A Whisper on the Wind

Packing up everything took longer than expected, but we were forced to press on even as twilight descended on the land. We were all aware of the potential dangers of night travel, but our collective food rations were running low, and either we headed to Las Pegasus or we returned to camp. Las Pegasus was much more interesting as a destination, so we decided to press on and make our way there.

The disused train depot had several manual locomotives and open carriages in various states of decay and disrepair, but after a short while, we'd managed to cobble together a complete train using a combination of parts of what the group had brought with them from Las Pegasus and what was left in the depot. The vehicle we hijacked, however, was a complete write-off.

After putting together a three-carriage vehicle and giving it a time-constrained inspection, I now found myself a passenger in our Frankensteined train as it trundled along, with Crush and Stopper currently taking turns on the locomotive cart. I sat in the middle carriage with Ace lying down at my side trying to sleep while I channeled a low-power fire spell - just enough for our path ahead of us to be illuminated as a fireball moved in the sky along with the train. Everypony else was in the rear carriage. Of course, our speed was slower than usual due to the very low light conditions, but our new squad members were confident that we'd reach Las Pegasus by dawn at this speed.

I then felt fur brush against my vacant side as Flame came to sit next to me. She looked weary and had probably had as little sleep as me.

“Hey. Sorry, I guess we haven’t had a chance to talk lately. Do you… feel anything down there at all?” I asked, trying to restrain my enthusiasm at even the remote possibility that we’d created something together, but the mare’s response extinguished any hope of that as she shook her head. I could see that the mare was struggling to hold back tears, so I reached out to give her a hug with one arm, the earth pony soon devolving into muffled sobs against my hoodie as the wind swept through our hair. I knew it was a long shot, but…. God damn did it hurt.

After a few moments, she nodded that she was fine and settled into a loafing position next to me as I looked to the front of the train at Tricks, now on his first official tour of duty as the squad’s scout. He'd already demonstrated an aptitude for it on this trip by spotting several hazards on the tracks, calling out for the brakes to be applied, and for the rest of us to get out and deal with whatever it was he spotted.

And by ‘the rest of us’, that tended to just be me, like using Levenesis to move a particularly large stray boulder from the tracks.

As I was thinking about how well the tracks had held up over the years, a voice shouted, “HALT!”

With quick reactions from Stopper, the brakes were applied, and soon the air was filled with the screech of metal as our speed died and the train came to an abrupt halt. The cacophony was enough to nudge Ace awake, and after a few groggy moments coming back to the waking world, he joined me as I hopped out of the carriage, canceling my fire spell and letting my eyes adjust to the darkness as the fireball extinguished itself in the next few seconds.

After some welcome stretches, we both approached Tricks, who was still in the Locomotive cart as he peered down over the metal fencing surrounding all of our segments.

“What did you see, Tricks?” I asked, curious what it would be this time. The unicorn just pointed a hoof to a location forward of where we'd stopped. “That.”

My eyes were still adjusting to the darkness, but even against the poor starlight from the skies above, it was easy to see that something was rampaging across the landscape. Something big.

I looked down at Stopper, who'd just hopped off the locomotive cart. “Options, Exec?” I asked.

She barely blinked before responding. “Pre-emptive strike. We distract it, and you zap it.”

I gazed at my hands, once again thinking back to the manticore I helped slay before I turned back to briefly look at those now under my care.

Your squad comes first. You must do what needs to be done. Even if that option is violence.

“Zap it, huh? Not torch it with fire?”

“It's a chimera. They're fire-aspected creatures; you'd actually heal it with fire.”

“I… huh, really? Well then, let's do… uh, it's coming right for us!”

The creature had no doubt had its curiosity piqued by our arrival, and it approached us at a fair rate of knots, my hands throwing up a fireball into the sky to raise the light level, mostly for my benefit so that I could see what we'd be up against.

The chimera stopped a short distance away from us, the light from above revealing its features in all their terrifying glory. From its front, it had the head and upper body of a tiger, and another head and the lower body of a goat, while a serpentine tail nestled between them, at the head of which was… well, the head of a snake, baring its fangs menacingly as all three of them took in the sight of us.

“What a sssssssurprise to see our next meal, ssssssserved to us on a sssssssilver platter.”

The voice was feminine, and yet it instantly carried a weight of deviousness and cunning.

“A roaming band of ponies, so far from home! Enough of you for a proper meal…”

The next voice was the head of the goat; this was much more recognizably feminine, with an air of charm to it and even a hint of flirtatiousness.

“Surrender, and we will make your deaths quick.”

The voice of the tiger's head, while still feminine, was much more guttural and rough, the beast raising one of their feline paws and very suddenly extending its claws.

Realizing that I was about to deal with a sapient being, I took a step forward. The heads collectively recoiled, which brought a smile to my face.

“I take it that you've seen one of my kind before?”

“Ssssssso many years ago, wearing a pair of gauntletsssssss did he attempt to slay usssssss.”

“You are unarmed! You cannot save these ponies from our hunger!”

“Your blood will flow like a tidal wave!”

The heads continued to threaten us, making my next decision much easier.

“Ponies, scatter!”

On cue, everypony apart from Ace immediately made themselves scarce, running off behind me to take refuge in the flora and darkness. My hand immediately unsheathed Oathkeeper, causing the chimera to reconsider charging at me, the fireball above continuing to illuminate us as I moved to the side, coaxing the creature over to me to make it avoid the train.

“You are clever, human. We ssssssshall relisssssssh wearing your ssssssskin like a sssssssuit.”

It was hungry, and it was desperate. But, I still had to give it a chance.

“You don't have to do this. Walk away… or however you move, and we'll forget we ever saw you.”

As I resheathed Oathkeeper, the creature took that as its opportunity to surge forward, allowing me to test a theory I'd been baking in my head on the ride here. I first ceased channeling my fire spell, leaving it to fizzle out in what would be a roughly ten-second delay. I then began to cast a Telekinesis spell, but in a departure from what I’d done previously, I instead tried to concentrate the force on a single point in front of me. That force then swelled into a blue-tinted spherical ball as I surged magical energy into it. I then cast a second Telekinesis spell with my other hand, which I then used to grab and quite literally push that ball into the path of the oncoming chimera.

