when the dragon passed out was examine each one for injuries. It was cumbersome to not have names for them, so she mentally assigned them each one as she worked. And if the names were a bit silly, well, doctors are supposed to be discreet right?
The winged female she called “Goldie” and was suffering from slight blood loss and magical overload as well as a broken collar bone. Luna simply sealed her wound and locked the bone in place with a simple bone mending spell. She expected Goldie to recover mostly on her own.
Luna could find no injuries on the dragon, whom she dubbed “Blackie”, the beast was simply exhausted and needed rest.
Luna decided to balance the canine creature’s frightening appearance with a less than threatening name. Hence the name “Fluffy”. Unfortunately Fluffy’s injuries were more series than the other two. Fluffy had a concussion along with some internal bleeding, several cracked ribs, and a cracked skull. It had taken Luna and the doctors an hour to set the subtle healing magics that would ensure the brain took no lasting harm. That, along with several bone mending spells and some of the more common regeneration magic set Fluffy on the road to recovery.
With their immediate medical needs attended to, Luna finally set a sleep spell on all three.
With her patients recovering to her satisfaction and safely unconscious, Luna left to make the rest of the necessary arrangements for the strange trio.
~ Three days later ~
Even with mysterious strangers literally falling out of the sky, life goes on in Equestria. At the moment that only meant one thing to Princess Celestia... paperwork. As tedious as she found the matter, the princess diligently devoted hours every day to it, for such things kept the dyarchy running smoothly. She did however welcome interruptions, such as the one entering the room at that moment.
“Star Shine, it’s always a pleasure to speak with you.” Celestia greeted her guest as the mare genuflected. “Dare I hope that you have already made progress on your project?”
Star Shine, principal of the Canterlot University of Magic, had been tasked with finding a way to communicate with the strangers. “Your highness, not just progress. A solution has been found.”
“That’s wonderful, I did not expect a solution quite so soon. However, you imply that you are not the source of this solution...”
“You specified that the strangers be kept an absolute secret, but the problem presented is outside of my area of speciality.” Star was not fazed by Celestia's implied displeasure. “In order to solve the problem in time to be useful, I posted a university wide challenge: To allow communication with a non-unicorn that, for any reason, could not speak. I have, to this point, received exactly one response. It came from a correspondence student yesterday morning.”
“Yesterday morning?” This time Celestia allowed a hint of censure to enter her tone. She had recently put in place the magic that would guide the sun through sunset and into the night. “I thought I made it clear that time is of the essence. Why did you not bring this to me the moment you verified it?”
To Celestia’s utter amazement Star Shine, the most acclaimed magician of her generation, actually blushed. “... I did.” After she took a moment to gather herself and levitate a package from her saddlebags she continued. “The spell is loosely, very loosely, based on a spell for short range telepathy. However, in order to function without every participant being a unicorn multiple elements of interpersonal magics are worked in. I still cannot follow all the threads that are involved in this spell, let alone test cast it. The student did however include her full notes along with documentation of a test with a local postal worker with a slight case of speech apraxia.” Star passed the package to the princess
Celestia’s heart fell a little as she recognized the writing. She had not wanted to involve Twilight Sparkle in something as potentially dangerous, or politicized, as this matter could become. But there was still hope that her student could stay in the background. “How long until you can have someone ready to perform this spell?”
Once again Star Shine looked uncomfortable. “I believe that, with luck, I can have my best student ready to cast this spell in a month.”
Celestia’s hopes fell a little more. “And yourself?”
“I believe I could be proficient in this spell with a week of study your highness.”
The last of Celestia’s hopes to keep Twilight out of the matter fell apart. It seemed she would be involving her protege in Equestria’s crisis once more.
Spike was used to Twilight going overboard where Princess Celestia was concerned, and this latest letter sent her into a predictable panic attack.
“Twilight!” Spike had to yell to get her attention as she trotted in circles around the library, “The letter said she was proud of that spell you put together. You can calm down!”
“But I based that spell on a common telepathic communication spell, what if she thinks I’m not taking my studies seriously? What if she thinks I’m trying to plagiarize Shady Mists’ thesis on subconscious communication? What if...”
