Honor Reforged

Capital City, Fire Nation, +5 Days after Displacement

The city was on edge. Word about the strange lights in the skies several days prior had begun to percolate through to every corner of it, and everyone was talking about the alert and nervousness of the soldiers. Even with the lockdown having been partially rescinded, the populace was simmering a bit as some noticed the lack of any convoys arriving from the colonies in the Earth Kingdom.

Kori was one such citizen as she sat at a small tea shop, drinking her tea and frowning as she gazed at the palace. She’d come here, fully intent on killing the Fire Lord in the hopes doing so would stop the Harmony Restoration movement. Now however there were soldiers everywhere, the city was on edge, and there were rumors of some weird lights in the night sky.

This wasn’t exactly what I had in mind… She thought dryly to herself, setting her head on the table in annoyance. She fiddled about with a pebble she’d brought with her from home, the first piece of earth she’d ever been able to manipulate. She’d thought of leaving it at home, but decided to bring it along to help remind herself of why she was here and why the Fire Lord needed to die.

Her attention was grabbed as a Fire Nation soldier riding a Komodo Rhino raced by, scattering many citizens as he shouted “Make way! Royal Courier coming through! Make way dammit!” Other soldiers further along the path towards the palace began to push civilians to the side so as to prevent tramplings.

“Wonder what that’s about…” Kori murmured softly to herself, chewing on a biscuit as her eyes drifted back to the palace. She shook her head and got up, placing some coin on the table and heading back to the inn she was staying at. She needed to figure out what the heck was going on, but she didn’t know the first place to start… She’d have to bide her time and wait.

Zuko leaned over a map of the Fire Nation and the areas surrounding it. Little markers had been placed on parts of the Fire Nation, signifying reports that had returned and reported everything was alright. Aside from those who had witnessed the event, and the fears of a few Earth Kingdom merchantmen who had been in Fire Nation waters, everything seemed to be… well, fine.

His instincts however told him that there was no way that was the case. Not after a light show like that… and there had been two ships, one Earth Kingdom and one Fire Nation, that had turned around and returned to port after saying they’d nearly crashed into a dome of white light that had stretched down from the sky and sliced through the water.

It’s going to be a few days before we get word from any of the scouts heading further afield. Zuko thought to himself with a frown as a few of his generals and Admirals conversed. They were talking about one of the convoy’s bringing Fire Nation colonials back home… from the sound of it, it had missed its expected due date.

And with no sighting of Aang and his flying bison or any other Earth Kingdom ships… Zuko was starting to entertain one of the more unlikely possibilities…

I refuse to jump to conclusions! Zuko again told himself as another courier arrived. He looked at the message, nodding and thanking the man for his service and to go rest for the day. He placed another marker on the map. Another province perfectly fine and okay…

This time though, the report included something that gave him more to worry about… a Fire Nation ship headed off to retrieve more colonials had been cut in half by the barrier of light, as witnessed by a merchant ship that had been heading for the Southern Water Tribes. They had moved as close as they dared and rescued some of the crew before turning back.

What was disturbing about the account was that when the barrier had faded, there was no sign of the rest of the ship, nor any sign of the crew. The stern and half of its middle had been all that remained, and it looked like it had been sliced clean through.

“Your Highness?”

Zuko looked up and saw one of the Fire Acolytes. The young man bowed and said “The Fire Sages are ready to see you.”

Zuko nodded, standing up and taking in a deep breath. He strode past the generals, a few giving him worried looks… and they weren’t the only ones. Mai watched from a door nearby, silently wondering if the universe was determined to keep piling work onto her love’s shoulders… and deciding she was going to do something about it tomorrow.

Lunar Ocean

Open Skies stretched as the light of the afternoon sun finally broke through the clouds up above, stepping out of his little cloud cottage and casting his gaze out over the ocean beneath his home.

“Oh ponyfeathers.” He let out a slightly annoyed grunt when he saw that yet again, his home had drifted about a half mile from the tiny little Island where he grew some fruit and tropical flowers to. Anytime even a mild storm rolled through this patch of the Lunar Ocean he’d have to spend half an hour pushing his home back to where he wanted it anchored, and it looked like today wasn’t going to be an exception.

He swept a teal coated hoof through his purple mane, flicking some sweat off as he flew back a bit to check the positioning of his house, make sure it was in just… the right… place…

Instead however, he found his eyes catching sight of something else. A hot air balloon that was steadily approaching his home… the balloon was a red color with a black flame painted on it, and inside the basket was three… well, he didn’t know what to call them.

