Chapters New Friends and New Enemies
Prelude
Klaxons blared, red lights flashed throughout the doomed experimental vessel. The jump drive test had nearly sheared the starship in half. The sounds of metal being bent, twisted, echoed through the ship's structure. Explosions rocked the corridors as the lone occupant ran to his only chance of life - the escape pod. All the ship's data logs were being put into the pod's data recorder. His environmental suit helped him despite the loss of atmosphere in the ship as he got to the pod. The hatch was open as he climbed inside the twenty foot long, eight foot diameter tube, often called an 'escape torpedo' because of the similarity in design it held to weapons used by oceanic war ships. The 'torpedo' was little more than a two jump vessel - the first jump to get the ship away from the area, the second jump to direct it to home base.
Reaching up the man grabbed the hatch bar and with all his strength pulled the sealing hatch forward, locking it into place as support braces closed on the hooks to his suit's built in harness, and pulled him tightly back into the pod's seat. The inside of the tube was pitch black except for a red light which now turned green. Less than one second later the pod was launched at over mach 10. As the pod left the tube, the experimental vessel Pegasus lost her antimatter containment. The resulting uncontrolled mix of matter and antimatter all but obliterated the ship. The blast wave enveloped the pod sending it tumbling through the blackness of space.
When the Pegasus detonated the crews of the survey ships that had been in the area to observe the test jump watched in horror as one of their finest test pilots was thought to have just died. That was until the beacon of the escape pod signaled that it was intact the occupant alive. This sent a swarm of small recovery ships in the direction of the tumbling pod. That was until the tell tale signature of the pod's jump drive kicked in. A backup program in the pod had been lead to believe that it had been fired on and as a result, the escape drive activated and in a flash of light the 'torpedo' vanished.
Inside the pod the occupant had been rendered unconscious when the pod took the blast wave and saved him the horror of learning that his pod had made what was called a 'blind jump'. Under normal conditions when a jump was made, the ship disappeared from its current location and reappeared someplace else. Some might call it a form of teleportation. Carefully planned under controlled situations, a normal jump was harmless. A blind jump was anything but. A blind jump was what pilots called it when their ship's navigation computer had in effect made an portal jump without destination coordinates. One could appear inside an asteroid, inside a planet, or even the heart of a star.
The 'torpedo' continued to tumble as it appeared on the other end of the jump. Gas was released inside the pod to awaken the occupant. The monitors around him took a few moments for him to focus on, as he realized that the Co-ordinates of his location had been scrambled. The computer voice in the escape pod spoke to him.
~~Warning. Warning. Planetary impact in T-minus seven minutes thirty seconds. Jump drive recharge time, T-minus ten minutes. Warning, Warning. Prepare for crash landing.~~
Inhaling the gas that flooded his mask he looked through the eye monitors at the planet and said. "At least I didn't end up inside the planet. Computer, disable warning. Transfer control to manual flight control." Then almost as an afterthought, "Play track selection thirteen at T-minus five minutes twenty seconds to impact." Grabbing hold of the two control handles the escape pod despite her damage opened up her wings and lifted an air foil as the pilot struggled to bring his ship out of her death tumble.
Data rolled up one of the monitors on the inside of the ship confirmed the planet was unknown and equivalent of Earth is general size. Similar atmosphere, although oxygen levels were five percent higher than Earth, and inhabited by a preindustrial age sentient carbon based lifeforms. Which meant pre space flight. Still he had no choice but to crash land. He had been caught in their moon's gravity and his escape pod's vector had been altered to impact the planet.
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In the land of Equestria in Ponyville, Princess Luna was out enjoying the night with two of her Lunar Guard beside her. A lot had happened with her in the last two years since her return from the moon and being freed from being Nightmare Moon, the most important being that she had as some said 'lightened up'. Tomorrow night was Nightmare Night. She was looking around at the festival decorations enjoying the atmosphere.
Before she had been feared and even shunned but now she was loved and accepted by the ponies of Equestria. Strolling through the streets she heard the rapid clip-clopping of tiny hooves running up towards her and perhaps a dozen or so young colts and fillies swarmed her. All at once they asked her about the Star Shower tomorrow night, asking if she would make it Star Shower now and tomorrow night as well. She could not help but laugh softly as she told them "Foals, foals, settle down, settle down. One at a time, please." She lowered her dark head and neck down to their level. "Now, what is this about a Star Shower you have heard about?" she asked softly.
The fillies and colts all told her yes, they had heard that tomorrow night that she would summon a Star Shower for Nightmare Night. Narrowing her eyes as a playful smile crossed her muzzle she lifted her head to look at her two guards behind her. They were doing their best to look stoic and on duty, but it was clear to Luna one of her stallion guards had loose lips. "I had wanted to make it a surprise for everypony. I wonder who let the secret slip," she said with a half chuckle. Luna had spent the better part of two days using her magic to set things into place so that tomorrow the Star Shower could be seen by everypony. Of course came the requests for an early show but sadly she had not planned for one.
Turning her attention back to the fillies and colts, she was just about to answer them when a flash of light erupted to the northeast behind the castle in Canterlot. Turning her attention to the sky she could see a streak of bright fire race across the sky from the direction of Manehatten. The midnight blue Alicorn flared her wings protectively. Her eyes watched the streak of fire as circles erupted from it at various parts, almost like rings of clouds being pushed around it. It made no sound as she watched the fireball streaking in the direction of Ponyville. At first it seemed like it might hit as the fire streaked across the night past Canterlot and then over Ponyville. As it past overhead the sound erupted, very similar to when Rainbow Dash performed her Sonic Rainboom. The sounds made the glass windows rattle and the wind whipped up wildly as the object streaked across the sky and then seemed to land deep in the Everfree Forest. A cloud of smoke lifted from the heart of the forest followed by the sound of a crash in the distance.
After the impact the colts and fillies erupted into cheers, many of them thanking Luna for the special treat. Of course while Luna smiled she looked at the parents of the young who had come to get them from pestering the Princess. One of the Stallions asked, "Practicing new ways to use the Royal Canterlot Voice, Princess Luna?"
Hiding her displeasure at the turn of events, she simply smiled sweetly and said "Maybe." She then spread her wings and took off returning to Canterlot with her guard in formation. She didn't teleport to the castle, not wanting people to think that there was anything other then a show of sorts. But Princess Luna had not planned that at all and in her mind she knew something wasn't natural about whatever came from the sky. If it was it would have made a much bigger explosion in the Everfree Forest.
Upon arrival at the castle she saw her sister Celesita in the courtyard. She shook her head as some of the guards were picking up shattered glass. Canterlot had been closer to the object's decent and the sonic booms had been much stronger. Princess Celestia shook her head as her younger sister landed. The older princess looked at her younger sister. "Over doing it a little bit?"
Surveying the damage to some of the glass windows she said softly. "Tia, you know I would not have intentionally intended to cause damage or harm to anyone. Beside, what ever it was I had nothing to do with the object from the sky. I can also assure you it was not natural."
The multi-hued maned mare turned to look at her young sister to see if she was actually serious. Luna then said "We may have trouble. What ever it is is not of our world."
With a nod Celestia agreed as Luna turned to her Guard captain. "Captain, please bring Twilight Sparkle and her friends to the castle as quickly as possible and extend my apologies for either rousing them from sleep, or taking them away from the festival preparations." The Guard captain bowed his black armored head to her and at once went to carry out his princess' wishes.
New Friends and New Enemies
Chapter1 The Hunt.
Pulling his ship out of the tumble, he now had two choices - attempt to crash land his escape pod or die. Having been caught by their moon's gravity and his escape pod's vector having been altered he did not have time to change his course to avoid a planetary landing. His ship was simply going too fast. That meant he would be stranded on the planet until pick up came. He launched his distress beacon as it would move to the proper position for transmission. The suited man closed his eyes as he fired his braking jets in small bursts, attempting to slow his speed enough to a safe atmosphere entry speed.
As he approached the planet he could hear his music starting up. A smile came to his hidden lips as he heard David Bowie's “Space Oddity” start to play or “Major Tom” as some people knew it. The music would help him focus on his timing for landing.
As the instrumental part came to an end the lyrics came on. He was finishing his pre-entry sequence and he used the lyrics to time his entry into the planet's atmosphere. His speed measured at least mach 20. He had to slow his speed to mach 15 before he hit the atmosphere. Any faster and his ship would burn up on atmosphere entry. Too slow and it would crash and burn before he could reach a heavily forested area he had chosen as his landing spot. As his ship sped through the vacuum of space he looked to one monitor seeing images of a castle from a distance as well as various villages.
As the countdown started in the song he was carefully firing the braking jets to bring his ship to the desired speed of mach 15 then as the song reached the point where it was "Liftoff" his ship hit the atmosphere. Now it was just a matter of keeping the ship on the proper decent angle for its controlled decent. There was nothing he could do to change his flight path which would take him over what looked like a city, several communities, one very large castle built into the side of a mountain, over a smaller town near the base and then into the forest deep enough that he hoped it would be several days or a week before his crash site was found.
His ship began to slow in speed thanks to the friction of the atmosphere as well as the occasional firing of the braking jets. After several nerve shaking minutes his ship streaked through the sky issuing several sonic booms as his speed finally reached the subsonic just after his ship went past the massive castle. He fired his braking jets at full power as he sailed over the night shrouded town. His ship entered into the forest as the vessel put power into the internal inertial dampeners to save his life as his ship landed with a massive jarring impact as it skidded across the ground, knocking over trees and starting a small fire in the area his ship landed. Despite the dampeners, the landing was extremely rough, knocking him around and leaving him dazed as the gas that had kept him conscious was no longer effective.
The blast from his experimental ship, the impact of that energy wave combined with the blind jump and now the crash landing had taken its toll on him. His body had been forced awake by a aerial adrenalin stimulant pumped through his mask. Safe in small quantities, long term exposure was dangerous. So for now... he was left in a daze rolling his head back and forth recovering as best he could.
"I thank you for coming so quickly with your friends Twilight," Princess Luna said with a kind smile.
"Of course Princess Luna," Twilight Sparkle said. With her were the rest of the Elements of Harmony - Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and of course Rainbow Dash.
"I loved the shooting star you had come down! It was beautiful!" Pinkie Pie said with her usual spurt of energy. Despite having been asleep thirty minutes ago she was wide awake and with her usual bursting energy.
Rarity and Applejack looked at her and both were thinking it should be forbidden for anyone to be that perky at having just woken up. The two of them had been sleeping when they were summoned. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy had been both getting ready for bed. Twilight as per her almost usual routine had been studying.
"I would thank you Pinkie Pie but I was not the one who caused it," Luna said softly. That got the attention of the Mane Six. "Also, when it first appeared it was on a direct course to hit Canterlot Castle until it changed its course halfway through the decent."
"But that's impossible," Rainbow Dash said only to catch her self, "Unless...."
"Unless it was under someone's control!" Fluttershy said in her soft voice.
"Exactly. Whatever it was was being guided down to avoid hitting Canterlot. I need you six to investigate the crash site and find out what it was that crashed. Do not put yourselves in any danger. Simply investigate the crash site and report back here. And please do be careful, if anything happens to you six my sister Tia will tie my tail in a knot."
"Your mane perhaps, but not that tail of yours." Princess Celestia teased before she yawned out a bit tiredly. "Be careful our Elements of Harmony," Celestia said allowing the six to depart the castle.
As Twilight and her friends left the castle, Applejack asked in a slight tired voice. "So uh... Twilight, How we gonna find where this thing landed?"
As they got to the courtyard there was a large shadowy grey pegasus stallion of the Lunar Guard holding his position with a carriage behind him. The group looked through Canterlot's main gate to the Everfree Forest and the smoke cloud that was flowing up from where the object landed.
"That won't be too hard to do," Rainbow Dash said the obvious.
Snapping his head up and hitting the head rest the being inside the torpedo looked around as he heard a number of alerts being spoken. "Cancel alerts, begin bioscan." The inside of his life support pod was filled with static electricity, the bioscan performing a complete scan of his body.
~~Scan complete. Minor concussion, ribs L2 and R5 micro cracks detected. No internal hemorrhaging.~~
'Minor injuries' he thought, "Status of environmental suit?"
~~Suit integrity intact at 100%~~
"Status of Stasis unit?"
~~Stasis system off line, Stasis generator damage. Scans indicate materials needed for part fabrication two thousand two hundred twenty-five meters south-south west.~~
"Great, fucking great!" He said. The stasis generator was the one thing that could help keep him hidden from locals. One of the protections the pod had would allow it to tunnel deep underground, then place him into suspended animation. That would keep him safe from discovery. But first he had to repair the system. "Download location and direction of materials into wrist computer. Upon departure activate burrow system and descend twelve meters. Release and unlock survival pack."
~~Alert! Alert! This world is preindustrial. Avoid contact with any sentient inhabitant at all reasonable cost. Lethal force is not authorized except in extreme situations. Confirm acknowledgement of this message.~~
"Message understood and acknowledged." Reaching forward he took hold of the release lock and pulling it started to slide the smoking hatch back as the outer surface of the pod was still over two hundred sixty degrees Celsius. As he placed his heat resistance glove on the outside surface it sizzled. He grabbed hold of his large survival backpack which held a number of survival tools, his Gauss Rifle as well as an over coat. The Gauss Rifle was also called the Rail Gun. A rifle that accelerated a metal slug to supersonic speeds. There were very few creatures or machines that could take a single shot from this rifle much less two. Granted it was often considered overkill but to the military there was no such thing as overkill, just kill.
Getting out of the pod he held his Sniper Carbine, a rifle which served as an assault rifle, a sniper rifle, and personal defense weapon. As he moved away from the impact sight he turned back and looked at the night sky then turning his attention to the 'torpedo' as the hatch sealed and a number of the interlocking plates lifted up and started to rotate. The reaction caused the escape torpedo to burrow deep into the ground. Only when it was out of sight did he turn to look at the forest around him that had not been decimated from the impact. The trees oddly looked vaguely familiar, similar to trees on Earth. He shook his head which caused some pain and took it as confusion due to his minor concussion.
He headed into the forest as it failed to register to him that he had left tracks behind him.
"Someone's a scaredypony!" Scootaloo said teasingly to Applebloom who scoffed at the idea of being afraid.
"I am not!" she retorted. "I said I don't think it's a good idea to go wandering around Everfree Forest at night like this."
"Come on, if we can find the fallen star we might get our cutie marks!" Scootaloo said as her small wings flapped at an incredible speed propelling her along on her scooter while behind her in their wagon Applebloom and Sweetie Belle rode along with her. Despite being nearly the middle of the night the three Cutie Mark Crusaders were always doing wild and crazy stunts in an attempt to earn their Cutie Marks. Sweetie Belle held up a lantern on a stick that provided Scootaloo just enough light to see where she was going as the trio finally reached the area where the shooting star had fallen to the ground. The area was covered in fire spots. Heat and smoke rose from the ground. The trio were careful as the approached a long gouge in the forest floor, all three wide eyed and in shock.
"Imagine if this had hit somepony...." Sweetie Belle was cut off by Scootaloo.
"Don't... even think that," she said and shuddered at the idea. In the entire area for seventy-five feet around the gouge in the ground trees had been snapped in two, bushes were burning... and the ground was charred as they moved along the nearly flattened ground. Finally as the neared the gouge it was Applebloom who first saw the strange depressions in the ground thanks to the lantern light.
"Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, look at this!" she said as she got off the wagon and moved over to a pair of strange tracks. "Tracks coming from the place of the fallen star!"
As the trio investigated they saw the tracks leading off into the forest."Could somepony have been hurt?" Sweetie Belle asked as she hopped down from the wagon onto the ground.
"Maybe, Let's follow them!" Scootaloo said.
"Scootaloo, are you sure that's a good idea?" Applebloom asked.
"Of course! What could possibly go wrong?"
All that did was make Sweetie Belle and Applebloom roll their eyes as the two got back into the wagon to let Scootaloo pull them into the Everfree Forest following the strange tracks.
They were unaware of the sickly green eyes watching them as a small bunny in the forest suddenly turned into a bird and flew off to tell her queen of what she had seen.
New Friends and New Enemies
Chapter 2 Discoveries
The group headed towards the billowing column of smoke with the pegasus stallion flying through the night air, pulling the carriage carrying Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash flew beside the carriage. When they arrived in the area the impact crater the smoke had started to settle down. The fires from the various bushes and trees had started to go out and the area was aglow with the eerie light cast from the flickering fires.
Looking around Twilight's horn glowed as she unleashed a magic spell which extinguished the fires. Her next spell produced an orb of glowing light over the entire area almost as bright as daylight, a spell she had been taught by Princess Luna.
Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy landed on a tree limb strong enough to hold them both that had escaped the burning of the forest. As they looked around, Fluttershy said "I wonder how many animals were hurt when this happened?" Turning to look at Rainbow Dash, she was shocked to see Pinkie Pie sitting right between them. Rainbow Dash was shocked as Pinkie looked at her and asked. "What?" With that typical smile on her face.
"Oh nothing," Dash said wondering as usual how Pinkie Pie was able to do things that made no sense such as getting on the tree limb without climbing the tree or getting around her to get between them. When she looked back at her friends she saw Pinkie Pie down there, gone from between the two pegasus ponies who looked at each other with wide eyes. Both of them wondering how she was able to do that.
Applejack was the first to notice the strange tracks leading away from the impact sight. Rarity and Twilight were hoof stepping around the impact crater which had to be over forty feet in diameter. Due to the heat of the impact they had to be careful stepping around as they looked for any signs of the object.
"Perhaps when it impacted it buried itself deep under ground," Rarity said trying to ignore as Pinkie Pie seemingly bounced around on various cool spots.
Twilight looked around noticing the length of the crater and working the details in her mind. She said "No... the impact trench would be much longer and the area around it would be more distorted." Moving around to the front of the impact area she said, "This area would also be pushed up and the ground broken," she explained as the sound of thunder rumbled in the distance, the flash of lightning hidden by Twilight's spell. It made the ponies jump as the stallion flared his wings some.
"Everypony over here. Tracks leading away from the impact sight I hadn't seen before, and tracks I would know anywhere."