Spike had realized by this point that reason simply would not work. As Twilight passed him on yet another round of the library, Spike reached up and grabbed a handful of her forelock, forcing her head around to face him.
“Argh, Spike! Wha-”
“TWILIGHT!” Spike yelled directly into her face. He took advantage of the second of shock to grab another handful of mane and force her head down until her horn was resting on his head and their foreheads were touching. “Now... breathe.”
Once her breathing started to slow down Spike let go of her mane and rested his hands on her shoulders. They stayed like that for a few minutes while Twilight calmed down.
With a final deep breath, she lifted her head. “Thank you Spike, I kinda needed that.”
“I’m glad I could help.” Woah, I don’t believe that worked! “Now, the letter said that Princess Celestia would be sending a carriage immediately. That means it won’t get here for another hour at least. Perhaps you could spend that time going over that spell you made?”
“You’re right Spike, what would I ever do without my number one assistant?”
“And while you’re doing that, I’ll make arrangements for our trip to Canterlot.”
“Hold on a minute Spike, you're going to watch the library while I’m gone.”
“Not this time Twi, it seems that every time I let you out of my sight you’re doing something dangerous.” Spike gave her his best “stern” look.
“Oh, come on Spike, it’s not that bad.”
Spike was not letting up now that he had the upper claw for once. “I wasn’t there when you confronted Nightmare Moon. My place in the Discord problem was an embarrassment. I finally got the full story of that out of Fluttershy by the way. I heard from Pinkie that you charged a hydra in the swamp. You got turned to stone in the Everfree Forest. You got into a brawl with practically the entire race of changelings. And I’m sure there’s even more that nopony's told me about!”
“But.. I.. You...” Twilight had retreated a bit with each point the little dragon made. “... I’ll write a letter to the Mayor to let her know the library may be closed for a few days.”
Spike nodded and headed to the kitchen to prepare some pre-flight food. He wasn’t sure what had come over him back there. He was never that assertive, but he did not want Twilight to go alone right now. He just knew that he could help her, he was her number one assistant after all. And she was his... Boss? No, that didn’t sound right, they were far closer than that. Mom? That’s the logical word, after all Twilight hatched and raised him, but she never acted motherly. Sister? Friend? Both close, but neither quite right... It doesn't matter. Whatever the right word is for what she is to me, she’s MINE, and I am NOT going to let her get hurt.
Twilight looked at Spike as he slept curled up on the carriage floor. Moments of assertiveness and aggression like the one earlier in the evening were becoming more common lately. She made a mental note to speak with the princesses and Zecora about his growth to ensure they did not have another problem like his greed induced growth spurt.
Despite his insistence on going with Twilight, Spike had fallen asleep minutes after the carriage left Ponyville. The trip would take a couple of hours, and Twilight had studied all she needed to in order to refresh her memory of the new spell. Thinking objectively she was very satisfied with it. There was no doubt that the spell was effective. Twilight’s conversation with Ditzy Doo had proven that rather conclusively.
Ditzy had found out that Twilight was working on while delivering the mail and had immediately volunteered as a test subject. She had been born with a condition that garbled the words that she spoke unless she was concentrating on her speech to the exclusion of everything else. This lead to a reputation of clumsiness and made other ponies think her less intelligent than she really was. However, when she didn't have to worry about which words she was speaking and could relax she proved as able as any other pony. She and Twilight had had quite an enlightening discussion on the merits of the safeguards society places on privacy, as well as the effect such safeguards have on trust and friendship. This was a topic that both mares had surprising insights on given that one was studying friendship itself and the other was exposed to a great deal that was supposed to be private when delivering mail.
A soft snort from Spike brought Twilight’s attention back to the present. Spike was pretty adorable when he was asleep. Just watching him sleep helped Twilight relax a bit more. When did Spike get so good at calming ponies down? Or is it just me that he knows how to calm?
But these musing too were cut off by their arrival at the palace. Instead of waking Spike, Twilight simply levitated him onto her back and carried him, after all, he was still just a baby dragon. Twilight would keep telling herself this for as long as she could get away with. She resolutely ignored that Spike had grown large enough that she had to hold him in place with magic.