“Hadouken!”

I scored a direct hit as the ball of force smacked into the tiger's head with the force of a bowling ball before the shock of the impact caused the magical spheroid to disintegrate, the creature stumbling over itself before slumping to the ground in a crumpled heap as its front legs failed. Ace and I ran off to evade the faltering attack as the light source snuffed itself out, taking cover in the darkness so that I could have enough time to pull off another double cast. Ace quickly kept pace with my movements, in spite of the darkness.

“You okay there, Ace?” I asked quietly as the pegasus crouched behind me.

“Me? What about you? What the buck was that move?” He whispered back.

“Get up you bumbling fool!”

The goat half of its body seemed to kick the tiger's head with a cloven hoof, but the delay I'd bought was going to be its downfall. It was going to hurt like fuck for me, but it was either the chimera or my friends, and I sure as shit was going to pick my friends.

As the creature unsteadily got back onto its feet, I felt arcs of electricity cross my hands as I commanded each one to channel its own Thunder spell, letting the spells’ power reach their collective peaks before unleashing them against the chimera.

“Thunder!”

As the power word unlocked the mental barrier in my mind, the sum of all that magical energy ripped into the hapless creature, wails of pain ringing out as the bolts of lightning arced across to it, leaving cracks and scars in its flesh and fur that continued to burn and smolder even as the creature fell silent into a much more silent heap.

I waited for the inevitable burning sensation to radiate across my back… but nothing came. I had no time to dwell on that, however.

“Let's get back to the train, follow me closely,” I said to Ace as we sprinted back to the carriages. Once he and I boarded it, I threw up another fireball into the sky to once again bathe the train and our surroundings in light.

“Ponies, assemble!”

I felt no end of satisfaction saying that as everypony came out of hiding to board the train as every one of them took up their former positions.

“Get us underway, on the double!” I commanded Stopper and Crush, the two of them putting in tremendous efforts to get us away from the charred hulk of the chimera at a rapid rate of acceleration as the chilly wind of the night once again ran across skin and fur alike, my hands continuing to keep that ball of fire above us to light up our path as we charged ahead.

Slumping back onto the hard wooden deck of the carriage, I propped myself up with my backpack as Ace and Flame once again settled into furry loaves at my side as I clenched and unclenched my fists repeatedly. I couldn't stop thinking about the lack of pain from earlier, a thought that gave me much anxiety as we trundled along for several more hours, Ace continuing to try and get some rest as Flame and I shared a mutual sad glance and a cuddle.

As Ace drifted off into slumber, I found my mind staring into his thoughts: A village on fire, the mangled and butchered bodies of other ponies strewn about the place like discarded rubbish… and a crimson-red mare in a cage, crying out for Ace as she's led away.

He'd never once mentioned any of this…

I wasn't one to pass judgment, and I'd be tactful when asking him what it was all about, but the scene was still shocking to witness, in all of the casual brutality of it.

The remainder of our journey was free of incident, with all of us getting a wake-up call when dawn broke and the Sun's rays fell upon us. As soon as light conditions permitted, I ceased my low-level spell channeling and properly relaxed for the first time since we'd departed Vanhoover.

Yet, even amidst that spell of peace, my mind kept going back to the chimera from earlier, and how I was able to unleash full-strength spells without suffering any ill effects.

I should've been happy, and yet I was deeply concerned. I shouldn't have been able to cast those spells without consequences, and the reasons for the situation changing ranged from the concerning to the alarming.

I was so engrossed in my own thoughts that I barely registered our train entering a depot. As I shook myself free of my mental rut, I looked around and could immediately see that this depot was much more elaborate than any I'd seen so far here. The entire structure was ornate with a canopy that was seated with patchy stained glass windows that obscured and transformed the Sun's rays into a multihued rainbow as we approached the buffers at the terminus.

Once we'd come to a complete halt, Kiwi and Ice hopped off of the locomotive cart, the two of them having taken over from Crush and Stopper a couple of hours ago, while the rest of us wearily made our way off to join them. After a few stretches, I dusted off my hoodie and made sure that Oathkeeper and my backpack were secure before turning to Ace, the pegasus’ yawning enticing my body to reciprocate with a yawn of my own, my fatigue threatening to rear its head once again.

Ice took point and led us out of the building to a road, stopping for a moment to point a hoof toweard the end of it. “Our village is down there, in the suburbs before you get to the ruins. Follow me,” he said as he made his way down the bricked road that was pocketed with flora that sprouted from its cracks. In the distance, I could see skyscrapers that still stood, the skyline not dissimilar to ones from certain cities on Earth. It wasn't as big as Canary Wharf, but it was certainly more impressive than Des Moines, even in the state of urban decay that it seemed to be in.

As we continued walking, the sea started to become visible to our right, and a marina with several boats attached to it indicated some degree of recent, sustained use.

Moving further inland, larger structures came into view, like warehouses made from corrugated iron and smaller bricked structures that could’ve been commercial properties previously, in addition to smaller personal dwellings, all of them suffering from a lack of skilled maintenance as vines and decay stretched across most of them.

Eventually, we came to a large set of open metal gates with an arch over them that read ‘THE SKY'S THE LIMIT’, confirming for me that Las Pegasus was indeed very likely a pegasus-dominated settlement previously.

As we all walked inside the settlement, numerous ponies emerged from various places, my immediate vicinity now awash with many, many different hues of pastel-colored ponies as they crowded around us, a barrage of questions and comments bombarding us as we attempted to make our way forward.

Two ponies seemed to stand out from the others, so much so that other ponies seemed to go out of their way to make room for them as they waded through the crowd concentrating around me as I alone apparently and understandably elicited a state of curiosity from them as I was prodded and poked by hooves and snoots alike.

As the two purpose-filled mares further trudged through the sea of ponies, the ones near me started to fan out, until only I and Ace remained together as the pegasus and unicorn approaching us got closer, enough for me to get a really good look at them.

The pegasus on the left had a coat of brilliant white, with a mane and tail of gold that shimmered in the light, almost as if her hair itself were enchanted. On the right was a unicorn, with a coat of a deep navy blue and a mane and tail of a lighter but still quite solid blue, the individual fibers twinkling as if obeying a silent spell of their own.

