The Sum-total

by combatarms

Rating: teen
Tags: Adventure, Princess Celestia, Human, Main 6, Gore, Anon, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Alternate Universe
Length: 5725

The griffon nation has begun a spontaneous industrial revolution, Celestia fears that the griffons will soon create an unstoppable war machine. so with the elements and a few helpful ponies she decided to get to the bottom of the situation.

As the Griffon kingdom modernizes far beyond Equestria Celestia is concerned that they may begin a warpath. she believes there is a third party providing knowledge to the griffon kingdom. she takes the elements and a few very talented ponies to investigate the situation. If she is too late the griffons may already possess technology that outstrips magic.

Published 2017-09-21 15:30:06 UTC
Last updated 2017-10-06 14:58:09 UTC

Chapter 1

All was well in Equestria, the economy was steady and harmony was well kept. Celestia believed herself to be a fin ruler all things considered. There was only one problem, the griffons seemed to have begun a technologic revolution. They had discovered a new power source called electricity and with it came flight and machines that could dig up mountains.

This was a problem. Not because the griffons were well off these days now, but it was that they had achieved the technology out of nowhere as if some foreign influence had given them knowledge. Celestia felt the need to root out the cause of this technologic boom and if it was possible to slow it down. So she sent out a few letters summoning the ponies she knew could help her in this task.

In a small apartment on the outskirts of Canterlot a letter appeared on a simple wooden desk, the recipient had just arrived at a startling pop noise that accompanies the letter. Feeling heart was a mare that could sense strong emotions, how far away and how strongly she felt them was decided on how strong the emotions were. Lately she had been feeling something from the north but she couldn’t quite pin down what it was. It turns out she might be getting a chance to find out.

A letter appeared in a Manehatten loft, it was a very barren place as the pony that lived there didn’t care to much for material things and only needed the basics in life. He arrived a while after it had appeared and as he read he thought of all the work he might have to do. Any time the princess sent a letter it was a big job that didn’t pay much. he would make more money in a week than whatever he was getting paid this time around, but a job from the princess can’t be ignored.

Most ponies had cutie marks that guided them through life, his cutie mark granted him a specific and almost legendary power. He could open up holes in walls or floors, how much material he can pass through determines how much mana he can put in to it. That becomes a null issue once the princess is involved though, the amount of mana she has access too might allow him to go from one side of the planet to the other. The princess only calls him in for breakout jobs and normally has a night guard watch him for weeks after just in case he felt like telling somebody it happened, he asked his regular guard one day what would happen if he spoke out. The guard simply replied, “Whatever I feel like doing to you” and that was the end of that one.

A letter appeared in a mailbox in a home on the outskirts of nowhere, it was so quite here that the pony could hear the pop from inside her house. She walked out and brought the letter inside only finding disappointment inside. The princess only seemed to write to her when she was needed, never on the holidays or when it might be kind to write a letter to a so-called friend. she began to prepare for the journey to Canterlot and packed the necessary provisions. She lived alone like the because of the nature of her cutie mark, it was sought after and she couldn’t handle the stress of it. She can weave together magical orbs that would attract emotional energy and convert it into raw mana, the conversion rate was poor but with enough ponies she could create massive energy wells. Celestia rarely called on her but it was always to make use of this.

And of course, the last letter blasted out of a baby dragon in a burst of green fire, alerting twilight sparkle to gather the elements of harmony and prepare for a trip to the north. As twilight scrambled to prepare and alert her friends she made no thought of why Celestia would want her to head north. She couldn’t fathom the events to come or the suffering they would soon bring.

Deep beneath the capital of the growing griffon empire there was a chamber frequented by the king. It was not a chamber of material wealth as those above speculate but one of priceless knowledge. The guards that kept watch lived only feet away from their post and will never be allowed to see the day. The many doors and the many locks that accompanied each door. Only four guards know what lies within the chamber as all the other are housed in separate areas, these four guards and the king bear witness to the great phenomenon of the age; a human.