As Twilight pointed them out she back tracked the odd footprints as Rarity said "The Cutie Mark Crusaders. I would know those shoes I made for Sweetie Belle anywhere." Rarity said referring to the stars in the hoof print of one of the three sets of tracks. Suddenly she was interrupted as the sound of thunder came much louder. The wind began to whip up as the ponies listened to Applejack.
"Looks like whatever came from the trench headed into the Everfree Forest...I think towards the old ruins." Living on a farm one of the things you pick up was tracking. More so when you have to worry about would be apple thieves or the occasional foal sneaking in for a snack. "Then....they came across the tracks and followed them into the forest."
"Oh so cool! Aliens from outer space! And they walk on two legs!" Pinkie Pie shouted out making everyone look at her. As absurd as her statement sounded it actually made sense. As the wind blew through her mane the first drops of rain began to fall. "Ack! Let's get out of this rain and back to Ponyville!"
Rainbow Dash was shocked that Pinkie would make such a statement, even as random as she was. No one thought it would be in her to suggest such a course of action. She swooped down to get in front of Pinkie and asked "How could you suggest leaving them out here following the trail of some unknown creature?"
Fluttershy had also been shocked enough to join the pink earth pony. She glided down on her soft yellow wings a touch too upset with Pinkie as she asked, "Why would you say such a thing?"
All Pinkie did was giggle as she said "Oh they are a lot safer then you were gonna be!" and just then came a blinding flash as a lightning bolt tore through the tree that Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy had been sitting it. The sound of the thunder and heat from the burning tree rose into the heavens, the wind blowing harder now as the rain continued to get stronger. The shock from the lightning made most of their manes all frizzled. Rarity looked at her tail and could feel her mane all poofed out.
"Alright we are returning to Canterlot,” the stallion reared up and said. “This storm is going to be much worse then usual." While the pegasus ponies did have ability to control weather, there were some areas known as the chaotic regions where it was impossible. The Everfree Forest was one such area.
They were all distracted by their thoughts when the stallion stomped his hooves once more as he flared his wings. “I said we are leaving.” As Twilight and her friends started to get into the carriage, Fluttershy said. "No, I'm staying here to look for them."
Rainbow Dash who was hovering above the carriage flew over to her friend. "Fluttershy you can't stay here you...."
"I'm what? Too scared? Too timid? Did you forget my home is on the edge of the Everfree Forest?" Fluttershy said as the wind seemed to calm down for a moment as if it might have been afraid of her.
But Rainbow Dash said, "Be careful Fluttershy. You fly into foolishness. But take care, I hope you find
With Twilight, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack in the carriage the large stallion flared his wings and took off into the sky, heading back to Canterlot as quickly as they could.
Turning her head in the direction the of the Cutie Mark Crusaders' tracks Fluttershy headed off in pursuit of the strange creature. The sound of thunder erupted with the flash of lighting. She headed off into the Everfree Forest as she had done before. Granted that was often during the day, and not at night in a thunderstorm.
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He began moving through the forest as the rain started to come down. The trees of course added some shelter from the rain, while the flashes of lighting allowed additional illumination for him to see. The figure wore a massive overcoat, blackish armor plates covering the shoulders which attached to the strong synthetic material, protecting him from attacks to the side and back. His suit like the coat was black with various non reflective armor panels on it, as well as a sealed under-suit which kept him from contact from the external environment. Externally it gave him the appearance of a heavily armored figure. An armored helmet, also sealed, would protect him from head injury. The mask held two red lenses for the eyes which acted like a computer display, and gave him near perfect night vision allowing him to see in a number of modes. Normal vision, Thermal, Electromagnetic spectrum or EM mode, and what some called Tech vision. It allowed him to see the energy fields made by various fields of technology.
For the moment he was in Tech mode. It allowed him almost perfect night vision. He had his vision mods switching between Thermal and Tech every five to six seconds. He saw the world as a photo negative. Dark colors had become bright and bright colors were darkened. It allowed him to spot various forms of technology, mostly those that used electricity. Thermal images allowed him to see various heat signatures. The computer filtered out static objects like rocks toning down their brightness, and highlighted moving objects. He could make out various animals and was shocked at some of the
Shaking his head a few times he said, "Computer, run self bio scan. Determine location of minor concussion, impaired areas." He was sure it was in his memory or perception areas of the brain, but when it came back as the balance areas, he was very surprised. In the distance he could make out some ruins, which was around the location he had detected the needed materials. Stone by the look of it as the rain picked up and the weather turned for the worse. He moved under an area that seemed to be sheltered from the downpour.
His vision mode changed and he looked around seeing thermal images. He exhaled into the mask of his helmet. Like his body suit his mask kept his body isolated to prevent contamination of the environment. Almost all the germs, bacteria, and viruses transplanted from one planet to another were harmless. In order to be contagious, they had to have the same basic amino-acid base sequences. While the chances of him infecting the environment or the environment infecting him with something alien was almost impossible, there was still a chance that this world had a similarly structured amino-acid base that would make cross contamination possible. Given the similarity in plant life it was possible at least but in order to be sure he would need a blood sample from one of the local animals.
He heard the sound of something that was not wind or thunder. Lifting his rifle up, he heard the sound again as he moved around the tree changing his vision mode from Tech to EM, then to Thermal. He could see the clear outline of warm bodies moving in the forest. He wasn't sure if it was an animal tracking him or if someone was following him.
Taking cover behind the tree he changing his vision mode to Normal and improved the contrast and brightness. He watched the image and went wide eyed, as he said aloud.... "Did I make a blind jump into the Twilight Zone?" Blinking, he looked right in front of him at what he would consider three small horses, well ponies. The situation was made all the more strange when he saw one on what looked like a scooter, and two others in a wagon with the additional fact that the one on the scooter did not appear to have hands. He watched the small pony's back as it moved, almost shimmered as it appeared panicked. A flash of lightning startled the being and at that moment they fell over hitting the ground and landing in the mud. He winced as it seemed to have hit hard and watched its companions get out to help their friend. The fact that they were quadrupedal was all the more impressive.
That was when he noticed the finer details. The yellow pony with what looked like a pink mane and tail had a bow that was on the back of her head, despite the fact she was soaking wet. The other two actually made him step into the open to get a better look. Having forgotten himself he looked at the white pony which had a pink or purple mane and tail and on its forehead was a growth. The cameras zoomed in and he identified it as a horn. It had a unicorn's horn? Looking at the one who had been pulling the scooter he just stared at them while standing out in the open as he identified wings. It looked like a pegasus. It looked as if two legendary creatures right out of myth were real. His words came out aloud, almost in a shout... "Who let the door to the Twilight Zone open?" His words drew the attention of the three creatures just as a flash of lightning lit up the area allowing them to get a very good look of him standing there holding a strange device in one hand with something on his back.
The three creatures stared wide eyed and then took off screaming, jumping up as they ran down the path he had been following to the ruins and leaving behind the scooter and wagon they had been on. It dawned on him he had left himself out in the open allowing himself to be seen. Which...complicated things. All he could do was groan, watching them head to the ruins where he had been intending to investigate. Which... further complicated things.
Once they were out of sight he heard a sound that to him mean trouble...the roar of what he took as a large predatory beast. Lifting his weapon he took off after the three beings. He had caused this situation and couldn't in good conscience simply let them die. Even if it was to protect himself.
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Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle ran through the mud in the forest.
"I told you this wasn't a good idea!" Apple Bloom said.
"Shut up and run you two!" Sweetie Belle shouted.
"What was that thing?" Scootaloo cried out. The three had not been this scared since Nightmare Moon appeared. They were shocked to see some tall strange creature standing on two legs shaped with red glowing eyes. Moments later they ran smack into a manticore. Already in a foul mood due to the impact in the forest as well as the thunderstorm it made its displeasure known as it roared out in rage. The three Cutie Mark Crusaders screamed out as they ran towards the ruins they saw in the distance. Thankfully they had small size on their side. They were able to run through the underbrush while the manticore had to lumber around trees and boulders.
As the trio got into the ruins they attempted to run to a doorway they managed to spot during a flash of lightning. Their hooves clipped and clopped as they ran. The only problem was they were now in the open. The ruins of the castle allowed the manticore to jump, spreading its wings and with one powerful flap landed right in front of them bringing all three to skidding halt. Attempting to recover the three headed to what looked like safety. They dashed around a corner only to run into a dead end. Skidding to a halt as they came to the wall the trio turned to watch in horror as the manticore rounded the corner, baring his teeth and roaring like a trumpet.
As the three huddled together with their eyes locked on the creature they failed to notice a figure approaching. Suddenly a small can like object landed right under the manticore which then burst open. A large cloud of white smoke enveloped the creature making it lash out as it attempted to clear what had obscured its vision and sense of smell. At that point there was a noise that sounded like fireworks going off as the manticore reacted as if it had been hit with several objects.
The sound had broken their paralysis. They watched with shock and terror as the figure that they had seen in the forest appeared. The strange object it carried issued a series of flashes of light and a sound similar to fireworks. Each flash made the manticore react as if it was in pain. Turning to face the creature the manicore turned its displeasure to the creature, leaping at the figure as it moved away attempting to lure the monster away from the Cutie Mark Crusaders. The creature ran, not as fast as a pony could have but it was able to avoid the impact. Apple Bloom watched as the creature threw something down at the ground. It clinked and clanked, rolling under the manitcore before exploding in a white cloud of smoke.
Scootaloo realized that this creature had saved them when they were trapped. Sadly the manticore refused to be drawn away. The creature once more turned the strange object it carried on the manticore and a rapid series of flashes of lights and fireworks sounds. Blood burst from the side of the manticore and they realized the strange object was some sort of weapon. Turning its full fury at the creature the manticore roared out and pounced as the creature rolled forward under it. When the manticore landed it lashed out with its tail, slamming into the creature and sending him flying into the same dead end where the Cutie Mark Crusaders had been trapped. The force of the blow when it impacted the wall caused it to break right through the crumbling structure and into a dark chamber that began to collapse inside.
The trio looked at the manticore that had started to return. Confronted with a choice of diving into the dark hole and staying to be eaten by the hungry manticore. the Cutie Mark Crusaders jumped through the hole. As their eyes adjusted to the darkness they could see a massive chamber with a green glow in the distant. The floor looked even and solid. They were approaching the prone body of the creature when they heard the sound of the manticore ripping open the stone hole so it could enter, bringing down a large portion of the chamber wall and roof.
The clouds parted as the moon's light shone into the chamber showing it to be circular. The floor appeared to hold a massive map of Equestria with a pedestal in the middle of it. Resting in the pedestal was a green bladed sword. The growl of the manticore attracted their attention and they backed away.
The creature began to rise and look around. The strange object it had used was well out of reach on the other side of the manticore. It suddenly turned to grab hold of the sword from the pedestal. The sound of scraping metal echoed in the chamber as the blade surged with a green light. Various braziers on stands circling the chamber ignited giving them plenty of light to see.
The creature instantly came between the manticore and the fillies as they backed away, holding the blade at the ready to receive the manticore's next attack. Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle realized at that moment that the creature was trying to protect them from harm so they did what they could to just back away giving the creature a chance to do just that without getting in the way. The blade as it held it seemed to have a green gem in the hilt that glowed and pulsed. The blade flowed a green energy wrapping around the creature and Sweetie Belle could feel the magic of the blade around the creature. Moments later the green aura started to form what looked like additional armor over the creature. Brown tones could be seen with forest green plates and spikes.
The manticore seemed a bit uncertain of this new enemy as the light shined. It began moving backwards as the creature started moving forward to make it move away from the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Finally the manticore left through the hole it had made. Once its retreat was complete the aura from the blade stopped and the semi transparent armor vanished as the creature collapsed to the ground on its knees. The breathing of the creature was heavy and ragged. The sword was set down on the ground as the creature slowly started to rise up, turning around and slowly started to approach the three fillies.
Apple Bloom swallowed hard as she said in a shaky soft voice... "um...thank you for protecting us."
What she had thought was the face of the creature now that it could be seen clearly was some sort of armored mask. Over where she guessed the mouth was was some sort of cover with a set of tubes running out the sides behind and under some sort of coat or jacket. At first they had thought that it had wings. The creature made noise, but if it was speaking it was gibberish to them.
"Um... I don't think it speaks our language," Sweetie Belle said.
Scootaloo watched with fear as it approached very slowly showing the palms of its hands, showing it was not armed. Still she shuddered when it pointed to her front leg. Looking down she could see that there was a cut on her leg, fairly deep as blood slowly came from the injury. At that point the pain had hit her and she felt the burning throbbing as she sank to her belly. The creature came up to them as Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom had stood up protectively over Scootaloo. Scootallo may have gotten them into trouble more then they would have liked, but they would still fight for her.
Slowly the creature reached out to take the injured hoof of Scootaloo in its hand as the other hand was brought up over the wound area. A series of red lights from the palm of the hand began flashing over the gash in her leg. The red light kept flashing for a short while as her leg was tenderly set down. After the creature got on its knees they saw it reach under its overcoat to pull out a red box. It had a white square on it with a red cross in the middle. In the middle of that red cross was what looked a staff with wings and a pair of snakes coiled around it looking at each other.
When the box was opened it pulled out a package then carefully opened it to produce a thick pad. Holding the pad in part of the package it gently took hold of Scootaloo's injured leg and holding the pad slowly brought it to the wound. The other two fillies realized the creature was attempting to help. They simple nodded as Scootaloo cried out when it was placed on her leg over the gash. It was held in place tenderly as it pulled out another package and with one hand opening it produced a bandage. With a gentle hand it wrapped around to hold the pad in place. Once it was sure it was in place it stood up and began to move away to retrieve the strange object it had used to try and fend off the manticore. After shaking it and rattling it, part of the device came out. It was taken hold of placed under the overcoat and it was replaced.
Now that the immediate cause of their fear was gone the three fillies could focus on something else besides running. Their strength was sapped, they were soaking wet, very cold, and up well past their bed times. The three of them huddled close to each other shivering. The creature noticed it as it approached them, setting that strange object on the ground. The creature took off the overcoat and started to wrap it around the three of them. Being as small as they were to this creature that towered over them the coat wrapped around them and it was nice and warm. The fires in the room began to die slowly and they went out one by one. The creature placed the strange object on its back and went to retrieve the sword. As the exhaustion of the night's excitement over came them Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle were unable to stay away. The Cutie Mark Crusaders saw the creature standing by the hole in the chamber watching and guarding over the three. They could not help but fall off to sleep.
New Friends and New Enemies
Chapter 3 Ancient Lore
As the Elements of Harmony minus Fluttershy had retired for the rest of the night, Luna closed her eyes as her sister Celestia came beside her.
"The fillies are safe. That much I know. I also know they are with the same creature Twilight spoke of leaving the impact sight. What I don't know is what manner of creature they are with," she said moving to the balcony.
"I can understand not telling them, but my princess why won't you allow me to take a contingent of guards out to the old ruins?" the pegasus stallion said approaching.
"Because there are still more secrets in those old castle ruins, secrets far older then the Elements of Harmony." Luna spoke as she cast her eyes to the Everfree Forest.
"Forgive me my Princess. But I do not understand." The Lunar Guard captain was not questioning his princess but was curious.
That was when Celestia came and spoke. "Whether we approve or not. The Elements of Harmony are the champions of Equestria. While they are still growing and learning, I do not believe that they will yet face a challenge they could not overcome together or alone."
"Captain Shadow Mane, you have done well returning to the castle so quickly. You may have the rest of the night off. Inform Commander Black Mane that he will need to handle things for the night. Inform Shining Armor that I will be accompanying my sister to the old castle ruins after sunrise."
The words shocked Shadow Mane. It meant the situation was serious if Luna would be out during the day. While it was rare for Luna to be out during the day, or Celestia during the night, it was not unheard of. But still he was concerned.
"As you wish my princess." He turned to leave. Reaching the door the pegasus stallion heard his last orders.
"Captain, when we return, ensure that you and Black Mane are both in my chambers awaiting my arrival." The command made Shadow Mane blush and his dark grey cheeks darkened.
"Y-yes my princess." Shadow Mane left to tell his younger sibling of the changes for the night. It also left him a little upset. Not that he would be servicing his Princess, but it kept him from going out or suggesting a dispatch to his younger brother. The only thing larger than Shadow Mane's sense of duty was his care of foals. It would be very much in his nature to give command over to his little brother then head out to the castle to search for the fillies and Fluttershy himself. By contrast Black Mane almost always lead such groups himself. He would never send his subordinates into a situation he would not personally tread. The two made good guard commanders for the Lunar Guard. Both had a desire to serve and protect innocents without considering the personal cost to themselves. It was not too uncommon for the pair to work themselves to exhaustion in that duty and if the two wanted to be presentable to their princess.... they couldn't go off.
After the guard captain left Celestia giggled. "You are incorrigible and insatiable." Luna laughed softly.
"You try going a thousand years by yourself with just your hoof while your in season." she snickered softly at her sister when her features suddenly harden into a teeth baring snarl of anger.
Instantly looking behind her Celestia nearly jumped off the floor in shock when she saw a translucent image of Discord making all sorts of lewd gestures toward her flank. Instead she settled for teleporting beside her sister Luna to get away from one of her constant sources of irritation. The Draconequus despite being imprisoned in stone thanks to Twilight and her friends was still somewhat of a pain. As an immortal being Discord could still make his presence known to them and was ultimately responsible for her transformation into Nightmare Moon. She still had not forgiven the Draconequus for his manipulation of her and it was so simple she had failed to see through it.
All he did was point out that the ponies relished and played during her sister's day yet slept through her beautiful nights, as if they shunned them. Stomping her way to the Draconequus who was now laughing his fool head off, Luna stalked forward as she demanded "You wouldn't happen to know anything about the events of this night would you, you over grown mismatched snake in the grass?"
Trying to appear as innocent as possible Discord asked, "Moi? What makes you think I have anything to do with this? And if I did what makes you think I would feel inclined to divulge such knowledge. Oh Luna, Tia, you should have seen looks on your faces!"
Flaring her wings Luna said, "Considering that an ancient power older than the Elements of Harmony has awakened deep within the Everfree Forest, and that the Blade of Forest still resides with the ruins of our castle in case you had forgotten."