He at first thought they might be dragons… but then he realized he was seeing armor, not scales, and that the fire powering the balloon was coming from one of their hands, not their scaleless, pink faces with only a little hair on it.

And given the direction they were looking now, they’d spotted him too. He waved at them, and they gave him a wave back, albeit it took a moment. They looked...very confused even as they continued to draw closer.

“Well, no reason to just sit here in the sky.” Open Skies said as he flew on over to them. He took his time doing so; the fact that one of these creatures was shooting fire from his first made him less than eager in charging towards them.

“Hey there! Never seen folks like you around here before. Where ya from?”

The things aboard the balloon blinked a bit, and then one asked “Did that animal just talk?”

Open Skies blinked at this, frowning and tilting his head a bit as he said “Uh, I’m not an animal. I’m a Pegasus. None of you folks ever seen a Pegasus before?” He flew around them a bit to look at them from different angles and added “Come to think of it, I don’t know what you are either.”

The three strange beings shared a glance amongst each other, then after a moment one said “Humans. We’re Humans. From the Fire Nation.”

“Fire Nation? Huh, never heard of that. You from the lands of Cathay?” He asked, neither of them seeming to recognize the name. “I hear there’s lots of weird kinds of folks there besides Ponies, like Deer with magic and some kind of Pony Dragon hybrid.” He landed on the edge of the basket, perching there almost like a bird.

“Course, only heard about them, never seen them.”

The three beings… soldiers he wagered, given they were wearing armor, seemed to look to each other. One mouthed something, while another whisper ‘deer with magic’. Finally, one of them turned and asked “Can you tell us where we are? We’ve never heard of a Pegasus… or any of those things.”

Open Skies blinked a bit at this revelation, then said “You’re over the Lunar Ocean, just a about… a hundred miles away from the Unexplored Lands. It’s a big Peninsula off the coast of Equestria that hasn’t really been explored or settled much, least not by most folks anyways.”

“Equestria?” One of them asks, then another “What about the Earth Kingdom?”

Open Skies blinked at that. “I only know of the Earth Pony Tribe. Part of the three tribes that founded Equestria… uhm… oh give me a sec… oh!” He hovered over the basket edge and said “Two thousand years ago!”

At the blank looks at the mention of the Earth pony tribe, and the others, Unicorn and Pegasus, he said “You folks really ain’t from around here are you?”

They shake their head, and Open Skies frowns at this. Then he smiles and says “Well, I haven’t heard of no Fire Nation, and you’re obviously new and came from the West. How about I tell ya about the Three Tribes and Equestria while you tell me about your home? Best way to get to know your neighbors, as my Dad used to say.”

The three Fire Nation soldiers seemed to consider this, gazing out to the east. From what they’d said, they’d expected to find something else… an Earth Kingdom. But surely such a Kingdom would have Earth Ponies at it’s head, so why would they not know about the other tribes?

With some hesitance, the commander of the group finally nodded. He seemed about to say something, but Open Skies beamed and said “Give me just a sec to leave a note for my cousin Jetstream, she’s supposed to visit sometime this week!”

The three humans watched as Open Skies flew back over to his cloud cottage, eying it in confusion and wonderment, even as they began to turn the balloon around. Moments later, Open Skies came out and stuck his hoof out.

“Open Skies. Nice to meet you!”

The human gave him a strange look at the name, but after a moment shook the hoof. “Xiaochen.”

Open Skies smiled, and began to introduce himself to the others as they turned back around and made their way for their homeland. Open Skies wasn’t too happy about the speed of the balloon… but he didn’t mind. After all, he was clearly the first Pony to meet these people! This was so exciting!

Royal Palace, Canterlot, Equestria +6 Days after Displacement

When Cadance and Shining Armor entered the throne room, they’d expected the air to be tense. They’d been beginning to enjoy their honeymoon, intimately so as it turned out, when the message arrived by Philomena. Who took too much enjoyment in interrupting their fun.

What they weren’t expecting was to see lines of tension on Celestia’s face and the rigid way she was holding herself as other officers talked amongst themselves at the table before them. What they weren’t expecting was the grim and tired look on Celestia’s face.

She looked like she hadn’t slept in a few days, with bags under her eyes and her eyelids looking like they were trying very hard to close so she could go to bed. Even when she saw them, the frown on her face could only shift to a bit of a thin line instead as she took another sip from a large coffee cup.