This was no ordinary human of the past, he was not uncivilized as they once were before dying out in the jungles. This human was foretold by the griffon ancestors, a human to appear beyond time and from a place where these creatures not only existed but brought down the yoke of oppression on any who attempt to fight back. It was once foretold that a single human would appear and grant the knowledge on the griffon king he felt was worthy to inherit it, sadly the human did not seem to think king razor tail was deserving of the knowledge.

It’s a good thing the king didn’t give a dropping what the human thought. He sealed the human away and tortured him for information, and little by little when he couldn’t handle it anymore he would give up small pieces of knowledge for a few months of peace. The king didn’t need to worry about food because the human was curse with horrific immortality, his wounds would heal but only at a natural rate and the effects of hunger affected him. As the king neared the chamber he could hear the raspy breathing of his prisoner. He had left him with a rather barbed spear impaled in his chest so he must have pierced a lung.

The king approached the final door and the guards opened it, the lock and key the pride of griffon craftmanship. No magic could touch or open this door and the room that lay beyond and no creature could replicate the keys. This section has existed under the castle since its creation, all in preparation for the arrival of the human. The human was prophesized as the cursed vessel, a being who would take his species knowledge into himself to pass down to those worthy.

“Are you willing to speak today?” The king asked the prisoner whose blood only ran in drops as it was produced by his immortally failing body.

“What do you want to know now?” His voice like gravel being run through a meat grinder.

“You spoke of black powder last time we meet, I wish to hear of it.” The king stated as if the humans suffering was all but normal.

The human’s eyes shot open in fear he scrambled mentally for a way out of this situation, seeing no way out he could only delay the inevitable “I will not tell you, if your kind knew of it then your lives will be plunged into chaos and the downward spiral of your world would begin”. He settled back down believing this would keep the king off him for another month or two.

The king looked at him, disappointed he grabbed one of the rusty halberds that lay against the wall. It had been there long before the king or even the kings father was born, all the weapons down here rusted but sharp enough to be imbedded into the human. He thrust the polearm into his midsection and the creature howled in agony, his scared flesh making way for the latest violation of his biology.

“I’ll be back in a week or so, I do hope your willing to teach me the ways of this ‘black powder’ when I come back.” The king spoke as if he was just scolding a child for not completing their chores on time.

As the king made his way up towards the palace one of his secretaries ran into the, sending the tiny griffon to the floor.

“What makes you think it’s alright to run into your king like that, you better have a good reason or I’m liable to execute you for treason.” He spat at the her.

She groveled beneath his claws and stammered out “Excuse me sire, but princess Celestia sent a letter stating she will be here in three days to seek council with you”

The kings’ temple twitched and he stepped over her and began walking to the throne room “Tell the princess I am not meeting visitors right now” he barked at her.

“The letter said that you didn’t have a choice on the matter, three days, at four o’clock and she prefers coffee over tea.” The secretary read off the letter just as it was written.

Those who have seen the king snap aren’t able to worn their replacements though, this secretary was brand new and had only been working for a week under the king. These were her last thoughts as she lay in the hall, blood gushing from the open wound in her neck. The last thing she saw was the king turn the corner not once looking back.

The three days had passed and Celestia had arrived, there was no grand party as one would expect. Celestia and her part of nine had all teleported into the designated waiting room for the griffon king. Which was almost completely empty.

There were two distinct groups of ponies formed after their arrival, the six and the princess sat patiently the three made their way around the hall to explore. They didn’t exactly know the elements of harmony other than their mind-numbing greetings. Out of three two of them were mares, each respectable in their looks. One being a mare with a white coat and a light red mane, while the other seemed to change based on her mood. As it was now she wore a coat of light green and a main of dark grey. The stallion of the group has an ultramarine coat topped with a short mane of purple.

As they grew the distance between themselves and the princess the stallion spoke to the other two “So do either of you know why Celestia brought us three to the griffon kingdom, on top of the elements of harmony.” his name was passageway.

The mare with the red mane responded “Celestia had told me nothing as well, one this is for certain is that the strong feeling in the north is here” she said with a nervous shuffle.

Passageway responding in a joking manor “well feeling heart it must be dragon or something lamenting over his hoard if you were able to feel it from Equestria”.