The mention of the Blade of Forest instantly dispelled the smirk on the Draconequus' face. He recalled as if it had happened yesterday the last time he clashed with the wielder of that blade. He felt the pain where that blade had been plunged through his chest.
"In case you have forgotten I have no desire to confront that blade again. It took me centuries to heal from that wound so why would I desire it's awakening?" Always attempting to spread discord for his amusement, he said "You should know that I have no power other than to appear here in Canterlot, and have no ability to influence the world beyond immortals. Perhaps my dear sweet Luna, you should ask your Sister Tia of such things, hmmm?"
"The Blade of Forest cannot be drawn without the Blades of Fire, Air, Water, and Earth being drawn as well. Added to the fact the Blade of Forest would allow for the shards of the Blade of Death to be unlocked. Why would I desire such a thing?"
Slinking around as he floated in midair he slithered back and forth in the air as he said "Maybe one of you wants revenge against me for turning Luna into Nightmare Moon." he said stroking his chin. "Or maybe someone misses being the only goddess in Equestria." he said looking over at Celestia who had a look of utter disgust on her face. The Draconequus simply started laughing as he vanished in to the ether.
"I hate him. I really hate him," Luna said as she stalked over to the balcony. As much as she hated it, while Discord enjoyed causing grief and chaos, one of his most effective tools was his point of view. Celestia slowly approached her sister. She knew Discord's tricks very well by now.
"Luna," she said softly. "Other than our niece Cadance and our nephew Blueblood, you are my only living relative. After I had banished you to the moon, Discord appeared to me gloating and singing over how he drove us apart." With some tears in her eyes she said "I cried myself to sleep for over a century for what he did."
"And why you had Canterlot made. You couldn't stand the pain. of living in a place where we grew up together. I know Tia." Luna said as she came up pressing her muzzle to her sister's sharing a very intimate and un-sisterly like kiss. The two were beyond the care of what might be said or rumors. The two had allowed Discord to drive them apart once before. Never again.
"I couldn't stand to loose you a second time. And it would only be a matter of time before Cadance discovered the truth and I would not only lose her, but all of Equestria would shun me." Celestia said "We have both for so long watched those we love and care about grow old and die."
"Hush Tia. I am not about to let that over grown newt drive a wedge between us again," Luna said looking back out over Equestria and in the direction of the Everfree Forest. "Although I wouldn't put it past that overgrown slug to have a claw in this."
As Celestia move to the door she said, "My, my little sister seems to have grown up."
"Not so little anymore," Luna replied.
"Say what you want, but you will always be my little twerp of a sister." With that Celestia dashed out of the room.
Luna, shocked, gave chase as she said."I'll get you for that! You get back here Tia!" The two of them
Author's Note
I had forgotten about Blueblood at the time I wrote this, and went in to make a minor edit and addition when Celestia mentions her relatives.
New Friends and New Enemies
Chapter 4 Reunions
Fluttershy had finally gotten to the ruins of the castle after having been forced to take shelter in a cave she had found to wait for the rain to pass. With the clouds clearing and the sun out she looked around the ruins in the morning light. Despite the rain the ground still had traces of the Cutie Mark Crusaders' hoofprints. Looking around she could see in the ground the signs of manticore tracks, claw marks and splotches of blood. Tears came to her eyes as she saw the trail of blood leading into a alcove with a torn down wall. She bit her lip fearing the worse but when she heard Scootaloo cry out from inside she ran as fast as her legs could go.
She jumped into the hole as she heard Sweetie Belle scold Scootaloo. "Hold still! You're not making this easy for it!" Inside the chamber it was a bit dark but a number of fires around the place showed the strange creature that stood over Scootaloo holding her right front hoof. The sight of blood shocked her as she shouted out in anger, "Get away from them!" Fluttershy may have been the Spirit of Kindness, but that did not mean she didn't get angry. The creature turned its head in surprise when Fluttershy shouted out.
When the Cutie Mark Crusaders saw Fluttershy, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom instantly dashed over to her in happiness. "Fluttershy!" They all cried out. Scootaloo attempted to stand but the creature held her down as it pointed a finger at her and went back to tending her leg. When Fluttershy saw that it was tenderly bandaging Scootaloo's leg she realized it was helping her. Instinctively she could feel the concern and compassion this creature had for Scootaloo. Once it was sure that the bandage was in place the creature began to move away after collecting the box. Scootaloo managed to stand up and limp over to Fluttershy who was so glad to see them.
"Oh I so happy to see you all! Scootaloo, your hurt! What happened?"
"I'm alright. The alien helped us.... where's it going?" Scootaloo said looking over Fluttershy.
They all turned to see the creature holding that blade in its hand as it tossed a can like object towards the four of them. It instantly started to produce a cloud of thick, heavy white smoke that made them back away as they coughed. The smoke screen almost filled the entire chamber before it began to dissipate almost as fast as it had been made. When the smoke cleared thanks to a strong gust of wind. the creature was gone.
Looking around Fluttershy was shocked. "What did it do? Where is it?"
As the four looked around it wasn't too much longer before a bright flash of light appeared and blinded them for a moment. When it faded there stood the rest of the Elements of Harmony as well as Shining Armor, two pegasi Solar Guards, and Princesses Celestia and Luna.
"Fluttershy,” Celestia said. “Are you and the fillies alright?" Then she saw that Scootaloo's right hoof was bandaged. "What happened?"The question was at once interrupted by Luna.
"Celestia, the Blade of Forest is gone!" she said with some urgency. Luna had walked over to the pedestal that once held the green blade as Scootaloo spoke up.
"The alien took it when it left after it bandaged my hoof."
A look of concern washed over the two alicorn princesses. Luna said "Please you must tell us everything that transpired. No matter how small a detail."
"What is this Blade of Forest?" Shining Armor asked.
Twilight came up to her mentor and teacher as she asked, "Princess?"
The alicorn princesses listened to the Cutie Mark Crusaders as they explained things from their point of view. Luna and Celestia realized that things were perhaps a bit worse then they had expected. Celestia told the guard. "We must find this being at once. Shining Armor."
The Guard captain stood at attention his armor shining in the light as he said, "Yes Princess?" He might have been her nephew-in-law but Shining Armor still took his duties seriously. The two pegasi Guards came beside him as she said.
"Captain we must find this being quickly. But do not attempt to apprehend it. It is more dangerous then you realize. If this creature knows about the powers the Blade of Forest has, then it will be beyond your ability to fight. If it is unaware of them then it might unleash an attack without intending to. Simply locate it and report back."
Everyone started to go back outside. Twilight said to Princess Celestia "If it came from the crash, it stands to reason that it would attempt to return there."
"Maybe not Sugarcube," Applejack said. "It might be hidin' in the forest nearby. Think about it. It was followed here by the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Ah reckon that it would avoid th' area thinkin' it's not safe to return for a while." Looking around, Applejack saw the strange tracks from the impact. "Th' crash sight is ta the west o'here, these here are headin' east. It not headin' back there, it's hidin'."
*************
Watching from the cover of a doorway he had watched the chamber fill with light and a short time later watched a group of equines coming out of the chamber. Closing his eyes he said in a very soft voice "Shit." Of all the places, against all odds, how and why did he end up on a world infused with magic of all things? He recalled some of the discussions of its nature. Very few worlds were infused with some form of energy that some of the inhabitants could manipulate to produce various effects. While some could be hardly considered parlor tricks others... could be close to physics breaking reality bending powers.
His life had just gotten extremely complicated without knowing what the magic of this world could do or its limits. For all he knew they already knew his exact location. He gritted his teeth when he saw what appeared to be three guards in armor, one in fancier armor than the other two. A unicorn from the look, a captain of the guard perhaps or an elite soldier. The other two guards were pegasi by the looks of them. With them was a group of six slightly smaller equines; two ponies, two unicorns, and two pegasi. They were a bit smaller than the guards and to him looked like they might be children, which confused him, but when he considered the size of the guards.... maybe not. He hated this sort of mental reasoning. 'I'm a test pilot, not a biologist!' he thought. He was sure as hell not an ambassador or diplomat.
Two of them stood apart from the rest. One looked like a regal white unicorn with wings. An alicorn according to the mythology of earth. Her mane and tail moved as if she was in a breeze yet there was no wind that his suit's computer could detect. She also appeared to have what might be a colored brand on her flank. It was in the shape of a sun symbol. She also wore what looked like a tiara or small crown. Around her neck was what to him looked like a harness. Looking to the other, he saw an alicorn that had a midnight blue coat with a mane that appeared to have sparkles or stars in it. Like the first one she too had a tiara and harness. The mark on her flank was that of a moon. He noticed that all the equines had a mark making him shake his head. "Some sort of mark of maturity?" he asked himself. At that point the white alicorn began to listen to the orange pony with what looked like a Stetson hat on and then spoke. Those that could fly began to take to the sky spreading out as he lowered his head.
He would have to wait until nightfall to try and get back with the sword to repair his vessel. His jacket had a short time limited cloaking field but in broad daylight it was almost useless more so when he was moving. Sensing movement behind him he lifted his head up and turned around.
Right in his face was the head of a pink pony screaming something at him. There was no exit in the doorway arch he was in so the fact that she had appeared behind him, when the pink pony had been in the main group not three seconds ago made him scream out, sending him backwards into the open. Losing his footing, his voice carried while she pranced about as happy as could be calling out nice and loud. He could only assume she had called out "Found him!" He had attempted to reach for his last smoke bomb but when he turned around there was a flash of light as the unicorn guard in the fancy armor stood before him with a sword hovering in a magic glow.
Moments later to his right and left were the pegasi guards followed by the rest forming a circle around him. Holding his Gauss rifle in his hand, his other rifle and sword on his back he was surrounded. His eyes landed on the three young females he had watched over from the previous night. Holding the larger rifle in his hand he looked to the rainbow maned alicorn, beside and behind whom was the midnight blue alicorn. He looked around and then just gave up.
"For the love of...."
He wanted to say something of a much more colorful nature. Even though they couldn't understand him he was going to watch his language in front of the young. Lowering the barrel of that over sized rifle to the ground, he turned his gaze to the white alicorn feeling she was in charge. He spoke to her not expecting anything he said to be understood. "So what happens now?"
She spoke something in an unintelligible language. His suit picked up an energy field behind him. He turned surprised to see the small pony-sized purple unicorn had a glow around her horn. A purple light lashed out striking him on the head. His head instantly felt fuzzy and it was enough to throw his balance off as he went to one knee. He reeled from the overwhelming sensations coursing through his head as it left a burning ache in him. Humans generally did not react well to magic as Earth had almost no trace of magic and what little field it did have the human genome for it had long since been purged due to superstition and religious persecution. He was left trying to collect his thoughts as he knelt there using the rifle he had for support wrapping his free hand around his chest to try and support his ribs that ached and burned in protest.
The tail lash from the creature he had saved the young beings from had cracked a number of his ribs badly. Minor injuries had turned into considerable ones. His suit realized that he was reacting to pain and began to automatically administer additional painkillers. It still took a few moments for the buzzing in his head to fade as well as the pain. He was glad these new painkillers were not addictive.
The next words he heard were understandable. "Can you understand us now?" a soft female voice asked as he looked over to the purple unicorn.
"Yes, but the next question is can you understand me as well?" When she seemed happy with the answer he asked, "How did you... you know what, never mind I don't want to know."
It was at that point the pink one bounded up and said, "Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie!"
"Hello. Thank you for ruining my hiding spot."
Pinkie Pie, of course completely oblivious to the fact he was being sarcastic, said "You are very welcome!" with glee that made everyone simply shake their heads.
"Pinkie Pie perhaps you should let me talk to our... friend from the stars," Princess Celestia said softly making Pinkie Pie calm down somewhat. "May I assume you come from the stars in friendship?" she said. Looking her over he couldn't be any less amazed with how beautiful she was. "I am Princess Celestia, this is my sister Princess Luna,” she motioned to the midnight blue mare a little behind her who was equally as beautiful. “We are the rulers of Equestria.”
He was surprised at the fact they were royalty. Despite the pain he felt he fell back on his training for diplomacy. He turn to them bringing his feet together and his left arm under his chest. He bowed as respectfully as possible. despite the pained protest from his ribs.
"An honor to be sure your highness. I do indeed come in peace and friendship, but in all truth, we should not even be meeting. My arrival to your world was an accident."
His words struck everyone with a bit of surprise. "Perhaps you would care to explain," said Luna. "Why not take your helmet off and be more comfortable as you do explain." Her tone implied that she was not asking for his explanation but insisting.
"Sadly I can't take my helmet off." The refusal surprised everyone that he had refused what almost sounded like a royal order. Then again she was not his princess or his leader. "Surely you have sicknesses here. Illnesses that can make your subjects be bed ridden for days or even weeks correct?" When Luna nodded he continued "This suit protects me from those sicknesses. A sickness that might make you feel bad for a few days to me could be lethal. The reverse is also true. A sickness that for my people might make then feel bad for a few days...."
"Could turn into a lethal plague that we would have no way to combat," Celestia said.
"Exactly. While my people discovered that between worlds that sort of thing almost never happens it has once or twice. As a result my people have strict rules when we are on an unknown world concerning interaction. My suit of armor is sealed protecting me from anything harmful in your environment and also protecting you from me. It's not the most... comfortable thing but it gets the job done," he said. It was not intended as a threat, but he hoped his explanation would at least protect him from being attacked.
The idea that if the suit was breached could risk the entire world made the guard sheath his sword. Of course he pointed out, "You haven't even told us your name in return and how you arrived here."
The idea of socializing further upset his stomach as they were asking questions that he shouldn't be answering. The fact they had not assumed he was hostile nor a monster most likely meant they had had otherworld contact in the past or were somehow aware of other life in the universe. "If you must know, my name is Markus Ordain. As for how I arrived, I really shouldn't be answering any of your questions because my people have strict rules, formalities, and procedures for what we call first contact for which I am not qualified nor trained in."
At that point the young female pegasus limped forward. She seemed to be less afraid of him him the light of day. The bandage on her leg was gone and the wound healed but it was apparent she was a bit sore. As she approached he couldn't help but kneel down to her level as she said "Thank you for helping tend my leg. I'm Scootaloo." She said still a little nervous. Her companions came up to introduce themselves as Apple Bloom (the pony), and Sweetie Belle (the unicorn). Apple Bloom's name struck him as the most odd. It might have been the translation spell giving him words that he would understand, or it might have been a literal translation.
Unable to resist smiling he said, "It was not a problem. If I had not gotten out of hiding to get a better look at you three you would never have seen me or run off so scared. And you might not have run into that creature, what ever it was, and for that I am sorry Scootaloo.”
"Manticore,” the purple unicorn said. “Thank you for saving the Cutie Mark Crusaders." Then with a bit of a cross look she explained "They are almost always getting themselves into trouble to find their Cutie Marks." The explanation made the trio shrink as they were admonished for their late night excursion as she approached. "I'm Twilight Sparkle. It's nice to meet you. I would love a chance to learn about your people." She had barely been able to contain her excitement and interest.
"I guess some things are universal." When Twilight looked at him puzzled he continued, "Children getting in trouble. I know I was a handful growing up." As he stood up, despite the painkillers he felt a shot of pain race through his chest and his back. The ears of the ponies all could hear the crack come from in his suit as one of his ribs cracked further. He actually lost balance forcing him to grab hold of a large stone and his cry of pain made the guards actually jump, some taking a more aggressive posture. Even Twilight jumped some as Luna came up.
"You were hurt when the manticore's tail hit you," Luna said, her horn glowing. "You have five cracked ribs, and one is ready to break," she said with concern. Then her eyes went wide almost in shock.
Celestia looked at her almost in shock sister. "I can at least heal your injuries for aiding these fillies," she said but was stopped short when Markus shook his head.
"NO! Please. Magic and my people do not mix well. It died out on my world ages ago. Even today... ." Markus could feel some blood come up from his mouth as he moved to stand up. "Magic can do more harm than good for my people. I have medical devices in my craft which is buried in the forest crash site that can heal me." The ponies all seemed to recoil when he had refused healing. "I must return to my ship and await rescue....."
He had intended to explain further but was interrupted by a flash of bright light and a thundering sound which caused all the ponies to recoiled in pain and shock. His helmet adapted almost instantly to the light and damped it in time to allow him to watch as a second white armored unicorn had bounded over them to tackle the first, sending the pair tumbling to the point where he lost track of who was who.
When everyone had recovered two versions of the guard captain were engaged in a sword fight with identical swords as they both said in perfect unison and voice "He's the Changeling!"
New Friends and New Enemies
Chapter 5 Myth and Legends
Chapter 5 Myth and Legends
By Shadow-mane
The entire group was shocked as the pair of white unicorns them moved in perfect tandem, their swords clashing with identical form. Markus was surprised when the two pegasi guards had gotten between him and the two combatants.
"Stay back,” Princess Celestia said warning him. “One of them is a Changeling!"
"Changeling?" Markus said aloud not expecting to get an explanation. He was more surprised that shape-shifters were on this planet.
"Yes they are able to change their shape and form!" Twilight Sparkle said.
Markus was not idle. If anyone had been paying attention they would have seen the eyes of his mask light up, changing from their normal soft red to a bright glowing red, then changing to a blue color and then a white color as he shifted through the vision modes of his mask - Thermal, Electromagnetic, and Tech. As he expected when he brought up Tech vision he could instantly see through the disguise.
When the two unicorns lifted their heads to face him he fired off a shot. The rifle issued a loud clank as it fired a ten millimeter projectile shrouded in an electromagnetic shell to supersonic speeds. It impacted the ground at the hooves of the unicorn on his right side making everyone jump back as he fired a second and third time. Each shot forced the unicorn back. The rifle was then pointed at the impostor's head.
"Peek-a-boo! I can see through you!" he said, the smile in his voice apparent.
The shock of the attack had faded and the impostor bared it's now sharp jagged teeth. There was a blast wave of energy that erupted from the false unicorn that knocked everyone back. Markus was flung against a wall and he heard the tell tale snapping of at least three of his ribs.
Hovering in mid air was what appeared to be a cross of an insectiod and an equine. It was black with a bent and crooked horn and insect like wings. Its mane and tail were an almost sickly teal color. Looking around he could see the two princess alicorns in some form of crystalline cage.