As they drew closer, their cutie marks came into view; the pegasus on the left possessed one of a gold feather against the backdrop of the Sun, while the unicorn to the right had the vista of the Moon peeking through a patch of dark clouds.

They both wore something akin to jewelry, the pegasus wearing around her neck a golden triangular amulet of sorts, while the unicorn wore a simple silver earring in her right ear.

Once they were within four paces, they stopped and sat down, the pegasus looking around and smiling at some of the ponies in our group who'd made their way home before ultimately turning her attention to me.

“My apologies for the rather overwhelming welcome from our little community. They, like me, have heard numerous stories from long ago of a creature that looked very much like you. A creature that… touched the hearts of many. Tell me your name, newcomer, and why you have come here.”

Her voice was… almost matronly, as if it was inviting you in for a cuddle and a cup of hot chocolate. It was like a Siren's Call, only it called out to me to be stringently honest.

“My name is Corporal Stuart Robinson, and this is my squad; Aerial Ace, Show Stopper, Flaming Peach, Crushing Shield, and Tricky Canvas. We are on a mission to recover some very important gemstones relating to that individual of which you speak.”

“You are not the first to covet the powers of gemstones, for that individual also had a singular fascination with them.”

The unicorn's voice was direct and brash, yet her tone was refined and she spoke with an air and grace that only those with an enlightened education could reach.

Ice quickly stepped forward, the two ponies before us nodding at his movements.

“This one personally knew the Prince of Knowledge. He spoke of their friendship, so we have brought him here to enjoy our friendship. He helped us recognize the value of working together, and of standing up to injustice.”

The unicorn and pegasus shared a brief glance, while I took a step forward toward the pegasus, crouching on the grass before her.

“You had an earth pony by the name of Golden Sunshine accompany them to Vanhoover. He dishonestly kept secrets from his crew, and it was decided that he was to be banished, for he put profit and greed above the safety and security of his squad.”

This caused the pegasus to clear her throat. “I see. Then it is fortunate that you have been looking out for my little ponies. You have my sincerest thanks for your efforts. You… knew Alexander Kintobor?”

“I did. On my world, he was my friend, and I was his. Everywhere I go, I see reminders of the influence that he's had, the lives he's touched, and the friendships he's made. It was an honor to know him, as I’m sure you’d agree if those stories are even half as true as they suggest.”

The unicorn stayed seated while the pegasus walked up to me and held out a hoof.

“Any friend of Alexander is a friend of ours. Welcome to Las Pegasus, Stuart.”

“What is left of it, sister,” said the unicorn curtly as she got up to approach me while I shook the hand of the pegasus. As the unicorn extended a hoof toward me, however, she froze and locked her gaze upon me as her facial expression contorted into what looked like curiosity, followed by apprehension, and then fear. Suddenly, she turned tail and quickly galloped away into the distance, leaving me and the pegasus alone as I concluded my handshake with her outstretched hoof.

“My name is Golden Feather. That was my sister, Lunar Dawn… please excuse her, she was never one for the social graces. If you'll excuse me, I'm going to see what's bothering her.”

The golden-maned pegasus then ran off to chase down her sister. Meanwhile, I smelled a rat, and I turned to my squad as I approached them with my hands on my hips.

“All those in favor of chasing after them, raise a hoof.”

As I looked across at them, I could see Ace, Stopper, Crush, Flame, and Tricks all raising a hoof, making me smile as I nodded to them, but as I continued looking on, our newest squadmates also raised their hooves; Ice, Kiwi, Rhea, the Moon brothers and Genesis all stretched a hoof into the air, making me smile wider. After a short delay, Apogee sighed and raised her hoof, and then prodded her mother, to also raise her hoof, which she did.

“I love it when a squad understands its commander. Come on!” I said as I gestured a hand towards the distance, and soon all of us were racing after the two ponies that had departed.

It didn't take long to find them again as the pegasus chased after the unicorn and caught up with her, the rest of us then having to chase them both down as they slowed while I silently cursed my fitness levels.

They noticed our approach only when we were almost on top of them, leaving them little choice but to stand there as we all came to a halt about ten paces from them. As I slowly approached both of them, Lunar Dawn suddenly stepped in front of her sister.

“Stand back! I demand that you come no closer, you demon of darkness!” She shouted, causing even her sister to give her a worried look as the unicorn pointed a hoof at me in an accusatory manner.

“Sister, what has agitated you so? He has only just arrived here…”

The unicorn continued pointing a hoof at me, jabbing it further in my direction. “I can sense it, dear sister. I can sense the taint of the Nightmare upon him! Just as befell Alexander!”

Now, that got my attention as I very, very slowly moved towards Lunar Dawn.

“Look, I don't know how you can sense what's happened to me, but I've had a very shitty week. I've been imprisoned in a tomb, I've had to kill nasty creatures to survive, and just to top things off, I’ve had to deal with an fucking eldritch horror trying to take control of my body, which I was only able to fight off with the help of some of my friends here. I'm shattered, and I'm hungry, as are the rest of my squad behind me. I'm begging you to allow us to rest here.”

The pegasus put a hoof on the unicorn’s shoulder. “He has fought off the Nightmare, too, it seems...”

I heard that, folding my arms with a sterner expression.

“Who are you? And I mean who you really are. You're obviously older than what your bodies suggest for you to know what you do.”

Lowering her hoof, Golden Feather approached me. “Fifty years later… could it be that another Empyrean has come to our lands?”

I raised a hand to point a finger upwards. “Uh, sorry, what’s an Emm-peer-ree-ann?”

Having calmed down a little, the unicorn addressed me. “If you are truly another Empyrean, then there is much we should discuss. You and your friends are most welcome to follow us to our place of residence, and that includes our returning citizens you took into your care.”

Extending my hand out in a ‘lead on’ gesture, the two ponies before me peeled away and cantered off, leaving me and everypony else to follow them as they brought us to a large collection of buildings in the middle of some fields.

As I followed and crossed the boundaries of the conglomeration, it became obvious that this was a farm of some description as we passed by a chicken coop and open fields of numerous crops.