She looked at him with a solemn face “there is a problem with that theory, we are standing above the source give or take a hundred feet off.” She paused to gather her thoughts “it’s hard to tell where exactly it is but the suffering I’m feeling is on a whole new scale”.

The others in the group looked at her wondering what she could mean but before Celestia appeared behind them “I see your avoiding the element bearers once again, why go through the effort to avoid them when it’s so much easier to make friends?” she quipped at the three.

Passageway spoke up “princess with all due respect, you know how we prefer to be alone; being friends with ponies may be a wonderful experience but as I know your aware some of your jobs are very risky”. Passageway was not the type of pony to bow down, but saw every pony as more or less equal. To him royalty just meant you could eat the best tasting foods and place yourself above the common pony.

She seemed disappointed with his answer but nonetheless continued “Well if that’s how you three feel I won’t push it again, but I’ve come to talk about today’s job.” She said.

“today we are meeting the king, I am going to ask him to show us what he has in the deepest dungeon and if not it’s your duty to find out.” she turned towards feeling heart “for now start pinpointing exactly where that emotional distress is coming from, if the king refuses I’ll give passageway access to my mana supply and he will bore directly to it.”

“I’ve already agreed to the job princess, but what is under us right now?” he asked and the other two looked towards her as well, everyone was seeking answers.

“I have a theory on what it could be, and I hope I’m wrong.” She turned to the last pony in the group, gathered emotion was her name. “lastly, once we arrive at the source ill make a call; to either make use if your talent or I will teleport us back up and let the king know that Equestria cares not for what he keeps in his own cells.”

Feeling heart seemed taken aback by this statement “what do you mean princess, if its suffering isn’t it our duty as ponies to stop the king?” she looked up pleadingly to the princess.

“No, our duty today is to determine what the king is hiding and if it is something I will need to deal with; If not feeling heart will simply leave an emotional well inside of it and we will take our leave.” Celestia stated, knowing there would be no challenge to her commands.

Before their conversation could continue a griffon appeared from the throne room and spoke up “the king will now see the party of ten.”

Celestia spoke loud enough for the elements to hear her “that would be our cue, follow me my little ponies.”

The nine ponies made their place behind their ruler and followed her into the throne room. As they made their way in several gasps were heard as the ponies were used to the calm and welcoming throne room of Canterlot, maybe it was the garrison of griffons waiting for them on the other side or the dark colors and lack of natural light. Most of the ponies were now scared and wondered what type of king would have the throne room dressed for war.

The king sat at the end of the room atop his iron throne, one of the party members had fainted and was being carried by an orange mare. That same orange mare kept walking as the rest of the party had stopped. She gave the best bow she could with the yellow mare resting on her back, then spoke up to the king who was much bigger than he was at the doorway. “Now I don’t really know where yall get off on making a poor mare like Fluttershy faint by having yer whole army waiting for us but that was mighty rude of you, I’m gonna wake flutters up now and I expect some king of apology.”

The entire room was stunned, the normally stoic soldiers stared slack jawed at the mare that had waltzed in. the rest of the party looked as if they were children caught in acts they had no business doing. The king’s expression did not change. He looked towards Celestia and spoke “I’m giving you thirty seconds to tell me why you’re here or ill show these soldiers aren’t just for parades.” He spat at her.

The princess was stunned, never in her existence had anypony done something so unexplainably stupid. It was one thing to be brave but to demand an apology from a dictator such as razor tail was suicidal. She then realized her thirty second had been spent in shock.

“times up Celestia, leave my kingdom now and this might not cause issues later down the road” he deadpanned at the ruler who had regained composure.

“I understand King Razor tail, we will be leav- PLAN B GO, PASSAGEWAY!” she shouted and sprang up a multilayered shield the group, pulling applejack and Fluttershy into it. “How long until we pinpoint it heart!” she yelled above the sounds of spears and sword slamming into her magic barrier, she could hold onto it for at least half an hour and still be able to get everyone back.