"It's Chrysalis!" Shining Armor yelled in anger.
"Not again!" Celestia said as Luna struggled to try and free herself.
Markus had hit the limit of his painkillers. He couldn't have anymore before they started harming his body. It was at that point the alarm on his wrist computer had started to go off. He saw an alert that told him that his Pod had been uncovered and was now being elevated and transported away.
"It makes no difference. Now that I have the craft from the stars. I'll learn what ever secrets it holds
Unable to risk the contents of that pod escaping. Lifting his left hand up he flipped up the emergency lock on his wrist computer and then hit two buttons. A steady beeping started. "Over my dead body."
"That can be arranged!" she snarled.
"I just activated the self destruct for my craft. In one minute thirty seconds it's going to explode unless it's set down on the ground and vacated at once." Everyone was shocked as he spoke.
"You're bluffing!" she screamed in a rage
"Once it reaches ten seconds it can't be stopped."
He started a countdown at the one minute mark. The entire group was in a stalemate as the counting continued. It was as if a game of chicken was being played between two pegasi as they flew at each other to see who would veer off first. Despite the pain he felt he continued counting down, finally reaching the twenty-five second mark, twenty, fifteen, and then ten.
She had called his bluff and she had been wrong. Instead of saying zero Markus said "Detonation". Not one second later the Everfree Forest was rocked by a second explosion. The escape pod had strategically placed explosive charges exploded, ripping through the escape pod's computer systems, tearing apart the engines and blowing the entire pod into shrapnel. There had been over twenty changelings transporting the pod when it exploded with a force three times of it's impact. Pieces of
The shock of what had just happened had stunned everyone. Even Chrysalis was shocked, but her shock turned to rage as she screamed"You murderer!" She stopped channeling the magic that kept Celestia and Luna trapped as her eyes glowed a deep sickly green. An old spear was picked up and then hurled at Markus. The force of the blow knocked him back into a wall as the pointed tip tore through his armored suit, penetrating his right side as his blood splattered onto the ground.
The attack had broken everyone out of their trance. Celetsia, Luna, Twilight and Shining Armor combined their magic firing a bolt of mystic energy at Chrysalis in an attempt to destroy her. She screamed in pain as she was blown from the sky and knocked into the forest. "I'll have my revenge!" was her mental scream to everyone.
The entire group of ponies came over as Fluttershy said, "We have to help him!"
"But he said he could be carrying a plague!" Rarity said.
"He said he might be. And his suit has been ripped open so it's a moot point now," Celestia said. "Stay here for a moment, Luna. When I summon you you, Twilight, Rarity and Shining Armor teleport the entire group into the castle to my location." Celestia then closed her eyes as she teleported away.
The guards came up to pick up the rifle Markus had used to force Queen Chrysalis away from Shining Armor as the summons was given. The drain on Luna's magic was lessened thanks to all the unicorns aiding her to teleport them to Canterlot. The room they appeared in was fairly large and the walls held a shimmering glow around them. Twilight and Luna quickly identified the protection spell cast on the room.
"A quarantine spell?" Luna asked.
"Yes. If by some chance he is carrying something it will not escape this room, nor should anything in our world bring him harm." Celestia explained as a number of white unicorn doctors came up and with the aid of the guards began to move Markus to the bed where they could tend him. It was at that point that Luna and Celestia began ushering out everyone to allow the doctors to do their work as best they could. That and the Cutie Mark Crusaders shouldn't have had to see more then was needed.
************
After the Cutie Mark Crusaders had been taken home by the guards hours had passed. Everyone was tired and subdued, even the normally hyper Pinkie Pie, but she was still a bundle of energy. As the Element of Laughter she had done her best to keep everyone's spirits up. And for her that meant games, a large number of games like checkers and chess. Luna was extremely perturbed as Pinkie had beaten her three games in a row. Being beaten was not what had her annoyed though. It was the fact that the pink mare had kept up her usual scattered brained approach and had been able to focus on at least two other game of checkers and the chess game and still beat Luna in less then ten minutes.
Another way she had kept their spirits up was pointing out that he was a member of a highly advanced race and surely had to be very tough to survive as much as he had. Celestia however had held her tongue on how extreme his injuries were. More importantly, she knew what species he was.
The doors to the room where the unicorn doctors had been working finally opened. A stallion and a mare came out, exhausted, the purplish barrier wrapping around them as they stepped through. At first everypony thought the worst when the stallion said "We've done everything we can. The rest is up to whatever strength he has left. He's lost nearly half the blood in his body and he wouldn't respond to any healing magics. We had to use simple mending spells. Thankfully he responded to the medicines we applied to keep him sedated though we had to use enough to knock out a cow three times his weight."
Pinkie Pie of course had cheered as she tried to run it into the room where Markus was. She was stopped by the stallion doctor.
"NO." he said in a firm voice blocking her path. "He is still heavily sedated and extremely weak."
"Y'all have any more of dat dere sedative?"
"We do, why?" the mare doctor asked as Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Rarity looked at Pinkie Pie only to be met with a firm stare from Twilight Sparkle and Fluttershy.
"No!"
Oblivious to the intended use of the sedative, Pinkie looked to Twilight and Fluttershy as she asked, "What?"
"No Pinkie, you can't go in like that. He needs his rest and his sleep."
"But I wanna see him without his mask on!" she pouted. Everypony looked at each other. Even they couldn't deny their curiosity to know what he really looked like.
"Doctor can we see him?" Luna asked.
Biting his lips the stallion said adamantly, "Stay quiet, and do not disturb him."
As the group was about to go in there was a loud shout. "Auntie Celestia, Auntie Luna!"
Luna and Celestia gave a mental sigh as their nephew Prince Blueblood came up with an almost angry look to his eyes. "Is it true some monster from outer space has been captured in the Everfree Forest aiding the Changelings?" The misinformation their nephew had propagated by now would need some serious damage control.
Celestia approached as she said, "No he was not aiding the Changelings, but he was hurt...."
"It's here in the castle and not in the dungeons?! For all we know it's could be leading it's race to conquer us!" He was utterly shocked at the realization that the alien wasn't being caged.
When his eyes drifted past the unicorn doctors was when Luna stepped up. She shocked everyone when she scolded Prince Blueblood, it was very rare for her to act with authority during the day which was Celestia's domain.
"That is enough nephew!" The anger in her voice was clear. Luna was a bit more aggressive and firm then Celestia was. "We shall discuss this along with everything you have heard and told other ponies later! Now is not the time! Return to your duties this instant, and speak no more."
Turning to his Aunt Celestia to try and gain some leeway, Luna stomped her hoof on the ground and said "NOW!"
Her voice made Blueblood lay his ears back as he started to walk backwards. "I suggest posting guards at his room to make sure he doesn't escape!" Blueblood turned tail and ran as Luna turned around, more
"What?"
"Were the eyes really needed Luna?" Celestia asked her sister.
"Oh!" She blinked and her eyes were back to normal. "If it gets my point across. I still can't believe you let him grow up to be a spoiled brat. You're too nice for your own good sometimes 'Tia."
Approaching the princesses Shining Armor swallowed. "Might I suggest posting guards as the prince suggested? As much as he has shown his intent is to not cause harm, we honestly don't know of his true
Neither Princess Celestia nor Luna could argue with that logic. Celestia said, "Very well Captain."
"Doctor what is your prognosis?" Luna asked genuinely concerned.
It was the mare who spoke up, "His body refused to respond to all but the simplest of spells so we are going to fall back on old pony wisdom. Keep the fever down, let the body heal its self."
"Can we see him?" she asked.
"As long as you don't disturb him. I just wish I knew something of his people. There are... similarities to us... but yet he's so different."
The doctors allowed the group to enter. Applejack bopped Pinkie on the head with her hoof as she walked past. Pinkie understood as she seemed to settle down. As the group entered they looked upon the figure laying on the bed. A number of them gasped, a few where shocked and the sight was enough to make even Pinkie Pie settle down. The figure had no fur on his face. Part of his pale cheek was covered in bruises and his right eye was bandaged. He had what looked like a brown mane on his head. Blood had started to flow from the nose on his flat face . The mare doctor came over to clean it up as his breathing seemed to have all but stopped. His arms lay above the covers that covered his body. On each forearm was a device; on the left forearm the device was a little flat and extended two and a half inches. On his right arm was a more block like attachment that was three inches off his forearm, three inches wide and had three slots in the front near his hand.
They relaxed as they noticed Markus' subtle breathing. Looking him over, it was Twilight Sparkle who gave voice to the scene.
"Princess..... he looks... human."
The two alicorn sisters looked at each other then to Twilight as Rarity spoke.
"Twilight, humans are ....." she opened her eyes and looked at the figure laying on the bed, "Myth and fantasy?"
"All myths and legends have a basis in fact," Celestia said.
"Myth or not... if there is information that might be linked to his species..."
"We will need to consult our private archives,” the stallion doctor interrupted “but there may not be much. But for now our guest needs his rest."
With that Celestia slowly ushered everypony out. Once the door was shut the princess turned to the guards who had come.
"Make sure that only the doctors are allowed to come and go. And make sure to keep my nephew Blueblood out. If his people come for him, I do not feel like explaining to them why he died from undue stress." The slight anger in her tone made them all on edge. The whole ordeal had left
As the door was locked Celestia said, "You should all get some rest. Luna and I need to consult our private archives. There might be more on the myth of humans."
"Your private archives Princess?" Twilight asked innocently.
"Yes, archives that contain records accumulated from many thousands of years before Tia was ever born." Luna explained. "Neither of us are looking forward to that job. Twilight, you are your friends should go get some rest. It is Nightmare Night and you have all earned some rest and enjoyment. If we learn of anything that you should know, rest assured you will be informed."
Despite the politeness it was clear that Twilight and her friends were being dismissed. But Twilight had to ask "Princess, will you at least tell us what the Blade of Forest is?"
Realizing that the question couldn't be avoided, Celesita said "Myth says it is one of five magic blades that is said to predate the creation of the Elements of Harmony. The elemental blades were said to
"According to the myth the five blades were Earth, Fire, Air, Water, and Forest." Luna explained.
"But... who created them?" Asked Twilight.
Looking at each other the two princesses sighed as Celestia said softly "According to myth? Humans."
New Friends and New Enemies
Chapter 6 Political Discord
Chapter 6 Political Discord
Thanks to Admkline for editing my story chapter.
It had been over a week since the visitor from the stars had crashed landed in the Everfree Forest, as well as the fiasco with Queen Chrysalis resulting in the destruction of his craft. Markus had been stable and was getting stronger. Damage control over some of the rumors that had spread thanks to Prince Blueblood had been thankfully minimal. All that had gotten out was the fact an alien was found in the forest in a battle with Chrysalis who after being injured was now healing inside Canterlot.
The Elements of Harmony had been summoned back to the castle. For Twilight, to say the last week had been chaotic would have been an understatement. First meeting an alien from outer space, watching him get hurt by the Changeling Queen, herself being transformed from a normal unicorn into an alicorn and becoming a princess to boot, her coronation, followed by the near constant torment of Discord who was taking pleasure in attempting to drive a wedge between her and her friends.
As a result, Alicorn Princess Twilight Sparkle had chosen to remain living in Ponyville. Other than being able to fly, very little had changed for Twilight. At first the residents of Ponyville had started treating her with much more respect but that had mostly faded as Twilight's desire to be treated as the same as ever became more widely known. Still it was humorous when one of the ponies called her “Her Highness”. Given she was a foot taller than most other ponies, some ponies had taken to calling her... “Her Tallness.”
Twilight was thankful for the help from Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy to help refine her flying as well as wing and feather care. There were still some times she preferred walking to flying. As she and her friends came into the castle, she couldn't help but see her brother Shining Armor look at her and she could just see the pride in his eyes. In Ponyville things were still normal but in the castle she had all the respect due a princess. Rainbow Dash was zipping around overhead as she said, "Still gotta work harder if you wanna beat me in a race Twilight!"
Luna approached the group. Spike who had been riding on Twilight's back hopped down and they all
"It's going alright, I still can't beat Rainbow Dash in a race yet."
"You know your highness I could always let you win," Dash said getting a look of shock from Twilight.
"I'm not a filly,” Twilight said to Rainbow. “You let me win I'll have you thrown into the Canterlot dungeons," she joked.
"Oh?" Rainbow asked, flying in front of Twilight. "Is that a promise?"
"Sounds kinky,” voice said from a piebald gryphon female. “You bring the bit and bridle Twilight, I'll bring the crop."
"Gilda!" Rainbow Dash was blushing and shocked to see her gryphon friend, despite the way she had acted when she was on the end of Rainbow Dash's pranks by accident. Things had been smoothed over between Dash, her friends and Gilda. Luna was smirking at the implications.
Gilda smiled as Dash came over to greet her, "Gilda it's good to see you again," Rainbow said, hoping to change to subject.
"Likewise Dashie, Now let me greet the new princess." Gilda approached Twilight and she produced a formal bow, lowering her head and spreading her wings. "On behalf of the gryphons I bid you greetings
With a slight blush that she couldn't help Twilight replied "Thank you Gilda." When Gilda lifted her head up Twilight smirked "I still can't believe Rainbow never told me you were part of the nobility."
Looking over at Rainbow Dash Gilda said "Dash, I told you I never had any fun." Coming up to Twilight she continued "Remember that. Be sure to take advantage of whatever enjoyment you can. In time it will become harder and harder to actually find enjoyment."
"I'll remember that. So what brings you and your father the ambassador to Equestria?" Twilight asked.
"Oh you already know, it's your special guest. Half of Equestria already knows. Next week I would assume everyone would know. "
That shocked the lot of them as Gilda said "My father's meeting with Celestia, and you'll find out soon enough. In a nut shell, the changelings are spreading rumors that Celestia and Luna have fallen under the control of a monster from outer space." The statement floored everyone, even Luna.
"Say what?” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “And you believed them?"
"Well the changeling was disguised as you Dashie," Gilda explained. She lifted up her right front talon, showing her that three of her claws were broken off. "Let's just say their... imitation of you was less than perfect and leave it at that. My uncle the king dispatched our strongest fighters and fastest flyers to the various communities around our territories to keep things civil while my father was dispatched here to find out exactly what is going on. I decided to join him. Our king may not entirely like the Pony Empire, but he has no desire to see a continent wide war erupt and hates the idea of being tricked into trying to start one."
It was so easy at times for Rainbow Dash to forget Gilda was a predator, a hunter, and a killer. She landed nervously and swallowed hard. Twilight shuddered at how far Chrysalis was going for her revenge.
Pinkie Pie had stopped jumping around as Gilda turned to ask Luna "Is it true? Is the being from the stars actually a human out of ancient times?"
Looking to the Elements of Harmony, Luna finally had to admit "He appears to look like a human but that is about all we know. Chrysalis attempted to steal his vessel. When he destroyed it a number of her changelings killed and she vowed revenge. She injured him very badly and for the last week he's been unconscious. Right now he's in an isolated part of the castle in a secured room healing and being tended to."
The approach of a guard attracted everyone's attention. "Princess Celestia wishes to see you all now."
The guard escorted them all to the meeting chambers where Celestia and a few guards were meeting with the gryphon ambassador. Like Gilda he was piebald with a golden body. Unlike Gilda he had a leather eye patch over his right eye and a number of scars on his body showing he was a skilled fighter just as much as he was a skilled diplomat.
The group bowed in greetings as the gryphon bowed in respect to Princesses Luna and Twilight Sparkle as well as her friends. "It is a pleasure and honor to meet the newest princess of Equestria. I
"That is correct Ambassador except that Luna and I were sure he was human while in the ruins."
The Gryphon ambassador gave a thoughtful “hmmmm”. "Well this could have been worse if my daughter had not been there and realized that the changeling was not her friend. I suggest you get ready for a diplomatic onslaught. While I am sure that the ponies have their own myths of humans, we gryphons have our own ancient tales of humans stealing our eggs, training us to guard their gold and to eat their enemies."
"Father that is used to frighten hatchlings into being good," Gilda said.
"Very true, but if humans do exist then there has to be some form of truth to all the old myths around them. As I pointed out not all of those myths are good."
"Remember Ambassador that time distorts all legends and lore" Twilight Sparkle said.
"Yes that is true your Highness. As much as it pains me to insist I must see the human if only to have my own physician confirm how badly he is injured to be able to allay any and all concerns my king
"He should be waking up in the next few days. I would much rather let him have a chance to wake up on his own. Preferably by himself," the unicorn stallion swallowed hard.
*************
The room where Markus rested was empty. The doctors who had been treating him fully exposed to his blood had not come down with any sort of illness so the quarantine spell had been dropped. Markus
He could see the drapes were pulled to offer him some privacy, not that he would be getting up. The rooms decor was nice, done in earth tones on the ground and the lower parts of the walls while the
Checking his wrist computer he saw at least a week of time had passed. The computer had also been recording voices anytime that someone was in the room so he could review conversations he had
"Why couldn't you have just died out there? All you have done is bring chaos to our world." The voice was almost one of disdain. "Now... my aunts have to deal with all the trouble you have brought to
At that point the unicorn was close enough to his right side for him to attack. Fearing his life was in danger he reacted. Markus lashed out with his left hand to grab hold of the unicorn's horn and yank him close. The unicorn, not expecting to be attacked screamed for help while Markus brought up his right hand. Tightening his fist, the blades from his gauntlet sprang out in sight of the unicorn's right eye. Markus relaxed his hand and yanked his fist right under the jaw of the unicorn. Clenching his pointer and pinky fingers brought out the two side blades which sprang out at an outward angle that would not cut the unicorn's throat. But the blades did cut his skin making him scream in despair.
With a pained insane gleam in his eyes Markus snarled "You... were saying?" He could feel a trickle of the unicorn's blood run over his hand. Feeling the blades the unicorn stop struggling as the door burst open revealing Celestia, Luna, a few guards and others he didn't recognize through the haze of pain he felt. Instantly Celestia said, "Blueblood, how did you get in here?"
