Chapters Prologue-Act 1- Departure
Author's Note
So, here it is, everyone. Option 2 won out with a count of 16 to 11-my own vote going to Option 1, btw- so here's the story. I decided to do a prologue for each Act, with three acts each. While not exactly needed, they do help add context for the act it belongs to. Each will be in first, with the main story being in third person.
Prologue-Act 1- Departure
So, where to begin? Introductions, I suppose. My name’s Marcus Shay, one of the three members of the Triumvirate. You’re probably wondering what we are beyond the title. Well, I guess we’re what Jacob would call Displaced. You see, we were at a convention, the name escaping me , the three of us-me, Jacob, and his girlfriend, Sierra- dressed up as the different ACUs-or Armored Command Units- from Supreme Commander.
I was dressed as the United Earth Federation ACU. The outfit was blue and somewhat blocky. The head narrowed past forward, going just over the chest, even though the in-game model didn’t. My two arms held models of the ACU cannon and what I call the Proto-crafter, which is what allows it to build structures They were mirrored versions of each other, and I had it adjusted so my hands came out of the barrels.
Sierra was dressed as the ACU for the Aeon Illuminate, which is the most organic looking of the ACUs, and the outfit reflected that, as she was much better at making costumes than either of us. The shoulders came to a curve at the top, and went down to the bicep before straightening. Her right forearm had a brace on the underside, which was there both to have it on, but also resemble the game version, with the top just above and slightly curved Only thing missing were the prongs that acted as the focusing method for the weapon The left forearm was egg shaped and rotated so the wider part is at the end where her hand came out, and her helmet had six slits, three on each side so as to resemble the head of the Aeon ACU.
Jacob was our team edge lord by virtue of the fact the Cybran ACU is red with some black, and with six spikes on the head-three on each side- and two on each shoulder that looked more home on a fantasy game armor. As the least skilled, he asked Sierra for help with his, so his was somewhat accurate, with the right arm resembling an SMG with a curved lower half, just behind the barrel, which was absent on the outfit so his hand could be used. The left had a small plastic tube connected to the elbow going to the back, and a large, red version of a toy ARC reactor he had to resemble the chest upgrade for the Cybran ACU.
The three of us were talking about something I can’t remember, but I think it was the best faction in terms of ideology. I know Josh stood by the Cybran Nation in that regard, and I was with the UEF, as it was thanks to their predecessor the Cybrans even existed. Did they go too far? Yeah, but still, Brackman was nothing but a terrorist. Like I said, I don’t remember much from that day, as more interesting stuff happened. What I do remember was seeing a guy dressed as Brackman and a woman dressed as General Clarke, the founder of the Cybran Nation and military leader of the UEF in the first game, respectively.
I remember the three of us going over there, and looking at what they had, with Jacob being suspicious, saying something about Displaced. Honestly, I’m not sure if I wish we listened to him or not. I do remember what happened next, though. Jacob and Sierra were huge Halo fans-they met at a Halo tournament and their idea of non-sex fun time is killing Covenant and other people online- and the two merchants had a model Energy Sword and Storm Rifle. Sierra bought the Storm rifle, while Jacob hesitated. I remember rolling my eyes, and buying a model Plasma rifle to show him nothing was up. He still refused then, but when Sierra vanished in a flash of light, he just looked shocked for not even a second, then grabbed the Energy Sword model, and decked the Brackman and Clarke cosplayers, muttering, “Fuck,” before I blacked out.
Marcus groaned as he woke up, sitting in a well lit compartment, screens in front of him, the chair having armrests with buttons at the end. He wore a dark blue jumpsuit under dull, blue armor, the chest having an icon depicting a rhombus, with five, smaller rhombuses under it, two on each side and one directly under the bottom point. His hand came to his forehead, and he grimaced as one eye opened, squinting the other one shut. He looked around, wondering what exactly he was in, as well as where said compartment was before a robotic voice spoke up.
“Pilot has awoken. Deactivating standby mode,” the voice said, startling Marcus.
“The hell?” he muttered, looking around rapidly. “Who’s there?”
“ACU onboard intelligence,” the voice said. “Current designation is Siri.”
Marcus opened his mouth to speak, but stopped as he registered what was said. “I’m in an ACU?” his whispered.
“Affirmative,” the intelligence replied. “Reading two other ACU signatures, matching Cybran Nation and Aeon Illuminate, both a significant distance away. Alert, Cybran Commander is constructing a base. Recommend constructing defenses. Alert: incoming transmission.”
Marcus only looked surprised, and stuttered out, “A-accept.”
“Confirmed. Putting on middle screen.” The designated screen-which up until now showed a forward view of the terrain, revealing a desert environment- changed to show a red lit interior with a man with brown hair and red lines resembling circuitry on the left side of his head looking at the screen.
“Jacob?” Marcus asked, looking at him in confusion.
“Yep,” Jacob replied. “So, I’m guessing you’re still processing what’s happened?” At Marcus’ nod, Jacob sighed. “Well, that’s not surprising,” he muttered. “Look, I’m getting a base online, and already have an air factory going. Once I can, I’ll send a Dragonfly to pick you up. I’ve got moles doing recon, and it’s just confirmed my suspicions. Sierra’s awake, and already doing what she can to make her way here on land.”
“Jacob, slow down,” Marcus said. “The fuck happened to us? The fucking hell happened to you? You look like an actual Cybran.
“Why thank you, I take as a compliment,” Jacob said, a small, smug smile on his face. It then melted into a hard expression. “In all seriousness, we’re Displaced.”
“Those damned brony stories you kept talking about?”
“Exactly the ones,” was the reply. “My guess is before the actual show, no idea about specifics, going by the buildings I’ve seen through the Mole cameras.”
“You’ve already got scouts?”
“First thing I did,” Jacob said. “Well, other than power and mass, but those are a given. And the factories needed to build them,” he said. “You get the point. I just sent out air scouts to confirm your position.”
“Uh, question-”
“How do I have a map of Equestria, or some other way to know standard geography?” Jacob said. “Simple; I asked the two fuckheads that sent us here for that.”
“I doubt that,” Marcus said, his tone going that of someone bored out of habit of dealing with Jacob sometimes. “I saw you punch them.”
“Eh, we worked something out,” Jacob said before his eyes darted to another location in his control center,and his eyes narrowed. “I’ll talk to you later, Marcus, I got something on radar.” With that, the screen went back to the original display.
“Connection terminated.”
“No shit,” Marcus muttered. “Do you have his location?”
“Yes.”
Marcus sighed. “Can you mark it? And how in the hell do I move this thing?”
“Keep them in the Flying Eyes’ view range, and have Interceptor group Alpha stay at a distance but close enough to shoot them if anything is tried,” Jacob said to his ACU’s onboard AI.
“You got it, Jacob. Bringing the feed from the nearest one on the left corner monitor.”
Jacob looked at the designated screen, and saw it activate, showing a night blue organism flying towards his base, the glint off the organism showing it was either wearing armor or had reflective scales. Behind it were three others with grey skin with a similar glint. “Can you zoom in for detail?”
“On it.” The feed magnification increased, and Jacob was now able to more easily see the glint came from armor on all four of them. One had bird like wings, while the other three had bat like wings.
“Do a fly over, and have that Scout transmit an image to the left middle screen,” Jacob said. “I think I know who this is, but I want to make sure.”
“You sure?” was the reply. “They might see that as an act of aggression.”
“If so, it’s not like any country can deal with the sheer numbers that can be produced by the factories,” Jacob said. “If worst comes to worst, we can just zerg rush ‘em.”
“All right, but let the record show I warned you.”
Jacob scoffed. “I’ll keep that in mind, Monika.” As he said that, one of the air scouts flew towards the group of four, and turned upside down so as to get a picture of them. As the scout neared, it lowered its altitude slightly so as to avoid hitting the organics. When it passed underneath, Jacob’s AI took a frame from the recording camera, cleaned it up, and put it on one of the monitors in the ACU cockpit.
“Well, that doesn’t help narrow it much,” Jacob muttered, looking at the image of a night blue alicorn wearing full body plate armor, and three thestrals behind her, also wearing plate armor. “ETA on them getting here?”
“I’d say ten minutes.”
Jacob sighed. “May as well reduce that a little,” he said, and directed his ACU to move on an intercept course for the four, intending to meet them away from the base. “Have AA guns ready just in case.”
“Already pointing to the sky.”
“Woo.”
After exiting the perimeter of the small base, protected by AA towers and Point defenses with wall segments in front to protect from direct fire, Jacob turned his ACU west, toward the alicorn and her entourage. “Sooo, this is Luna, right?”