“You seem to be doing well out here,” I commented, eliciting a response from Golden Feather.

“We only came here last year. From what we've been told, crop yields were much higher in the past, but something's causing a decline in crop yields and we can't seem to pinpoint what’s causing it…”

We were led to a warehouse, mostly empty except for a stack of compressed hay blocks in one corner. As Golden Feather moved to the far end, Lunar Dawn hung back to close the door behind us before joining her sister.

“We are about to reveal our true forms. Prepare yourselves,” The pegasus asked, to which we all nodded as I crossed my arms.

The two ponies closed their eyes as their respective accessories started to glow, a searing ball of white light causing me and likely everypony else in attendance to cover our eyes until it ceased.

As the light faded and we all recomposed ourselves, I was immediately drawn to the two ponies opposite us, who had seemingly been replaced by two, very much taller ponies.

In Golden Feather's place was the form of a pony that was the clear tallest of the two now, her coat a shimmering white with a multihued mane and tail that seemed to ebb and flow as if were influenced by an invisible breeze. More notably, she had both wings and a horn, and as I moved around to look her over further, I observed that her cutie mark was a full-on image of the shining Sun. She was as tall as I was, not including her horn, which itself was much longer than any unicorn’s horn I’d seen to date.

In Lunar Dawn's place was a pony with a deep navy blue coat and a mane and tail that carried whispers of starlight as they too danced to the tune of an invisible force. Like her companion, she also had both a horn and wings, her cutie mark being that of a crescent moon against the inky backdrop of a dark cloud formation. Her height compared to me was only about half a foot shorter, again not including her horn.

I immediately knew that I’d seen both of them before, in Tricks’ dossiers and in the statues I'd seen in Vanhoover. Deep in my bones, I felt them exude an invisible force that made me feel like I was in the presence of two ancient and powerful ponies. I couldn't help but be in awe, even if I'd never met them.

Looking around me, I could see all of the other ponies bowing with their heads lowered, all of them very obviously conducting such gestures in a mark of deep respect, possibly even reverence, maybe even feeling that same sense of awe as I was. Following suit, I bowed my head for a few moments before the white-coated one spoke.

“Your fealty is heartwarming to see, my little ponies, but it is not needed, for we are no longer the rulers of these lands. For those of you who have lived here, we are sorry to have deceived you; we felt it was best that we remained hidden, but alas, we can no longer do so now. I believe there is one amongst you in particular to whom we should introduce ourselves properly.”

As she finished talking, she spread her wings to their fullest, demonstrating her impressive wingspan before tucking them both back to her sides.

“Fifty yeeeeears will give you such a crick in the wings, am I right?” I asked as she smirked.

“Quite true, Stuart. Your name was spoken many times by Alexander after he came here. My name is Celestia… formerly Princess Celestia. This is my sister, Luna, formerly Princess Luna. Together, we used to rule the nation of Equestria that previously exercised dominion over these lands.”

Luna then took a step forward. “As you may no doubt have guessed, we have chosen to remain hidden… everything we fought for has fallen apart since Equestria fell. The time of the alicorns has ended, and we no longer have our magic to avert what is happening… to our eternal shame.”

Celestia then also took a step forward. “It is a pity that you do not have gauntlets like Alexander did. He was quite the magic wielder, that one.”

“So is he,” interjected Stopper as she stepped forward to stand next to me. “He took down a chimera single-hoofedly… er, handidly. Whatever. The point is… he's a capable mage without needing those gauntlets. He’s not bad at swinging a sword, either.”

“Ah, so this one is a battle mage? The parallelity of this one's path to Alexander’s grows more by the minute,” replied Luna as a small smile grew on her muzzle.

Exhaling, I moved over to the compressed hay bales, pushing some over to clamber atop the rest of them as I ensured my sheathed sword didn’t get in the way while letting the stack also take the burden of the weight of my backpack. As I took a much-needed seat, all of the other ponies now approached me, with my squad to my left and the former princesses to my right.

“So… tell me what an Empyrean is, and why it relates to either me or Alex.”

Celestia and Luna shuffled their wings.

“Well… Luna and I were once Empyreans. There is… a force that courses through this planet, woven into its very being. Every so often, a soul appears to be chosen by that force to do great things.”

“When a soul is chosen, not even death can claim them until their task is concluded.”

As each sister spoke, I nodded my head.

“What does that have to do with Alex… or me for that matter?” I asked.

“We did not know it when he arrived, but Alexander's soul had been marked to become an Empyrean, just as ours were, long ago. We only knew about it when he…”

Celestia's voice trailed off, her face looking down at the floor, leading me to lean forward.

“Tell me what happened,” I said, my voice firm.

Neither of them seemed eager to tell me, and that worried me beyond belief. Seconds upon seconds passed without a single word, causing my tired and irritable mind to betray me in frustration.

“TELL ME!” I shouted at the two sisters, everypony present visibly recoiling at my outburst.

“He um… h-he died.”

As Celestia uttered those words, I couldn't believe that I'd just heard them.

No…

I don't believe it.

I can't believe it.

I won't believe it.

I was frozen, waiting for somepony to make it make sense.

“After he died… something reanimated him,” continued Luna on her sister's behalf, “Even now… when I close my eyes, I can still hear his screams…”

Still, I sat, in utter silence, having to hear about a friend enduring the ultimate agony… and feeling an impotent rage stirring within me that I wasn't there to prevent it from happening to him, as both of my hands pressed into the hay bales, my fingers digging into the hay as I wrestled with anger and rage. It took every ounce of my self-control to resist having an angry tantrum.

“Celestia… you mentioned something about a soul being chosen to do great things. Was Alex… was he restored to life to accomplish something, some… specific task?”

A curt nod was her reply. “I believe he was… although he never spoke about it to us. Now, Twilight Sparkle on the other hoof… I'd be very surprised if he never spoke about it with her.”

A neuron fired in my brain, back to Tricks’ dossiers and that photograph of Twilight Sparkle looking up at Alex.

“I take it that they were more than just friends…?”

Luna and Celestia both nodded in unison. “Yes. They were lovers,” declared Celestia.