"Through a secret passage to kill me!" Markus yelled. It was at that point that everyone realized the seriousness of the situation as Blueblood struggled to escape. "All I have to do is clench my fist and the middle blade comes out!" His voice was clearly pained as he coughed up some blood which splattered on Blueblood's face.
After a few tense moments Celestia said, "I know you are in pain and I know you are scared. Despite the attitude of of my nephew I do not believe he intended you any harm."
Looking over at Celestia, Markus swallowed as blood ran down from his nose and said, "Computer, audio playback of last voice entry from now." The wrist computer on his left hand opened up and played back word for word everything that Blueblood had said from the moment he entered the room in his own voice. In that instant the tension in the room rose several notches. The Gryphon ambassador kept himself and his daughter back. Slowly Celestia entered the room and stopped while still a good distance away.
"Nephew, did you say those words? Remember you have never been able to tell me a lie I couldn't see through." The emotional tone in her voice was clearly on edge. She could see the human gripping Blueblood's horn so tightly she thought he might succeed in breaking the horn off.
"Yes auntie I said those words...but I didn't intend to actually harm him." Blueblood was almost panicking as the blades with their edges behind his jawbone prevented him from pulling back or lifting up without cutting himself more.
Addressing the being who held her nephew's life in his hands she spoke. "I believe my nephew intended you no harm. But he also has violated my direct orders that he was not to come into this room. I assure you my nephew will be disciplined harshly for his disobedience. I'm...begging you to let my nephew go."
The words did not fall on deaf ears. Markus looked at her and he held Blueblood's horn tightly. He flexed his hand and slid the blunt back of the blades along his neck. With preset hand commands the blades opened wider allowing him to slide his hand away from Blueblood's throat and pushing his horn away to control his head before passing out. The blades also retracted into the container.
Once Blueblood was free he scrambled back as he shouted, "Guards drag this monster to the dungeons!"
An order that was instantly countermanded by Celestia.
"Belay that order. Doctor, will my nephew be alright?"
"Auntie he hurt me!"
"If you had obeyed my instructions you would not have been hurt! Doctor!" Her patience was at an all time low. The diplomatic situation had tested her to her limits and now this.
The unicorn doctor came up to check the prince. He said after a quick examination "Minor flesh wounds. He will be alright."
"Guards,” Celestia ordered “Escort my nephew to his chambers and keep him there until further notice."
The order shocked Blueblood. His auntie had just...grounded him! Two pegasi guards came up to escort the prince to his chambers as he was forced to endure the cuts.
Holding their tongues Gilda and her father suppressed a twisted pleasure at seeing the royal brat of a unicorn get what was coming to him. Even the pegesi guards were pleased to a point but their pleasure remained behind the stoic indifference of their orders.
Now that the drama was over the unicorn doctor and the gryphon physician both came over to check out the passed out Markus. "I wish there was some way to remove that device from his right arm,"
"Not without removing his arm in the process" The unicorn doctor said. "Perhaps we should have told the prince. That might have kept him out of here."
After an hour the gryphon doctor approached his people's ambassador. "I am convinced this being is in no way, shape, or form able to do much of anything. He has a number of broken ribs and some minor internal bleeding. After this fiasco I will honestly be surprised if he survives at all, Ambassador."
"If doctors and magic are of no help indeed, let me treat him in his time of need." said a voice in a rhyming patois. Zecora the zebra shamaness stood in the doorway in a black cloak with her eyes glowing yellow. Beside her were the three Cutie Mark Crusaders and a Royal guard. The Cutie Mark Crusaders had gone to get Zecora as her shamanic magic was a more subtle form of healing magic. One performed through potions and oils.
"Sorry your Highness,” the guard said. “She said she might be able to help our... visitor."
Her talents well known to Celestia and Luna. They nodded as Zecora came into the room to tend her patient.
New Friends and New Enemies
Chapter 7 Diplomatic Onslaught
Chapter 7 Diplomatic Onslaught
Zecora's treatments had managed to succeed where normal healing magic was useless. Markus had begun to recover faster. Potions and oils had done more to help him then anything else. There was little more to do for the last few days then eat, sleep, and heal. Another week had passed before he was strong enough to sit up. Thanks to the skills of Rarity's taloring, she was able to make him a shirt of sorts and some other clothes for when he was finally able to get up around so he wouldn't walk around unclothed.
He watched as the unicorn who had snuck into his room was marched into his room through the door this time. Beside him were his aunts Celestia and Luna. He could see in the doorway what he could identify as gryphons now. Both piebaled with golden hind quarters, a number of others were behind him. The unicorn had a blonde mane as Celestia looked fairly upset and firm in this.
The prince approached Markus as he said clearly with some hesitation and disdain at the idea of being made to do this. But he finally managed to speak the words.
"I.... apologize." was all he said as Celestia gave a clearing of her throat before he continued. "I offer my deepest applogises for sneaking into your room."
"When I was expressedly forbidden from entering. I apologise for speaking such cold words, and making you fear for your life." The two locked eyes at each other as it was clear that Blueblood was humiliated for being forced to apologise, more so when he had eyes of so many on him. After a few moments, when they thought Markus would not reject nor accept.
"Apology.... accepted Prince Blueblood." After the apology was accepted Blueblood stood there as if expecting one in return for the injury to his pride and his neck. When none was forth coming Celestia spoke.
"Very good nephew. You may leave."
Blueblood had kept his head up nice and high attempting to salvage what little pride he had left from this ordeal and he calmly walked out of the room to attend the extra studies that his aunts had given him. After he had left Celestia and Luna almost visibly relaxed. Despite being bed ridden, Markus had been anything but bored. He'd been learning, and learning alot about this world.
By now he was aware of his entire situation that Queen Chrysalis had been stiring up trouble. When asked about his opinion of it by Celestia, his only response was, "Now you see why first contact has to be handled with great care." The entire castle was a buzz with diplomats, and representitives from almost every single race in the land. From the gryphons, to the crystal ponies, The buffalo, dragons, and deer. Almost every sentient race in Equestria had sent advisers, diplomats, and ambassadors. A few races had chosen to not send anyone, rather they took a more militant approach.
The Minotaurs were one group that seemed to be more at arms then the rest. Hopefully things could be worked out to avoid conflict. The dragons were another that had wanted action over words. But despite their strength it was doubtful they would risk a full scale conflict with the pony principality. The fact that to the entire land that humans were not unknown in myth and legend had also been made clear.
"I think the best course of action would be to attend the meeting of these delagates so any questions and fears can be allayed. But after I get cleaned up to at least make a decent impression."
"I thought you said you were not trained in dipolmacy?"
"I'm not. Not really. We all receive a degree of diplomacy training in the Star Exploration Corps." Looking over at the Gryphon Ambassador, Markus decided it was time to explain. "In my world's own mythology, We have out own legends, myths. Those myth's include, Alicorns, Pegasus, and unicorns. Even gryphons are counted among creatures of legend."
Despite the pain he felt going through his aching body, he forced himself to sit up turning so his legs were off the side of the bed. His coughing was almost hard enough to make the doctors think he would bring blood up. "Now... If you will excuse me. I would like to get cleaned up and dressed so I can at least be... presentible for the diplomatic assembly."
"You need to rest some more." The unicorn mare doctor said approaching.
A sharp look to the Mare made her back step as he said. "There is an entire castle full of diplomats, tensions are so high I can feel it and my people are not sensitive to such. If this situation is not resolved, it could lead to violence."
Looking to Celestia, Luna, as well as the Gryphon ambassador. "My people have a saying. What you don't understand, you fear. What you fear, you hate. And what you hate, you destroy. Reguardless of what happens to me, it is important that we disarm and calm this situation down before it erupts into a firestorm. This whole situation, regardless of the fact my arrival was accidental, is my fault."
Realizing that neither Luna nor Celestia could disuade him Celestia said, "Very well, but if the doctors feel you have had enough stress, I will order them to return you to your room for further rest." She said it in a tone that hinted she would not be argued with.
"As you wish your highness."
Having managed to get cleaned up and dressed with only a little help from the doctors, Rarity had prepared for him a number of outfits, most of which had been measured for him. He was wearing some simple blue trousers with a blue over robe, sparing him the pain of putting a shirt on, with a belt made of leather. When Markus had questioned the use of leather the doctor had told him that the pony race were strict vegetarians and as a general cultural tradition did not harm animals unless it was vital. But, they were more then willing to trade for such goods from other cultures that did hunt and kill for survival.
Markus did his best to push past the pain of walking under his own strength to avoid seeming weak. Still the male unicorn doctor, whose name was Doc, had helped him to the door and remained beside him while Markus carefully took his arm off the unicorn for support and stood tall and proud as he could despite the pain. "If I say you need to get back to bed, not even Celestia would argue with me."
He opened the door to the main audience chamber. On the inside he held his surprise at seeing a number of races that he considered mythological. Apart from the gryphons, unicorns, pegasi, and the three alicorns he could see dragons, minotaurs, deer, buffalo, and a phoenix.
He could see the two piebald gryphons. The male ambassador, the one with the eye-patch battle-scars, would stand very close to eye level to Markus and his roughly six foot even height. Both were wearing what appeared to be a gold and silver halter. The male's collar had a large black gem. The female's had no such gem but there were a number of smaller gems around her halter. The halter of the larger male had a large black gem in the middle if it with a number of gems of all shapes and colors around it.
Both were wearing what appeared to be white leather tops similar to what he would consider a shirt, which made the fact they wore no pants strike him as a bit odd. Their front legs as he expected were more like eagle talons with what looked like white leather gauntlets on them. On top of those gauntlets he could see what appeared to be gold plates with various glyphs. They both looked at Markus with amber eyes and he could see both caution and interest in their predatory gaze.
'Yeeeup. I think someone left the door to the Twilight Zone open.' he thought. He didn't dare voice the thought as he had to be as polite and curt as possible. As a number of those assembled, he listened to some low comments about myth and legends but nothing seemed to be threatening so far. A chair had been prepared for him and he moved carefully to sit down. The Doctor remained beside him and Markus also noted a couple of guards near his location.
It was Celestia who had chosen to speak first. "I wanted to thank you for being willing to help us resolve the situation that Chrysalis has caused."
Markus nodded his head as a way to bow to Celestia. Before he could respond he heard a deep throated growl from a very large red dragon that was taking up part of the audience chamber. The dragon bared his teeth and Markus could feel the tension rise some. He took note of the unicorn guards, including the guard captain Shining Armor, seeming to anticipate a possible attack. Smoke flowed from the dragon's nose before he settled down.
Out of the corner of his eye he had noticed Celesta, Luna, and Twilight Sparkle with a glow around their horns. As things settled down, the gryphon ambassador Lord Brazen Silverclaw spoke first of the delegates. "I do wish to point out my own physician has confirmed that the rumors of the Princesses Celestia and Luna being controlled by Mister.... Ordain is a lie."
"Indeed. Through my own examination I can confirm that he had neither the strength nor the magical affinity to even attempt such a feat. So the rumors of Celestia and Luna being controlled are just that. Lies and rumors perpetuated by the Darkwoods Changeling hive, most likely as Celestia said in an act of revenge against Markus Ordain."
The bare chested minotaur representative snorted as he said, "That still doesn't explain why in all out history a human, a creature known only in myth and lore, is real. No evidence or remains have ever been found, discounting the creation myth around the Blades of the Elements which could have been created by other races rather than humans."
Clearing his throat Markus chose speak. "In my people's mythology and lore we have dragons, minotaurs, unicorns, pegasi, alicorns and no evidence of their existance was ever recorded. Yet after many thousands of years, legends of such creatures persist."
"Indeed," said Ambassador Silverclaw. "Evidently there is some form of connection between our world... and Earth. The only question is in what ways?"
"Questions that are better answered by scholars and researchers, not some test pilot but I will do the best I can," Markus spoke. Despite his composure he was in pain, but did his best to avoid showing it.
"Perhaps we should start with your myths of humans. I would honestly like to hear them, and..." Markus was interrupted by the dragon who spoke in a very dark tone...
"What I want to know is when more of your kind are showing up. Our legends have humans killing us, stealing our hordes."
"Gold has little value beyond...decorative purpose for my people. At one time it was valued but not any more," Markus said as the dragon issued a menacing growl. "Besides, there has never been any confirmed dragon found in all the recorded history of my world, although there were once creatures long dead before my race appeared that no doubt served as inspiration for such beings."
"You claim that we are myths to you. How do we know you are not lying to us?" the dragon challenged.
The pain made Markus short tempered as he said rather bluntly, "I frankly don't give a damn what you choose to or not to believe."
The dragon's eyes narrowed as the great creature approached Markus, bringing his nose right into Markus' face. The tension rose a few notches as he used the dragon's biology against him. Unable to see below his own snout Markus had raised his right arm, bringing his fist just under the jaw of the dragon to one side of his throat. The dragon's head was almost as long as Markus' arm was.
"You best ease up out of my face before something bad happens to you." At that point he pressed his hand to the throat of the dragon. "Slight twitch is all it takes to cause those blades to snap out. They are as sharp as an obsidian edge. They will go through your hide like a hot knife through butter."
"You would not survive my attack human."
"You will not survive mine. Shall we die together this day?"
At that point the Equestrian Solar Guard lead by Shining Armor appeared. "Ambassador, we will not tolerate violence in this chamber or at these proceedings." Their spears held in a magical aura. "Please... return to your place or you will be ejected from these proceedings... by force if I must."
The red dragon snarled as he backed down, pulling away. The dragon was not as massive as Markus had thought dragons were, perhaps maybe forty or fifty feet from nose to tail and the wings folded on his back might have been as long if not longer. The scales were red as blood, the eyes like molten pools of lava. The eye's black slit was very reptilian.
The dragon moved back to where he had been and settled down. It was then that the unicorn doctor spoke. "If all you are going to do is throw accusations and threaten Mister Ordain, I will insist my charge return to his chambers to rest and finish recovering," the doctor said in a very firm tone.
Celestia and Luna cleared their throats. Luna spoke very firmly."I agree. Mister Ordain has put himself in considerable discomfort to help answer questions. He has come here to allay fears and panic caused by a known enemy of every race on Equestria."
Celestia continued where he sister left off. "If the assembled here are going to throw accusations, threats, and insinuations instead of asking questions and learning the truth, then I will insist that our guest return to his chambers and rest and recover. All of our cultures have myths and legends of humans. Ponies are no exception. A number of those are fairly dark, such as humans cutting off the horns of unicorns, and capturing pegasi for beasts of burden. I have lived for many thousands of years. I have firsthand experience on seeing how stories based in fact have become twisted and embellished over many hundreds of years of retelling I am sure that there is some basis in fact for those stories. But I am also sure that time has taken its toll on the accuracy of those legends. We are here to learn what might be the basis for all those legends."
At that point it seemed that there was some murmuring between delegates. Finally they seemed to settle down as Markus allowed the princesses to speak. When it was clear that there were no objections Markus coughed a couple of times as he cover his mouth with his hand. "I will start by addressing the dragon ambassador first. As I said there has never been any recorded evidence that dragons ever existed on my race's homeword Earth but there were at one time creatures that were... dragon like." Lifting his hand he said "If you will draw the curtains and darken the room I can show you."
With some amusement the ambassadors watched as the guards at Celestia's acknowledgment drew the curtains and began to darken the room. Markus using his wrist computer brought up the information. It was Twilight who asked "What is that if I may ask.?"
"It's a computer. Think of it as a device that can store and retrieve information as well as run all sorts of tests, such as seeing if something that you want to eat is poisonous to you." He hit the last few buttons he needed and then brought up a small projector, with then shone a conical light that went over the middle of the table showing a hologram, "These are creatures that existed many millions of years ago and are believed to be the source of most legends of dragons.”
The hologram, which measured some four feet when projected in the air showed the image of the skeleton of a Tyrannosaurs Rex.
http://www.dinosaur-world.com/tyrannosaurs/images/tyrannosaurus_rex_skeleton.gif
As the image rotated Twilight said. "Dinosaurs!" The comment caught Markus off guard as there was a general consensus of agreement. Twilight spoke and said, "Sorry. Dinosaur means..."
Cutting her off, Markus finished her sentence. "Terrible Lizard." The comment had actually shocked her as Markus continued. "I am starting to get the impression that there may have been some sort of ancient link between Earth and Equestria, one that no longer exists but allowed humans and inhabitants from this world to interact and cross. Such gateways are very rare but they have been known to occur. These remains are believed for the most part to hold the basis in human culture for the legends of dragons." Markus was once more caught off guard by a fit of coughing.
The dragon narrowed his eyes and look unsatisfied but it was the Gryphon ambassador who asked "This is technology?"
"Yes. Perhaps you would care to share some of your own myths of humans."
"Indeed I would. I had thought of telling you the story with some ancient depictions, but I wonder if there is something similar in your legends. So let us show you the pictures. Lights please.” The ambassador reach under the table and pulled out a roll of paper which held a drawing of a human chained to an object with what looked like a gryphon eating from his chest. While it was simply black masses with white outline he was able to recall the style of the picture as being something he had seen while in a museum on Earth.
"Prometheus. Computer, access the story of Prometheus and Greek mythology."
The computer made a few beeping sounds and a voice began to play,
"Prometheus was the wisest Titan. His name means "forethought" and he was able to foretell the future. He was the son of Iapetus. When Zeus revolted against Cronus, Prometheus deserted the other Titans and fought on Zeus' side.”
“By some accounts he and his brother Epimetheus were delegated by Zeus to create man. In all accounts, Prometheus is known as the protector and benefactor of man. He gave mankind a number of gifts including fire. He also tricked Zeus into allowing man to keep the best part of the animals sacrificed to the gods and to give the gods the worst parts.”
“For this Zeus punished Prometheus by having him chained to a rock with an eagle tearing at his liver. He was to be left there for all eternity or until he agreed to disclose to Zeus which of Zeus' children would try to replace him. He was eventually rescued by Hercules without giving in to Zeus."
The information the computer recited seemed to surprise the gryphon ambassador and his daughter as Markus continued.
"Now there a few variations of the myth, one of which I heard involved gryphons being the ones to eat out his liver. As far as Gryphon's themselves, computer recall information on gryphon mythology."
