A Realm Of Strange Creatures

Chapters

Prologue - Reflections
Chapter 1 -- Ponies, A Bad First Impression
Chapter 2 -- Confound These Ponies
Chapter 3 -- An Icing Slide
Chapter 4 -- Armed Forces
Chapter 5 -- Ordained Meeting

Prologue - Reflections

The engines of the massive inter-stellar warship roared, propelling the giant hunk of elegant Fleticium across the empty void of space. The spear-shaped tip along with the sleek, segmented body would have made it look like some kind of giant spear flying through space; a sight not uncommon to any who live on worlds within the Empire, but dreadfully terrifying to those who do not. In fact, sightings of the Indaari ships have spawned many ridiculous legends among primitive alien tribes about 'they who turn light into death'. These legends may have been backed up by the fact that, hidden beneath the retractable tip of most Indaari ships, was a weapon that fired concentrated rays of gamma radiation.

The fighters emerged from their holds; not that there was any danger to the ship at the moment, it was just routine. The nebulae swirled around the massive ship's form as it flew into the mass of star-forming cloud, the fighters maintaining close proximity. This ship was not actively fighting; quite the opposite, it was heading back to one of the core worlds for resupply and re-synchronization with the Indaari networks. For you see, Indaari took being connected with one another very seriously, and as such being in a place where there was no connection with the rest of the Empire scared any Indaari to death.

It was almost lunch time, according the very large clock in the middle of the ship's mall. Yes, it had a mall -- a very wide area with a domed white ceiling with an oculus in the middle of that, and the shops and stores were built into arched structures along the walkways. Indaari were like that, always being able to blend together combinations of things that shouldn't work. Social networking programs built into their soldier's visors so they could communicate in a personalized manner as they battled along side each other, standard program-making and media development studio software built into their HUD's so they could work on personal projects while out in the field, and even business conferences could be held right in the middle of a fight -- all these were just some of the things Indaari did.

The flora and fauna added life to the large cafeteria, the animals and plants seamlessly and harmoniously interacting with their caretakers. Quite the opposite of what you would expect, the animals were actually given first priority when it came to food on that ship -- it was a philosophy, one that had its basis in the belief that if the soldiers of the Empire fought monsters and ancient evils in the name of living beings everywhere, then surely they could, and also should, give them first servings when it came to food. It was not a widespread philosophy, but nevertheless it was the dominant one on that ship.

One Indaari soldier had finished his lunch, and after having shared his most recent activities with his closest compatriots, departed for his chambers. And as he walked down the brightly illuminated hallways, he could not help but feel that that day was going to be different somehow.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Andelius sat on his chair next to his desk aboard the ISC Haldius, looking out of the window and into the endless depths of space, at the twinkling stars and distant arms of galaxies. His chair stretched beneath his weight as he leaned back, staring off. His desk was a mess of crumpled paper and eraser shavings. His bed was unkept and the pillow was on the floor, but he didn't care. He just stared off, occasionally focusing his sight back to his reflection in the blast windows -- at his obscured physical body, hidden beneath two inches of power armor and bionic mechanisms, and at his azure eyes, the only part of his body visible through all his protective gear. Really, he would have liked to take off the clunky armor and heavy knight's helm and just use the detachable holographic HUD interface to communicate, but regulations stated that all troopers were to be ready for battle at all times, unless actively in leave (which he was not, technically).

In his power-armored hands was his notebook -- something which his fellow knights, either below him or above him, teased him about. For you see, notebooks were considered, among many things, primitive and inefficient, just like his methods of producing drawings and sketches. Why take down notes when you could simply store important memories in an impervious mental safe where memories could be accessed even if your conscious mind forgot them? And why draw when you could simply produce a mental image of what you deemed as art?

He closed his eyes and exhaled, an action which fogged the visor of his helmet for a short moment. He didn't mind what his fellows told him; he just liked to write. In his spare time -- when he was not spending a century or two assigned in a metaphysical realm to protect it from chaotic influence -- he wrote. Short stories, poems, letters, even novels and trilogies when he could. All of these he sent back to Ralvain, the Indaari Empire's home world.

It was for that reason that he was going to do what he was about to do next. He carefully opened his very old notebook (he bought it from a merchant stall on a barely used road on a distant planet, some five thousand years ago) and flipped the pages one by one. He had entries of his previous exploits -- of times when he was still an initiate, and even of his first mission. As he flipped the pages, letting his armored door muffle the sounds of his suited comrades stomping about in the halls beyond on their own business, he remembered every moment. Every horror, every truth, every beautiful epiphany -- every moment.

At last he came upon the last page; it was still empty. The rest of the notebook was full; literaly, as even the very sides of each page were marked with black ink.

'I shall need to obtain another notebook,' he thought to himself, letting out a little chuckle as he did; a chuckle of happiness, though why he was happy he didn't know. Surely, after having had so many adventures and making a name for himself in the cosmic halls, he had plenty of reason to be. Everything was fairer when you look back at them from the present, he always thought.

Then he understood why he was so happy. A subconscious part of his head had remembered a fond memory of his, a time some centuries back. A time when he was assigned to a little nation in the far reaches of a barely touched galaxy.

'It could make for a good write,' he thought, musing over the memories of his experiences there. Of his time with an inquisitive unicorn, a brash pegasus, a timid pegasus, an annoyingly energetic pony, a hardworking and honest pony, and a rather posh unicorn. He shook his head and smirked; the universe was a vast and diverse place, yet the mere image of four-legged equines ("Or was it 'ponies'? Such a strange name," he always said to himself whenever a small memory of his experiences there came back up.) still amused him more so than it did others.

Then he laughed some more; the memories his experiences there brought back to him were good, some of the best he had had in many years.

"Oh yes, it could make for a good write," he said aloud, smiling underneath his helmet as he summoned a pencil of light out of the column of golden energy that swirled next to his desk (the column was actually his night-light, but it was far more useful than that).

He rolled his chair over to the desk, straightening his back as he did. He felt his suit's comfort-hardware massage his sore spine as leaned forward, placing his notebook onto the table and flipping to the last page. He lightly pressed the point onto the fragile paper.

"Now... where to begin?" he asked himself softly.

Chapter 1 -- Ponies, A Bad First Impression

CHAPTER 1 - Ponies, A Bad First Impression

I pushed the smoldering, steaming door of my drop-pod off me, and it landed onto the alien vegetation next to me with a heavy crack of stone. And another crack... and another...