I smirked. “I saw the look Twilight was giving him in a photograph. On my world, we'd call that look the ‘I've seen you naked’ look.”

Crush snorted. “I've seen you naked. It's nothing to write home about, you know…”

The entire warehouse, me included, then erupted into laughter that seemed to dampen my earlier anger.

You are an absolute bastard, Crush.

Celestia then turned to address the ponies of my squad. “I have something I want to ask you all… and, Stuart? I want you to remain utterly silent while I do it.”

In no position to argue, I crossed my arms and nodded with a mild eye roll as the former princess enforced her will.

“Tell me about your companion here. He’s clearly led you a long way to get here… and I want to know what made you all follow him.”

A bit of shuffling and an awkward silence followed, to be frankly expected when you put anyone on the spot.

“Because he reminded us of better times. They might be behind us, but he’s taught us that they can be ahead of us as well. Even if we’re not the ones who get to experience those better times.”

Stopper’s endorsement was a far cry from anything I would have expected from her if I were just going by her conduct on the day we met. To say that I was proud of her would be a monumental understatement.

“He swore an oath to protect us and our settlement, and to uphold the ideals of friendship, courage, and gallantry of Equestria… even if that place no longer exists today. Oh, and he likes giving speeches, too.”

Ace was undoubtedly paying attention that day, and that brought a smile to my face, but his admission caused both of the alicorns to turn to look at me.

“He did, did he?” remarked Luna. “Wouldst thou all agree that he has discharged his oath with honor and distinction?”

Every single pony nodded their head in agreement.

“You could scour the land and not find anypony as honorable as he is,” replied Crush, the earth pony nodding at me solemnly as a mark of respect, a gesture I returned in kind.

The two sisters looked at one another.

“If I were a betting pony, dear sister…” said Luna with Celestia nodding in response.

“Even as one slumbers, another has possibly arrived.”

Luna nudged her sister. “Could he…”

Celestia nodded her head. “Yes, he could…”

The two once more shared a look before they both turned their attention to me. “Our apologies. We… were not expecting this turn of events. If you truly are an Empyrean… then you are crucial to this world’s survival, more than you could ever know,” said Celestia.

I shook my head. “I’m just an engineer. I’m not worthy of having something like this thrust upon me. There are billions of souls on my world who would have been a more worthy choice than me. Why me? Why fucking me of all people?”

The two of them looked down at the ground momentarily before Celestia spoke again. “The how and the why is always a mystery… We don't know why we were chosen, long ago. Maybe your closeness to Alexander was a factor? Or, maybe you were just in the wrong place at the right time.”

I got up and paced back and forth a bit in the warehouse as I collected my thoughts before addressing the princesses once more. “You mentioned that Empyreans can’t die until their task is completed. What happens after they complete their task?”

Luna cleared her throat. “In our case, our lifespan ticked forward as normal. Alicorns can live for around five hundred years, and that’s barely started to accrue for us. As Empyreans, both my sister and I have lived for over three thousand years. We are once again mortal, and eventually, both of us will pass and our spirits will then return to the great Faust, the Maker of All.”

I made a mental note to ask about that later, for I was intensely curious about any form of supernatural deity pertaining to creation myths.

“Why did you step down from the throne?” I asked.

“Before we abdicated,” began Luna, “I felt another presence in the dream realm. It was familiar, yet alien, reminiscent of an ancient and powerful being from our ancestral home. That is why we tasked Twilight Sparkle to lead Equestria in our absence, while we tried to confirm our suspicions.”

“And… did you?” I asked as Luna shook her head, putting aside my personal desire for her to explain what the ‘dream realm’ is.

“Nay. When we found no further clues we could follow, we returned to these lands…”

“... only to find that we could no longer fly, and nor could we use our magic.”

I put a hand to my chin, stroking what was by now a decent-looking beard. “You sound surprised by that.”

“That is an understatement. We've been trying to piece together what happened,” clarified Celestia. “Likely the same as you have.”

“We knew of the tensions with the one called Opaline before we left... but never in a thousand moons did we ever think that Twilight Sparkle would implement so… so drastic a solution!”

“So… this was all her doing? That doesn’t explain why Alex went into stasis, though.”

“Well…” Celestia continued, “From what we've uncovered over the years, we think her solution was based on technology that he helped to develop.”

I reclined back into the hay as another piece of the puzzle seemed to fit into place. “So… it would seem that here, Alex is your version of J. Robert Oppenheimer.”

Luna tilted her head. “Who is that?”

“A scientist from my world who helped to develop a deadly weapon, and he felt that he had blood on his hands when it was used in warfare where it killed thousands. Granted, the two situations are not an exact comparison, but I think the analogy fits, regardless.”

Celestia's expression soured. “I do not think that he would appreciate being compared to someone like that.”

I just shrugged my shoulders. “Well, he's not here, and as his friend I get a pass to make the odd backhanded compliment behind his back every once in a while,” I remarked before turning to address everypony. “So… that pretty much cements it for me. He probably feels guilty as heck about what happened. If I were in his shoes… I'd look for a way to fix things, too.”

I pinched my nose with my hand and sighed. “But, if we don't fix what's happening to the land, there might not even be a civilization left for him to return to. Looks like that's our next mission after this one is concluded.”

Celestia turned her head slightly. “What is your mission? You didn't really explain it.”

I took off my backpack and laid it on the ground, fishing out the first Mnemosyne Crystal I found.

“These contain messages from Alex to his nearest and dearest. We've located two so far, and I'm on a mission to locate any others. He said somepony called… Starlight, I think, helped him make them.”

Celestia shook her head. “I haven’t heard that name in… quite some time. You might’ve just solved a mystery of ours, in fact. We have a crystal that we stumbled upon after exploring the old Ponyville ruins shortly after we got back, and we’ve never been able to tell what its purpose was.”

I had to fight myself to restrain my enthusiasm. “I think it goes without saying that I’d like to see it. I take it we have your leave to remain in the town and rest up?”

Both of them nodded. “Of course,” confirmed Celestia. “Our town’s amenities are open to you all as well.”