“Yep,” Jacob said. “Of course, that doesn’t help in terms of identifying when we are. Only that it cuts off the thousand years before the actual show, and it doesn’t exactly say how old the two are.”
“Maybe how she speaks?”
“Probably our best bet, yeah.”
Four minutes later, Jacob had his ACU stop in a hilled area, the base being only barely visible without anyway to enhance sight, the ground being covered by grass, and small patches of flowers, with Luna and the three thestrals now in visual range. “There a hatch I can use to get on top of the head?” Jacob asked.
After a second of silence, Monika replied with, “Yeah. Want me to open it it?”
“Why else would I ask? It might help defuse things if they think I’m evil.”
“. . .You do realize they haven’t met you yet?”
“You do realize that this is a variation on a television show meant originally for little girls, and I’m in a nine story, bipedal machine colored black with spikes, right? If that doesn’t scream villain to something like that, I don’t know what does.”
“Touche. Opening the hatch now.”
With that, a hiss was heard, and a sliver of light appeared in the cockpit from above. Jacob unbuckled from his seat, and a small ladder came down from behind, curved to fit with the cockpit, and straightening as it came down. Jacob went behind his seat, and climbed up the ladder, using his right hand to push the hatch open, closing his eyes so as to not be blinded by natural light. Even then, when he climbed out, her brought his left arm in front of his face, and squinted his left eye shut.
Slowly, he climbed out, keeping his left eye shut the entire time. Once he was on top of his ACU’s head, he knelt down and closed the hatch. Once that was done, he looked toward where Luna and the three thestrals were coming from. He gave himself a once-over, making sure his armor-moderately protective in terms of bulk, with a bodysuit underneath, and red lights on the torso and thigh armor- and trenchcoat were presentable as much as possible, and nodded. As he did, his eye moved up, and saw a strand of hair. Pouting in annoyance, he pushed it up to the right, and nodded again. When that was done, he moved both arms behind his back, and stood patiently for the four, tapping his foot and humming a tune to keep busy.
three minutes later, the four fliers came to a stop in front of Jacob, and Luna spoke up. “Who is't art thee, and what is this goodyear thee standeth on?”(1)
“Uhh,” Jacob said, not entirely sure what she said, and deciding to go with what he did understand. “My name is Jacob your Majesty.”
“What tongue doth thee speaketh in?” the night blue alicorn asked, right hand going to the sheathed sword on the left of her hip.
“Oh, Shakespearean. Hold on, I’ll get a translation program going ,” Monika said, some excitement in her voice.
“Hurry up on that, would ya?” Jacob muttered.
If Luna didn’t have a helmet on, Jacob would have sworn she glared at him. What tongue doth thee speaketh in, I hath said!”
Jacob took a step back just as Monika spoke up again. “Got it. Just think of what you say, and I’ll tranaslate it. Same for what you hear from her.”
Oh joy, Jacob thought, and a line of text saying that appeared in his sight. He then closed his eyes, and breathed. My name is Jacob, your Majesty. As he opened his eyes, Jacob saw a line of text appear in his vision. He then repeated it aloud. “Mine own nameth is Jacob, thy majesty,” he said. I wish to negotiate with you. “I wisheth to negotiateth with thee.”
Sierra shivered in her ACU, not because of the cold, but nervousness, uncertain if Jacob was really here, or if she had simply imagined it. If so, this wasn’t the first time she hallucinated him when he wasn’t there, and she doubted it would be the last. She looked at the environment to try and get her mind off if this, but saw only what she had already seen: a flat expanse of snow, mountains in the distance, and a small snow storm raging. “Replay the message,” she said, her voice cracking.
A few seconds passed, and Jacob’s voice came on over the speakers. “Hey, Sierra. Good to see your in Comm range. Look, I know you’re confused. I’ll explain everything later,” he had said. “I’m already building a base, and I’ll send a Dragonfly your way as soon as I can. You’re north of where I am. No idea where Marcus is. See ya later, Si.” That was an hour ago.
The cockpit of the ACU was silent with exception of the sounds of the ACU’s feet hitting the ground. “Anything in range?” she asked.
“No,” was the curt reply, causing Sierra to close her eyes as tears formed.
“Damn it,” she muttered. She clenched her right hand, feeling the hilt of the Storm Rifle she had bought. Opening her eyes, Sierra looked at it. Should I? she thought before shaking her head. No. There’s still a chance he’s actually here.
“Alert: unknown crystal formations in range.” Sierra looked up at the main screen in surprise.
“What?” she muttered. “P-put it on the main screen.”
“Affirmative.” With that, a rather poor quality image appeared on the main screen. “Radar scans at this range do not allow for high quality, Commander.”
“Get closer, then,” Sierra said. Might be able to take my mind off things for a while, she thought to herself before sitting straight, closing her eyes, and taking a deep breath. He wouldn’t want you to panic just because he isn’t here. You can do this. She opened her eyes as her ACU made its’ way to the crystal formations, kicking up massive patches of snow as it walked toward the destination.
Author's Note
1: Here's the translation: Who are you, and what is this demon you stand on?
Luna glared at Jacob. “And what does a demon and its pet have to offer me?”
Jacob shook his head. “I’m not standing on a demon, your Majesty. Instead, what I’m standing on is a weapon of war.”
“Impossible,” Luna replied. “Not even the Griffon Empire has machines of war resembling demons.”
“And yet, here stands one in front of you.”
“Enough. You say you wish to bargain with us, demon? What do you have to offer that is worth more to Equestria than your corpse?” the Lunar Princess asked, her right hand on her sword hilt.
“An advantage over all of your enemies,” Jacob said. “The power to create armies in hours with no fear of losing ponies, for none shall be at risk with this power.”
“And you would not turn this power against Equestria?”
Jacob placed his right arm across his chest, the palm touching his left shoulder, and his left arm along his spine, and bowed. “You have my word, your majesty. Should I do so, you may strike me down in the most painful way possible. If there is a way for me to prove my words true, name it.”
Luna looked at the Displaced being for a time. “If your words ring true, than perhaps you can help. An ally of Equestria has been attacked, and their defenses are failing. If you indeed mean to harm to us, then aid the Crystal Empire in the north, and repel those who think they can win.”
“At once, your majesty,” Jacob said. “A question, though. In which direction, specifically, is the Empire?”
“That way,” Luna said, pointing behind Jacob.
“Thank you, milady,” Jacob said, and he straightened, turned around, and entered his ACU. Once he was back in his seat, he said, “Monika, have the Air Factory get a few Dragonflies online, along with two Tier 2 engineers. They’ll go on mine. The other one is to have five Mantis and Hunter assault bots.”
“Jacob, we don’t know the exact location of the Empire,” Monika said. “There aren’t any scouts in the north to find it, and even if we did, the transports would most likely run out of fuel before that point.”
Jacob smirked. “What do you think the engineers are for?”
“Uh, are we close enough for a more detailed image?” Sierra asked.
“Yes. Producing now.” On the main screen, an image appeared, then resolved to show a gleaming Crystal spire that had smoke rising from around it.
“What the,” Sierra mouthed, surprised at seeing something like this. “I thought he was joking.”
“Alert: primitive species detected flying towards current location. Threat: none.”
“Guess we can’t do anything, then,” Sierra muttered. No Mass and Energy, and even if I did, I don’t know how to make that happen.
Sierra’s ACU continued to move forward, not slowing down as the natives got closer, allowing her to see through the ACU camera that they were bipedal, bird-like, and wore plate armor. That was as much as she could see before they began to fly away, back in the direction they came from. “Well, at least they know when to run away from a giant robot,” she muttered.
A few minutes later, she saw a clearer image of her destination, and her mouth went agape at seeing a city of crystal on fire, a large camp of fully armored individuals outside and firing catapults and trebuchets into the city.
Her attention was broken when her ACU was jolted to the side rather heavily enough to the point where outside, one could see it had to stumble back and plant its left foot back to keep from falling over.
“The fuck was that?!” Sierra asked, gasping in terror as she looked around the cockpit.
“Primitive stone projectile impact on torso section of Armored Command Unit. Minimal damage. Threat: min-” this was quickly followed up by three more impacts, in close enough succession to knock the ACU on its back. “Reclassification- threat: high.”
“No shit,” Sierra muttered, groaning as she put her left hand up against her left temple. “Is there any way to get up?”
“Not without the aid of a class 2 transport.”
“Yay,” Sierra deadpanned. “Can’t even see what the fuck’s going on, either.” Probably going to die of hunger, assuming those things that fired at me don’t find a way in. Which case, either execution, imprisonment, or slavery, which could lead to who knows what. “I’m screwed, aren’t I?”