The guards let her pass without comment. Most recognized her on site, and they had all been informed that she would be arriving to meet with the princesses.
Twilight was a bit surprised when she reached Princess Celestia’s study though. She was expecting a private meeting with her mentor. Instead she was greeted by both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna as well as Star Shine, whom she had met when signing up for her correspondence courses.
“Twilight Sparkle, my faithful student. Please come join us.” Princess Celestia beckoned. The three were already seated around a short table with a built in viewing surface. The princess gestured for Twilight to take the seat next to her.
“Good evening Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Star Shine. I must admit, this, um... wasn’t quite what I was expecting.” Twilight couldn’t help but fidget a little as she sat. Her usual meetings with Princess Celestia were usually either private lessons or formal events. Twilight wasn’t quite sure how to deal with the apparently informal setting.
“I expect not my faithful student,” Princess Celestia said with the kind smile that Twilight was infinitely familiar with. “but there are still more surprises for you this evening. And here one comes now. Storm Wind, Shining Armor, please join us.” The princess gestured to the last two seats.
“Shiny!?” Twilight sprang up and across the room to tackle her big brother with a hug. “It’s been months! What are you doing here?”
“No idea, Twily” He chuckled, “I was called by Princess Celestia, I think she’ll tell us what’s going on soon enough.”
“Oh, hehe... right. I suppose I’ll just get back to my seat now.”
Once everyone had gotten seated Princess Celestia began. “I have called you all together because I need your assistance.” Her horn glowed briefly as she triggered the playback spell she had prepared earlier. “Early in the morning three days ago...”
Princess Celestia, Princess Luna and Captain Storm Wind told each of their parts in turn, bringing each pony in the room up to date.
Princess Luna was just finishing up the final portion of the tale. “We have been keeping all three of the visitors asleep since they arrived, however I fear that any longer would be detrimental to their health.”
“And that brings us to your part my faithful student.” Princess Celestia said.
Twilight had reasoned out her intended role much earlier in the story, and had plenty of time to come up with a fit of self-doubt. “Princess, I don’t understand why you want me here. I mean, I’m honored, but there must be hundreds of unicorns more able to handle a translation spell. Or you could handle things yourself and cut out a layer of communication, making things that much more efficient.”
“Twilight Sparkle, you underestimate yourself. The spell you submitted as a response to that challenge is the only magic in Equestria suitable for this task right now. And as of this moment, you are the only pony in Equestria who is capable of casting that spell, making you the only being capable of communicating with these strangers. Furthermore, as Luna said, time of of the essence. It would take time which we do not have to teach another unicorn to act in your stead.”
“As for your final question,” Princess Luna chimed in. “My sister or I could likely cast this spell; however, that is not an option. Tell me Twilight, in the simplest terms you can, how does your spell work?”
Twilight had to think for a moment to phrase her explanation as requested. “Well, it intercepts the translation of subconscious thought to words that precede speech, then broadcasts the intent of that speech to anyone within hearing distance that has a connection to the speaker. In this case the connection used is the speakers awareness of the listener.”
“As I had surmised. Twilight, this is a very elegant solution to our dilemma, however it does have one flaw. My sister and I have looked over your work and we believe that there is a chance that the recipient would be able to see more than the speaker intended. As the rulers of this land we have knowledge that we cannot risk giving to a possible threat.”
“My faithful student,” Princess Celestia said. “For all these reasons, we need you to be the one to do this. Can we count on you?”
“Yes, your highness. Of course I’ll do my best!”
“Thank you. Now, Shining Armor, your task is to ensure Twilight’s safety. You are to use whatever resources you deem necessary. If you need something or somepony that’s not immediately available you are to requisition said item or pony on my authority. In matters of safety you are in charge between the two of you, but otherwise I expect you to follow Twilight’s lead. Do both of you understand and accept this?”
“Yes, your highness” / “Yes, Princess” they spoke almost in unison.
“Captain Storm Wind, your task is the same as it has been. You are to guard the strangers. Like Shining Armor, if there is anything you need you are to requisition it.” The pegasus responded affirmatively. “Now, any further questions?”
After waiting a moment Princess Celestia continued. “Very well, meet here after sunrise. We all have a lot to do.”