Luna put a hoof to her chin and stroked it. “He still carries the taint of the Nightmare upon him, however. Tell us, Stuart, how you have been feeling since the battle concluded. Have there been any marked differences in your abilities since you emerged victorious?”

Now it was my turn to be a little bit hesitant, but I decided that honesty was best. “I don't think that that was a victory, Luna; at best, it felt like a stalemate. When I previously cast powerful magic, I got burns to my back, probably from my body being unable to properly radiate all that raw magic away before it caused damage. Anyway… that didn’t happen last time. I struck a chimera with two simultaneous full-strength magic casts, and I suffered none of the consequences I expected from it.”

“Maybe it was a gift from the Nightmare,” quipped Stopper, but I knew enough to know that that just couldn't be true.

“No, Stopper. A gift is given freely, without expectations of reciprocation. This… if this is a mark left by the Nightmare, its only purpose is to serve as a reminder of its power. Now, every time I cast a powerful spell, I have no choice but to know that it's due to the Nightmare. I think it wanted to show me the power it's capable of bestowing.”

Luna nodded. “For such a young creature, you appear to understand it well. The Nightmare will always be there, just beneath the surface, ready to seek out and exploit any weaknesses. That is the life you must lead now; one of vigilance and cunning.”

“How are you able to cast magic in the first place?” Queried Celestia with a quirk of her brow. “I find it difficult to believe that a non-native to this world would be able to wield magic at all without the use of an artificial aid,” practically scoffing at what for her was likely something she thought of as an impossibility. “Alexander had his gauntlets, but you appear to have no aids at all.”

I paused a moment before I showed them both my hands, scars clearly evident from my earlier handiwork.

“I used the horn from a dead unicorn and inserted bits and pieces of it throughout my hands. Perhaps the pony who ended up being the donor won’t have died for nothing if I’m as important as you say I might be.”

Both of the alicorns were visibly fighting back signs of revulsion before wrestling back control of their emotions. “Well… these are trying times, even if such a thing threatens to upturn thy breakfast,” said Luna, looking over at Celestia. “Perhaps, sister, the time has come for us to emerge from the shadows and grant this one a station befitting his abilities. I feel as if a sense of hope has returned to our plight, Tia.”

“I feel the same way, Lulu. Stuart, we wish to bestow upon you a gift, one to not only reward you for your actions to date, but to also ask you to formally embrace a responsibility to protect all of my little ponies. Do you accept?”

No pressure, Celestia.

“That is… quite the obligation. I already swore a personal oath to defend the settlement I came from. And now, you want me to not just defend them, but all ponies everywhere? I mean… what gives me the right to accept that responsibility?”

Luna put a hoof to her chest. “Because I, as well as my sister, I believe, can see greatness within you. You came to our world and you chose, of your own free will, to take up arms to defend our little ponies. To say that that is admirable is an understatement.”

Celestia nodded. “Alexander gave the gift of knowledge to all of our little ponies. But you, Stuart? I think you can give them the gift of wisdom, and the ability to once more see the world not for it is, but for what it could be.”

I paced back and forth, mulling over the proposition before coming to a halt in front of the alicorns.

“You leave me no choice…” I began as I unsheathed Oathbreaker and held the bastard sword in front of me.

“He's about to make a speech,” commented Crush, leading to much mirth and merriment between all the ponies present, with even the former princesses forcing themselves to stifle a snicker as I smiled and nodded at Crush.

“You know me too well. Princess Celestia, and Princess Luna… I, Corporal Stuart Robinson… probably the first of his name, do hereby acknowledge and accept the obligations being tasked to me. Now, with that out of the way…” I said, resheathing the sword and looking at the alicorns once more, “What happens next, and what is this gift you mentioned earlier?”

Both of the alicorns smiled coyly at one another. “We will need your sword for the installation ceremony, for we will enhance it. That enhancement is to be your gift, and will be presented to you during the ceremony,” advised Luna, prompting me to unsheath Oathbreaker once more, and handing it over to her as she carefully grasped it with a wing.

“Please take care of her, she's been good to me,” I asked as Luna nodded.

“You have our word. Now, to help organize this…” she said, turning to my squad. “I have a task for those already familiar with this town. You are to round up everypony you can find, and ask them to come to the amphitheater at noon tomorrow. Tell all of them that it is imperative that they attend. And please… do not tell them of our disguises just yet; we'll come clean before we begin the ceremony.”

Each of my new squad members gave a salute to Celestia and Luna, except for Apogee's mother, who just huffed as she followed the rest of them out of the warehouse, her dirty grease-specked vest occasionally getting caught by her fur as she made her way out, leaving me, my original squad and the two former princesses in the warehouse.

Without a word of warning, the warehouse was once more bathed in excruciating light as the alicorns returned to their disguises once more.

“If you'll follow us back, we'll get you some accommodation and food sorted,” said Celestia in her Golden Feather form as she opened the door, allowing all of us to make our way out and to follow the two alicorns-in-disguise to our next destination.

As we started to come within range of the inner series suburbs directly surrounding the ruined skyscrapers, we were led to a small urban square with a fountain and a square cobble road around it surrounded by a number of brick buildings with tiled roofs. The moon brothers had already arrived to tell everypony here to go to the amphitheater tomorrow, the situation generating a lot of interest from onlookers as we were led to one building in particular that was larger than the rest. The buildings here, while needing some attention, looked quite intact with at least an effort expended to attempt to repair and maintain them.

As we stepped inside, I could tell that it was probably a hotel of some kind as Celestia approached the counter.

“Good morning! We have some new guests that have just arrived. Could you please assign them some rooms? Looks like six rooms will be needed…”

“Five,” I corrected, making the alicorn-turned-pegasus cock an eyebrow as she looked at myself and Ace right next to me, putting two and two together.

“Very well. Five rooms, one of them with a double bed, if you'd be so kind,” said Celestia, with the blue-furred earth pony behind the counter nodding as he motioned for the other staff to escort us upstairs.

My room was the first one pointed out, so Ace and I took our leave from the group as we made ourselves comfortable, which mostly consisted of us both flopping onto the bed, the smell of reasonably fresh linen filling my nostrils. I didn't really want to move, but I had a moment of privacy, and I had to make the most of it, so I begrudgingly got up and took my shoes off before once more getting on the bed, now sitting up to directly look at Ace.