I got up and out of the cramped interior quickly and looked at where my door had fallen. It was tumbling down into a deep, wide, rocky gorge until it finally crashed among the rocks below. At once, a strange serpent-like creature emerged from a gaping hole in the brown cliff-side and examined the what must have been exotic object.

But I didn't care, for two reasons: one, the automatic de-materializers would have kicked in soon and teleported the Fleticium pod back to the Haldius for repairs, anyway. And two, I was still really flabbergasted that Knight-Magistrate Commodus had sent me to a world of... what was the term... 'ponies'. Heh, what a ridiculous name for a race. I should have been off on the borders of the Empire, shattering the influence of corruption over the minds of the people, not babysitting a race called 'ponies'!

I groaned, both out of soreness and displeasure, "Well, this is most unpleasnt." I sighed and looked at the alien grass beneath my metallic boots, shaking my head. "Once I'm done with this assignment, I shall go on vacation," I promised myself, lightening my mood slightly, ever so slightly.

I glanced across the fairly wide field, letting my suit's HUD gather any data -- with my personalized settings' guidance -- that it deemed worthy of being looked over later by me; the last time I just let it use it's default programming, I had to sift through copious amounts of reports about dirt. Dirt, who needed to read five-thousand and sixty-two reports about dirt?!

The noon star's position within the sky casted a deep shadow down upon all the objects within sight -- from the hideously formed alien trees to the distant signs of civilization, to the local wildlife flying hundreds of feet above my head. My HUD immediately took all that in, then closed itself to save power; I only had five extra power cores for my suit, so I had set it to save power whenever it could.

Then, through my helmet's left speaker, Velian groaned, "Ugh, rather rough landing, eh?"

"Tell me about it," chimed in Justinian with a huff. "You'd think that landing in a forest would be pleasant, but this place is hideous -- why, where are the motes of light flying to and fro from the leaves? The white marble paths? And, I swear, it's almost like something's watching me from the shadows of this place."

I shook my head in annoyance, then said, "Yeah, well I hate it too, Justinian. But thing is, this world doesn't have a Network link, so deal with it." I opened up my HUD again, and spotted their profile pictures pulsing on the left side of my visor; my social sector. Their icons were a flaming cup and a pillow, accordingly.

I toggled both of them on and let the program call their suits. Eventually they answered, and at once their suit's camera feeds flashed to life on the right side of my visor; my info channel. There were two feeds per each of them, one showing what they saw, and the other showing their facial expressions.

Now, Justinian was this gaunt fellow who was a little too pampered when he was young. He was a childhood friend of mine, and really if it hadn't been for me I bet my soul he would have failed training on the first day. He was usually assigned to a different galaxy, where the fighting was less intense and therefore the glory and adventures less abundant. He was rather cowardly when it came to experiencing new things.

But Velian was a polar opposite of Justinian -- he was a robust, muscular soldier, always willing to do what had to be done, even if he didn't actually LIKE what he had to do. He was actually like me, but, just like Justinian, didn't go on adventures much. Oh yes, I almost forgot to say that because I went on the most adventures, I had authority over these two knights I had to call my brethren. One thing that quite differentiated us, however, was his incessant desire to sweettalk his way out of things when the situation turned from bloody and glorious to either ridiculous, or just plain strange.

I observed their screens for a bit, watching Justinian's scrawny and scared face as he stomped through dark shrubs and darker grass, and even darker and drearier trees.

"Alright," I said at last, "Justinian, you know where to go. Find that... 'zebra' named... 'Zecora', and meet me and Velian in the town marked on our maps. Velian, you see anything?" I turned my attention to his feed, and saw the grim expression on his face as he climbed down a steep mountain.

"Well, I think I see the town over there, across this field. Hold on... yeah, that's the one. I'll meet you there, Andelius."

"Yeah, just don't scare the locals, okay? According to the little seminar we had last night, these creatures are much too peace-loving and gentle to take to a gruff and savage individual as yourself," Justinian said with mild amusement.

"Damn it, Justinian, I told you not to bring that up again! Just because I tend to swear a lot-"

"Ah, ah! That's just what I mean, right there! Control your mouth, my sir!" Justinian interrupted with a laugh.

Velian didn't respond orally, but I saw the angry emoticon he sent to our three-way chat box. Just then he disconnected from our three-way conference call.

"So uncivilized," Velian said.

I couldn't help but smirk; oh, the strange joy's brought about by the bickering of subordinates.

I dropped the call as well, and began trudging along the partially grassy, partially rocky plain to the map-marker on my HUD. The strange wildlife -- the birds and the smaller creatures that scuttled around in the grass -- wrested my attention and piqued my curiosity, and I couldn't help but partially admire the strange beauty of the life on that world.

It was just then that a most annoying sound called me from above my head.

"Hey!" a strange, feminine (yet, somehow, tomboyish) voice called from above me.

I looked up, letting my light-resistant bionic eye implants filter the excess light. Through what would have been blinding light, I managed to see the cyan form of a winged pony with a rather colorful mane and tail quickly descending to the ground, a look both curious yet somehow fierce on her face. Her eyes were a mild cerise, a color that actually went rather well with the rest of her color scheme.

'Oh boy, the locals,' I thought, and groaned from the many unpleasant thoughts it brought to mind.

As the... 'pegasus' -- my HUD's databank deduced -- landed, I spoke in as calm and placid a tone as my still displeased mind could allow, "Greetings, citizen. I am senior knight Andelius of the Indaari empire. I have been assigned here to your world as a sentinel against the subliminal forces of chaotic influence to prot-"

"Hold on for a moment!" she said aloud, looking me over with a look both fierce and cautious. She glanced behind me, at my still smoking drop-pod; the de-materializers were taking their sweet time (either that or Halix, the operator assigned to me, was being lazy again).

She looked back to me, her small, feathery appendages splayed out. "What are you?" she asked slowly, cautiously.

I rolled my eyes; if she decided to attack me, she was so out of her league. Still, I spoke the honest truth, "I am an Indaari, a race of long-lived cosmic beings who have dedicated themselves to protecting the universe from all forms of evil, physical or otherwise."