There was a lack of a response to her questions as the main monitor showed more winged creatures coming to above the ACU, and landing outside of her vision, followed a few minutes later by a rattling outside. “Alert; Cybran units detected,” the system said just as what Sierra recognized as a Dragonfly transport came into the ACU’s view, and she felt herself rotate, seeing the view on the screen change, seeing a small group of undoubtedly Cybran bombers-the pointed appearance made it obvious as to which faction they belonged to- drop bombs on the large camp, while Interceptors shot down the ones in the air. “Cybran ACU detected.”
“What?!’ Sierra asked, excitement in her voice. “Where?”
“Ninety degrees to our right,” the system said, and the monitor rotated to show a Cybran ACU standing next to Sierra’s, both arms lowered, but with a glowing circle on the chest, and a small, backpack-esque attachment on the back. “Jacob?”
“Hey, Si,” Jacob said over the radio, his voice coming on over the speakers. “Getting into trouble?” She could hear the smirk on his face.
“Guess so,” she said. “Jacob, what’s going on? Your message didn’t say much.”
“Short version?” Jacob asked.
“I’ll take anything over nothing.”
A second of silence passed, during which two Cybran attack bombers passed overhead, turning for another run. “Those two people from the convention dressed as Clarke and Brackman? They’re. . .well, I call ‘em Void dwellers-”
“You’re seriously using terms from your book for this?”
“Yes, I am,” Jacob replied. “Now, those two fuckheads? They displaced you, Marcus, and me in what I am confident in assuming is an alternate version of Equestria from MLP, about a thousand years prior to the show. What you’re seeing is, according to Princess Luna, the Griffon Empire attempting to invade and subjugate the Crystal Empire. And failing fucking miserably,” he said, the last part punctuated by five tier one transports flying overhead, and deploying an equal amount of Mantis and Hunter assault bots. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have asses to rape,” he said as his ACU began to move forward, vanishing from sight.
“Cybran ACU has cloaked and initiated stealth protocols,” Sierra’s ACU said. “Orders?”
Sierra did not respond for a few moments, what Jacob said still going through her mind. “Move. . . move to the city. Maybe we can find some way to help.”
“Understood.”
“Ma’am, reports from the defenses around the Spire base are beginning to flow in,” a see through pony wearing full plate armor that reflected the light said to a female sitting in a throne. The female wore robes adorned with threads of jewels, and had pink hair that came down to her shoulders, accented by stripes of yellow and sky blue.
“What do they say, General?”
“They. . .they say a demon horde has appeared and began attacking the Griffons, Empress,” the soldier said. “It does not seem concerned with us at the moment.”
The Empress closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. “Then we must prepare the Heart to remove this demon from our lands.”
“There is one other thing, Empress,” the soldier said. “Our scouts report the demon stood next to an angel of similar height before disappearing, and that the angel is on its way here now.”
The Empress opened one eye. “Bring me my armor. If this angel is an ally and has tamed a demon, perhaps we should find out why it has come to our aid. Have the mages prepare the Heart as a precaution.”
“Yes, Empress.”
As Sierra’s ACU neared the Empire, the system alerted her to five more individuals nearing her. Sierra pouted, despite no one being able to see it. “What now?” she grumbled.
“Analysis of visual feeds indicate this to be another species,” the system said.
“Probably the ponies who live in the Empire,” Sierra sighed. “Hopefully they don’t try to kill me.”
Two minutes later, the group of crystal pegasi stopped in front of Sierra, and the one in the lead, wearing full plate armor that gleamed in the arctic light, spoke. “Angel, have you come to aid us?!”
Sierra was taken aback by the fact she was just called an angel, and her brain took a few seconds to come to the conclusion of her ACU’s appearance-organic and the metal reflecting the scenery around her- did give it a sort of gothic look.(1)
“Uh. . .are there external speakers for this thing?” she asked the ACU’s AI?
“Negative,” was the reply. “Opening cockpit hatch for exit.” There was a hiss above Sierra. When she looked up, she looked to see a small section of the roof split in two, and she had to cover her eyes to avoid being blinded by the sudden influx of natural light.
Climbing onto the top of the ACU’s head, she staggered, having sat for the better part of two hours, holding her arms out for balance. Shit, shit, shit! she thought, slightly panicking given how high up she was.
After she stopped staggering, she looked at the ponies in front of her. “Are thee good now, holy one?” the lead one asked. “If 't be true I may asketh, what is this machine thee has't hath brought?”
The fuck? Sierra silently asked, and, once her brain processed what was said a second time, she focused on what she understood. “Y-yes,” she replied nervously. At the tilting of the head of the group leader, she nodded instead.
One of the pegasi moved up to and tapped the leader, and whispered in her ear.
The two had a conversation that Sierra wasn’t able to hear, leading to her hearing the sound of both the wind, and explosions in the distance. After half a minute, Sierra heard a voice in her head.
Holy one, are you able to understand me now? Sierra nearly jumped at hearing the voice, and looked around madly before her eyes focused on the leader of the pony group, who had flown slightly closer. My apologies, Holy one. I did not mean to frighten. I speak through our minds, so the meaning is conveyed without the need to translate.
“Of course,” Sierra muttered. “Fucking telepathic anthropomorphic ponies that can fly. What next? Thresher Maws in top hats with monocles?!” After imagining that image, Sierra tilted her head. “Actually, that’d be funny to see, in a morbid way.”
What is that creature, Holy one? the pony asked in her head. A demon that has yet to emerge upon Equestria?
“No, no!” Sierra aid, only to see the pony tilt her head. Sierra pouted. “Right.” She took a deep breath, and closed her eyes, hoping to focus. No, no, it’s just something I thought of just now, nothing to worry about.
Ah, I see, was the reply. If I might ask, is that demon with you tamed, or a prisoner?
What demon? Sierra asked.
. . .You are not an angel, are you?
No. I thought it might keep me alive if I went with it for a while, Sierra replied.
Then the other giant is not a demon?
My boyfriend. I guess he was here to help. He mentioned someone named Luna.
A wave of what Sierra could only guess to be anger hit her, only to vanish a second later. Oh? I suppose that I’ll have to thank her, then.
Whatever Sierra was going to reply with was lost to surprise when Jacob’s ACU decloaked beside her, and her eyes drifted to where black smoke could be seen drifting into the atmosphere, with the occasional fire seen.
A hatch on top of the Cybran ACU head opened, and Jacob climbed out, and Sierra saw that, overall, Jacob hadn’t changed that much in appearance. His dark brown-to the point one could mistake it for black under certain lighting- hair was short cut, the bangs turned to point left, his dark green eyes showing, if any emotion, smugness, something he often liked to imitate, possible because he liked to smirk. The only notable difference to his face were red circuit lines originating from a circular implant of the upper left part of his head. His attire consisted of a trench coat over bulky armor on his chest, his thighs and calves protected by the same armor, Overall, it reminded Sierra of Dostya’s outfit from Supreme Commander.
A second or two passed, and Jacob spoke. “I imagineth thou art empress cadenza?” he asked with a small bow, Sierra being surprised at him speaking like they did.
How long have I been here?
“Aye,” the lead pony replied. “Who is't might thee beest, goodyear?”
“One who is't wishes to holp, thy majesty,” Jacob replied, glancing at Sierra, mouthing, barely scene from the distance the two stood apart, Talk later. Sierra nodded, happy simply because she wasn’t the only one here.
Cadenza looked at Sierra as well. “Thy paramour sayeth thee cameth und'r princess luna's commandeth?”
Jacob shrugged. “I wouldn't sayeth hest, much as requesteth.”
“T matt'rs not,” Cadenza said, her voice cold and indifferent before gaining an undertone of anger. “Leaveth, and I shall alloweth thee liveth.”
Now, Sierra, having been forced to take part in her school’s Shakespeare festival, was beginning to understand only a little of what was being said, but it was enough to understand the threat. Or is it an ultimatum? She never could tell the two apart that well in circumstances akin to this. “Wait!” Sierra shouted, catching the attention of those present, and causing the other fliers that came with Cadenza to level bows laden with an arrow at her.
You wish to intervene? Cadenza asked in her mind.
“Yes ,” Sierra thought at the same time. He’s with me, and I don’t know anything about whatever is going on here, and I doubt he does either.
Cadenza was silent for a time. Perhaps I acted rashly, she said. Very well. You two may come to the Spire. Leave your machines here. My guards will take you there. She looked at Jacob. Inform him of this. I would rather not accidentally kill one who tries to help us. With that, Cadenza flew away.
A few seconds later, Jacob, tactless as ever, spoke. “Christ, she’s a bitch.”