“Ace, buddy… I need to ask you about something, and I apologize in advance if I'm overstepping a boundary here. When you were sleeping earlier, I saw a red pony screaming out your name as she's led away in a cage. Who is she?”

Ace slowly got up, hopping up onto the bed to sit down on the duvet. “She's, um… m-my sister.”

I honestly wasn't expecting that answer.

“Your… sister? You've never mentioned her, not even when I told you about my sister. Why?”

Ace looked down, and I could feel a pronounced sense of shame from him. “Because… because I couldn’t protect her!” He said, raising his voice at me in a manner that I hadn't seen from him since we met. “Look, I've… seen how ashamed you felt at the things you did. I failed to protect my sister and my entire family! My shame is a thousand times worse than yours! How do you think I feel?”

I reclined slightly, letting the pillows behind me support my back. This was the most passionate and angry I'd ever seen him; the sheer weight of his past pressing down on him must've been suffocating. The fact that he'd been so calm and professional up until now was something of a minor miracle. “Tell me what happened, Ace.”

The pegasus sighed, his face contorting in anger for a moment. “We lived on the west coast. They invaded and looted our village, killed the elders and those that fought, and took the rest back as slaves with them.”

My mind grew concerned at this development, but still, I probed for answers. “Who were these slavers?”

“Zebras.”

I mulled over that answer. “Stopper's town was attacked by them, too. It would seem that they've been quite a menace here. How did you survive?”

Ace screwed his eyes shut. “I… I ran. I waited until they were distracted and I ran away. I hid in the forest for weeks… nothing was left of the town when I got back. They’d… torched it after I left. All that was left was burnt-out buildings and a… mass grave.”

Slavers. I wanted to spit in disgust, but I was mindful of spoiling the carpet. “Ace… I can’t imagine what you’ve been through. Slavery is… something my own people have a history with, not to mention mass murder. I’m guessing these Zebras are similar to ponies… Do you know where they come from?”

Ace shook his head. “I only know that they came from across the sea to the west. My town was inland, but they must’ve used the railway tracks to get to us. Stuart… Do you think she’d forgive me?”

I moved forward a bit, and patted my lap, an invitation for the pegasus to sit in it, which he did after briefly hesitating, my arms then wrapping around him in a cuddle. “I think she’d be thrilled to know that you survived. It’s been… What, several years now? Do you think that she’s alive?”

The pegasus nodded in our embrace. “I have to believe she’s alive… if she is, can we rescue her? I know it’s probably impossible, but…”

I sighed and just squeezed him tighter. “If Equestria has taught me anything, it’s that the impossible is sometimes very possible. Some day, we’ll make our way there to try to find her… even if they won’t be happy to see trespassers.”

Silence followed for several moments before it was broken once more by Ace. “... thanks, Stuart. That means a lot.”

“I know. We should get some rest… I’m absolutely bushed. Maybe when I wake up, we can have a look around. That sound good, buddy?”

A small nod within the cuddle led me to fall to my side, positioning Ace as the little spoon as I settled in for some much-needed rest, feeling better about my situation than at any point since my encounter with the Nightmare as I closed my eyes and waited for sleep to come.

—

KNOCK.

KNOCK.

KNOCK.

Three sharp raps on the door wrestled me away from my trip to Slumberville.

“Mmm… what is it?” I weakly blurted out as I ascended back to consciousness, the door opening and a brown earth pony mare with a maid's outfit stepping gingerly into the room.

“Um, so sorry to wake you, mister human, but there’s a pony outside asking for you. He said that it's urgent.”

Surprisingly, I was feeling quite refreshed as Ace too slowly awoke beside me. Slowly getting up, I made eye contact with her and waved a hand gently at the mare.

“Uh, sure, just… give us five minutes, okay?” I asked as the earth pony nodded and departed, leaving Ace and me alone once more.

“You hear that, Ace? Somepony new wants to talk to me. C'mon, let’s get up.”

The stallion weakly protested, leading me to put my hands underneath him, like I was trying to remove a stubborn pet from the bed. Ace eventually got the message as he hopped off of the mattress, the pegasus doing a partial body shake as he went for the door. Following him downstairs, I nodded to the pony at the counter as we headed out the door.

As we stepped into the early beginnings of evening, both of us were greeted by a pegasus stallion, his cream-colored coat looking a bit disheveled as his three-tone red, orange, and yellow mane and tail danced in the chilly breeze that promised a colder evening than had been for a while.

“Holy shit! Delta Vee and Apogee were right! You're another human!” He exclaimed, the stallion practically dancing with delight. “I used to hear stories about the other one from my father, Socket Wrench. He told me that they spent a lot of time together. Oh, my name’s Jet Stream, by the way.”

I nodded at the pegasus. “My name's Stuart; I'm a friend of the human your father knew, and I'm glad to hear that Alex and your father were close. You said that this was urgent, Jet Stream?” I queried.

“Just call me Jet. And… Yeah! I have something to show you, come with me!” He said, bounding off at a fair rate of knots across the cobblestone path, leaving Ace and I to give chase. The stallion led us out of the immediate urban vicinity to a series of fields, one of which was home to a long strip of tessellated smooth stones and a large warehouse of corrugated iron and wood. Opening a door on one side, Jet invited us inside.

The inside was dark, but amidst that darkness, I could see several large objects inside, all shrouded by tarp and fabric. In an instant, Jet flicked on the lights and almost simultaneously pulled back the tarpaulin from two large objects. What I saw left me speechless and in awe.

As I approached them, I reached out a hand and cautiously stroked the metallic chassis, feeling its smooth and well-crafted surface. I was a child again, reduced to a state of innocent wonder as I moved to the vessel's front.

“Jet… I have no words. This is an airplane, a fucking airplane! And not only that, but two of the fucking things!”

I moved around them to get a good view. They were both biplanes, each with two spaces for pilot and passenger alike. The front of both of them consisted of a standard mono-propeller system mounted onto an engine, each plane supported by two wheels at the fore and one aft. Neither of them was immediately distinguishable from the other, as both had just an unpainted metallic frame. “How the fuck did you build them?” I asked, still not believing that it was even possible.