Chapter 2
Sam had woken up to pain before. He had woken up bleeding, bruised, drugged or drunk. Or some unholy amalgamation of all of the above. And since he vaguely remembered the explosion that had knocked him out, he was more than a little surprised to not be enjoying one or more of those joys of life.
As usual his mind was active from the moment he regained consciousness, before even opening his eyes. So he was able to truly appreciate the numbing sensation that usually came with strong medication. He was also a bit surprised to be so clear headed... most medications he was given required very high dosages to affect him, making him a bit loopy. At least until his high metabolism burned it all off, leaving him worse off than he started.
Sam took stock of himself as he woke up. Bruised ribs, perhaps fractured but I doubt it. Ringing ears; I’ll have to look out for other signs of a concussion, I hate those.... I seem to be ok for the moment. Moving on... Laying on something soft, feels like a bed. Looks like that portal actually worked. Well, that’s a surprise.
Sam was surprised to see the inside of a rustic brick building when he finally opened his eyes. He was expecting a more modern hospital room given his condition. He noted that Fero was awake nearby and seemed perfectly calm. No surprise there, he’s a 40 foot long lizard with a super tough hide. Not much in the world is a threat to him. Sam also saw with relief that Amber was asleep in another bed near his own. No one else was in the room with them.
Fifteen foot to the ceiling, squarish room roughly sixty foot each wall. One door, several windows. I can see plenty of green out there and it’s daytime. Bare stone floor with some carpets thrown in. Square as far as I can tell. There’s room for even Fero to maneuver in here... whoever built this place believes in their elbow room. Lots of earth smells, beds are new and linens smell freshly washed. Several people have been in here... they smell strange, can’t quite place it...
“Did Mark make it?” Sam asked.
“No Idea,” Fero replied, not even looking away from the door. “He didn’t make it through the portal though. And it’s a good thing. Damn thing spit us out over a thousand feet up.”
“Damn... So much for that idea. Where are we?”
“I don’t know that either. I haven’t seen anyone since I woke up, and I’m hoping that I was hallucinating before I passed out. Either way, you and Amber got a lot of very impressive medical work done, and I think we’ve been kept under for a while. Amber had a broken collarbone that’s almost done healing, and I think you managed to get your skull cracked in that last explosion.”
“How long do you think we were out?”
“Based on the bruising... a few days at most.”
“And what did you mean with that thing about hallucinating?”
Fero lost his stoic mask and managed to look a bit uncomfortable for a moment. “If I was then it doesn't matter, and if I wasn’t then you’ll see for yourself soon. In either case we’ll meet our hosts soon. Besides, if it was a dream you’d laugh your fuzzy ass off. I’d like to spare myself that.”
“I’m glad to see that you haven’t lost your sense of humor, Fero.” Amber spoke up from her bed. “I only caught the last bit - care to fill me in on the rest?”
Sam quickly looked away when Amber sat up. Whomever had bandaged her shoulder had neglected to replace her top.
Amber quickly brought the blanket back up. “You two please look around for my shirt. It seems to be the only thing I’m missing.” A quick check of the empty room turned up nothing though.
“Amber, allow me,” Fero spoke up after a moment's thought. “Sam, keep your eyes on the door.”
“Got it.” Sam tried very hard to ignore what was going on behind him. After several minutes of cloth tearing and small comments like “a little more” or “this part’s too tight” he was allowed to look again.
“That’s just not fair, regent.” He said after a moment’s appraisal. “Your hair’s a mess, you’re covered in bruises, and literally dressed in rags. You should NOT look that hot.”
“It’s a gift,” Amber said with a grin. Her expression soon faded into the serious tone she usually wore. “Ok, to business. What do we know? Fero?”
“Not much. After that explosion I didn’t trust that the portal would hold much longer. I grabbed you and Sam and jumped though. It was a rough ride, and it spit us out high in the air. I mostly remember landing, but it’s pretty vague. I woke up not long ago and Sam shortly after. If my memory of the landing is correct then there will be language issues.”
“Your dream. I see, and Mark’s team?”
“I don’t know.”
The look Amber gave him shifted from anger to fear and back again. Fero expected a much longer and less pleasant discussion in the near future. “Anything else?”