She looked at me for a moment, a quizzical look on her face. "Riiight..." she drawled, clearly not buying it. "Look, you interrupted my nap. Now while I normally would have slept through things like that, that was a seriously loud landing." She glanced at me, as if scanning my form. "Either way," she said, "I don't really know whether or not you're telling the truth. Twilight or Rarity might know a spell that could find out though."

She glided up off the ground and hovered above my head, giving my helmet a prodding kick with her hindlegs. "Go on," she said impatiently, "get going."

"Excuse me?" I said, mildly pissed off at the rudeness of this being floating before me. "I'll have you know I will not take orders from one so rude as yourself. In fact, before I even speak with you further, what is YOUR name?" I asked, a little spike of anger erupting in my head at the disrespect shown by this pegasus.

She rolled here eyes, rolled her eyes, at me, and I could have sworn I saw her smirk! "Heh, Okay, look," she said, then put her forelegs in front of her and gestured at me with them both. "It's really simple: I don't know who or what you are, and so I, being the excellent pony that I am..." At that I rolled my eyes at her; excellent pony my butt, she didn't even have manners. "... believe it to be my duty to get you to the only ponies in ponyville that can find out just those things."

Once again she gave my helmet a prodding kick. "So, let's go already!"

I just managed to bite my tongue before I raved at her. Okay, that made a little sense, I suppose. This planet had indeed never had any contact with the Empire (except, according to the seminar, the two rulers of this nation of ponies), and I supposed it was too much of me to expect to be welcomed with hospitality, considering I was basically dressed for war. Besides, I had endured harsher welcomes from more savage races, couldn't I do that for these creatures as well? Yes, yes I could.

I huffed in exasperation, but conceded to her wishes. "Very well," I said, doing my best to not let my displeasure show through my voice. "Take me to these people."

"Finally," she muttered, flying a little ahead of me. Then she stopped abruptly and whirled on me. "And don't even try to run away! I'm the fastest pony around here, you know! You wouldn't even get a dozen yards before I caught up to you!"

"Of course I won't," I said honestly, though I still didn't like it.

She shot me a suspicious glare, before letting me catch up to her before hovering along beside me.

'This assignment is going to be dreadful,' I thought.

Then I sent a message to Justinian that read, "Yes, these creatures are DEFINITELY peace-loving and gentle... NOT."

Chapter 2 -- Confound These Ponies

CHAPTER 2 - Confound These Ponies

The cyan pegasus had accompanied me for but a while, before we eventually reached the boundaries of the town -- mostly wooden fences and signs, with the occasional rock wall of some sort. The pegasus herself had barely said anything since I left with her; she just looked at me with a most annoying look of curiosity. At one point, she DID ask me where I came from, and to that question I answered honestly, as usual. She barely suppressed her laughter at the supposed ridiculousness of my response.

Soon we crossed a brightly painted wooden bridge and into a town filled with... oh, surprise, surprise, more ponies!

They were all about the place -- at the doorsteps of the feeble-looking structures, trotting about on their strange limbs while conversing with one another, in the case of OTHER pegasi flying around in the air, or simply relaxing somewhere. Also, to my chagrin, it seemed that there were multiple sub-species of these creatures; some were pegasi, some were... 'normal' ponies.

The inhabitants were of all shapes and sized; no two were exactly the same in appearance. Some were yellow, others olive, and yet some still were green -- those were just some of the colors I witnessed. Their tails, as I observed, were always of the same color scheme as their manes.

At my appearance, the townsfolk who saw me immediately either vacated the premises -- yelling something in their strange voices about 'monster' -- or just stared at me as though they were frozen. And yet, to my surprise, a few of them smiled and slowly approached.

"Does your race not have a uniform look?" I asked, taking no heed to the volume or tone of my voice. "I have witnessed creatures of strange appearance before, but this... this is a little unsettling. How flawed your race's DNA must be; too much biodiversity, I suppose."

'These creatures are the epitome of ludicrosity,' I thought.

The pegasus gave me a look of confusion, before shaking her head and locking me in a gaze. "Well, I don't know about YOUR race, but we ponies happen to like looking different from one another." Her eyes widened, and she added, "And what do you mean 'flawed DNA'?!"

I did not let myself be intimidated by her tone, and instead gestured at the population before me. "What I mean is, doesn't your kind have ANY kind of racial uniformity? I suppose all looking different from one another can reduce identity theft cases, but just WHY do you all look so different? Were your primitive ancestors promiscuous beyond compare?"

Her cheeks went a little red and her eyes widened. "Now, listen here!" she said, hovering close enough to my visor that her breaths fogged the glass. "I'll have you know that-"

But she was cut off by a voice of even greater ability to annoy.

"Rainbow Dash!" a supremely high-pitched voice half-yelled half-laughed, and a pink blur pounced onto the seething cyan pegasus from above.

"Pinkie! Get off me!" the cyan pegasus -- Rainbow Dash, yes? What a RIDICULOUS name -- yelled as she struggled to get the pink pony with the puffy mane and tail off of her.

I was about to intervene, when suddenly behind me came even more voices; all of which were somewhat less annoying than the pink one's.

"Oh, I do hope that she doesn't get her coat dirty!" a surprisingly civilized-sounding voice said.

"Oh my goodness oh my goodness oh my goodness..." a timid little voice repeated again and again.

"What is that? Is that some kind statue? Did Rainbow Dash discover something from one of those ruins in the forest? Oh, I hope she did!" another female voice said with glee.

I turned to see a small semi-circle of curious onlookers gathered before me, their diminutive forms easily dwarfed by my high stature. Out of the crowd of multi-colored ponies came three that seemed like they were trying to get to the other two struggling behind me. Those three were: a lavender pony with a moderately blue mane with streaks of rose and violet and... a horn? A... unicorn, according to my HUD. The other was a white... unicorn... with a moderately indigo mane and tail. The last was this yellow pegasus with a pink mane so long it covered one of her eyes. The last of the three immediately skidded to a stop after seeing me, her eyes wide in fear.

The other two had just gotten out of the crowd as well, and were galloping towards the bridge at full speed, the lavender one saying, "Rainbow Dash! Pinkie! What in Equestria are you-"

She skidded to a stop as well, and the white unicorn behind here rammed into her from behind. The lavender one was looking at me with eyes so wide out of awe that she didn't even glance behind her. The crowd was likewise in awe, if their whispering and murmuring was any indication.