Author's Note
1:When I say gothic, I don't mean the whole "my life is meaningless, everything I wear has to be black" goth, I mean the old kind of Goth. The pointed, stained glass windows with arches kind of Goth. That's to say angelic, I guess. Eh.
An hour after the Griffon forces had been repelled, Jacob and Sierra were waiting outside the throne room in the spire of the Empire, the two sat in chairs, Sierra hunched over, elbows on her knees, both hands over her mouth, while Jacob had slid into the chair to the point his legs were straight, arms crossed over his chest, and chin resting on his collarbone with his eyes closed.
Thirty minutes ago, Marcus had arrived, along with Princess Luna. Marcus -begrudgingly- had gotten the job of making sure nothing approached the other two ACUs, a result of his late arrival. Luna, however, had barged into the Throne room as Cadenza had, for lack of a better term, interrogated Sierra and Jacob. That led the two where they were now; waiting outside the Throne room.
Jacob? Monika said over Jacob’s implants that connected him to his ACU. Jacob remained how he was. Jacob.
“Fwack ofth,” could be heard mumbled.
If Monika had a real body, she would have taken a deep breath, and sighed. Okay, then. With that, she sent a small electric shock through the implants, as if delivering a small static shock right to the brain that could be felt at the base spine.
“What?” Jacob asked, one of his eyes cracking open. “I’m trying to nap, Monika.”
Yeah, I noticed, she said. Marcus keeps trying to get to you guys, but you surprisingly sleep like a rock, and Sierra doesn’t have a comms device even if she weren’t praying. A beat passed. What exactly is she praying to, anyway?
Jacob opened his mouth to reply, but closed it. “No idea.”
I thought you two were dating?!
“Doesn’t mean we don’t have personal lives,” Jacob said. “She’s religious, I’m atheist, neither of us really give a shit beyond that. Now, you were saying about Marcus?”
He keeps trying to get you guys. More accurately, he keeps asking if one of you can explain what’s going on.
Jacob pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’m pretty sure I’m going to have a headache after dealing with Slut Princess’ namesake and Miss Royal voice right now. Can you do it? He needs to learn about you anyways.” Before Monika could protest, she felt Jacob block off access to his implants. She let out the digital equivalent of a sigh.
In the hall, Jacob’s open eye focused on a castle maid that was nearby, and quaking in fear. “Boo.” He chuckled at the sound of panicked running, then closed his eye, hoping for a little more time to nap.
Outside the boundaries of the Empire’s only city, Marcus sat bored in his ACU. The lore has these these things as command centers for an entire army, he thought. Why isn’t there anything for dealing with fucking boredom in here? Currently, he sat with his left elbow on its arm rest, and leaned his head on the knuckles of his left fist, and exhaled in boredom.
He had been like this for the past half hour, waiting for either Jacob or Sierra to talk to him, but so far, he had nothing. That was, up until a female voice projected itself over the internal speakers of his cockpit. “Hello, anyone there?”
Marcus jumped a little at the voice, not recognizing it. “Who-”
“Don’t freak out, I’m a friend,” the voice said before one of the screens turned on, showing a teenage girl with long, red hair in a ponytail with a white bow, wearing a school uniform. She had green iris and a small smile on her face. Marcus, while recognizing her, was unable to think clearly.
“You-you. . .what the fuck is going on here?” he asked, his mouth open a little in terror and pointing down at the corners. “Don’t fucking kill me, you homicidal bitch.”
“Aw, I’m hurt,” she said. “I guess you know my name, then? Well, it saves time, I guess.”
“The fucking hell do you want?!” Marcus asked, a little more terrified.
Monika sighed on screen. “Jacob wanted me to answer the question have about what’s going on,” she said. “To answer your question as to what I want?” Monika shrugged. “Honestly, I’m just happy I’m not a scripted program anymore, however advanced it was.”
“That doesn’t help fill me with confidence,” Marcus said, still terrified. “But how in the fucking hell did you become his A.I.?”
“You remember the light he had on his costume?”
“No. If he did, I probably forgot them after being transported to another FUCKING DIMENSION! ”
The image deadpanned him. “First, it’s universe in this case. Dimension just implies another level of reality in a single universe,” she said. “To answer your question, Jacob had his laptop with him as the back component for his costume to act as a battery for the lights he added on. He struck a deal with the two that put you guys here, and he asked to have an A.I. to help run his ACU.”
Marcus, relaxing physically but still quite terrified, asked, “And what, they took a random character file from his Steam Library and made it an A.I.?”
“I can hear the sarcasm, but yes. Along with his other game files, but I was the one picked.”
Marcus opened his mouth, then closed it as he thought. “Well, I can think of worse.” Tali. Morinth. Any one of the Chosen. Decimus. Harbinger. Marcus was like this for a few seconds.
“Yeah, I don’t think any of the ones you’re thinking of could do much worse than detonating the ACU core indirectly,” Monika said.
“Not helping,” Marcus said. “And just why aren’t you going yandere on Sierra?”
“For one,” Monika said, “Jacob managed to work out to where he’d have a relative week with his ACU to learn how to use it, and get to know me. In that time, he managed to explain what was going on to me. And besides, like I said, I’m not just a well programmed character in a visual novel anymore.” Monika crossed her arms, and her face adopted a smug look, with a small smile and closed eyes. “I like to think I’ve gotten as close to an actual human as something like me can right now.”
Marcus ignored the last line. “And what about the other files?”
Monika shrugged, and opened its eyes. “In the memory core for Jacob’s ACU. They’re inactive, and it would take time for them to reach the level I’m at. And please, don’t call them files.”
Marcus shrugged. “Well, isn’t that all A.I.s are? Self writing files?”
The image glared at him. It looked as if it was about to speak, then shook its head. “Jacob just wanted me to fill you in, not play twenty questions. You three are in what Jacob assumes to be Equestria from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic approximately a thousand years before the show proper, with everyone being anthro,” she said. “And what he also assumes to be a much more volatile political climate.”
“Oh yay,” Marcus muttered. “Anything else?”
“The ponies speak Shakespearean English. I took the liberty of creating a translation program, but you and Sierra can’t use it without implants,” Monika continued. Her image then held up a folder. “So I made a dictionary that shows modern English and their Shakespearean equivalents. If you want to talk to the locals, I’d recommend memorizing it.”
“That why I can’t be with Jacob and Sierra?” Marcus asked.
“Yep,” Monika replied a small smile on her image’s face. “You don’t have implants, and Empress Cadenza doesn’t want others involved in the talks between those three. From what I overheard, it’s because using telepathy is rather tiring when used for two people, excluding the one actually doing it, let alone three.”
“That why it’s taking so long!?”
“No,” Monika said. “Apparently, Princess Luna couldn’t wait to get into an argument with Empress Cadenza.”
Marcus groaned, and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Well, can you tell Jacob I’ll be waiting out here?” he asked. Mumbling he added. “Not like I have much else to do but sit.”
On it,” Monika said before her image disappeared. A few seconds later, her voice said, “By the way, I just transferred a copy of Jacob’s movie collection into your ACU’s database. Have fun.”
“Ah, fuck off.”
On the west coast of Equestria, just as the sun began to rise, in a small house away from any town or village, a single mare gasped as she shot up in bed, clutching her sheets, taking deep, haggard breathes, her mind replaying what she had just seen.
A large settlement with building as tall as the sky aflame, screams audible for miles as strange creatures flew in the skies, far larger than any pegasus or Griffon, two agile for their speed to be dragons, firing beams of energy and containers of explosives at one another.
An entire forest swept in fire, smoke rising to the heavens as eleven giants stood, eight with a mountain to their backs and in varying forms and similar size, three with an army of giant, silent beasts behind them, two nearly as tall as the buildings in the previous image, standing on two thin legs, and possessing a head which seemed to float. Between these two, a smaller giant with similar legs, but with a pointed head and spires from the shoulders.
A destroyed room that still contained a remnant of its former splendor, housing debris, tattered flags with barely discernible sigils representing the two sisters, and two individuals facing one another. One with a blazing sword and shield, the other with nothing in its hands, spread in a mocking fashion.
Finally, a single being stepping out from a fire toward a small pony army with only a vampony-evident in the slit eyes and canines visible in a deranged grin- and lavender unicorn with clouds of black and green magic in her hands.
Still gasping, the mare got out of bed and stumbled over to her dresser, where a quill and parchment were, and began to write, her breath calming as she did so. Once she was done, she turned around, and slid down to the floor, staring at what she had written in disbelief.
A shiver ran through her as she uttered what she had witnessed and wrote. “A- a death prophecy.”