"The griffin, griffon, or gryphon is a legendary creature with the body, tail, and back legs of a lion; the head and wings of an eagle; and an eagle's talons as its front feet. As the lion was traditionally considered the king of the beasts and the eagle was the king of the birds, the griffin was thought to be an especially powerful and majestic creature. The griffin was also thought of as king of the creatures. Griffins are known for guarding treasure and priceless possessions. Adrienne Mayor, a classical folklorist, proposes that the griffin was an ancient misconception derived from the fossilized remains of the Protoceratops found in gold mines in the Altai mountains of Scythia, in present day southeastern Kazakhstan, or in Mongolia. In antiquity it was a symbol of divine power and a guardian of the divine. Some have suggested that the word Griffin is cognate with Cherub."
"Gold mines. Protoceratops?"
"Protoceratops is a dinosaur. It's face is very similar to that of an eagles face, but they are quadrupedal like you sir. There are some legends that account for the gryphons and gold. Some legends say they are attracted to the metal, others calm that gryphon eggs cannot hatch unless in a nest lined with gold."
The gryphon ambassador looked very thoughtful as he lifted his right talon to rub his chin. "It was said that humans would train us to kill and consume their enemies and steal our eggs and train our chicks to guard their gold."
"Well, that might be partially true on both counts..."
Despite attempting to continue Markus had a hard coughing fit and as he covered his mouth spots of blood came up to cover his hand, shocking most of the delegates in the room. It was at that point the doctor stepped in.
"Okay, that is enough for today. We need to get you back to your room for rest." the doctor said with a note of finality.
Moving through the caverns a lone figure wearing a black cloak moved slowly. Her hooves clipped and clopped as she slowly approached a summoning circle. Inside the center of the circle was a mass of crystals, the various shards placed into a pentagram with the center area empty. A large circle and various archaic symbols surrounded the enclosed pentagram. The unicorn lowered her mouth to her pouch and pulled out a large black crystal.
Taking great care to not step on any of the white marks, she placed the black gem in the middle and then began to move back. With one spark of magic the unicorn lit the black candles all over the cavern, illuminating the black crystals that filled the crystal cavern. The crystals glowed with a sickly purple light deep inside.
The black gem that was placed in the center began to contract and then expand exactly like a beating heart. An inky black smoke began to rise from the black gem as two disembodied red eyes opened from the blackness. They shone with pure hatred and malice, gazing at the lone figure as if the very look might kill the trespasser.
In a soft voice the unicorn said, "Hello father. Your plan is working to perfection. I have relocated the Alicorn Amulet. It will be perfect for your plan."
The eyes shivered with twisted pleasure as they anticipated the things to come.
New Friends and New Enemies
Chapter 8
And Thank you to all who enjoy the story.
A couple weeks later diplomatic relations had been smoothed over despite some frayed nerves. 'Maybe things can start getting back to normal,' Luna thought to herself as she walked through the castle hallways. Reaching a balcony the princess of the moon felt the warm rays of the sun on her dark body and it felt so good.
Casting her gaze down to the courtyard she saw Markus. He was so... different than what she had expected, not that she had expected a legend to come to life before her very eyes. Markus stood taller than Celestia who with her horn stood roughly six feet two inches. His hair was a dusty brown and he had the most piercing blue eyes she could recall. He grew hair on his face and she was surprised he desired to keep his face clean-shaved as it turned out it constantly grew and could be come rather bothersome.
Right now he was dressed in one of Rarity's outfits minus a shirt she had been paid for. It was a brown outfit, one that matched his hair. For now she watched him performing what looked like stretching exercises the doctor had wanted him to perform to help stretch out his sore muscles. Zecora's treatments had allowed him to fully recover. She noticed a number of guards and servants of the castle watching.
His back as well as his chest were finely muscled. He did have some body fur, or hair, but unlike a pony it did not cover his entire body. Hoofsteps coming up beside her caused her to turn her head, allowing her to see Celestia's approach. With a nuzzle Luna rubbed her face against her sister's cheek. "Evening Tia..."
"Evening Luna, I see our guest has almost fully recovered."
"Indeed. He's been asking questions of our culture, our people, almost as much as Twilight has been pestering him to learn of his culture," Luna spoke softly.
"Has our little in-law of magic been pestering him constantly, or actually letting him finish healing?" replied Celestia with a soft giggle. Luna could see the affection her elder sister had for her student and niece-in-law.
"For the most part." Luna exhaled softly and gave a gasp when she watched Markus take three steps forward and then do a cartwheel three times followed by a flip where he landed on his feet, thrusting his right arm forward in an uppercut.
Shocked at the display Celestia asked, "What are you thinking Luna?"
"Apart from the fact a being from legend has walked into our lives? Wondering if the females of his species think he has a nice flank," Luna said with a straight face.
Celestia could only facehoof as she says, "Luna...you can't be serious, Can you?"
With a playful smirk Luna spoke, "A mythological creature has appeared before us... don't tell me you are not interested."
"Luna what we do is one thing, but this..." Celestia tried to say only to be cut off.
"Celestia, as the Goddess of the Moon, Night, and Dreams most of our subjects already considered me a Goddess of Lust long before I was reestablished with you as co-ruler. You know that, and you know what? If my subjects consider me the Goddess of Lust, who am I to disappoint?" Luna said sticking her tongue out at her sister and began to move off to prepare for the time of night. Thankfully with the new moon to come out her night mostly would be easy.
*****
It was still a couple of hours before the dawn. Luna as the mistress of dreams had gone through a number of the inhabitants of Ponyville and various communities. Most of her journeys were through the dreams of the foals, soothing nightmares and helping them overcome the very things that caused them. Because children were more susceptible to such she spent most of her time helping them. For once things seemed very peaceful. She didn't know how or why but the peace made her uneasy and she could not shake the feeling that the human, that Markus, was the source of her discomfort.
She had resisted the urge to try and enter Markus' dreams both because she was unsure how her dream magic would effect him and to show him the same courtesy she showed to Gilda and her father the Gryphon Ambassador. Nothing could be considered as hostile an act as entering a person's mind. As a result she flew through the air in her astral form, arriving at Canterlot and entered Markus' room. He was sleeping on his back, his breathing steady and strong. With some hesitation Luna began to extend her power to start the merging. Her body began to slowly fade as the energy was transfered into Markus Ordain's body. Slowly sifting through the emotions Luna found herself in the middle of an alien landscape.
What she saw was enough to leave her speechless. If she had thought that Canterlot was impressive, what she saw left Canterlot to shame. She looked down on what was a city of metal and glass shining in the sunlight. Standing on a grass covered hill she could see the center of the city had what appeared to be a central tower that had a slanted top and a narrow spire out from around which were smaller towers, most of them cascading in a smaller and smaller design as if to form steps. After a point the buildings where sharply reduced in height and spread out into a number of what looked like smaller groups of buildings and houses.
The sight of it had distracted her. As the lady of dreams she should have arrived near Markus' location. Her lack of focus was what had let her guard down because what she heard next surprised her.
"I was wondering when you might show up in my dreams."
She turned around to see Markus standing against a tree. Behind him was a dark black cloud representing long buried memories, pain, regret. Things of nightmares long since hidden or resolved. He appeared very much as he did in the waking world, maybe a little taller or muscled. He was dressed in what seemed like a tough fabric with a stone bluish thing to it. His hair was also longer and tied behind his head a pony tail. She had intended to not be discovered and turned her head in shame.
Markus approached her. "I knew it was only a matter of time before you or someone, or should I say, somepony tried to get inside my head," he said without malice. He sat down and looked over the cityscape. "So other then curiosity about where I come from, what brings you to my mind and my dreams?" he asked in a soft voice.
Hesitating she came up beside him holding her place as she stood explaining what she was concerned about. As he thought about what she had to say he exhaled as the wind blew through the area. About how for the last week or so ponies were all having peaceful dreams. Even foals that were naturally prone to nightmares were sleeping easy. In her own words... "It is like the calm before a storm."
After thinking on it Markus voiced his opinion. "That's because I believe it is the calm before the storm. I had heard of your return from the moon as Nightmare Moon, about Chrysalis, Discord, and even Sombra." The words he spoke did not allay the Princess' fear, only confirmed it.
With an exhale he said "I've learned a number number of things, including what Celestia told me about the Blades of Elements. I came to a realization of things when she told me that tale. I just wish she was here so I wouldn't have to explain myself a second time."
Luna smiled, telling him "As mistress of dreams I can easily join two or more minds in dreams. If you will give me a moment." Luna faded from his dream and moments later the form of Celestia appeared beside Luna. Celestia was covered in what was effectively a white silk night gown with gold trimmed lace. Of course she was not wearing her Tiara nor her gilded hoof-shoes.
"Luna!" Celestia scolded her sister, "You could have given me a moment to change my appearance!"
Before she could do anything Markus quickly looked her over. Despite being a quadruped she was very easy on the eyes. "You won't find me complaining," he quipped.
The comment made Celestia blush as she altered her appearance to more of her normal day to day attire. "Do you normally flirt with the leaders of other worlds?"
"Well, one generally cannot be held accountable for what one dreams. I can imagine that Luna here came upon many pony's dreams where she and or you are the objects of their affections." Luna sharply turned her head away as her cheeks darkened even more.
"You always told me inhibitions were much lower in dreams then they are in the waking world. I finally see what you mean," Celestia said turning her eyes to the world in Markus dream. The city behind him was glorious. She could see a number of birds that seemed similar to birds she had seen on Equestria. A number of strange crafts filled the sky - some were fairly box-like, others were like great birds with outstretched wings.
"Is this...." Celestia had asked, when Markus replied.
"Earth? Yes. This is Theta City. One of the twenty-six major cities left on Earth," he told her which confused both princesses. "As I explained humans are a very aggressive race. Many centuries ago, war had devastated our planet."
"What happened?" Luna asked softly as she came to lay down beside him. On his other side Celestia also laid down to listen.
"In a way you can understand think of it like this," Markus said, then collected his thoughts on what had happened. "When the human race began to explore the stars, we began to establish colonies. Think of it as groups of ponies exploring lands across the oceans. They find lands, islands, even continents to colonize."
"I understand, We came to Equestria from distant lands to escape environmental hardships," Celestia explained.
"Well, some of the more distant colonies did gain self-sufficiency. The way they did so was unacceptable."
Celestia and Luna both looked at each other for a moment before Markus explained. "They used slavery which the human government found unacceptable. This brought the colonies into conflict with the Earth Government. The colonies had some war ships built, bought or stolen. They fought and they won their independence. That was roughly twelve hundred earth years ago. It would be like a colony you send across the sea to those islands who can provide for themselves, rejecting your rule, establishing their own government, and any race that was not pony is considered a second class citizen at best and at worst a slave."
The realization of what Markus had explained to them sunk in. Celestia shivered as she listened to Markus continue. "As time went on, Earth Government formed the United Coalition of Allied Systems, or U.C.A.S for short. This was an alliance between various space faring races which established trade agreements and a centralized military command structure in the event of a hostile race attempting conquest from outside the U.C.A.S. sphere of influence."
"So it was an united government?" asked Luna.
"No, each planet and race are self governing. The U.C.A.S. established trade routes and methods of settling conflict without resorting to full scale war. It also helped establish planetary colonies, the rights of said colonies and a process for a colony to gain independence if the colony becomes self sufficient.”
"I think we understand," Celestia said "So what about the independent human colonies?"
"Three hundred years after they gained their independence those colonies had reorganized themselves into the Sovereign Terran Imperium. There had been no contact with them in all that time as the peace treaty had established a demilitarized zone, a large area where neither side would cross as it would be an act of war. They launched a massive invasion, intent on retaking Earth as the seat of power and conquering a large amount of territory. The S.T.I. holds a view that humans are the supreme beings in the universe. Any other race is intended to be a subservient race. If they will not bow down they are to be subjugated if they have value, eradicated if they have none."
Since it was impossible for people to deceive Luna while in the dream state she was able to understand he was telling the truth. The idea of a colony of ponies rejecting their rule and waging war on their kin simply made her shudder.
"The war lasted for the better part of fifty years,” Markus continued “and they did attack Earth. Enough damage was done that the planet's ecosystems were on the verge of total collapse. For peace to be reestablished we had to redraw the location of the demilitarized zone. A lot of planets fell to the STI. Even today conflicts happen and both sides have massive war fleets."
Thinking of how to best describe it he said, "Imagine the political situation being akin to a barn full of sawdust in the air. Then someone walks into the barn with a lit candle."
"That's a bad thing,” Celestia said. “It would cause the barn to explode. Do you know where we are in relation to these governments?"
"Not a clue. My ship as I have explained effectively made a blind teleport. While the energy needed to make a jump is considerable, distance is not a factor in Jump Drive technology once made. I could be on the far side of the U.C.A.S, the S.T.I. or even in another galaxy." Markus slowly stood up as he closed his eyes and the area around them began to slowly shift and change.
"Very impressive," Luna said as she stood up. "I have not seen many who have control over their own dreams." The area changed to a house's large living room with a soft brown plush carpet, a small table in the middle of two couches with a chair designed for a human. The chair looked as comfortable as the couches.
"I learned how to control and influence my dreams at a young age,” he explained. “Please make yourselves at home and we can talk about Luna's concerns." Luna and Celestia moved to lay on the couches as Markus sat in the chair.
"If I recall Luna you were concerned about trouble coming?" Markus asked. He saw her nod and she repeated her concerns to her sister.
"I have to admit I do find it disconcerting, all the troubles recently combined with you drawing the Blade of Forest. I fear something dreadful is to come," Celestia admitted. Normally she wasn't as direct or forthright when it came to these sorts of things but she sensed that if there was to be trouble, he would be center to it. She relaxed as Markus seemed to be thinking.
"I do believe you are both correct. I hope we are wrong, but for the last thousand years or so Equestria has had peace and prosperity before the arrival of Nightmare Moon correct?"
With a soft sigh, Celestia spoke. "Yes. There had been little spots of trouble here and there but nothing that would come close to the trouble of any of these recent events."
Making some orange juice appear on the coffee tables for the two princesses, Markus reached up to pinch the bridge of his nose as he said "The first possibility is that the sword was indeed made by ancient humans and has some spiritual attunement to my race which is how I drew it." Looking at Luna and Celestia Markus asked, "You are not buying that are you?" They shook their heads, levitating the glasses to drink from the straws. "Didn't think so. Most likely there is trouble to come. If what you told me is true, then in order to draw the Blade of Forest, the blades of Earth, Fire, Air, and Water have also been drawn."
"They were not present when you drew the Blade," Celestia pointed out.
"You said the Blade of Forest could not be drawn without the other Blades having already been drawn. That doesn't mean the other blades haven't already been drawn. I would suggest you start looking for the resting locations of the other Blades or the Blade holders because I think the return of Nightmare Moon was simply a herald of trouble to come."
"How could you possibly know that?" Luna asked. She was sure that Markus believed himself to be telling the truth.
Luna and Celestia watched as Markus slowly stood, lifted up his hands up and close his eyes. When he opened them then burned with an emerald fire. The same emerald fire erupted from his hands, joining together as the magical field formed shocking both princesses. The pair of them jumped and moved back from the couches as they watched the emerald flame condensed into the form of the Blade of Forest. The green bladed sword held a green gem in the hilt with a golden guard, handle and a green gem in the pommel.
Markus turned the blade so that the point rested on the ground with his hands on either side of the guard. "When I drew the sword I was aware of it some how. I could feel it in the back of my mind as I laid in bed."
"You told us humans couldn't use magic and that you reacted badly to it," Celestia said. The blade could not kill her or Luna, but it could hurt them. Even in the dream world it was a powerful weapon.
As Markus held the blade the magic of the sword began to once more form around him. He held up his right hand watching the gauntlet form around it. The armor was brown over all, similar in color to that of tree bark. There were three leaf-like blades on the back of his gauntlets in emerald green. Interlocking plates of brown and green formed around him as he spoke.
"I said magic and my people do not mix well. It died out on my world ages ago. Yes, magic can do more harm than good for my people but humans are a very adaptable race. Arctic tundra, scorching desert, forest, mountain, even ocean. Humans can adapt to survive almost everywhere given time. As I have been healed by oils and potions, my body has begun to grow accustomed to the flow of magic. While I am sure I can never cast spells that doesn't mean I can't grow accustomed to magic itself."
Celestia and Luna were clearly nervous. They had had the sword sealed in the vault with the Elements of Harmony both to protect the sword and to protect themselves from being harmed by the Blade. Their fear was clear to Markus as he said "How do I know trouble is coming? You have only my word to take. There's something alive in the darkness. I can feel the power and its might."
Turning to leave Markus faded into the ether of his dreams, Luna and Celestia fading from the dream as Markus woke up.
New Friends and New Enemies
Chapter 9 Stellar Revelations
Chapter 9 Stellar Revelations
Chapter9
After the dream visit from Luna and Celestia, Markus was cornered by Princess Twilight Sparkle while eating breakfast. She wanted more in-depth knowledge about human culture. When she found out that humans were not the only space fairing race among the stars she almost went spastic, wanting to know about them all. Of course Markus had to tell her that if he tried to tell her all of their histories they would be talking for a hundred years or more. He would tell her a bit of human history as well as an overview of the U.C.A.S.. With Twilight's friends wanting to know about him she invited all her friends. Twilight also invited her brother Shining Armor and her sister-in-law Cadance.
The strong sunshine of the courtyard had been a welcome change from the inside palace. Along with Princesses Twilight Sparkle and Cadance, Shining Armor, and the Elements of Harmony, Markus was relaxing under a tree. He told his audience a tale similar to the one he had told Princesses Celestia and Luna about the rough history of human space flight, including the civil war. Twilight Sparkle of course had written down every detail in one of her books. Each of her friends had also been interested. Twilight, or rather Princess Twilight Sparkle asked, "So these two tribes of humans, those of the United Coalition of Allied Systems and the Sovereign Terran Imperium. Do you think that the two will reconcile their differences?"
"Not likely, The S.T.I. as you said is different tribe. They have used drugs to alter themselves, making themselves faster, stronger and quicker. These alterations to the body if not done carefully can lead to extreme aggression and emotions. They call themselves Homo Superior. If you think talking and diplomacy will work, in simple terms if you put three humans in a room and presented them with a problem there would be a dozen opinions on it and at least six points of view. No, the only way our people would be united would be for one group to conquer the other. That's what the S.T.I. tried to do. They tried to conquer Earth and all of humanity."