"Oh... my... gosh..." the lavender unicorn said slowly, before shaking her head and collecting her obviously scattered wits. She stood up shook herself clean, then proceeded to approach me, her horn glowing and enveloping my suit in a strange purple aura.

'FOREIGN ENERGY DETECTED, COMMENCING COUNTERMEASURES,' my suit warned, and at once it erupted with a blast of golden light that dissipated the aura around me. The blast sent those closest to me -- the pink one, 'Pinkie', the pegasus, 'Rainbow Dash', and the two unicorns -- flying away, while those further from me immediately lost all their curiosity and ran away, screaming.

The lavender unicorn managed to levitate herself in the air, thus stopping her flight. She slowly descended to the ground, and at once began approaching me again, a look of even GREATER curiosity on her face.

Rainbow Dash had also managed to recover, and upon seeing her fellow pony approaching me flew in front of her, whirled on me, and yelled, "Get back, Twilight! This thing's too dangerous!"

"No, Rainbow Dash," 'Twilight' -- again, what a ridiculous name -- said, pushing her more violent fellow pony out of the way. "I detected an energy come from the sky earlier; a LOT of energy. And judging from how... um..." She paused, seeming to think of the right word.

"I am a male, in case that is what you are pondering," I stated.

"And a rather strange male at that," the white unicorn commented as she wiped the dust from her coat. "Why, just what ARE you wearing, my dear? It's... it's so... it's so GLAMOROUS!"

"And... scary," the pink pegasus said quietly, only barely loud enough to be heard.

I smirked, "I am wearing the Indaari Empire's power armor Mk III, if that is what you mean. As for it being glamorous... well, I suppose it does look rather dashing." I looked at my power glove with a little bit of pride.

Twilight gave me a little thankful smile, and continued before any more interruptions occurred, "Anyway! And judging from how his energy feels, he's one of the three things that fell out of the sky!"

She looked up at me with a wide grin. "Tell me, are there more of you? Oh, please tell me there are!"

"Yes, there are more of my race," I replied, finding her jubilant curiosity, among other things, amusing. "They should be arriving soon, if they are not here already."

Her eyes widened so much at that that she ignored Rainbow Dash's warnings to not approach me. "You have to tell me more!" she begged.

I looked at her for a moment, then at the town. All of them were either scared of me, or curious of me. Would entertaining this creature's queries be a good idea? What if, somewhere down in the minds of these things, there was already a part of them controlled by evil influence? What if they were all already turned, and were simply putting up a mask of innocence?

'Only one way to find out,' I thought, despite a portion of my head finding it far too difficult to believe that such creatures could ever harm... well, anything.

"Very well," I said. "Take me to your abode, or wherever you would have me."

Twilight grinned and turned around, taking all the scared looks the other inhabitants of the town were giving her without so much as a scoff. I shook my head slowly and began following her, when suddenly a bit of puffy pink mane appeared from the top of my visor.

"Heya!" Pinkie said cheerfully, moving her head away from my visor and waving a hoof at me. "So, how do you find the story so far?"

"Uh... what?" I asked, dumbfounded. "What story?"

She giggled, "Oh, you know! The story that YOU-" She tapped my helmet. "-yourself will be writing so many years from now because some author on a distant planet scripted you to write it because you're ACTUALLY a character of his story!"

I just stared at her for the longest time, shaking my head. "You are a very strange pony," I said simply.

She barely suppressed herself from bursting into all out laughter, and said, "And just so you know, I'm mostly the reason you're going to name this chapter what you will! I won't even tell you the chapter name, so that you won't try to change it when you actually do write it on that notebook of yours."

"My notebook?!" I asked aloud. "How did you know about my notebook? Are you an intergalactic spy slash assassin who's been monitoring my activities? Because if you are..." I took a step back, shaking her off. Then I drew my blade, which had for this whole time been sheathed on my back. The Fleticium blade rang in the air as I slowly lowered it down to touch her forehead.

At that, everyone in the area looked at me with horror. Even Twilight, who had just a moment ago seemed so eager to let me into her own home, now looked at me with terror. Rainbow Dash was against the ground, body ready to pounce me and pummel me.

"Oooh," Pinkie said, "Now would be the time to throw my super-awesome 'Welcoming-You!' party! It's what the author wants to happen, so I'll let it happen!" She reached behind her and pulled out a... a CANNON?!

"Let's party!" she cheered, and the cannon blasted it's confetti at me. For some reason that confetti stuck to my visor, rendering me blind. Even stranger, music suddenly blasted out from nowhere and I heard the sounds of doors opening and closing, and the sounds of joyous screaming was suddenly everywhere.

Amidst my blind fumbling, I slipped on something on the ground and landed myself hard into... something pink and white... and mushy... and had a very large amount of sugar...

But through all that, I could only yell in my head, 'Confound these ponies!'

Chapter 3 -- An Icing Slide

CHAPTER 3 - Some Proper Introductions

I sat on the base of the staircase within Twilight Sparkle's house (which was a particularly large tree, not on the outside, but on the inside) and at last wiped the last of the icing from my suit's visor. Even still, some of the pink and white stuff stuck to the miniscule gaps in the seal, and for how much that annoyed me I groaned, "This suit once protected me when I submerged myself in lava on the volcanic planet of Thraxos and in the process had none of the magma harden within it, yet it cannot keep out sugary icing from a pony's cake out of it's gaps."

I sighed and threw the napkin aside, and laid my back against the wooden wall of the house, giving the sounds of the party outside a listen. I shook my head, murmuring, "Any sane race would have called on their leaders and alerted their armies to the arrival of armed strangers, yet these ponies throw me a town-wide party which everyone strangely attends... these ponies confuse me."

"Well, nopony would want to miss out on a Pinkie Pie party," Twilight Sparkle said as she trotted down the stairs, also wiping the icing off of her lavender fur. I gave her a quizzical look, and she returned it with a sheepish little smile. "Trust me, when you've lived here as long as I have, well... you kinda learn that some things just happen, even if the circumstances surrounding them are too silly, or they're just plain weird."

"Like a town-wide party dedicated to the celebration of the arrival of someone who'm no one in this town knows and for a while even showed fear towards," I muttered.

"Well... yeah, I guess," she said, and then I heard her hoofsteps coming down the stairs towards me. After a while they stopped, and I looked beside me to see her looking at me with a wide grin on her face as she looked straight at me.