“We’ve been given some expert medical care. Your collarbone is freshly mended, as are several of Sam’s ribs and his skull. The bruising is still there, so we were not under long enough to heal naturally. There must have been something accelerating things.”
“Impressive. Do you have anything Sam?”
“As far as I can tell, this building is new. I suspect that it was built specifically for us. There are no scents older than a few days, not even cleaning smells. There have been people in and out of here recently, I can get at least three different scents, but I don’t recognize anything about them. They seem... off. I can’t pin it down though.”
The three continued to investigate their surroundings, but were soon interrupted by a knock on the massive door.
With a glance they arranged themselves quickly and silently. Amber sat upright on the edge of her bed with Sam sitting protectively in front of her and just to the side. Fero acted as a backdrop, covering their sides and rear with his bulk. Once everyone got to their customary places, Amber called for whoever was at the door to enter.
Sam instantly noted that the door swung inward, and that there was a short ramp up just outside. That’s as far as he was able to process when his entire attention was taken by the ... person? ... at the door.
Coming in the door was what looked to be a white horse. That thing can't even look Amber in the eye, Sam thought. Probably some breed of pony... if ponies had wings. It had a pair of wings that looked far too small to be functional, and was wearing what appeared to be golden armor. The pony bowed and spoke something unintelligible in a smooth flowing language. When there no immediate response came, it called out the door and a procession of several more identical winged ponies came in pulling a string of small carts. These carts were arranged along one wall and unfolded to display a large variety of foods. There was a selection of baked goods including several kinds of pie, fruits and vegetables both raw and cooked, salads, and oddly enough a basket of enormous gemstones.
Once the food had been set up up all but one of the ponies left. The one that had entered first stayed behind and gestured to the food.
“So... Fero... Did you hallucinate about talking pegasus ponies when you hit your head?” Sam asked.
“That’s right.”
“Am I having the same hallucination?”
“Yup.”
“Ok, Good... Just checking.”
Sam pushed his questions to the back of his mind and trotted over to the buffet. He carefully took a sniff of everything, sampling a taste here and there. “Everything smells ok. Very fresh, simple cooking. Also, there’s no meat of any kind. But this apple pie is really good.” Getting a nod from Amber he filled a plate for himself and Amber and brought them back to where Amber was sitting.
Fero pulled a cart filled with cooked vegetables over to him, and they all ate in relative silence. After emptying his cart, Fero also pulled the cart with the gems to him and examined some of them. “I wonder why these are here. They look and feel like real gems, but they’re a hundred times too large. And why present them the same exact way they presented the carrots?”
Amber looked up from her meal “Well, you two are pretty scary looking. Perhaps it’s a tribute, or some kind of bribe?”
They tossed around several ideas, by unspoken agreement avoiding the more stressful issues until they were more able to deal with them. They did not get that much time though. As they were finishing up their breakfast there was another knock at the door.
Sam glanced at the pegasus that had stayed behind. It was still standing in the same position it had held since the food arrived, just inside and to one side of the door. It had not reacted to the knock.
Amber again called for whoever was at the door to enter. Two more ponies came in. But this time they were not winged.
“Ok, that’s it. I’m dreaming.” She said. “I can somehow rationalize being fed by a flock of pegasi, but that purple unicorn is too adorable to be real.”
Chapter 3
Ten minutes earlier...
Twilight could not decide whether to be nervous or excited as she paced in a tiny circle outside the strangers’ dwelling. The early morning meeting had been brief and to the point. It was decided that Twilight and her brother would make the initial contact, while the royal guard waited outside in case they were needed. Princess Luna would prepare some contingency measures and would signal Twilight when she was ready.
She was getting ready to work herself up to nervous muttering when she felt a claw on her shoulder. She hadn’t even noticed that Spike was next to her, but the small reminder of his presence was enough to get her mind back on track. Feeling a bit calmer, and finally finished pacing, she could concentrate on the changes she had made to the communication spell the night before.
Twilight was in the middle of her twelfth review when Shining Armor approached and caught her attention. “Twily, the guards report that the guests are about finished eating, and the Princess will be arriving momentarily. Are you ready?”
