New Friends and New Enemies

Chapter 13
A monument to all their sins.
Edited by ADMKLINE
Tell him Thanks!

The mirror that had allowed them to keep an eye on Markus had also revealed the secret, or rather the truth, of what Markus had declared. All the ponies: Princess Twilight, her brother Shining Armor, sister-in-law Cadence and the rest of those involved in the event (minus the Cutie Mark Crusaders) had gathered in the main hall. Celestia and Luna held themselves in a regal posture as Markus looked out at the night sky. Applejack, being the Element of Honest was the most important one here. She had the ability to know when someone was lying. Even the most skilled liar could not deceive her, which was why she couldn't tell a convincing fib to save her tail. It was Luna who had asked. "You told us that you were part of the U.C.A.S.. And in the caverns, you claimed to be the sole heir of the Sovereign Terran Imperium Throne. Which is true?"

After a few moments Markus looked out at the city and then turned to face the Princesses. As he approached them he said. "Both. I am the sole surviving heir to the Imperial Throne of the Sovereign Terran Imperium. I defected to the United Coalition of Allied Systems." As he approached and waited for Applejack to confirm he was telling the truth he could see some of them relax as he sat down in a chair. He knew this was to come out and that he had to explain.

"I was born and grew up in the Empire. As you would expect for a prince, I had a very very good up bringing, Well, if you could call being told that you are a member of the master species, and any other species are inferior." As he recalled the details he could feel his anger getting the better of him, more feelings of self loathing and guilt, ones that could be felt deeply by those in the room.

“I am...was" he corrected himself, "the youngest of six siblings. My father was the Emperor of the Sovereign Terran Imperium. There was no one to challenge him. Imperial law dictates the eldest born son is the heir to the Imperial throne. None other. The best I could hope to become would be a Grand Moff, a ruler over an entire swath of the Imperium. As I grew up there was a female, a slave who had taken care of me. She was obedient and compliant, cared for me when I was sick, and helped educate me. I can only imagine how humiliated she felt teaching me how my own species were better than her own peoples as was law in the imperial court. I didn't know any better." Standing up Markus turned to walk to the balcony. It was clear that anger and rage was seething beneath the surface.

"I don't understand how could..." Twilight started to ask as Markus cut her off sharply.

"Because!" His voice was harsh and cold but he collected himself when he realized his tone. It made Fluttershy jump and cower some. "Because... 'Might makes Right'. There are many races in the universe who say, 'We are stronger than you, it gives us the right to rule over you. You do not have strength to resist us, you have no other choice but to submit or die." He said and turned out to look at the stars and the moon. Recomposing himself he continued, "When I was thirteen my childhood was to end, as is custom. The ritual to occur had to be done flawlessly. If I hesitated, my father would order me killed."

As Markus said his father would kill him, Celestia and Luna gasped in shock. Everyone looked to Applejack, as if to beg her to tell them he was lying. She simply bit her lip as Pinkie Pie looked back to Markus and the naturally curly mane and tail she had just seemed to melt down. "Why would any one want to murder their own son?" Fluttershy asked in a soft voice as Gilda wrapped a wing around her attempting to comfort her.

It was her father who explained. "Because they were evil, in the purest sense of the word."

Fluttershy hide her face in the gryphon's feathers as Markus nodded. "Yes. The ritual involved me being forced to kill my caretaker," The look from Twilight asked him the question and she was horrified with the answer. "I broke her neck without hesitation. If I had not, I would have been killed and she would have been tortured to death as punishment for failing her master's race." Hanging his head in shame Markus said "It was after that I took a good hard long look at my people. I looked at them and saw the evil my people did - the harm, the cruelty. Throughout my military training, I never forgot her." He spared them the bloody details of the acts he had to commit while going through the military training as he grew up.

"To make an overly long story short I completed my military training and when I was twenty-three I was assigned to the Devastator. A massive war ship, intended to be the flag ship of a new war against the U.C.A.S. I introduced a sickness into the ship's computer system. I took control of it, total control, at her launch when she was to be christened. From space I aimed one of her massive weapons at the capital city and I fired it."

"Imagine a city that stretched from Manehatten to Froggy Bottom Bog. Circular. The weapon destroyed the entire city far beyond it's city limits, killing tens of millions of people. With that shot I killed the emperor, the empress, my brothers and my sisters. I also killed all the Grand Moffs, and the twenty-four Supreme Admirals. I fired the weapon without hesitation, without a second thought. I cut the head off of the Serpent. I activated the jump drive of that massive ship and had it jump to the Sol System outside one of the larger gas giants, Jupiter. I powered her down and waited for the Earth military to show up. I was captured, interrogated and assisted them, giving them names of the admirals and commanders they needed to plunge the Sovereign Terran Imperium into a civil war that still rages, tearing itself apart." Tears ran down his cheeks as he turned away and looked outside over Canterlot. "I had to do a lot of things I wasn't proud of. But I ended that evil."