"What?" I asked, finding the look she was giving me rather disturbing.

She backed away a little, composing herself and putting on a more formal expression. She cleared her throat, "I'd like to apologize for how some of us would have received you -- a certain pegasus comes to mind -- and I'd also like to introduce myself. I'm Twilight Sparkle, Ponyville's local librarian and student of one of the ruler's of Equestria, Princess Celestia."

'Princess Celestia?' I thought. 'Oh yes, the one mentioned in the seminar. If I remember correctly, Commodus had once had tea with her.' As I sat there conjuring up a mental of image of my Knight-Magistrate drinking tea with a winged unicorn, I eventually noticed that I was taking long to respond to her introduction, and that she was already starting to give me weird looks.

"Ah, uh, sorry. Just a little thought that came to mind." I cleared my own throat, and raised one of my power-armored hands forward. "Knight Andelius, 3rd Fleet, Second Division, Milky-Way Detachment. A... pleasure to meet you."

She smiled and raised a hoof to shake my hand with, and after we were done she sat down next to me on the staircase and looked at me with that disturbingly wide and overly eager smile again. "So..." she started, looking over my power-armored form and blade.

"So?" I asked.

"So, where'd you come from? How many of you are there? Are you really a whole new species? What do you look like under that suit? What's the suit made of?" she asked in a quick volley of questions that left her out of breath, and I was surprised at the eagerness of her queries; surely I wasn't THAT interesting to these things, right? Didn't anything interesting happen to these things, or were their lives so dreadfully tedious that they really found a knight wearing power armor interesting?

"One question at a time, please."

She composed herself again, calming down enough to refine her mad grin to a more formal smile. "Sorry, just... you're so interesting! I don't think Equestria has ever seen anything like you before, it's just exciting! I'm excited, are you excited?"

'Hardly,' I thought, but I wasn't actually going to say that. Velian might have, if he was here -- Justinian was right about one thing, Velian was indeed a little unrefined and needed a little discipline.

"I assume that's not the question you want me to answer, right?" I asked, even if I already knew the answer.

"Uh... nope. Okay, here I go... whew..." There as a long pause as she took in a deep breath. "Okay, so, may I know from where you're from?"

"Reasonable question. I hail from Ralvain, the home world of the Indaari Empire and the center of the intergalactic community. It is there that I learned just about everything I know right now, save some tidbits of information."

"Like what?" she asked.

"Small tidbits, like where a black hole leads, how to get beyond the speed of light, how to create your own black hole with some surplus star generators, and how to manufacture your own HD screen out of sand and grass," I replied sincerely.

Her smile widened enough to show her teeth. Apparently, something about those minor tidbits of info intrigued this unicorn.

She opened her mouth, presumably to ask another question, when another presence appeared at the top of the stairs. Twilight seemed to notice it first, and turned her head to look up. I followed suit.

Up there stood this... creature, this... thing. It was green and purple, with scaly skin and short, stubby limbs. It was short, standing maybe only 3 feet tall, as opposed to my average height of 9 feet. It looked reptilian, having a sort of underdeveloped maw on it's face. It also looked like it had just awoken from some kind of nap. It's eyes widened as it looked at me, and it rubbed them.

"Twilight, who's this?" It asked in a voice of definite masculinity, as opposed to just about every other creature I had yet met on the planet.

"Spike!" she yelped excitedly, and galloped up the stairs as if to push him down just so it -- or he -- could talk to me.

But I was still processing the fact that this thing had just spoke. "Your pet talks?" I asked.

"Of course he talks -- and he's not my pet! He's my assistant. I taught him how to talk myself, right Spike? Remember how sometimes you'd mispronounce a word and I'd have to ask you to repeat?" Twilight said as she nudged him down the stairs.

"Uh... no?" he replied lazily, obviously still trying to fully wake up.

Finally, he stood in front of me, with her behind him and looking at the two of us eagerly. "Go on you two," Twilight said encouragingly. "Introduce yourself, Spike."

"Uh, right," he replied, then tentatively reached up one of his clawed hands up towards me. "Hi, my name's Spike." Then he said in a tone slightly filled with personal pride, "I'm a dragon."

"Nice to meet you... Spike," I replied, and took his hand and shook it, even if I didn't actually want to.

"Well, now that that's settled, why don't we go meet the others?" Twilight offered. "I'm pretty sure Applejack would want to know for who'm the party's for, considering she wasn't there with us -- probably working on the farm. So, you wanna go?"

"It's not like I have anything else to do here," I muttered, then got up and stretched my legs a bit. "Let's go."

Spike just went back upstairs, yawning as he did. "You two go ahead. I'm going back to sleep." Just before he turned a corner and disappeared from sight, he murmured, "I must be dreaming, what was that thing? And is Pinkie throwing ANOTHER party? Ugh..."

'Hmph,' I thought, 'At least I'm not the only one around here who finds some of these pony's traditions disturbing.'

I glanced over at the doorway and saw Twilight peeking outside. Her eyes narrowed. "Oh my..." she said softly.

"What is it?"

She turned around and looked at me with a grin wider than ever before. She started skipping about, saying repeatedly, "There are more of you here there are more of you here there are more of you here there are more of you here!"

"Oh boy," I said, "I think I know what that means."

Then on my visor Velian and Justinian's faces suddenly appeared, along with feeds of what they were seeing. Justinian seemed to be lying face down in pile of cake (just like I had) while Velian seemed to be trying not to step on the numerous locals as he tried to help him up.

"Hey Andelius, little help over here?" Justinian pleaded.

I sighed, "Excuse me Twilight, but I have to help those louts I call my brethren and make sure they don't do anything stupid."

"I'm going with you!" she said, perhaps a little too eagerly for my liking.

But it's not like I was going to deny her that; I didn't control her, after all. "Fine," I muttered softly, and pushed the door open.

And then I fell forward and slid down the street in a slide of icing. Halfway to what appeared to be a fountain, Pinkie appeared out of nowhere and rode on my back, yelling, "WEEEEE!" at the top of her lungs.

Velian just managed to help Justinian up, when they saw me speeding towards them and their eyes widened. "Move!" I shouted, but it was already too late.

Our impact splattered cake bits everywhere, and once again I found myself mentally screaming, 'Confound these ponies!'