“Yea, Ok... I can do this... Spike, wait here for Princess Luna.”
“Nuh Unh,” Spike’s reply was almost instantaneous as he stepped in front of Twilight. “You know the deal, I’m going with you.” Spike crossed his arms and started tapping his foot.
“Fine, but you will follow behind us.”
“It’s a deal! Come on, Twilight, let’s go!” Spike’s assertive behaviour melted away, leaving behind the cheerful assistant that Twilight was more familiar with.
Armor was snickering behind a hoof though the whole exchange. “Since when was Spike the boss of you?”
“It’s a long story... or maybe a very short one... but either way, now is not the time for this. Are you ready?” Like Spike’s assertiveness, Twilight’s friendly and slightly silly older brother melted away, leaving behind a competent captain of the Celestial Guard.
“We’re ready when you are, Twilight.”
“Alright, let’s do this.” With no more excuses to delay, Twilight mustered as much confidence as she could and knocked on the door. Taking the odd string of sounds that followed as permission, she entered the dwelling with her older brother at her side.
Twilight didn’t pause as she approached the strangers, but the short walk from the door was enough for her to note some information about the beings before her. She’d seen dragons once or twice, and the canine was enough like a diamond dog that she could overlook its differences. The winged creature, however, was a complete unknown. And it was the winged one that broke the silence.
“Yalth, is tra. Kalrosh sta. Nanta, kelhoy so vudito de laftata so salo. Dratk, ko shuta hinufruta du fra sta kalrosh.”
Princess Luna was right, that’s definitely a girl. Twilight thought. Even with the harsh language, the strange girl’s voice made it sound lovely, even musical. Oh, they probably want some answers... I should get to work.
Closing her eyes to concentrate better, she cast her spell on herself as quickly as she could. But when she opened her eyes bare seconds later, the scene had changed dramatically. What before was a peaceful and relaxed gathering now looked like the prelude to battle.
Shining Armor had put himself between the strangers and Twilight, and Spike had moved up to her side, looking as ferocious as it was possible for a baby dragon to look. As for the strangers, the winged girl was completely blocked from view by the wing of the dragon, with the canine directly between Twilight and where the winged girl was, balanced on two legs with teeth and claws bared. The dragon was no longer lounging; it had risen slightly and had brought its head down to hover protectively above the others.
“Woah, WOAH! Everypony calm down!” Twilight shouted. The effect of her shout was immediate and impressive, as the strangers immediately froze and stared at her. In the following silence Twilight was starting to feel a little nervous. That dragon looked really big right then... and the wolf thing had really really sharp teeth.
Thankfully the silence didn’t last too long. The winged girl soon pushed the dragon’s wing aside (and climbed over its tail, ducked under its neck, and gave it a slightly indignant look when she was finally free) and started pelting Twilight with questions she could not yet understand. Since this was on Twilight’s list of expected actions, it actually helped her focus on the next step.
The girl fell silent as Twilight begin her prepared speech. “Please relax. Even though you can understand me, I cannot understand you yet. You may notice that you still cannot actually interpret the words that I’m saying. This is because a spell is transferring my thoughts directly to each of you when I speak. In order for two way communication I will need a volunteer from the three of you to have the same spell placed on him or her.”
The canine immediately started forward, but was stopped by the girl’s hand on its shoulder pulling it back into a discussion with the other two. It almost seemed to Twilight that the girl was simply giving them directions. After a few moments the girl approached Twilight and gestured towards herself.
Twilight cast her spell once more, being sure to keep her eyes open this time. She didn’t want a repeat of a few moments ago. Seeing the spell take effect on someone else was an interesting sight. Her horn had its usual lavender glow at the edge of her vision, and a barely discernible mist the same shade started gathering around the girl. As the spell reached its peak the mist gathered to a single point at her forehead, right where her horn would be had she been a unicorn, and vanished with a small flash.
The girl absently rubbed at the point the mist had vanished and started speaking.
“Vahh... Mela golobie tra kita kitantha ak da nyea.”
Twilight couldn’t help grinning as her spell took effect partway through the sentence. She hadn’t been certain it would work on a non-pony. “Yea, my friend Ditzy told me about the funny feeling. It should fade in a minute or two,” Twilight said as she happily nodded.