"Once their intelligence was done with me I helped develop the jump drive. On small ships like the one I arrived in it was working well but on larger ships it was problematic. The drive nearly tore the ship in half, and I was forced to eject. When my ship exploded it caused my escape capsule to make an emergency jump which landed me here.”

Markus had gone to bed or rather his bed chambers, still seething with anger over what had happened and upset that he had upset his friends. He once more felt isolated. He had a very big day ahead of him, one that involved hunting Chrysalis down and destroying her and her entire hive. As he looked out into the wilderness he felt some trepidation for this mission of his. Having shared with Celestia what Chrysalis' plan was, Markus had chosen to kill her. Not just her but her entire species, total genocide. Celestia had opposed it, adamant that another way could be found. Even the gryphon king had thought that total extermination was going too far. They understood that Markus was angry but they had asked him to give them a chance to deal with Chrysalis.

Markus drew the curtains on his windows. He turned and was surprised to find Princess Twilight Sparkle standing there. She wasn't in her regalia so he wasn't sure why she had entered his room unannounced. "I did not hear you come in princess. May I help you?" He stood more at attention as she smiled softly. It perplexed him as she approached slowly.

"I know you're angry at Chrysalis." It got a laugh from Markus as he shook his head to explain.

"No, angry is like trying to compare a candle with a barely contained raging forest fire." As Twilight closed the door behind her it locked which made Markus unsure of her intensions.

"Alright, utterly outraged, enraged, and seething." she said with a half chuckle. She slowly approached him. "I'm asking you to give Princess Celestia and Princess Luna a chance to resolve this. We have the support of the gryphons and with help we can get the other races to help deal with her." Inhaling she continued. "This is not your planet or kingdom, and to a point you are under the protection of the princesses. Let us try and deal with her. If we can't... then we will deal with her once and for all." Twilight said softly. She had no idea what Celestia was thinking when she had asked Twilight to help calm Markus down. But there was something else she had wanted once she was away from prying eyes.

She watched Markus inhale and exhale slowly. Then he sighed and said, "Alright, I will let Equestrian nobility handle the talking. If it doesn't work and she gets her talons on one piece of the blade all bets are off." Allowing Twilight to see him relax he asked, "Any particular reason you closed and locked the door?"

A deep blush came to Twilight's cheeks as she said, "Well, we didn't get to finish our dance.” Her horn glowed and music started to play on a record player.

Taken aback he looked around the wide open room then smiled softly and started to approach her. Once more he knelt down and asked, "Would you honor me to continue our dance?" She extended her hoof and he accepted helping her stand up and once more they began to dance. With no one watching them the pair looked into each other's eyes and for once Twilight's eyes sparkled. She felt something, something that sent a tremble through her spine and made her wings flutter.

Moving around in slow circles to make sure the princess did not get dizzy Markus smiled softly and then leaned over tilting his head as he pressed his lips to hers. The two joined in a very soft gentle kiss as Twilight's eyes snapped open for a brief moment and then slowly closed as a dreamy look overtook them.

Luna crept into the royal archives. She knew her sister was here. Both of them had been highly unsettled when they had heard Markus story. The pair of them had hidden it well but it frightened them both. Her sister sat at a desk with a single candle and a stone tablet. It didn't surprise her. "Tia,” she said as she approached “I thought I would find you here of all places tonight." As she came up to her sister Celestia turned to her, eyes running with tears. Standing up, she turned to embrace her sister. Luna couldn't help but cry as well. "Are you sure?"

"Yes." Celestia said sadly. "The prophecy is very clear."

Luna dreaded that what she had read thousands of years ago was about to come true.

When four princesses reign when once there was but two,
A prince born of darkness who shall embrace the light that falls from the stars.
A thrice fallen noble shall rise from the grave.
Earth, Fire, Air, Water and Forest shall unite The Bringer of Death.
The two alicorn kings shall herald the end of the Age of the Immortal Alicorn.
To save their world from evil eternal
Two Sisters of the Sun and Moon shall be doomed to die.

Celestia and Luna looked at each other tears running down their cheeks as they held each other. Never before had they felt so weak and powerless.