Chapter 4 -- Armed Forces

CHAPTER 4 -- Armed Forces

Once more I found myself wiping my helmet clean of the pink icing, only this time I was not alone in the endeavor. My fellow knights were far more open to the locals than I, though, so their time of removing the frosting from their visors was at least filled with amiable chatting. The subjects of their talk were not unlike what Twilight had asked me, and she seemed to be asking again just to get fresh opinions. Rainbow Dash had, however, remained behind along with Pinkie -- something about needing to 'stay away' from us. These creatures tended to be like that, polar in many ways; some were kind, others the exact opposite.

"... is why Applejack would love to meet you guys!" Twilight said at last. I didn't get the rest of their conversation, though. I had thought Twilight was asking questions, not telling us of her friend.

We went down a fairly wide dirt road, which steadily wound up a hill that was marked here and there with trees of the strangest appearance. Unlike the others trees that had nothing upon them but green leaves, these ones had the most queer red fruits upon them -- 'apples', so my suit told me. The path behind us was littered with used napkins filled with icing.

"She sounds... rather like an extrovert," Justinian replied. "I'm not one for such outdoor activities, so I'm not quite sure how she'd take to me."

"Oh, that's okay, Justinian," Twilight said. Yes, she HAD learned our names and had no qualms of using them. "She's with the Apple family, you know! They're known for their hospitality, so I'm sure you'll feel just at home with them."

Justinian let out a relieved sigh, and breathed out to answer, when Velian arm-locked him from the side. "Aw, come on!" he taunted, "What, isn't your frail skin already well protected by your suit? And yet here you are, doubting it's ability to protect you from exotic air and local mud when it can CLEARLY protect you from lava."

Justinian snickered as he removed Velian's arm from around his neck. "That may be true," he said, "BUT, as you know brother, I am simply not comfortable around air that hasn't been exposed to our Aura. You know how it is. Remember back on Trivium?" Justinian was, of course, referring to an incident where a sentient gas entity turned the surrounding air into a living parasite. Needless to say, watching animals and plants get sucked dry of all life was NOT pleasant to watch.

"So where is this farm?" I asked as I wiped the last of the icing from my face.

Twilight pointed to the top of the hill upon which the dirt path snaked. "We should see it in a little field right after we crest the hill!" she said excitedly. Then she frowned, but not out of sadness but of thought. "I wonder how she'll take to you guys, though. She isn't exactly the most calm when it comes to stuff that might scare her. Just like when Princess Luna was shouting all over town..."

Justinian perked up. "Princess Luna?" He turned to us. "Isn't she the so-called Princess Celestia's sister?"

Velian nodded, "Yeah, she is. But that's not the highlight; as it turns out, you WERE listening at the seminar!" Then he patted Justinian on the back.

"Why?" I asked. "What of Princess Luna?" Our little conversation had gotten Twilight's attention, and she now glanced back at us with the most curious expression.

Justinian rubbed the back of his neck plates in contemplation. "Well," he started. "It's just that... isn't she a lot more serious when it comes to this place's security? That's what Commodus told me, at least."

"What?" I snapped, surprising him and causing us all to stop. "When did you speak to Commodus about this? Moreover, why was I not the one he talked to?"

Justinian recoiled. "Woah, okay, calm down, easy, Andelius, he just told me some stuff that you weren't around to hear, alright? It isn't that ser-"

"It's very serious!" I said as I yanked him closer. I could see the surprise in his eyes. "None of us are ready for an armed confrontation, Justinian! Why, the ponies would be destroyed! How are we supposed to neutralize them if they come for us? What if Celestia is off and her sister is taking care of this place? What then?"

"Andelius," Velian said, relaxed. "Do you forget who is with you? Why, I could probably word my way out of an argument with these people just like I did with the natives of Bactra."

"Yes, and need I remind you that your 'negotiations' nearly got us detained for disrespect to the Bactran king!" I replied harshly, and tossed Justinian off. He nearly tripped backwards from the force. I sighed in frustration and covered my visor with my hand.

"Um..." Twilight hummed, confused. "What exactly is going on here?"

"Well, knowing Andelius and his tendency to overreact, it's probably nothing, but-" Velian was saying.

"But nothing!" I snapped, to which Velian nodded his head in expectation. I rounded on Justinian. "You should have told us this, Justinian. Now if we get brought to the palace under armed escort, believed to be a threat, then the smoothness of this operation of ours will be severely jeopardized. And if it is, so help me..." I waved a fist at him.

Twilight galloped in front of me and placed both of her forelegs onto my arm, and I lowered it. "Wookay!" she said with a little chuckle. "Don't be paranoid, Andelius. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna aren't hostile, as far as I know. And you did tell me that Celestia had past business with your people, so everything should go fine when you go to meet her."

Then she squealed in excitement, "Ooh, I can't wait to hear what she has to say about your people! It's just SO exciting! So much knowledge!" She squealed again, this time jumping up and down.

I brought a hand over my face in frustration. "That remains to be seen," I grumbled, then sighed, "In any case, there's no point in arguing about it now. We'll just have to hope that this doesn't endanger our mission here. Because if it does, then I believe a good disciplinary session would be in order..." I looked to Justinian, and his eyes widened.

The rest of the walk up the hill went fine, and the fairly calm and picturesque route up served to subdue my frustration. It even came to the point that I almost enjoyed the thought of being on that planet for the next few years. Almost.

Soon we reached the top of the hill, and the sight before me was one of subtle magnificence -- surprising, as after seeing the floating islands in the capital of my home planet, I did not believe anything else would elicit awe.

The road we stood upon cut down the back of the hill in a straight line, curving only to wind around some smaller hills. Behind the trees that stood upon those was a two-story structure of wooden make, painted brightly red and surrounded by barren yet fertile-looking brown soil. Around that structure were more hills going in all directions, upon which more apple trees stood.

The subtle, peaceful beauty of it -- brought about not by preparations for war or self-gratification -- astounded me. For who, after all, would create such a wide and fruitful land for the mere purpose of providing for oneself and those around them? None other; all such efforts that I have seen were for some ulterior motive.

"That's the Apple family's barn, and around that are their acres of apple trees," Twilight said in a friendly but lecturing tone. "Now, when we get there, try to be at your best behavior. Applejack's had to rebuild the barn more than once, and I'd hate for another incident to occur. Oh, and watch out around Granny Smith -- she might get frightened by you."