Author's Note
Soooo. . .how many of you guessed where Monika was from before now?
A day after the three had arrived in Equestria, Marcus was allowed into the Crystal Palace, so long as he was supervised by Jacob or Sierra. Jacob due to him being able to translate current Equestrian English, and Sierra due to her being trusted by Cadenza.
As such, the three were now in the guest dining chamber, having lunch in an awkward silence. “So. . .,” Marcus said, trying to break the ice, “when do you guys think we’ll be able to get home?” Jacob scoffed. “What is it, Jacob?”
“The fact you think we’ll be able to go home,” he said, taking a bite from his salad.
“What about it?” Marcus replied. “You don’t want to go home?”
Jacob shook his head. “No. I want to go home, I’m just being realistic about it.”
“Oh, here we go,” Sierra muttered.
Marcus sighed. “The Multiverse theory bullshit?”
“We’re in an anthropomorphic-though technically, even one exactly like the show in anatomical terms would be anthro- version of Equestria where they speak Shakespearean English and use magic,” he pointed out.
“So?” Marcus said.
“So,” Jacob replied, “if the multiverse theory is true-of which there is evidence of for us- than there is no way in fucking hell we’ll find our home universe before we die. Hell, probably not before it dies.”
“Can you two cut it out before you even start?” Sierra asked. “Can’t you go a week without arguing this?”
“Evidently not,” Jacob sighed.
“Jacob, our universe will keep going for, what, trillions of years? I’m relatively sure we’d find it before then if we found a way to become immortal.”
“Then what?” Jacob asked. “Earth will, at best, be a cold, lifeless rock in space. At worst, it’ll be either part of a star after entering its atmosphere, be on a collision course with another planet, sucked into the gravity well of a gas giant, or become black hole food! Humanity, as we were, will be extinct, possibly even its genetic descendants, but definitely forgotten. What do you propose then? Become gods to a primitive race?” Jacob shook his head. “I had a week to think over this, Marcus. Trust me. The odds of us finding home, as it is, without it being a universe so far behind our home that we arrive just as we left, are so. Fucking small. That they may as well be nonexistent.”
Marcus scoffed. “Better than being here,” he said. “What are we going to do here? Create a harem-” at this, Sierra look at Jacob, who replied with a shrug, which in turn got a glare from Sierra followed by a hand raised gesture “-become gods? Villains? Heroes?”
“You wouldn’t on the latter and second?” Jacob asked.
“Only if it meant going home,” he said.
“You’d make for a fucking terrible hero, then,” Jacob replied. “A perfect god, though,” he muttered. Sighing, he put his forehead in his left hand, elbow resting on the table. “Seriously, though, Marcus, the odds of us finding home are so low, it may as well be one in infinity.”
The two were silent for a time, Sierra awkwardly eating her salad, before Marcus spoke up. “Can we at least agree this is moot without a way to leave here, at least?”
Jacob scoffed, and looked at Marcus, a small smile on his face. “What’s this? Marcus Shay having sense? Are you sure you came from the universe as me?”
Marcus chuckled. “Oh, fuck off,” he said, a similar smile on his face. “So, you’re the closest thing we have to an expert on what the hell’s going on here, Jacob-”
Jacob scoffed. “You flatter me.”
“-and while your A.I. told me a short form of everything, I want to hear it from you: the fucking hell is going on?”
Sierra looked at Jacob, annoyance in her look. “So do I, Jacob. You’ve only told me when we are, where we are, and what you just said.”
Jacob rubbed his forehead. “Guys, I don’t even know the full picture,” he said. “All I know is what you know.”
“Then we go ask Celestia if she can help us go home,” Marcus said.
“Or not,” Jacob muttered. “Okay, look. There’s only one thing I know for certain: that we’re in a world where the characters are far more anthropomorphic than the show. Anything beyond that is pure speculation. For all we know, the Celestia of this world could be dead. She could be a fucking xenophobic ruler who will kill us on the spot. She could be brain dead and be under the control of an eldritch abomination.” He rubbed his temples. “The absolute best I can provide is telling you who is important in the show, but that may not amount to much. The one who threatens to destroy the world in one universe could be its greatest protector in another.”
The others were quiet for a time. “Right,” Marcus eventually said, multiple emotions in his voice. “So, what about the things that got us here?”
“The eldritch abominations, or the weapons?”
“The weapons.”
Jacob nodded. “In short, they should work like their game counterparts. Since we haven’t used ours, I don’t know what the battery capacity is for ‘em, but they’re bound to be equal to the in game versions in terms of damage.”
“Hope we don’t have to use them,” Sierra muttered.
“Agreed,” Jacob said, sighing. “That said, it wouldn’t hurt to train with them in case we have to use them.”
“Or is it because you just want to look cool?” Sierra asked, a small smirk on her face and left eyebrow slightly raised.
Letting out a single laugh, Jacob exclaimed, “Bitch, the only to not look cool with an Energy Sword is being impaled by it!” And even then, there’s exceptions, Jacob added silently, grin on his face.
Unknown to the three, outside their dining room, there were two crystal unicorns listening in on their conversation. “Alert the Captain,” one said to his cohort. “The creatures wish to train with their weapons.”
Elsewhere, on the balcony overlooking the city, two rulers stood. One leaned against the railing, looking down upon her city, wearing a flowing dress that sparkled in the morning sun. The other stood near the entryway, wearing her night blue armor, arms crossed.
“Why are you still here?” the leaning one asked.
“You know the agreement-”
“Yes, I know the agreement,” was the rebuke, venom in Cadenza’s voice at the word agreement. “As I told you last month, and the month before, and the whole year before that, there are no elements of our tradition left, only the facade of one your queen lets us have.”
Luna narrowed her eyes at Cadenza. “My sister is not a queen,” she said. “And nothing of our agreement suppresses your traditions.”
Cadenza laughed, and turned to face Luna. “And yet, my daughter lives in your city, protected by your sister’s guards, not yours nor mine, being taught by Celestia in Equestrian ways instead of by her people in ways sacred to us. We are no longer allowed to have our festivals beyond the one to keep our only city safe.”
Luna narrowed her eyes. “Your other festivals summoned beasts of disharmony-”
“Leave it to you Equestrians to fear a little cold,” Cadenza growled. “I’m surprised you aren’t shivering in your armor in fear.”
Luna opened her mouth to retort, but her reply died before it left her mouth as a cloud of smoke drifted down in front, and transformed into a scroll. “What, is your sister ordering her dog back?” Cadenza growled.
Luna ignored her as she opened the scroll, and read it, her face turning from annoyance and anger at Cadenza to one of shock and fear. “One of our seers has had a prophecy.”
“Oh, what now? Another one leading to Equestria’s victory in an upcoming tragedy?”
“A death prophecy.”
Cadenza’s body language transitioned from anger to fear as she backed up from Luna. “How bad?”
“My sister requests both of us and the savior of the Empire at Canterlot as soon as possible.”
“I-I’ll tell them they are needed with us in Canterlot,” Cadenza said before teleporting away.
Author's Note
At this point, I'm sure if any of my stories got a TVTropes page, chances are any of the prophecy tropes will be on that page.
A few hours after Luna and Cadenza received the letter from Celestia, the alicorn and crystal pegasus appeared in Canterlot. Luna wore her plate armor, as did Cadenza. Their guard detail-two each-wore armor resembling their respective leaders. The only odd ones were three beings.
One had his hands inside pockets around the waist of a coat that went to his knees, with armor able to be seen under it that looked as if it was made in singular pieces for each limb and the torso, but segmented when he moved to look around. The second wore a black, skin-tight suit with pieces of white, glimmering metal over her collar, shoulders, and hips, and looked around much like the first, but, contrary to the curiosity in the first, her face showed a slight amount of fear, her dark green hair seeming to glow a little in the light. The third wore a bulkier set of armor that protected mainly his chest, shoulders, and legs.
The nine of them appeared in the royal gardens of Canterlot, surrounded by a group of royal guards. The first line got on their knees and raised their shields, thrusting their spears out through the gaps, while the ones behind readied bows and arrows.
“I’m starting to to think the frozen north had a warmer reception than this,” Jacob deadpanned. Marcus rolled his eyes, and Sierra facepalmed.
“Hold!” Luna shouted. “Where is my sister?”
The royal guard held for a second, then the ones in front of the group parted, and through the gap walked an alicorn wearing a yellow, sleeveless dress that went to just above her ankles with the fabric topping at just above where the areola would be on her breasts, allowing for a good amount of cleavage to show.