“I got it, passageway 300 meters down and 20 to the right!” she shouted at the ultramarine pony who had been pulling mana from Celestia. He pointed his head down and an abyss seemed to open below them, in fact they only fell around two feet it was just so dark in the chamber now that it seemed like an endless pit. The abyss closing behind them cutting off their would-be pursuers.

Celestia lit up the room they were in and every pony was struck with horror. A single creature chained to a wall, a weapon imbedded in his midsection. It seemed to all but feeling heart and Celestia to be dead, still Celestia felt the need to blast its chains away and using magic to rip the halberd out.

“Twilight I need you and the elements to stand and watch the door, I’ll get the teleport spell ready.” Celestia said as she began pouring magic into a spell but also into healing the human. its wounds healed and it seemed it was beginning to regain consciousness, she spoke out to it “can you speak to us, are you able to stand?”

Its voice was weak and sounded like talons on chalkboard and gravel had a child together “I can see it, I can see the magic now.” Was all it muttered before passing out. Celestia had no time to worry if it was okay anymore she could hear clamor from beyond the cell. With the spell ready, she teleported every pony and the human into what was once the war room of Canterlot.

They all lay there for a long time, maybe even hours until the lavender colored mare spoke up “princess, if it’s alright with you can we get an explanation for what just happened?” she looked up at her mentor hoping for answers that made sense.

“Yes, I suppose you all need to know why today even happened.” She spoke as she rang a magical bell, a maid came through the door and Celestia said “please bring enough tea for nine, don’t worry we are in no rush.”

Author's Note

I initially named the word doc shitpost overload, let me know how accurate i was

Chapter 2

It didn't take long for the princess to settle the nerves of the ponies. the three ponies she hired had decided to leave feeling that their job was done. the only ponies with questions were Twilight and Fluttershy. Celestia felt it would be best to start with Fluttershy.

"so uhm, princess I understand that this human is from another dimension but is he safe to have around; I believe we should give him a chance but from what you have told us he could be very violent towards ponies."

Celestia thought about this for a moment, she didn't really know how the human would react with ponies or blend into society. "I can’t rightly say; the legends say that humans would use their interdenominational travel to visit us for trade." Celestia took a pause to let that sink in. "All we can do right now is to allow him to speak for himself, if its determined he is unable to exist in our society then placing him in the Everfree may be our best solution." Fluttershy seemed content with this answer and sat down.

"Now let’s move onto Twilight's questions" Celestia gestured towards the lavender mare who seemed to be quaking in anticipation to speak

"Where did the humans come to visit us from, is their world an alternate reality?" Twilight shot out her first question as if it was a western standoff.

"One record states that they came from a planet called earth, some refereed to it as Terra as well though; as to if their word is an alternate reality that may be true in some sense." She paused for a sip of tea. "They seemed to know where they could find some of the more useful resources without using magic or what they called science. one scroll referred to the humans only wanting to mine a semi green ore that made ponies sick just from being near it for too long; in exchange, they showed the ponies where they could mine vast quantities of gold and iron." Twilight jotted down everything Celestia said and even added her own notes along the way.

"I’ll just ask one more question for now, why did the human appear and why did he appear in the griffon kingdom and not somewhere else?" she asked preparing new parchment.

"The legend state that after humanity was almost all but forgotten one would appear, with all the knowledge of his race; he would dispose upon who he felt worthy the know how to not only control the planets energy but the very stars themselves." Twilight and the others seemed stunned by this. "Now as for why he appeared in the griffon kingdom I believed it is random, he could have easily appeared Before the dragons or zebras or even us; what matters is he was not giving Razor Tail information willingly as we saw."

A masculine voice seemed to shatter the serenity of the room "well you’re at least right about that" he called out from his spot on the floor. the ponies in the room jumped to attention. "The reason i was sent here isn't one I can explain first hand, but i remember it; my people had conquered the stars and the big rip was beginning to take place." he stopped to sit up, his joints cracking like trees in a storm. "They seemed to have put all their research into grabbing things from back in time, they deemed it necessary to take me and of course implant all of our knowledge into my head."