“My father, Wind Rush, built them, but he always told me that Alex was his inspiration. As you can see, even the passenger and cockpit wells are big enough for a human to sit in. My dad always said that he built them with the thought of him returning in his mind.”

Ace was just as enamored with them as I was as he looked at them with delight and joy. Jet Stream might very well be the first pegasus to take back their place in the skies.

“Your dad built these, huh? He must've been one heck of an engineer,” I mused as I looked over at Jet again.

“Well, he built the airframes. Everything else in there was built by me. The engines, crystal radios, flight controls, and the basic hydraulics are all my designs.”

I immediately strolled over to him. “Radio? These fucking things have a radio in them?” I said, pointing at the crafts.

“Well, they're radios with crystals. I used two identical paired crystals, one in each plane. Voice input into one is output via the other, and vice-versa. I, uh… had to sell practically everything to get my hooves on them, and that was after already paying handsomely for the lightning crystals in the engines to power them.”

“Lightning crystals? You mean that these things don't use liquid fuel?”

“That's right. The crystals innately extract aether from the environment and convert it to electricity. As long as Equestria has ambient magic, these two will fly. Practically unlimited range, too… in theory, anyway.”

I was still trying to process all this. Two new vehicles that could fly over the oceans?

If I can use these… it would greatly aid me in my mission.

“Do these two ladies have names yet?” I asked Jet as suggestions for them ran through my mind.

Jet shook his head. “I'm afraid not. I don't know what to call them.”

“Well, they're getting names today,” I said as I walked in front of the vehicles. “Ace, Jet… I'd like to introduce you to the Hurricane and the Tornado, our newest friends,” gesturing to the plane on my left, and then to the one on my right. “I mean, you're a pegasus, Jet, using weather-related names is the least I can do.”

“They're beautiful names,” said Ace as he cautiously looked over the propeller on the Hurricane. “Are they airworthy?” He asked Jet.

“Uh… theoretically, yeah. They both power up fine, but I've never flown either of them. This, though, might be of interest to you as well…” he said, leading us both to a work table across from the two planes with a number of layers of tracing paper on it, looking unorganized and messy.

“Flatten ‘em,” he insisted. My hands smoothed out the paper after making sure all the corners lined up. As a mild aviation enthusiast, I immediately noticed when the papers revealed the blueprint of something… something quite extraordinary given this world’s level of technology.

“Jet, this is… I can't believe I'm actually about to say this… it's a jet engine. A fucking jet engine! And, if my eyes don't deceive me, one powered by magic to boot. This… this could revolutionize your world… it's a shame that we can't build it.”

Jet nodded. “I know. I'm limited by the technology of my time. But, someday, I am going to build it, I just know.”

I left the table alone and went back to admire the planes, once more running a hand over the bare metal chassis of the Tornado. “These two ladies need paint jobs. Blue and yellow for the Tornado, and red and white for the Hurricane. Actually, that’s a good point; Do you even have paint here?”

Jet shrugged his shoulders. “I think we have the raw materials for making some, but I don't have anything immediately usable.”

I frowned. “Well, if you can commission them, we'll likely need a pot of each. Paint doesn't just make them look good; they're important aids to visual identification, and they help protect the metal underneath it from weathering and corrosion.”

My thoughts then turned to another form of protection. “I'm guessing that you don't have armaments that could be mounted onto the chassis for extra defense. I might be able to extend a shield around the craft I'd be flying to protect it, but I don't think I could do it for two at once.”

“I can't wait to fly one. I designed the controls to be simple to operate; it doesn't matter if you have hooves, hands, talons, or claws, you'll still be able to fly it.”

After inspecting the Tornado, I followed suit with the Hurricane. “Who else knows about them?”

“Only Delta Vee, Golden Feather, and Lunar Dawn. I was waiting for the time to be right to reveal them to the others here… but, it never seemed to come.”

As I laid the palm of my hand against the Hurricane's cold metal skin, a thought crossed my mind. “Your father clearly intended for Alex to fly one of these. He was meant to fly one. I know I'm not him, but I think taking on the reins is a good way to honor him... don't you think?”

“I think he'd be delighted. Do you have any flying experience?”

“Well, I've been in simulators before. In fact, not long before I came here, I was in a simulated cockpit for a very large aircraft. Obviously, the plane didn't really exist, but the cockpit had computers and displays that pretty accurately represented how the plane would respond.”

“And… How did you do?”

“Well…” I began, putting a hand on the back of my neck for a moment. “The first time, I crashed into another plane because I forgot to ask for clearance from Air Traffic Control. The second time, I was given a TCAS warning but wasn't told until afterward how to respond to it, so the oncoming plane collided with mine… The third time was a landing. I aced the landing, but I forgot to engage the slats. So, the plane kept going until it hit the outer perimeter fence.”

“Hmm. My dad often told me about Alex’s tales of his… your world's technology. He mentioned something called television. What is a… television?”

I smiled, both for the opportunity to recount my world's history and from knowing that ponies here could be inspired by it.

“I'll cut you a deal. Show Ace and I around the village properly, and I'll tell you everything you ever wanted to know about television… and anything else about my world that you'd like to know. How does that sound?”

The pegasus smiled as he stroked a region of fur around his chin and mouth that seemed to approximate a five o'clock shadow.

“You've got a deal… Stuart, wasn't it? You mentioned that you were a friend of the one that came before you. Maybe you can share some stories of what he was like? He's become a legend to many of us here. Hard to imagine he's gone.”

I shook my head. “Oh, I think he's around. Somewhere. He just doesn't want to be found… and I intend to respect that decision, as should all of you.”

“He's earned that right, I guess. You wanted a tour of the village, right? Well, there's a small tavern not far from here. I think you'll like it. Well, shall we?” He asked as I extended my hand in thanks, followed by the both of us both out of the warehouse with Ace still remaining at my side.

If ‘tavern’ meant what I thought it meant, I was going to use it to relax before the ceremony tomorrow, an event that I was actually starting to look forward to as I followed Jet to his choice of watering hole.