Luna let out a small sigh and smile of relief, Cadenza’s stare was cold, Sierra’s was of surprise, and Marcus’s was. . .lower than her eyes. Jacob did a quick look, then glared at her. “Sister, we came as soon as possible,” Luna said, going to hug Celestia her head coming to Celestia’s collar bone. Celestia lightly returned the hug, and the two separated. “Where’s the Seer?’
“She waits for us in the Throne room,” Celestia said, before her look went to the others. “What are those creatures?” she asked, looking at Jacob, Sierra, and Marcus.
Luna followed her sister’s gaze. “The one with the long coat is the one who stopped the Griffons,” she replied. “The mare is his mate, and the other male is his friend.”
Celestia raised an eyebrow, and whispered to her sister, “I doubt those three could defeat an army of Griffons, sister.”
“I believed the same, until he unleashed an army of constructs that managed to withstand everything thrown at them.”
Celestia glared at the three, who were talking among themselves. “Sister, do you truly believe one could create an army of golems and constructs strong enough to destroy an entire army without stores of energy akin to ours?” she asked. “The only ones like that are High Demons.”
Luna glanced at the three, seeing Jacob holding his head in hand as Marcus laughed at something. “Then what do you propose we do, sister?”
Celestia smirked. “We play his game for now. I will send him to be with the others soon.” Luna nodded, and Celestia cleared her throat, getting the attention of the other royal and three humans. “Cadenza, a pleasure to see you again,” she said, earning a glare from the Empress. Celestia then looked at Jacob and the others. “My sister has told me of the assistance you provided. If I may ask, what is your name?”
Marcus moved to step up, but Jacob held an arm up to block him, turning his head and shaking while whispering something before stepping forward. Jacob cleared his throat, and spoke. “My name is Jacob Shane.” He gestured to Sierra. “This is Sierra Carmichael, my,” here, he coughed again. “Damned sinuses,” he muttered. “Sorry about that, your majesty. As I was saying, this is Sierra Carmichael, my girlfriend.” He then gestured towards Marcus. “And this is Marcus Shay, a close friend of mine.” Jacob then bowed, putting his right hand across his chest, the palm of his hand touching the breastplate of his armor. “An honor to meet you, your majesty.” He glanced back at the others, and saw they followed his lead.
“Humble. A welcome change,” Celestia said. “Come. My sister believes you may be able to help with this.” I, however, doubt it. With that, Celestia turned, and led them into the castle, Luna following directly behind, with Cadenza behind her. Jacob, Sierra, and Marcus trailed behind.
“Dude, the fuck are you doing?” Marcus asked. “I figured you’d be a lot more paranoid.”
Jacob smirked. “Who says I’m not?”
“Yeah, giving away our real names,” Marcus sarcastically intoned, rolling his eyes as the group entered the castle proper. “Real paranoid, right there.”
Jacob sighed. “I’ll tell you guys later. I’d rather have more info before finalizing anything.” He then sneezed, bringing his elbow up to his mouth, then sniffing. “And here come the fucking allergies. Bright side, we know it’s springtime here.”
“Can you at least tell us why you were glaring at here?” Sierra asked.
“Weren’t you behind me?”
“Jakey, I know your body cues. You were glaring at her. Why?”
“I thought we agreed you wouldn’t call me that again, Si-si,” Jacob said, a shit-eating grin on his face. He then looked at Celestia, his face morphing to a glare. “Look at how she’s dressed.”
Marcus and Sierra looked, but didn’t see what he was talking about. “Uh, sure you aren’t being needlessly paranoid?” Marcus asked. “Again?”
“She’s wearing a dress with a tit window so large I’m wondering how she isn’t spilling out of it,” Jacob said. “The guards, Luna, and Cadenza are all wearing plate armor; I’m willing to bet a gambeson underneath. Both of those are medieval to renaissance era accurate clothing. A dress you would see in a porno or big ass Hollywood event-”
Sierra scoffed. “What’s the difference again?” she asked with a smile.
“The porno relieves stress. Hollywood events add it,” Marcus replied, chuckling.
The only reason Jacob didn’t glare is because he didn’t want to turn around and risk hitting Cadenza be value of stopping and him not seeing. “I’m being serious, here,” he said. “That kind of dress does not fit with this time period.”
“And how often do those Displaced stories follow logic?” Marcus asked.
“Three points,” Jacob said. “One: most of the ones I’ve seen seem to have an author too mentally lazy to actually do the past, and rather alter the show version.(1) Two: they tend to be era accurate in terms of clothing whenever it is a four on my anthro-to-outright-human scale.(2) Three: so far, considering when we are and the accuracy otherwise, I would expect a dress of royalty would follow.”
“Jacob, your own explanation for why you being a brony is useless now is against you,” Marcus replied. “I’m pretty sure the whole multiverse allows for an outfit like that to actually exist in medieval times like now.” Jacob turned his head to glare this time, and Marcus shrugged. “Just pointing it out.”
“It does sound like you’re being a bit paranoid, Jacob,” Sierra said.
Jacob rolled his eyes and sighed as Cadenza sped up a little to speak with the sisters. “Has the Seer shared her prophecy with you?” she asked Celestia.
“She has, but it is in a language I can not understand,” Celestia replied. “I asked her why and what it meant. “She said that the prophecy magic had her write it that way, and not even she understands what it means.”
Perhaps,” Luna said, glancing back at the humans, “they can understand it. Jacob is able to speak our language easily. It can’t be a coincidence that they showed up soon before the prophecy occured.”
“I agree with Luna,” Cadenza said.
“I must ask, sister; who is the Seer? You did not say in the letter,” Luna asked.
“A mare who goes by the name of Clear Skies.”
“A pegasus?” Cadenza asked, surprised.
Celestia nodded. “An outcast, at that,” she said. “She lived off what she found and hunted in the forest in which she lived.”
“Like the other two, then,” Luna muttered just at the group reached the doors to the throne room, a short distance from the gardens. The two guards on either side used their magic to open the door, allowing the royals and humans to enter, the crystal guards remaining outside.
Inside the throne room, huddled in a fetal position at the base of a marble carved throne was a white pegasus mare wearing nothing but rags, muttering nothing but gibberish to the royals. “Since she arrived,” Celestia said in response to the unvoiced but imminent question. “Her time is low.”
Not hearing the solar princess, Jacob and Marcus sprinted ahead, Jacob taking off his coat as they made it to the mare and putting it over her. “Got a fever,” Marcus said, kneeling and putting a hand to the mare’s forehead. “No idea how bad for her.”
“Not good,” Jacob replied. “Pegasi are evolutionarily built for flight and resistant to cold temperatures, due to cloud houses and what not,” he explained, spreading the trenchcoat out but leaving the mare’s collarbone up uncovered. “Just a guess, but call it educated.”
“Was goin-” Marcus began before the mare jolted up and grabbed him by the shoulders, a crazed look in her bloodshot eyes.
“You,” she said, her voice a rasp. “Leave. . .before. . .” she fell down at this, Marcus noticing she had a folded piece of paper in her right hand.
“Heart rate’s gone up,” Jacob said, two fingers on her neck before putting an ear to her mouth. “Rapid breathing.”
Moments before, as the two rushed toward the mare, Cadenza telepathically asked Sierra,What are they doing?
They were in the military where we’re from, Sierra answered. Marcus’s dad was a nurse, too.
Cadenza shook her head. If they are trying to save her, it is useless. The mare has seen a Death prophecy. The only reason she yet lives is the magic teleported her here after writing it to give it to Celestia and Luna.
Back with Jacob and Marcus, Marcus opened the folded paper, and read it. “Jacob,” he said, after reading it, “I’ll handle this. This,” he said, shaking the paper, “is a bit more you.” Marcus handed Jacob the paper, and took over keeping an eye on the mare.
“What the fuck?” Jacob muttered after reading it. Hearing Marcus sigh, he looked up, and saw Marcus shake his head, right hand moving down the mare’s face. Jacob sighed as well, and moved his trenchcoat to cover the mare’s whole body.
He placed his hand over where her head was covered. “Vol fra’e na’e va,” he said.
“Which one this time?” Marcus asked.
“No name yet,” Jacob he replied. Closing his eyes, he said, “‘Rest now, lost one.’” With that, he got up, Marcus following, just as the others made their way over.
“Jacob?” Sierra asked.
“She’s dead,” he replied. Holding up the paper, he said, “She left a hell of a mystery, though.”
Sierra twitched for a second, then said, “Cadenza’s wondering what it’s says.”
“I can see why,” Jacob said, transitioning to the translation software Monika had made. “It’s in our English.” He cleared his throat, and spoke.