"But why would they send just you here, if your people wanted they could have repopulated here in our universe." Celestia asked the human who had now started stretching. "

"They seemed it smart to accept their fate, they gave me an immortal body and missions; To either cement our position in this universe or grant the knowledge of humanity to a race I deem worthy" After his stretch his began to look at his tattered rags he once called clothes, they had become more bloodstain than cloth as it stood. "If possible, can one of you mend my clothes I would rather be decent looking in front of what i assume is royalty."

"Gladly" Celestia spoke as she cast a mending spell on his clothes. the other ponies seemed curious about his choice of clothing, strange blue fabric pants and a white fabric shirt.

"Thank you, now I believe I have one last issue to address; does your nation seek our knowledge?" he asked the great ruler.

She contemplated this, this informational wealth of humanity could be at her disposal. No other country could ever threaten her ponies again. But then she thought of the ruin it could bring, there are very few accounts of what human technology could do but some scrolls spoke of weapons capable of reducing cities much larger than Canterlot to ash.

"No, knowledge is a very powerful tool indeed but I do not think what you bring to us will benefit our planet in the long run; maybe we would ask you for ways of improving what we have now but I do not think it would be wise to suddenly give us all manner of technology." She spoke as she would to any ambassador.

"I understand completely, now with that out of the way I have a few questions" he paused to collect his thoughts. "Is it normal to see your magic the way I do, you ponies with horns have these revolting fields of energy constantly being pooled into you; while the ones with wings and with neither only have faint auras?" He asked them.

Celestia seemed somewhat surprised at his question, there were ponies that could sense latent energies and mana but none that could directly observe them. Twilight was on the same train of thought but thought about how his vision could be used to optimize spells. "Well, I’m not sure why that is but it may have been due to the immortal body your people gave you; if they had come to Equestria maybe they implanted technology in you allowing you to see mana and the way it flows." he seemed content with the answer.

"Well with that mess out of the way I only have one real question I have is where will I be staying here, it seems that I’m in some form of palace but if all possible I would rather be somewhere more quiet" He asked.

This time the orange mare in the group spoke up "Well if yer looking for somewhere quite to live we got spare rooms at the apple house, your free to stay with us until you get on your feet" she told the human who seemed shocked at the proposal.

"You seem pretty quick to trust me, is there a reason why offered your home so quickly." He asked the orange mare, truly wondering why she would do something like that.

"Well, the apple harvest is coming up and we need all the help we can get; if you stay with us you just have to give us a hoof bringing in the harvest" she told the human.

"Well that seems good enough, if anybody else is offering anything then me know; Otherwise I’ll be staying wit- oh I don't know any of your names." he said.

The group blushed, seeing as how it was rude not to introduce yourself to visitors. they each stood up and introduced themselves. there was rarity the fashion designer. there was applejack the farmer of course. there was twilight who researched magic. there was flutter-shy, the town vet who was lived a ways out of town it seemed. There was Rainbow dash who was part of the weather team. living with her seemed like a no-go because he didn't like the idea of falling off her house and dying. Then there was Pinkie Pie, she seemed to exist in a superposition of reality. It didn't seem like he was too keen on the idea of living with somebody who seemingly controlled space itself.

As he began to respond back with his name his stopped, a slight fear coming into his mind "I forgot my name, or rather I think my people took it from me when they sent be here" He spoke looking at his hands for an answer. "In fact, I don't even remember the life i lead, the only things coming to mind are the lessons learned from experiences i guess" He sat down beginning to break down mentally. Not only had he been pulled from his time, but his memories and the people he knew had been ripped away.

Before his mind could begin collapsing the six mares he had just met all embraced him in a hug, He didn't know them at all but to how such kindness far outweighed anything he thought he had experienced on earth. He had never felt such a kindness, so genuine that he immediately began to trust these new people he could come to call friends.

The group backed off from the embrace and twilight spoke up "We aren't too sure what your people did to you but we will do all we can to help you feel welcome and safe here."