Markus had intended to explain what happened during the war but Pinkie Pie interrupted Markus to say "I hate to interrupt, but everyone who is reading this knows all about how savage humans can be. Let's avoid all the nasty icky details so we can keep the rating to a PG or PG-13 at least? We don't wanna give Fluttershy nightmares do we?" she asked making the writer do a spit take with his coffee in shock. Looking to Celestia all she could do was shrug to the writer and readers as the rest of their group just stared at Pinkie Pie like she was the one from another world.
Taking a drink of his apple cider Markus complimented Applejack on the product. "Wonderful! Very similar to what you can get on Earth Applejack. You would make a lot of bits if you could export it to the U.C.A.S.."
"Ah thank ya kindly. Ya really think ah could export it?" Applejack asked.
"Depends on what sort of trade agreements would be struck, The U.C.A.S. as a general rule is very conservative about contact with pre-FTL worlds," Markus said having already explained the concept of faster then light travel. "Unless there is significant reason that warrants an override of standard conduct."
"Oh! Oh I know! Unless they have important materials that your government needs?" Pinkie Pie shouted out.
"How do you obtain them if the world is not ready for contact?" Cadance asked. Her question was a valid one. He couldn't help but admire Cadance. She was so gentle and caring. Her pink coat colors were accented with the multicolored red, yellow, and purple mane. It was perfectly clear that she would represent the Element of Love in Equestria. While he understood the concept of the Elements of Harmony he had tried to reason them out, which only made Celestia smile. Luna and Celestia could only tell him that he was not correct. They also expressed sympathy for Markus' race to be so untouched by magic at large. It was honest sympathy.
"It depends on the circumstances, Princess Cadence. If the material can be mined without alerting the populace, it is mined."
"You steal from the inhabitants?" Cadance asked almost shocked.
"Nothing so simple," Markus said with a soft laugh. "Now the S.T.I. they would simply attack and conquer the planet in question turning the populace into slave labor. Any resistance would be met with the harshest retribution. A common tactic for one S.T.I. death would be the death of a hundred ponies of each type...." he said, shocking everyone with the brutality of the S.T.I. "I've seen them do... much worse."
"Now the U.C.A.S. would set up a trust fund, like a deposit where the payment for the materials is accumulated. When the inhabitants reach the right level of technology they are repaid for the materials we took in full. If the material we need can't be obtained covertly we send highly trained people down to pose as traders, altering their appearances so they look like the natives of the planet. The U.C.A.S. has even gone as far as finding a very large uninhabited landmass, or making one, and set up an entire populace there. Again when technology starts to progress to a certain point, the populace is removed and the island reclaimed. It becomes a major mystery and part of legend and lore. It does no real harm."
"Sounds like the U.C.A.S. has a plan for just about every possible situation. How would Equestria fit into that?" Shining Armor asked. Of all the ponies Shining Armor was the one he most respected. As a fellow soldier the two held a mutual respect. Both of them had sparred when Markus was sure that he was well enough. It had been an interesting fight. Shining Armor's magic had given him the advantage. Markus won by fighting dirty but Shining Armor had not gone down easily.
"Magic is rare, and especially to have it as powerful as it is on your world. It would be imperative that your culture be allowed to grow and mature naturally until you either developed space flight or the proper level of technology before contact was made. That would have been the plan had I not arrived. If the U.C.A.S. does show up I will be taken into custody and questioned. They will attempt to determine the level of cultural contamination then decide if I made the right choice of saving the Cutie Mark Crusaders."
"Ah dun believe it! How in tarnation could they fault ya fer doing th' right thang?"
Applejack's outburst caught most by surprise as Gilda sauntered out into the sunshine. "Because that's how politics work. A lot of rules that seem to be stupid or plain unneeded because the time may come when they are needed. Similar situations could have happened when the gryphons began to interact with the ponies. "
"Gilda!" the blue pegasus known as Rainbow Dash called out as she jumped from the cloud she had been resting on and joined up with her friend. Markus was still wondering how pegasi were able to manipulate the weather, much less lay on something that was effectively water vapor. It also begged the question of why the cloud had not evaporated or turned to water with it down this close to the ground.
"Hey Flutters," Gilda said causing the yellow pegasus mare to squeak out a greetings. "I have news from our king. He's agreed to send rubbings of the ancient tablets as per your request Mr. Ordain but he views this of such importance he has chosen to come himself and should arrive in time to attend the Grand Galloping Gala, then we can attend to uncovering history. Should also give the princesses time to convince other groups to do the same. I will openly admit... he's not thrilled with someone rewriting history, even if it is ancient history."
"Well at least the inhabitants of Equestria are not opposed to it," said Markus as he stood up, adjusting the Blade of Forest which he now had on his belt sheathed in a emerald green scabbard. The Princesses did not like the idea of the blade being in the control of anyone but when Markus had summoned the blade in his dreams, it vanish from the vault and appeared next to his sleeping form. As a sign of peace, Markus had used a tasseled cord that he wrapped around the scabbard, hilt and pommel of the sword in a very elaborate knot that Celestia had made for it while Markus was recovering. The scabbard had been enchanted to prevent the blade from being drawn, but the blade proved otherwise difficult to contain.. Markus stretched, putting his hands on his hips and pushed them forward as his back and spine started to pop. "Anyway I was wondering if there would be any danger if I asked for permission to get out of the castle."
Giving his question some thought, now that things had settled down Celestia spoke softly. "I do not see any harm in allowing it. Queen Chrysalis notwithstanding, I do not believe any of the other races are ready to open hostilities over your presence but I cannot guarantee your safety outside of Canterlot. The barrier that keeps the changelings out of Canterlot does not extend to Ponyville."
Thinking on the reply he was given Markus said "I understand, and I will be careful of my conduct and actions as well."
"I was wondering something,” Spike asked as Markus could finally answer it. “Where are we in relation to either group you spoke of?"
"I actually have an answer for that now." As Celestia and Luna both looked at each other he said "When my ship was tumbling to Equestria, I released a device into the sky so high it has been recording, documenting and sending all the data and information it has gathered to my wrist computer." Coming over he once more opened up the holographic emitter and with a smile he brought up a holographic image of the planet Equus. The land mass of Equestria was brought up first as everyone, Gilda included, came over. They could see the mountains and the other land masses as Markus used his hand to rotate the globe.
"So as you have told me, Celestia is the one who raises and lowers the sun while Luna raises and lowers the moon correct?" As that was once more confirmed Markus said, "Here is the image of your world with the moon." The image of the planet got smaller to allow for the moon to be seen as it is in relation to the size of the planet. "Here is your star." At that point the image shrank and it pulled out to show the image of the sun of Equestria which was roughly ten times distant as Equestria's moon but it was also the same size as the moon.
"Star?" Fluttershy asked. "You mean sun."
She and everyone there began to look at each other when Markus simply looked at her softly and smiled. "No... I mean star."
As the reality of what Markus said finally set in Rarity asked In wide-eyed disbelieving shock "You mean that the stars in the sky are just like the sun?"
"Yes. They are all basically the same thing - a sphere of fire that provides light.” It was an over simplified explanation but he wasn't sure they would understand exactly what stars were in reality. "But that is where the similarity ends. Your world is utterly unique." Markus set the animation into motion, showed the moon and the faster moving sun as they orbited Equestria. "This is the only geocentric system ever discovered."
"Geocentric?" Gilda asked.
"It's an old term one that fell out of use because any other documented system is heliocentric. Earth is one such example." And he brought up a picture of earth, as he allowed them all to see around it, and then he pulled it out to show the Earth's moon. "We actually call our moon Luna," he said eliciting a blush from the Princess of the Moon. Then he pulled the hologram back until they could see the sun in the picture. "And this... is Sol. Our star."
"It's so large. How does it not burn up your world?" Celestia had asked almost shocked.
"Earth is far enough away from the star that we get the heat and light but there is no danger of burning up." He set the image into motion. "This is how every other solar system known to either the S.T.I. or U.S.C.A works. Equestria is utterly unique. If a world like Equestria had been discovered by either group it would not remain secret for very long. We have powerful telescopes that allow us to see stars that you can't see with the naked eye, telescopes so powerful they are beyond anything you can imagine. That is why I can say Equestria is far beyond ether's sphere of influence and reach."
After the revelation that their world at least for the time being was not in danger of invasion it took a moment for the realization of what that meant for Markus to set in. Everyone went silent as it was Luna who gave voice to that realization. "There is no rescue coming for you... is there?"
For the first time Markus showed incredible sadness. "No," he said softly and then moved to lean back against a tree to rest. "No, I am stranded for the rest of my life. If I had my ship and If I could get it back into orbit I could have gotten home. But no, there is no chance of anyone finding me."
The full realization of how dire things were for Markus had set in. Even Pinkie Pie was surprised. "Now wait a minute!” she said. “The synopsis says.... MMMMRMRPH!"
At that point The Writer clamped his hand over Pinkie Pie's muzzle. "Pinkie Pie,” he said. “Relax, I will take care of it so chill out. I'm not gonna let you ruin the surprises for later chapters. Now please refrain from breaking the fourth wall in the future."
"Pinkie please control yourself." Twilight said. "Don't ruin the surprises for us all." At that point everyone there glared at her and Pinkie Pie was standing on her hind legs, her front legs crossed and with a sour look. "Oh alright."
Hoping to change the sour mood Princess Celestia smiled as she said "I know that this is hard for you but you will find that we are a very welcoming society. I am certain you will find friends among us."
"I thought I already had found friends," Markus said making Celestia and the others smile while Pinkie Pie offered a Cheer.
Markus simply closed his eyes and said "Thank you. With Rarity's help I am very sure I can have something formal and acceptable for the party." The idea of attending a party of this caliber did not sit well. He hated formal gatherings.
*****************
Deep in the Everfree Forest Queen Chrysalis was seething with anger. Not only had her attempts to have her revenge against Markus by inciting a war failed but worse, the gryphons had uncovered the deception and managed to prevent it. She was still in mourning for her lost children. The murderer would die. Those who protected him would also pay the price. Before she had simply wanted to imprison Celestia, Luna, Cadence, and Twilight Sparkle while she ruled in their stead. Now she desired their total destruction.
The Darkwoods Changeling hive might have been viewed by many as opportunistic parasites, taking advantage of any culture or race. While Queen Chrysalis did not care for the other races she did care for her own and the loss of those changelings when Markus Ordain had destroyed his ship had hurt her, like having her own children killed.
She was young at only two hundred years old compared to most other previous queens of her hive. Her race would barely consider her an adult. Once every thousand years the old queen would die and a new queen would be born from the last egg. As a result her race had one of the oldest collections of ancient legends, lore and documents in Equestria, one that rivaled the private archives of Canterlot.
That was where she sat going through various tablets and scrolls on swords until she found the answer to her problem. She knew that if she slew Celestia and Luna their very nature would simply have them reform in new bodies. But there was a way to kill them... permanently.
The legend on the tablet she was reading told of the blades of Earth, Fire, Air, Water, and Forest being forged to defend inhabitants from dangers, the chief among them being Discord. The Blade of Forest had been intended to be enchanted by humans so that it could slay Discord but Discord had succeeded in fouling the enchantment up. While it could hurt and cause a lasting wound to an immortal that magic could not heal but slowly, it could not kill them. But an evil human had discovered the secret of the magic blades and sought to make an enchanted dagger that could kill an immortal. While the blade had been completed and enchanted it had never been used.
The Elements of Harmony had been created which allowed for the imprisonment of Discord and the blade bearers had defeated the evil human. They then shattered the black Blade of Death into four parts, each part hidden by the last humans of Equestria. Each part was sealed in a hidden vault that could only be detected and unlocked by the blades of Earth, Fire, Air, and Water, each vault requiring a different blade to unlock and unseal.
The tablet spoke of a map carved on a stone tablet that held the locations of the four pieces in a chamber that could only be unsealed by the Blade of Forest, just in case the day ever came when such a horrid weapon was ever truly needed. To protect the world from that evil dagger, a powerful spell was placed upon the Blade of Forest so that unless the blades of Earth, Fire, Air and Water had already been drawn The Blade of Forest could not be drawn. Curling her lips into a wicked smile Chrysalis bared her fangs. She now had the map within reach. The question was how to get Markus to open that chamber for her so she could get the map, track down the other blade holders and then gain the shards of the dagger.
New Friends and New Enemies
Chapter 10 Party Crashers
Chapter 10
Markus adjusted his collar for the tenth time or so. He was dressed in a classic three piece suit, a tuxedo from his world - black shoes, pants, a white shirt, black jacket, and a black bow tie. A black cane with a gold cap helped accent it with the head of the cane an equine head. He had left the blade of forest in his bed chambers.
Rarity slowly approached him as she asked, "Is the collar too tight?" Rarity was lovely in a snow white silk dress, the hems trimmed in a wonderful lavender colored lace and the seams of the dress, where they could be seen, had gold embroidery. It was utterly flawless.
With a soft smile, Markus said "Not at all. The fabric is soft, the collar is perfect. I can move around. The uh... issue is that I don't enjoy these types of gatherings."
Twilight Sparkle was in a lovely lavender dress with amethyst gem stones set around it, her wings laid against her sides. She looked around at her friends. Rainbow Dash was in a lovely sky blue dress with white borders that had a cloud look to them. Pinkie Pie was in a cherry red dress with a pink boarder and Fluttershy was in a lovely pink dress with gold embroidery.
"Has anypony seen Applejack?" Twilight asked, somewhat concerned. The Grand Galloping Gala was alive with everypony who was somepony. Even Gilda, her father and of course the Gryphon King were there. Markus had not had a chance to speak with him due to the formalities being observed. He looked to see if he could spot the farmpony then said, "No, I haven't seen her yet." All of her friends seemed concerned as none of them had seen her either and she was very late.
A pegasus pony was approaching them. A male Markus could tell from his walk and swagger. He had on a black top that allowed his wings to rest at his sides. His mane and tail were two toned colored blue and a light green in tone. Noting his cutie mark Markus saw it was what looked like a red lightning bolt that zigged and zagged ending in an arrow point down.
Looking behind her Rainbow Dash smiled as she said “Swiftie!”
The pegasus trotted up beside Rainbow Dash as he gave her a kiss on the cheek making her blush.
"Dashie!" he said as everymare there gave an "Ohhhhhhh."
"Oh and who is this stallion to think he can kiss my Dashie?" a smug Gilda said approaching with a predatory gleam in her eye that said her territory was being invaded.
"Oh hey Gilda! This is Swift Wind my coltfriend!"
Gilda looked over at Rainbow Dash, arching her eyebrow up as she inhaled her scent.
"Smells like he's more then that Dashie." The shock and horror made Rainbow Dash blush very brightly and chuckle innocently.
"So you are Dashie's coltfriend," Gilda said as she walked around Swift Wind like circling her prey, narrowing her eyes before coming back up to look him in his eyes making him swallow hard. "I guess we will have to see how good she is on picking out her stallions." Gilda smiled in a seductive way what make everypony's jaw drop.
Twilight Sparkle couldn't help but smile. Markus, hoping to distract Twilight from her concern for her missing friend as well as distract the ponies from Swift Wind and Rainbow Dash came to get on one knee and asked, "Princess Twilight Sparkle, would you honor me with a dance?"
With an intense blush, Twilight offer her hoof when Markus extended his hand and she accepted, saying "I would be honored."
The sight was not lost on the Gala as Markus rose leaving all eyes on him as he explained, "Most of our dances are for bipeds..."
"Oh that's not a problem. We can walk on our hind legs for a while. I will need to balance on you of course," she said.
"A burden I will happily bear." When Markus and Twilight walked to the middle of the ballroom everypony turned their eyes to watch making Twilight self-conscious.
"They are watching us," she whispered.
"Let them princess. Let the worries melt from your mind and enjoy our dance," Markus said as he faced the princess and she reared up on her hind legs while Markus came to take her front hooves. Carefully he placed her right hoof on his left shoulder. Holding her left hoof in his right hand he brought his left hand under her right foreleg to hold her side.
"A few moments to show you the dance and how to move around. If you will, look at my feet and please watch the horn." Markus at that point allowed Twilight to see his feet as in front of everyone he showed Twilight a two legged dance step for formal dancing.
Amazed at how she could move around on her hind legs, he was surprised that the ponies had not evolved into anthropomorphic beings. Twilight and Markus held the entire attention of the ballroom. Slowly as Twilight and Markus spun and turned Twilight let herself be lost in the dance not even realizing that Markus had pulled her closer to hold her, inhaling the scent of her lavender perfume. Combined with the scents of her library it was a wonderful contrast.
Sadly for everyone this happy moment was not to last. The main door to the ballroom burst open as four pegasus Lunar Guards brought in a red stallion earth pony with a blonde mane and tail with a halved green apple cutie mark. Around his neck Markus could see as a classic horse yoke for pulling plows and such. His condition told Markus that he had been through a fifteen round boxing match and did not come out on top.
Carried by the Guards Big Macintosh lifted his head up and said, "Applejack and the Cutie Mark Crusaders have been foalnapped by Queen Chrysalis!"
The news stunned everyone in the ballroom. Rainbow Dash and Rarity stared in shock and horror. As the ponies were recovering from the shock, a green gem fell from the yoke around the stallion's neck. The gem flared up and then projected an image which turned their blood cold. Markus' eyes glared with murderous intent. Before everypony, they could all see Applejack and the fillies covered in what looked like a resin that held them to the wall of the hive. Around them a number of changelings moved as Chrysilis rested on her side on her throne. The black and green throne was accented by what looked like a number of pony skulls.
With a wicked sneer that showed her teeth the pony-like insect said, "As you can see, I have your pathetic Element of Honesty and those three worthless fillies. If you hope to see them alive again after today, I want Markus Ordain to come to the old castle ruins before morning, armed only with the Blade of Forest, and unarmored."
"Out of the question," Celestia said as a golden aura slowly formed around her. The Princess of the Sun was angry. She cared more for her subjects then she did herself at times. Luna, the Princess of the Moon stood beside her sister scowling.