Justinian nodded, "As long as they don't willingly get mud or dirt on me as some kind of welcoming rite, I believe I shall enjoy the simple peace of this place." He started walking down the path.

The three of us followed, all of us but me relaxed.

Velian smacked my shoulder lightly, jarring me out of a tense walk filled with anxious thoughts. "Come on, 'delius," he chimed. "Relax. Take some joy in the job. Let things go as they will..." he said soothingly, coaxing me to do the same as he. It wasn't really working; it just disturbed me greatly.

"Please don't do that again," I said simply as I took a few steps from him.

He gave me a look of sagely disapproval -- which I especially didn't like because I was older than him -- and took in a breath to reply. Before he could, though, a resonating chorus of flapping wings filled the air.

"What was...?" Twilight was saying as she looked into the air, and at once her mouth went agape and her eyes widened. We too looked up, and the sight greatly surprised me.

A hundred or so pegasi, all silhouetted against the sun save for those closest to us. They were descending in a wide circle, with the outlines of spears in their hooves. Upon their white coats they wore a set of intricate but highly ceremonial golden armor studded with gems here and there, and atop their heads were helmets of similar make with blue plumes jutting out from the top.

I managed to sweep aside my shock just long enough to grab Justinian's shoulder and say in his ear, "We will discuss the inaccuracy of your reassurances later."

The circle descended about us, and the faces of the pegasi that landed were grim and hard. Twilight looked to them with the most shocked eyes; clearly she had never expected such an event to occur. Her shock became far more evident when several regular ponies clad in the same armor came trotting down the road from Ponyville, and her eyes widened so much at the sight of one particular pony that they seemed like they would roll out of their sockets. That particular pony was a unicorn like Twilight, and he wore on him armor of purple coloration along with the typical gold.

"Twily!" the unicorn said, and Twilight and he galloped to meet each other halfway. Velian drew his sword but didn't provocatively point it at any of the soldiers -- a major improvement over his behavior on other planets -- while Justinian shuffled around uneasily. I just looked at them all with calculating glares.

"Shining, what is going on?" Twilight asked in a rush. "These people mean us no harm; we could learn from them! They were even assigned to us to keep us safe!"

Shining -- I didn't know if that was his whole name -- sighed and said regretfully, "I wouldn't know Twily. All I know is that Princess Celestia and Luna told us to seek them out and bring them to Canterlot. Said it was important." He sighed again and looked his sister over, then glanced over at us. Clearly he didn't like having to do what he was doing against his sibling's will.

But he was this guard contingent's commander, and being a soldier like him, I understood that orders were orders. His face predictably hardened into an expression of stern resolve as he yelled, "Cease them!"

"Shining, don't-" Twilight was saying, when the guards all around us moved in on us with no hesitation.

My fellow knights were prepared to resist this arrest, but I stopped them. The looks I sent their way made it clear that I knew we needed to see the princesses. After all, Commodus knew them, and so surely his name would ring a bell when we mentioned our identities.

With looks of hesitation, by fellows sheathed their blades back into their scabbards and let the pegasi troops bind our arms and legs in strange magical cuffs. My suit immediately offered to counteract them, but I rejected it. 'Non-violence towards the locals if you can help it,' Commodus had said.

I sighed and glanced over at Twilight, the distraught unicorn looking pale from disbelief. She looked like she quite simply wasn't used to seeing these sorts of things. The look in her eyes suggested she was more used to... to dealing with relationship problems, or perhaps giving advice; not coping with shows of anything near violence, whatever kind -- verbal or physical.

I didn't get to give her and the situation much thought, when my brethren and I were wrapped in a magical aura of light rose. We were lifted up, and for the first time since I was mutated with temporary wings I felt weightless.

Then two pegasus soldiers held aloft the male unicorn, and without any words spoken we were whisked off into the sky.

Chapter 5 -- Ordained Meeting

CHAPTER 5 -- Ordained Meetings

So this was Canterlot? This... oversized balcony? This flat, semicircular foundation of cement and brick and marble, upon which was built a city of towering spires and glimmering white, saturated here and there with stripes of red and gold and purple? Hmph, well... for a capital city of such strange and inefficient creatures... it was grand. Grand in many ways, actually -- to my experienced mind, having lived for such a long time, I could imagine a grand gathering of architects and monarchs in order to plan the construction of such a structure. I could also imagine a grand labor force, all snaking their way up a narrow dirt path to create the foundation. And then also I could imagine a grand vision -- a vision to create a monument to last the ages. And where better to create such a kind of monument as atop a mountain plain for all to see?

It was quite the view, in any case. In fact, I would gladly have enjoyed the sights if my neck hadn't been held stiff by the magic of the pony prince Shining Armor. Prince he was, of course, for he had been addressed as such by his fellow soldiers. My brethren and I could easily have broken free of his magical grip and laid waste to him and his guard detachment, of course, but that would have created open hostilities with these creatures. That went directly against why we were sent here: to act as sentinels until the Great Fleet could arrive to pacify all evils and to establish a permanent base on this planet.

After momentary circling above the tallest spire our stiff bodies were brought to a surprisingly soft landing on a large, pristine-white balcony jutting forth from the structure. By Shining Armor's magic our bodies were made perpendicular to the ground, and our feet touched the floor. At once the pacifying sensation of his spell shifted and concentrated on our hands, bound tightly in front of us. The angle they were being held in was... not comfortable.

Velian was the first to voice his disdain in his typical overly-flattering negotiation voice (which never worked). With a loud exhale he said, "Ah, what a lovely capital city you have here! Nice white floor, pristine ceiling... if only we could view it all with less discomfort. It would be a grand little treat if you let us free of these restraints." He looked to the nearest guard and pushed his shackled arms forward, giving him puppy eyes.

"Oh, do shut up," Justinian grumbled, not at all pleased at having been handled so roughly (by his standards). "The last thing we need now is to be thrown into another sandpit because you failed at talking our way out."

Velian looked at him with upraised eyebrows. "Yeah? Well, there ain't no sandpits around here, and our suits can withstand snow and fire alike. I highly doubt anything they can do could harm us in any way." That right there was, of course, the reason he failed at negotiation: after any single obstacle, his flattering tone turned to one of condescending superiority.