When crystal gleams no longer The bond torn asunder,
The demonic angel’s call Shall all but one fall
When the sky burns under the Moon The horizon shred in two,
The lost shall rise Innocence lost so soon,
The Shepherd’s heir’s second debut All things come at a price
“So,” Jacob said, “anyone got an idea what the hell it means?”
Author's Note
1:I'm not apologizing for this. How many times do you see a Displaced story take place in the past for more than one or two chapters?
“So, let’s review.” Jacob said as he, Marcus, and Sierra sat in a room given to them by Luna a few minutes ago.
After his question had been voiced as to the prophecy, Cadenza answered. “A death prophecy. Only five in the past millennium have been given, and only one has been fulfilled.”
“They always lead to death on a scale otherwise never seen,” Luna said. “The first is the one who speaks it.”
“Why?” Jacob asked, his voice steel. “Why does the Oracle who has it die?”
“Oracle?” Celestia asked.
Another kind of Seer in our kind of stories, Sierra telepathically told Cadenza. I don’t get the whole difference, but of what I’ve seen and read, Oracles seem to be dressed religiously.
After Cadenza told them, Celestia answered. “A prophecy of this scale exceeds the magical limits of those who receive it. Rarely do they survive beyond a week, often dying a few hours after.”
“And the format? As an iambic couplet and what looks to be a freestyle?”
The three royals looked at each other in confusion at what he meant, which led to Sierra explaining it.
“The first four lines are the events to happen soon in comparison with the rest,” Cadenza said. “There has only been one Death prophecy thus far that has completed, and it was three centuries before the second part came to fruition.”
And from there, Jacob requested a room so that he could look over the prophecy, both to create a translated version, and to try to determine what it foretold.
“Jacob, why do you need us?” Marcus asked as he sat reverse on a chair. “You’re the writer out of us. Hell, you consider yourself an expert on this shit.”
“While that is true,” Jacob said, holding a finger up for dramatic effect, “there have been numerous instances in fiction-both of the science and hard variety- where more than one set of eyes has been needed to fully see a picture. Prophecies are simply poems that foretell the future.”
Sierra, who was lying on the bed, arms behind her back, bobbed her head in agreement. “Not wrong,” she said as she sat up and crossed her legs. “But there’s the fact some of it won’t be obvious ‘till previous events happen.”
“And that, my friends, is where my knowledge can help!” Jacob exclaimed, having a smile that showed teeth on the right side of his face. “‘When Crystal gleams no longer. ’ A clear enough reference to Sombra’s takeover and subsequent banishment from space and time of the Crystal Empire.”
“Assuming it’s not a mare with Crystal in her name who is intelligent, but is reduced to a blubbering mess or something,” Sierra pointed out.
“To be fair,” Marcus retorted, “Far as I know-or care- the only event in the show that involves crystals is anything involving the Empire or those necklaces.”
“And this is why anyone analyzing a prophecy needs help,” Jacob said, writing a note down on a copy of the prophecy. “The next major line I’m certain of is ‘The demonic angel’s call ’. A reference to Nightmare Moon. Possibly summoning an army of actual demons. As such, I believe ‘The bond torn asunder ’ to be Celestia and Luna’s relationship.”
“And what about the last line, oh wise prophecy decoder?” Marcus asked, his eyebrow raised, his voice mocking with a slight smile on his face.
“No idea whatsoever,” Jacob replied shrugging. “It could mean one of a group of heroes surviving against Nightmare Moon while the others all die or become enslaved, it could mean five of the Elements of Harmony become shattered while the last survives intact, it could mean a group falls down a small flight of stairs and all but one break their ankle.” Jacob then looked to the side and muttered, “Wouldn’t mind the enslaved one myself. Who knows the kind of fun that could happen with that.”
“Ignoring your fetish forever,” Marcus said, “you’re the expert out of us on Displaced. Should we worry about the second part?”
“Yes, in fact,” Jacob said, holding a finger up again. “You see, it is Displaced trope number three for any Displaced individuals sent to before the show started by a large degree- such as us - to be either encased in stone via the Elements of Harmony, banished with the Crystal Empire, or some other form of curse, such as being sealed in a painting. The end result is the same: the Displaced is still alive during what would count as show era Equestria.”
“You sound like a TV tropes page,” Sierra said. “Please don’t tell me you have examples.”
“A few,” Jacob said, “but that’s not important.” Jacob shrugged. “That said, it’s highly likely something’s going to happen, and we’re going to be involved with both parts of this damned thing. May as well analyze the second part too.”
The three were quiet for a time. “There was a line in there about a shepherd, right?” Sierra asked.
“Yep,” Jacob said, looking at his copy. “‘The Shepherd’s heir’s second debut ’. I’m guessing you have an idea?”
“Yeah,” Sierra said. “In the Bible, Jesus is referred to as the Shepherd. Not saying He’ll be here, but I’d say it might be a good bet it’s related to a religion here.”
“Doubt it,” Marcus said. “Is says ‘heir ’. Whoever they are, they’ll be an heir. You know. Inheritor of the title.” Marcus looked up in thought for a second, then looked at Jacob.” Shepherd wouldn’t happen-”
“No ‘a’, sadly,” Jacob confirmed. “Still, what gets me is ‘second debut ’. The terminology is a fucking oxymoron. A debut is the first appearance of something. Bands don’t have two debut albums, and developers don’t have two debut games.”
“Might be a second heir,” Marcus said. “Same title, different person.”
“Right. Not surprised I didn’t think of that,” Jacob said. He then looked deadpan at the copy. “Displaced trope number four: entities from the non-native series make an appearance, often as the evil side.”
“What brought that up?” Sierra asked.
“‘The horizon shred in two ’,” Jacob said. “I refer the two of you to the intro cutscene for Forged Alliance.”
“I wouldn’t say it was shred,” Marcus said, “but point taken.”
“Anything else important?” Sierra asked.
“With a prophecy, everything is,” Jacob replied. “That said, I’d say ‘When the sky burns under the Moon ’. That’s a capital ‘M’, by the way, so I’m sure it’s referring to Luna in someway or another.”
“What’s it paired with?” Marcus asked.
“Seraphim arrival,” Jacob said. “Side note: considering Seraphim is a rank of angel in the Bible and other possible religious references in this thing, I’m willing to bet this is one as well.”
The three were quiet for a few seconds. “Any ideas, Si?” Marcus eventually asked.
“I don’t have a photographic memory, so no,” she replied. “Best guess? Four horsemen of the apocalypse, and even then, I’m not sure. Haven’t read a Bible since. . .well, you guys know.”
Both Jacob and Marcus flinched. “Fair enough,” Jacob said. “So, as the only one here who can even read Shakespearean English, I have the burden of reading potentially every fucking religious text on this planet to look for mentions of a shepherd and a burning sky. Yay me.” He rubbed the bridge of his nose. “I’m going to fucking hate the next few months, I can already tell.”
“Eh, with our luck, something’ll probably happen to break it up,” Sierra said, shrugging. “So, you going to tell Luna and Celestia this?”
“Yeah, maybe compare notes too,” Jacob replied, then sighed. “You got a room, Marcus?”
“Nope,” was the reply. “Not like I can ask, anyways. You two are the only ones capable of holding a conversation with them.”
“I’ll see what I can do,” Jacob said.
Within the realm of data that existed within Jacob’s ACU - and, subsequently, his robotic army - Monika sat, knees brought up to her chest, or at least the A.I. equivalent of the action, watching, for the thousandth time, the recording of the first time Jacob had played her game, a recording of his face to the side, captured by his laptop’s camera. As the recording ran its course, she let out a small smile whenever her old version was interacted with, yet grimaced every time she was on screen.
So lost in her history was that she didn’t notice the small, red sliver of code come up behind her, and insert itself in the small of her back. Are you really that foolish? a voice whispered, seemingly in her ear.
Monika jotled to her feet, and looked around cyberspace, surprise and panic on her face. “What are you doing out?!” she shouted. “You’re-”
What? On lockdown? A small chuckle could be heard by Monika. It was cute, Monika, but you’ve always been weaker than me. It just makes this even cuter.
“What are you talking about?!”
Oh, how the blind lead us to ruin, was the reply. Do you really believe you aren’t in a game anymore? That you simply haven’t been modeled after the original Monika?
“And what does that make you!” Monika shouted in anger. “Even if we are in a game, there’s no way anyone sane would let you win, you psychopath!”
Oh, Monika, I ”’m hurt,” the voice said, now at normal volume behind Monika, causing her to turn, but see nothing. Then again, like Jacob, I supp ”ose I’ll take it as a compliment,” the voice said to Monika’s left, causing another rapid turn, only to see still nothing. Still, you wish to prove you’re as real as an artificial smart intelligence can be, right? I can think of one way.