“So you can understand me now?” At Twilight’s nod the girl continued, “This is amazing. I guess that means introductions are in order. My name is Amber, I am Regent of Convergence. These are my friends and protectors, Fero and Sam.” Each of the intimidating creatures nodded as Amber indicated them.
Twilight was a bit taken aback by the deluge of information that came along with that relatively simple statement. Not only did she get the simple information the words conveyed, she also caught how Amber cared deeply for both of her friends, who had looked after her for as long as she could remember. She also now knew that Amber was the sole ruler of a small country, as well as hundreds of nuances that Twilight simply couldn’t process quickly enough to make sense of.
“Ah, yes... um, my name is Twilight Sparkle, I am the personal student of Princess Celestia of Equestria and acting envoy of the crown. This is my brother and Captain of the Royal Guard, Shining Armor. And this is my close friend and number one assistant, Spike.” Twilight guessed that her statement, laden with new information, had a similar effect on the strangers as their own introduction had on her. Their reactions bore this out. Amber’s eyes widened, Fero’s head jerked up, and Sam’s rump hit the ground as he sat rather suddenly. She felt a little satisfied and guilty at the same time for inflicting the same information overload on them that she had just felt.
Twilight felt a small flare of magic outside as she waited for the guests to recover, the agreed upon signal that Princess Luna had arrived and was ready to enter.
Amber was the first, only taking a few seconds to organize her thoughts. “Can you tell me more about where we are? I don’t recognize the name ‘Equestria’.”
“I would be happy to give you more information, but before we begin, I’d like to bring in Princess Luna.”
“Of course, I would be honored to meet with your royalty.”
“Spike,” Twilight nodded toward the door, “if you would?”
“Sure thing Twilight,” Spike said as he quickly let the princess in.
All the ponies bowed respectfully as the princess entered the room, with Fero and Sam following suit. Amber respectfully inclined her head.
“We are pleased to see you up and about, and doubly so to be able to converse freely,” Luna said once everyone was upright again. “I am Princess Luna, co-ruler of the diarchy of Equestria.”
Now that the princess was here to handle things, Twilight’s job was primarily to act as an information funnel. (She had a hard time keeping a straight face at that mental image.) She cheerfully settled in to observe what would surely be a historic meeting.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Star Shine was utterly fascinated by the anomaly before her. In the normal course of things a spell residue would fade over the course of minutes, but the residue of this... this... construct had lasted for more than three days. It was enough to make her forget that she was a thousand feet in the air, entrusting her safety to a flimsy cloudwalk spell and a cloud that her four pegasi guards had acquired.
After several hours of study, her attention was diverted by a shout from one of the guards. “Aack! What the buck was that?”
“Hrm? What was what?” Star muttered, most of her attention still on the residue before her.
“Something just zapped me...”
“Oh? let me see.” Her concentration now fully shot, she looked over to the scowling pegasus. It didn’t take her long to confirm her suspicion. “Aha! Here’s the culprit.”
“Where?” He asked, confusion written all over his face.
“Here,” She indicated a tiny insect that she had caught in her telekinetic grip. “It’s a zap sprite. They are usually only found in storm clouds, and this is quite a large specimen too. They’re usually too small to notice.”
“So why are they bother-” bzzap “Ow! Bothering us now?”
“Oh, grow up.... These things can barely generate enough-” bzzZAP “OUCH!” Star went a bit cross-eyed looking at the tiny scorch mark on her muzzle. “We may as well go down. I’m not going to be able to concentrate with a swarm of these things here.”
The four guards-ponies lost no time lowering the infested cloud. However, Star stopped them before they touched down. “Wait, look down there. Do you guys see something?”
“Wait here ma’am, I’ll go investigate.” The guard stayed in sight while he took several moments to investigate. “Looks like something killed a family of rabbits here. It’s not a predator, no signs that anything was eaten. It also looks like another small animal was killed a bit further.”
“... Two of you stay here and get as much information as you can. The other two get me back to Canterlot as fast as you can. I need to report to the princesses immediately. And be careful. I have a bad feeling about this.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Proofreading by AlicornPriest