He stood up and spoke to the six ponies "thank you very much, if there is anything you need me to do ill also do what i can to help you out; i don't really believe that i should share all of human technology but i believe that a little bit here in there can help everybody"

With introductions, out of the way Celestia had some paperwork drafted up for the new citizen, he would have to register as a "Ponyville" citizen himself but this would cover and legal issues that showed up with him being in the country itself. he was also handed a bag of 50 gold coins they called bits. He didn't have a grasp on the value of money but figuring it out on his own can’t be that hard.

"Well, if all of our business is in order i would enjoy heading to this apple farm." He said pausing a moment to look at the bright nausea only he could see "As pretty as this magic stuff is I think I’m going to have a stroke if have to look at this much for too long."

"Does our latent mana really bother you so much you can’t stand to stay here any longer?" Celestia asked in an overly mother like tone.

He responded. "It doesn't bother me on a physical level yet, but imagine seeing giant wells of color from the people around, especially the unicorns."

She seemed somewhat disappointed that he didn't want to stay in the palace, but she was to be over it quickly enough. "Well that's fine, you’re probably still in some form of shock and I do believe I need to speak with Luna and the advisers as to how we will deal with the griffon king from here on out." she paused and the bell again, the maid from earlier came back inside. "Please escort our human and the elements to the chariot platform and send them on their way, I’m sure our human would like to settle down after his jarring experience."

the group followed the maid to the platform located near the back of the castle, there were an assortment of chariots. most for military use but around six decorated in blue and white. the maid flagged a few guards down "Excuse me can you prepare a couple of chariots to send the elements and their guest back to Ponyville" The guard gave a nod and yelled at some of the Pegasi who seemed to be slacking off at the moment. They all rushed to three non-descript chariots. The group walked over and the ponies split up into two of the chariots while the human took his place at the one left.

Fluttershy spoke up "should one of the unicorns go with him to make sure he is safe?" she asked the other mares.

He waved his hand nonchalantly at them "I’ll be fine I think, just hold and don't let go, right?" The ponies didn’t seem so sure about letting him ride by himself but they didn't have much choice as their chariots began to move. a moment after they departed the human’s chariots soon took off after them

It didn’t take long for them to build up speed but to the ponies it seemed that the human was doing fine. In fact, he was not if the grip on the handles meant anything.

One of the guards looked back to make sure he was still attacked to the chariot he chuckled at the human "Yeah this usually happens to first time fliers, don’t worry we won’t drop a passenger no matter how weird you seem to be." The guard turned back around.

A few minutes later as the chariots began to approach the small village at the base of the mountain Canterlot was built onto "Hey since we are about to land I’m going to give you some advice, move out of this town as soon as you can." he paused as they slowed down just in case the other chariots caught wind of what he was saying "The ponies here are insane and your life will be in danger the moment you set hoof here, they aren’t evil in a normal sense; they would kill you by mistake but not feel bad about it in anyway."

another guard picked up "If you do feel the need to live near here get a house build it away from the town, I would also suggest a wall or something."

One of the guards up front shouted back "Rumor is the water does it, maybe put some bits towards your own well or get water imported in like filthy rich." They brought themselves back up to speed with the ponies, the three chariot drivers all nodded towards each other.

the guard that first spoke up said "Our last piece of advice is to write a journal it might seem pointless now but the ponies could eat away at your mind, you’re going to need a way to keep sane."

The group approached the town landing near what must have been a town hall. The human mulled over what the guards had said and decided that putting his thoughts to paper would be a good idea. the human got off his chariot only to be surrounded by the entire population of Ponyville, some looked in wonder but most in fear of this new creature that had landed before him.

He didn’t make any sudden movements as the crowd around him grew a bit, the town he ended up was as tiny as one could get could. If it really was as quite as he was hoping maybe it wouldn’t be so bad after all. Of course as he thought this whatever architect of fate there was decided to shit on everything.

Author's Note

Gonna level with you guys now, i dont write sober anymore so ive got no clue where this is gonna end up. be warned i guess

After this chapter or the next im gonna start off and on switching to a first person view cause i suck ass at writing this way. gives me a headache trying to write as some kind of omnipotent god. if that bothers you, fuck off i guess.