“Princess Cadance, Captain Armor, I’m sorry that you had to cancel your honeymoon.” She says, most of the Generals looking up and giving the couple a nod but many returning their eyes to the map and continuing their conversations in hushed tones.

“There’s no need to be sorry Celestia… Equestria needs all hooves on deck, and we are happy to help however we can.” Cadance replied with a smile as she moved up to nuzzle her.

“We’re at your service Princess.” Shining Armor added, bowing to Celestia. He quickly stood back up as she waved a hoof away at the protocol.

“I am glad to hear that Shining Armor… because as your wife said, we do need everypony on deck. That is why I am promoting you to General, effective immediately.” She waited for Shining’s salute before continuing.

“I want you to work with the other commanders and generals to begin formulating our defense as our forces mobilize. The Wonderbolts are working to try and find some of their nests and swarms, and have already stopped a few raids closer to larger towns and cities, but the sooner we can hit back at them and rescue our little ponies, the better.”

“At once Princess.” He said with a nod before moving over to the table. Cadance walked on over and gave

Celestia a nuzzle, draping a wing over her as she asked, “Do you need me to do anything? I could keep an eye on things here, or tend to any other duties you have. You look like you could use some rest.”

Celestia tried to shake her head, but then winced a bit as she rubbed a hoof at her head. “Perhaps a short rest couldn’t hurt… though with how worried I am, I’m not sure how if it’ll do any good.”

“You can’t help Equestria if you’re this tired Celestia. Don’t worry, if anything major happens, I’ll come and fetch you.”

She nods, letting out a soft yawn before slowly getting up and letting Cadance take her place. Cadance gave her a nuzzle which her aunt returned before leaving the room. She turned her eyes to her loving husband, meeting them for a moment as she silently wondered just how bad things were.

Shining knew the answer. And that answer was that at the moment, the Changelings had the advantage. He had quickly been brought up to speed, learning that in the last three days only three raids out of a dozen had been repulsed. And it was going to be several more days, maybe a week and a half, before mobilization finished and they could begin to deploy their forces against them.

For now, they were relying on quick thinking of local militia officers and the Wonderbolts, with the latter being the source of two of those three victories…

Shaking his head, he started floating over some quills and scrolls. He had some orders to begin sending out… hopefully, they’d help make the difference for some towns and villages…

Capital City, Royal Palace, Fire Nation +8 days AD

It was not the first of the recon balloons to make its way back to the capital, but it was the first to be making a beeline for the Palace. That in its own right would have been more than enough to catch the eyes of some of the citizens below.

For those who were more eagle eyed amongst them, the sight of a strange, four legged turquoise creature flying around and beside it made it draw quite a bit of attention. As such, it was no surprise that a runner had immediately been sent off to summon the Fire Lord.

A few minutes later, as it began to descend, Zuko, Mai, and several of his advisors strode forth, walking into the center of the main courtyard to watch and wait for it’s landing. They all caught sight of the strange creature even before the balloon touched down and the soldiers quickly clambered out.

The creature landed behind them as they strode forward, its head with those large expressive eyes taking in everything around it with awe and wonder. Its gaze turned back to the soldiers however as they stopped before Zuko and knelt before him.

“Rise, and report.”

The soldier did just that as he stood and said “Commander Xiaochen my Lord. I have brought to you an important guest at the utmost urgency. I present Open Skies, a Pegasus of Equestria.”

Zuko quirked an eye up at this, and asked “And how, may I ask, do you know this?”

“You’ll see, and hear, in a moment my Lord.” Xiaochen then turned and stepped aside, with Zuko’s eyes becoming focused on this ‘Pegasus’ as he stepped forward, bowed by lowering his front briefly, then stood back up and said,

“Good afternoon Fire Lord, it’s a pleasure to meet you!”

Zuko stared at the creature for a long moment, then sighed. This day was going to be more interesting than he had ever imagined it could be.

Fire Lord Zuko and his Council meet with the Pegasus Open Skies over the next few days. Description of Equestria and its world, combined with findings of Fire Sages, confirms that the Fire Nation is no longer on Earth.

Hoofington repels attack by Changeling force of about three hundred, Changelings make off with only a dozen. Hurricane Company chases them off towards Foal Mountain before being repulsed by Changeling reinforcements.

FN Cruiser Dahong Xu spots land, begins to sail along the coast of the Unexplored lands.

Fire Lord Zuko comes closer and closer to catching the spectre in his dreams.

The first captive Equestrians begin to reach the Hive in the Badlands.