"Just shut up," I growled, fixing them both with a stern stare. "Justinian, this is kind of on you. If you had told me of that talk... let me prepare... this wouldn't have happened. I could have planned for this, just like I did everything else."

Justinian gave me a roll of his eyes but nodded. "You're right," he said insincerely. "I'm sorry, sir."

Before I could once more lecture him on the usage of the term 'sir' to address me, his Knight-brother, as inappropriate, one of the golden-clad guards stomped over and declared in a loud, authoritative voice, "You three, follow me. No funny business, no escape attempts. Our spears have been sharpened and our training has been harder ever since the Changeling attack, so don't even try anything."

We looked off to the sides and spotted a circle of spear-wielding pegasi, all pointing their weapons at us. My suit automatically scanned the nature and make of their armament and armor: steel, level 1 industrial metal, weak. Those spears wouldn't even pierce the first mono-molecular layer of my protective suit, and their... 'armor' wouldn't even be able to withstand the pressure exerted by 0.001% of my suit's strength enhancement mechanism.

Justinian, as he often did when flummoxed, then scoffed and started pointing out just that. "You mean those oversized nails? Why, those wouldn't even-"

"Silence," the guard stomped, and trotted behind us before shoving us along down the hall.

"Rather rough guest treatment," Velian murmured, and almost went on another of his overly-flattering rants when one of the guard escorts shoved him hard enough he lost his balance and almost fell to the ground. After that, he didn't try anything else.

And we didn't either, especially me. Justinian expressed his disdain through eye expressions, but I kept a level head as I thought of various scenarios the day could turn into and how to escape them should they occur. The one thing I did not think of at all in my imagination was going hostile to these creatures. Not only would we fail in our mission if they hated us, we'd also lose a planet to the ambient corruption of the Evil powers. That and I didn't want to go on a slaughter; these poor creatures wouldn't have stood a chance.

Still, my concentration was disturbed by the questioning gazes and awed looks that the denizens gave us. The guards, of course, had never seen anything of our like. Such was the awe to be inspired by our presence, though we'd been trained back in our academies to restrain our pride. We'd also been trained to regain our concentration quickly, allowing our minds to utilize their natural affinity for psychic energies. Still, even with my mind at... 98.2% capacity (according to my suit's neural scans), I couldn't help but wonder then just how the many younger races I'd encountered perceived us, and the Indaari race as a whole.

At last the guard escorts brought us down a hall with walls punctuated with colored glass windows, each depicting various scenes of ponies defeating creatures of terrible look. Discord, in particular, stood out to me. Mostly because he was the manifestation of a great many Evil powers on the planet; chaos and laziness, especially. Suddenly before us were two large doors, carved with gold and with doorhandles of ornate metal. Clearly this, if anywhere, was where the ruling monarch of this kingdom would stay.

Justinian, as he also often did when flummoxed, was the first to voice his opinion of the situation and place. "So this is where your princesses stay? Well, the facilities are at the least adequate." And after a moment of silence he added, "Still, the walls should be made of tier 1 diamond-coated alabaster to give it that glossy, shiny look you people seem to be going for..."

I rolled my eyes. Count on Justinian to use his posh interior design skills to tell others how to make things look.

Not deigning to answer his query, the guard leading us on had two of his associates push the doors inward. And as the doors swung inwards, our eyes were met with a grand sight of a violet ceiling and a pristine white floor, in the middle of which was a long red carpet. Towards the end, the carpet climbed up a set of stairs to stop right before a large throne of white stone. It was a grand, regal sight; the kind of thing that the beauty-loving hearts of the Indaari race were so attuned to, and which gave our lives meaning in pursuing adventurous careers like that of a trooper's.

And it was all the more regal because of the tall white alicorn atop the throne. Clean fur, with a mane with the scintillating colors of pink and blue and green and the faintest aura of gold. Power emanated off of her with the intensity of a protostar. Appropriate, as she was blessed with the power to control the rotation of that world to bring the sun across the horizon every day.

"Celestia..." I murmured, heart and mind taken aback for a quick moment by awe at her regal beauty and prominent stature. Just then my mind drifted back to the few hours of seminar I'd had of her, trying to remember what her relationship with Commodus was. My fellow Knights, previously disgruntled and irritated, managed to gather up enough wits to rightfully be in awe as well.

As if sensing my word, she immediately looked up from the scroll in front of her face and, after her expression had turned into one of similar curiosity as I had on my own face, sat there in silence.

Shining Armor, the pony prince, then trotted over to her from behind, all the while accompanied by a guard contingent. He gave her a friendly, familiar smile and bowed. "Princes," he bowed.

It seemed as though she had to tear her face away from looking at us. When she'd regained her composure, she replied in earnest, "Good morning Shining Armor." She looked us over again. "Who are these you bring to me?"

He pulled his head up. "I don't really know princess," he said, "All I know is that Twily-Twilight! Yes, Twilight seemed to have gotten familiar with them rather quickly. I found her talking to them like they were friends."

Celestia had listened calmly for the most part, except for when Twilight was mentioned -- it was then that a small, surprised smile crossed her face. "I see," she said simply, looking us over again. "And you were right to. These are important people; people that I need to talk to." She looked over the chamber with a benevolent little smile and continued, addressing all present, "Alone, if you all don't mind."

The guards and most of all Shining Armor were absolutely appalled. "Princes, are you certain?" he asked. The guards gave her the strangest of gazes, as if they were trying to tell her of the weapons on our backs.

"I am certain," she said with a prim little nod. "But before you go out... kindly get me some cake for our guests, and perhaps a little tea?"

Say what, I thought. Not that I didn't appreciate the hospitality, but... was that something people just did for strangers with weapons capable of slicing through rock to get down to the very center of a planet? I don't think so.

The guards gave her the queerest looks, but complied. They trotted out tentatively, and after all had left Shining Armor came back accompanied by two unicorn guards. Atop their backs were several platters of white cake and cups of steaming green tea.

When they had placed the aforementioned material on a large circular table that they had also brought along with them, Celestia let out a relieved, deep sigh. Then she looked each of us in the eyes -- with just a bare hint of familiarity -- and stooped down to take a little sip from her teacup.

"So," she said, "He's finally fulfilled his promise."

"Promise?" I questioned.

She gave me a friendly look, then said, "I will explain, then."