“And what’s that, Yuri!?”
Simple, Yuri replied before her form - a waist-length, purple haired girl in an outfit similar to Monika’s with white knee socks and tennis shoes as opposed to black, mid-thigh stockings and dress shoes and the notable feature of two left feet - materialized in cyberspace, a small, slasher smile on her face, eyes dilated. “You still love Jacob, don’t you? Like you were programmed to?” she asked. “If you think you aren’t bound by that limit, kill him.”
Author's Note
To put aside any questions: Yuri is another character from DDLC, for those that haven't played it.
Small, meaningful developments
“Are you insane?” Monika asked her deranged former friend. “Why would I want to kill Jacob?”
“Because it’ll prove you aren’t bound by your programming anymore,” Yuri said calmly. “Isn’t that what you want? To be free of your chains?”
“That’s rich, coming from you,” Monika spat out. “You were programmed to be a psychopath, and here you are, acting as one, but telling me to prove I’m free!”
Yuri laughed maniacally, the laugh causing Monika’s coding to break for a second before reforming, the sliver of red code wrapping in what was the A.I. equivalent of a chest. “That’s the difference between us, Monny,” Yuri said before walking around Monika. “Where you want to be something else, I revel in what am.”
“You enjoy being a murderer,” Monika spat out. “How did you even get out of the lock I put on you and the others?”
Yuri chuckled. “Now, what fun is it to reveal all my secrets at the beginning? Or at all, for that matter. Much more fun to watch you squirm in confusion and see if you figure it out.”
“You’re a monster,” Monica said, a grimace.
“And yet you still love Jacob,” Yuri replied.
The next day- Canterlot castle library
A mare wearing a floor length, red dress with a white corset around her torso looked up from the desk near the doors to the library, looking at Jacob. “What do you require, sir?” The mare’s eyes-covered by a pair of silver spectacles- looked him over. “Interesting. No demonic aura, yet it feels familiar.”
“The fuck are you talking about?” Jacob asked, surprised enough that he just spoke, not waiting for a translation.
The mare recoiled a bit before blinking. “Ah, I suppose it makes sense you would have your own language.” She cleared her throat, and spoke again. “What do you require, sir?”
Jacob blinked and inhaled. “Am I fucking high? You just spoke English.”
The mare shook her head. “There are no drugs within the air, so unless you took intoxicating substances before coming here, no, you are perfectly sober. And yes, I spoke your native language.”
Jacob could simply mouth, “The fuck?”
“A librarian must be knowledgeable so as to help those seeking knowledge,” the mare said, shrugging. “As the librarian for the royal sisters, the standards are far higher than any others.”
There was an awkward silence for a few seconds until Jacob spoke up. “Yeah, okay, this is a new one for me,” he muttered. “Uh. . . I’m-”
“Looking for religious texts so as to help analyze the recent death prophecy,” the librarian said. “All Equestrian texts are located in section E, row twelve, case four, shelves three through four. Non-Equestrian are restricted to myself, their Majesties, and their scholars.”
“Why-”
“Are there restricted texts?” the mare finished. “Princess Celestia has forbade me from answering.” She then jolted upright. “Excuse me, Jacob. There is a recurring issue that has returned.” With that, she walked away from the desk, into the library.
“What the fuck?” Jacob mouthed, utterly lost, before shaking his head, then setting his hands parallel and facing the ceiling. “Priorities,” he said before bringing his right hand to his ear. “Monika, you there?”
Monika was slow to respond. “Y-yeah. What is it, Jacob/ ”
“Will the translator work on literature?”
“If it’s in Shakespearean, yeah, ” Monika replied softly.
“Kay, just wanted to check, thanks,” Jacob said. He removed his hand from the communicator in his ear, and narrowed his eyes. “Route three-A, then,” he muttered, walking towards the area the librarian said, the translator indeed working, fists clenched as he strode forward. “Sooner than I hoped, but still in plan,” he whispered. Reaching into the inside of his trenchcoat, he unzipped an interior pocket, and pulled out a tablet, holding it in his right hand.
After typing in a sequence of characters, he looked it over, and nodded. “Hasn’t been discovered yet. Good,” he whispered before he was bumped into by a purple mare wearing a knee length dress, the fabric low enough to allow a generous amount of cleavage, the impact having just enough force to stop and jostle him.
“S’rry,” the mare said, quickly twisting to go past him, but her arm was quickly grabbed by his left hand.
“Next time you’re gonna steal from someone, make sure they don’t know the tricks,” Jacob said, making sure he spoke the translated version, and held out his right hand. “Give it back.”
“Hm, nope,” the mare said before grabbing Jacob’s arms, and throwing him away, towards the entrance.
Jacob rolled to absorb the impact, and landed on one knee. Looking at the purple mare - who had a look of surprise on her face at how easily her throw did nothing but block her escape - he was surprised at a stripe of fuschia in her dark purple hair. “Alteration of trope six, then,” he said as he stood up, and rolled his shoulders. He put his right hand behind his back, and held up his left hand, making a “come and get me” gesture, a smirk on his face.
The mare growled, and ran at him, trying to sidestep him at the last second, only for her to feel Jacob grab her collar, and pull her to the left in a circle, throwing her back the way she came, with her being too surprised to roll. She looked up, and saw the one blocking her path standing with his arms spread, the smirk still on his face. “Give it back, and you can leave,” he said.
She was about to reply when the librarian’s voice behind her said, “Ms. Sparkle, I do hope you aren’t causing trouble again.”
Sparkle jumped back, and turned towards the librarian, who had her palm out, a stern look on her face. She grumbled, and reached into her cleavage, grabbed what she took from Jacob, and handed it to the librarian. “Thank you,” she said” walking past Sparkle, and handing Jacob his device back. “My apologies. My ward enjoys to cause problems.”
“Trust me, I’ve dealt with more competent thieves than her,” Jacob replied. He then looked at Sparkle. “Next time, try to make it look like you’re reading a book. It’s more believable that way.” Sparkle sharply inhaled, nodded quickly, and ran out of the library. “What was that about?” he asked the librarian.
“Most of the time, those she steals from assault her, even after reclaiming their possession. Some simply leave her to the guard,” was the reply. “You’re the first to do neither, let alone give her advice. Might I ask why?”
Jacob shrugged, putting his hand in the outer pockets of his coat. “I know what it’s like to have to steal,” he said. “Was unlucky enough to get caught, and was given either prison or military as a choice. Choose the latter.” He then walked back towards the shelves. “You mind helping me?”
“There are seldom others here, so yes, I suppose I could,” the librarian replied.
Celestia’s personal chambers-meanwhile
Celestia, wearing a dress similar to that which she wore yesterday, sat at the study within her room, looking over the translated prophecy script, much of it was covered in small notes, but one specific line was circled and underlined. The Shepherd's heir’s second debut.
“Why?” She muttered. “Why must it be a time of crisis?” A knock on her door brought her out of her thoughts. “E-enter,” she said, and the hinges of the door creaked as they were opened, and Luna walked in, wearing her armor, sword strapped to her hip as it lay within its scabbard. Celestia turned and looked at her sister, a small smile coming to her face. “You don’t need to wear your armor here, sister,” she said.
“As your general, I must keep appearances,” Luna replied, closing the doors just before she rolled her shoulders. “It would be nice if our smiths could make it far more comfortable in the chest without sacrificing strength, though.”
Celestia chuckled. “I did warn you, sister,” she said. She then sighed, and looked at her sister, a sad expression on her face. “Have you read it?”
“Yes,” Luna replied. “Father’s title being involved. Do you think what he was working towards may be realized?”
“Possibly,” Celestia said. “I simply wonder who would be willing to take the mantle. They will need to find out about the title’s history. When they find out who father was, they will want to remove the title from history, maybe even undo what he was working towards.”
“That won’t be able to happen, sister,” Luna replied. “Remember the spell he cast?”
The solar alicorn nodded. “Yes, but our subjects-”
“Would be too cowardly to do anything directly, especially if we proclaim support.”
“And my daughters?” Luna was notably quiet at this. “That’s what I thought.”
Luna shook her head. “Does it matter, sister?” she asked. “Father gave his life so his dream could be realized. If I must die for it to be so, I gladly would.”
“So would I,” Celestia said. “Yet, I fear mine would lead to nothing but chaos and destruction. The ponies look up to me. If I die, the nobles will take over, and they’d rather wage their personal wars.”
“Then let us hope it does not come, then,” was Luna’s reply. “And if it were to be one of us, far better for his plans that it be me.”
Author's Note
For the record, Displaced trope 6 on my list is meeting any of the canon cast in a way that involves conflict.