"Then I will simply kill the most worthless. Kill the flightless pegasus."
At that point Markus stepped up as he said, "I'll come. But you-"
Celestia cut him off as she said, "Out of the question." Her tone was firm and harsh. "I will not let her gain possession of the Blade of Forest."
Realizing he needed to do something or else this would get out of hand Markus said with a flat tone "Alright, I believe this is the place where I say we should forget about the Cutie Mark Crusaders and you can always find another Element of Honesty." The sheer emotionless tone caught everyone there off guard.
Celestia looked shocked, almost horrified. Luna could see the emotions in Markus' eyes and realized what he was doing.
"Are you saying we should just forget about the fillies and Applejack, that another Element of Honesty can replace her?" Twilight said in utter disbelief that Markus could be so callous. Even Celestia was taken aback by what had been said. Luna made a subtle motion for Celestia to keep out of this.
The utterly blank face on Markus was one of controlled focus. His eyes boring into Twilight Sparkle, she was shocked when all he said was "Yes."
Even Chrysalis simply stared in disbelief at the total disregard he had just shown. Those in the ballroom was also aghast.
Turning angry Twilight shouted as she said, "No way! They are my friends just as I though you were! They are still alive! I know it in my heart! They have as much right to live as you do!"
With a shrug to his shoulders Markus said, "Alright. On the other hand I would um..." He trailed off, swallowing hard.
Celestia, in a very cool voice asked "You'd what Markus?"
Turning his eyes to the projection of Chrysalis he said, "If you harm those four, I promise you that is exactly what I am going to do. I will show up alone at the castle ruins armed and armored."
"You are not in charge - " she started to say in a commanding tone only to have Markus cut her off.
"Then kill them so I have a reason to butcher your species into oblivion!" Markus' eyes boiled with hatred and malice. "I have killed tens of millions of sentient beings without a second thought, without hesitation! Your species would be a tiny footnote! If you doubt me...ask the Element of Honesty. My ancestors once opened a portal to Hell, Hades, Tartarus, call it what you want! But one of my direct ancestors not only closed that portal but destroyed the invading forces entirely."
Chrysalis looked through the viewer with cold calculating eyes. Everyone could see the realization that she may have made a mistake in this course of action. But she never got a chance to speak as Markus spoke.
"As I was about to say, you will bring Applejack and the fillies with you. If they are not there and unharmed, I will begin the slaughter of your race then and there!"
He stepped on the gem, crushing it under his foot.
Turning around Markus could hear his heart pounding in his ears as he bared his teeth. The ponies and the others all gasped as he turned and looked to a pair of Royal Guards. "Get my armor from my room."
Feeling something running down his upper and lower lips he brought his hand to his face. Pulling it away revealed crimson blood. His blood pressure had shot so high so fast he started bleeding from the nose. "I will bring Applejack and the fillies back. If I can't I will bring you the head of Queen Chrysalis served in the traditional manner," he said to Celestia as he turned to leave the ballroom.
Celesita asked "In what manner?"
"Why upon a silver platter of course."
After Markus had left the ballroom, the Gryphon King came up beside Princesses Celestia and Luna.
"Note to self - 'Do not anger Markus or his species'."
New Friends and New Enemies
Forward.
Chapter 11
Standing in the old ruined castle's courtyard, Markus surveyed the area with Tech Vision. It would give away any changelings in the area, allowing him to see an energy field with the appearance of white lightning arcing over their bodies. It also gave sight into their physical form allowing him to see their skeletal structure.
Moving around in his overcoat Markus held the Blade of Forest in his grasp tightly, awaiting the arrival of the insect queen. He had chosen to leave his Gauss rifle and carbine in the castle. He did not want to risk them falling into Chrysalis' talons.
Despite Celestia's protests Markus had left with very few words to her, those being "Try and stop me." Now he could hear thunder in the distance as the white lenses of the mask scanned the area. It was still a couple of hours before dawn. Finally some white movement came to his attention as he held his blade at the ready.
In the distance he could see a number of changelings that hadn't even bothered altering their form as he zoomed in. He could also see non-changeling shapes. Zooming in and using his other vision modes he could see Applejack and the Cutie Mark Crusaders. The sight made his blood boil, seeing them wearing bits and brides with chains held between two changelings. They were covered in small cuts and bruises and had what appeared to be resin sticking in their coats given them an abused and filthy appearance.
The other sight was a larger changeling. Queen Chrysalis made the changelings spread out, separating the four ponies as he was approached. This instantly caused problems. He could not effectively formulate a way to free them all at once. He could free two, maybe three but that would result in the death of one of them. Chrysalis slowly approached, her teal eyes glaring with hatred.
Holding the blade at the ready as she approached him, the pair of them started circling each other slowly as if two dragons were preparing to cut loose all their power on each other.
Finally Markus spoke. "I'm here queen of maggots." His voice held serious disgust, evident even through his vocalizer.
With a hiss Chrysalis spoke. "You better address me properly, unless you want them to suffer." As if on cue two of the changelings twisted the chains attached to Scootaloo's bridle making her scream in pain.
With a yell Markus ordered "Stop it now!" The order held enough power and command that the changelings actually stop harming Scootaloo. Chrysalis snarled at Markus. "As long as you have them alive and unhurt." he said slowly removing his helmet, allowing her to see his face and his eyes which held nothing but unbridled hatred and rage. "You can force me to do what you want, but the moment you have killed one..."
With a sadistic smile she said, "You forget, I have spares."
"One or a hundred. You harm them again I'll take my chances on attacking to rescue them. I am not going to stand back and do nothing as I watch you torture or inflict pain on them. Now, you want something from me. What is it?" he demanded with venom dripping from his voice.
Weighing her options, her instinct told her that he wasn't bluffing. Now that she could see him face to face and eye to eye. she realized just how big of a mistake she had made. He was looking, even now, for a reason and a chance to turn the game around on her. She did not show any hint of fear as she said "Then you had best obey. My children are far stronger and faster than they appear. They will rip their pretty heads off in the blink of an eye. Now follow," she commanded turning to lead him away.
Gritting his teeth he said coldly "I should have killed you when I had the chance. A mistake I won't repeat." That made her turn around and hiss with murderous intent.
"Leave your helmet, you won't need it." she said as he put it on in defiance. "I said...!"
Her words were cut off as the blade in the blink of an eye was brought right to her throat. For a moment she thought she had just lost her head.
As he secured his helmet in place he said, "And let you replace the hostages around a corner when I am not looking? Over your dead body."
The queen growled, baring her sharp teeth. With the murderous intent they both had, they both understood that when things came to blows no quarter would be given or asked for. It would be a fight to the death. Realizing that she could only push him so far before he snapped she said, "Fine."
Markus was forced to follow the queen into the forest as the other changelings kept Applejack and the Cutie Mark Crusaders in tow.
***************************************
Watching the display between Markus and Queen Chrysalis through the mirror enchanted with a drop of Markus' freely given blood made those assembled in the Palace shudder. Twilight shivered. The hatred, the sheer level of hatred had terrified her. How could someone who was so gentle one minute, turn so cold and heartless the next?
"It will be all right Twilight,” Celestia said to her faithful student. “We just need to wait to see where they are going before we can try to rescue Applejack and the fillies."
"What I don't understand is how he could be so gentle at the Gala, and now so...."
"Cold? Heartless? Hateful? Rage filled?" Gilda asked softly. "He's a predator, a hunter. Despite his apparent anger it's all an act. He is perfectly under control. When he swung the blade at Chrysalis he stopped it with perfect control. He's waiting and watching for the right point to attack. But as for his rage, he's being attacked in a way he can't defend, his friends having been attacked and hurt."
Gilda's father looked at the image in the mirror as he turned to approach Celestia. "In the interests of good relations, I am offering the assistance of my guard."
Turning to the gryphon Celestia nodded. "Thank you ambassador."
The mirror shifted its gaze allowing them to follow Markus as they magically teleported into a ruins complex. As the image expanded both Luna and Celestia recoiled.
"Heavens no! They are going after the Blade of Death!" Luna said in shock and horror. To Luna and Celestia the realization that Chrysalis was going after the map meant she intended to try and kill them.
The fright of the celestial mares was evident. "Princess?" Twilight asked.
Celestia explained. "Before ponies arrived in Equestria there was said to be a great war. The windigos and even Discord were involved. Sadly Discord being the force of Chaos could not be defeated much less controlled. The Elemental Blades were meant to confront, fight, and eventually slay Discord and other immortal beings but only if all five wielders worked in harmony."
Luna continued. "From what I understand Discord discovered the blades were being forged and was able to meddle enough in the Blade of Forest's creation that it could not deal a fatal injury to an immortal but could leave a lasting wound that could take centuries to recover from. If Celestia and I were killed by this blade, our physical forms would be destroyed."
"But with the coming of the dawn or dusk our physical forms would reform around our spirits," Celestia explained. "Discord corrupted the last human mage alive on our world and he forged a sixth blade. A dagger designed to truly kill an immortal and he succeeded. If Luna and I had been slain by this weapon we would be forever dead."
A shudder rippled through the entire room. Gilda and her father were uneasy. While there was tension between the Principality of Equestria and the Gryphon Kingdom the idea of what might happen if Celestia and Luna both died made them shudder.
"The Blade Wielders of Earth, Fire, Air, Water, and Forest fought against this human and managed to slay him. The dagger was then shattered into four pieces. Each piece was taken to a remote distance land, placed in ruins and sealed. A map was created for where these ruins were in case such a horrible weapon was needed again and the map was sealed by the Blade of Forest. That land would later become Equestria.”
"And when you found the Blade of Forest in the Everfree Forest, you built the Castle of the Pony Sisters around it!" Twilight chimed in.
"Exactly." Celestia finished.
"Then if you know where they are moving I suggest we leave now and ambush them before they get the map,” the Gryphon ambassador suggested.
Celestia nodded as Luna addressed her guard captain. "Captain Shadow-Mane, Commander Black-Mane! Gather the troops. Queen Chrysalis must not get her talons on the map at any cost. Oh and make sure our troops know not to get between Markus and Chrysalis. When those two fight I don't want any pony in the middle."
“Gilda, I want you to stay here."
"Father!" she exclaimed.
"No buts! This time stay here. For my sake Little Wing." he implored her as she all but harrumphed.
Turning to his guards he said "Arm up, we are taking the battle to the Insect Queen."
New Friends and New Enemies
Chapter 13 A Monument To All Their Sins
Chapter 13
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,
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.
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New Friends and New Enemies
Chapter 12 Sins of the Past, Ancient and Renewed
Chapter 12
They moved carefully over the soggy ground of Froggy Bottom Bog, through the underbrush and the ruins of an ancient stone structure. Markus followed the Insect Queen as she used her magic to move a massive boulder to the side.
"Celestia told me about the changelings and how you feed off of emotions," Markus said, attempting to draw her out, bait her, trying to get her to make a mistake. "You know, the changelings could have lived in peace with the Equestrians in a symbiotic relationship." At first as the moved into the tunnels Chrysalis seemed to be ignoring him but he knew that she heard every word. "Instead you tried to conquer them, to feed off them. You and your children are nothing more than parasites, like worms in the gut."
That made her hiss. Turning around she faced Markus. As she stared into the lenses of his mask she said "My people lived on this world long before the equines ever drew first breath and will exist long after they are reduced to nothing more than servants of my species. I will show them who the true masters of this world are. As for the gryphons, the dragons and the other lesser races they too will bow down." With a cruel and sinister smile she started walking around Markus. She asked, "Do you know where we are going? No of course not."
The venom dripped from her lips as she said in a soft voice "We are searching out a relic of your race. There first were five blades: Earth, Fire, Air, Water, and Life. That is the blade's true name - The Blade of Life. But a sixth blade was made, The Dagger of Death." As Applejack listened the fillies shivered in fright at the sheer malice and hatred in her voice. "Forged by a human it had the power to outright kill an immortal. But it was shattered and buried. Sealed away."
"The Blade of Life unlocks a map to the location of these shards. Once I have them I will reforge the dagger and I will use it to kill Celestia and Luna. I will feast on Cadance and rip the essence out of that whelp Twilight Sparkle. With them dead, I will absorb their powers and become goddess of all Equestria. I will take great pleasure in making the Equestrians suffer for you murdering my children and you will get to watch them suffer."
As Markus took a step forward he heard the sounds of Applejack whimpering as the changelings pulled on the cables, constricting them and making the fillies cry out in pain. He had to resist the urge to use the Blade as he realized that once he unlocked the map, Applejack and the fillies were as good as dead. "I should have killed you when I had the chance, a mistake I won't make twice." As the group moved through the tunnels they came upon a multichambered passageway. The queen looked perplexed, looking down each passageway – each of them identical but covered in moss and lichen.
"Lost are we?" Markus taunted.
"Four passages, three of them lead to a death trap with no escape." she said as she turned to Markus. "Use the Blade of Life to tell us which way to go. Or do I send one of the fillies to inspect the passageways?"
He could hear a whimper from Applebloom as Applejack said to Markus, "Dun do it, ya can't...."
"Send the earth pony down the passage first!" The changelings began tugging Applebloom, making her squeal.
Markus shouted "STOP IT!" and growled at Chrysalis, feeling his temper and his hatred building like a pressure cooker. "Alright I will use the blade."
He moved beyond Chrysalis, placed his hand on the blade's hilt and drawing the blade he lifted it up. Pointing it between the four passageways he closed his eyes and focused his mind and his thoughts even as he heard Chrysalis taunting him. "What a pathetic race humans are, unable to use even the simplest magics. My patience is finite. If you don't find it quickly I will send them anyway." Markus could only push her out of his mind to try and center himself.
He willed the Blade to direct him and he felt a tug on the blade to the right. As he moved the blade to the right it began to glow brightly at the third passage to the right. Allowing the blade to move further to the right it began to darken and the glow stop. He began to move the Blade to the left and the glow reappeared. "This way..." Markus said starting to walk down the passageway.
"STOP!" Chrysalis commanded and at that point Applebloom was forced ahead of them, Applejack pulling and tugging on her bindings. "Surely there will be traps to guard the way. We don't want you to accidentally miss any of them now do we..."
"No ya can't, Let me do it!" Applejack pleaded, tears in her eyes.
Chrysalis hissed. "You? He might be willing to let you die so he can use the surprise of the trap being sprung to attempt to rescue the rest. But with her leading the way... In fact, you will get to watch her progress through the tunnel."
Applejack was forced to march beside the queen with Applebloom in sight. The frightened filly whimpered and whinnied as she composed herself and with some hesitation began to move. Using the vision modes of his helmet Markus was able to identify various traps. Pressure plates and metal spikes, all of them charged with magic to keep functional. He used his tech sight to help protect Applebloom.
Finally they entered a large chamber deep underground. The sight was impressive. Sealed for ages, untouched and long forgotten. They could see statues carved in the shaped of skeletons. They could see the skeletons of Earth ponies, Unicorns and Pegasi all of them in an attacking pose as they surrounded the door, as if they would attack who ever approached it. In the arch he could see an impression of a blade. Changing vision modes as the changelings spread out among them Markus began to walk past the statues as the ground began to tremble. He noticed odd heat signatures and he could see what looked like a number of recent disturbances. Markus realized they were not alone here. Moving to the door Chrysalis had the the hostages spread out nice and wide.
Looking at the place he took one more look behind him as he noted the hostages' positions as he began channeling the hatred he had into the blade that he had found. All this had been caused by him drawing this blasted sword. Then he felt it. The blade was absorbing the hatred, the energy he was directing to it. He could feel a new power starting to awaken. Perhaps he could prevent this map from being exposed.
"Open it, NOW!" Chrysalis demanded. "I will not wait any longer!"
With resignation Markus began to walk up to the gateway and with the blade in hand he heard her say, "No hesitation, no pauses... put the blade in the lock or they die!" Forced to follow her directions he placed the blade in the indentation. There was a series of massive clunks, as if huge stones were being slide out of the way, then the doorway began to fall away. Grabbing hold of the blade's handle as Chrysalis was distracted, he channeled all his hatred and anger into the blade and lashed out with it.
The energy the blade had stored from Markus was amplified and released. A massive green wave of energy came from the blade in a crescent arc wave that illuminated the area, taking Chrysalis by surprise. The wave impacted a number of the standing statues causing them to explode and shatter.
Then came the attack, The war cry of gryphons and ponies came as they descended from the roof of the cavern. In the surprise a number of unicorns attacked the changelings holding Applejack and the fillies hostage, freeing them as they ran for cover. The gryphon ambassador alongside Luna and Celestia had appeared in war armor.
Markus lunged for Chrysalis. Holding his blade up he lashed out at the changelings that appeared in his way. Using his wrist blades Markus slashed at them and took the head of one of the changelings off as another lunged at him, knocking his helmet off. That changeling met with the Blade of Forest as it was plunged into his chest and thrown to the side.
Chrysalis looking at the escaping hostages. One figure made her sneer - the stunted winged form of Scootaloo. She unleashed a spell at the young pegasus, a bolt of sickly green energy. To her the creature was useless, unable to fly, so she thought to simply kill it.
The bolt of energy struck as Scootaloo raced under the remains of a statue. The statue exploded, shards of stone bursting out and the sound of her scream cut through the entire cavern.
Markus turned his eyes and head to the sight, watching Scootaloo tumble and roll with blood on her back and wings. For Markus the entire world vanished as he returned his gaze to Queen Chrysalis, the sheer level of his anger and hatred coming from his eyes. Markus dropped the Blade of Forest and retracted his blades into his gauntlets. He was going to tear her apart with his bare hands.
Slow methodical steps came as Chrysalis approached. Rearing up she used her right limb to smack him across his face. "Give up, you're nothing!" she said attacking him with her left limb. The sound of bone cracking could be heard as she staggered Markus. His anger was so great that he allowed her to hit him to use the pain to get past the anger.
"You'll to surrender to death!" she roared out and lifted both her hooves up as Markus, focused and with his all his hatred and strength knocked her limbs to the side as his left hand grabbed a hold of her throat.
"YOU'RE WRONG!" he roared out. Pulling his right fist back he slugged Chrysalis hard once across the jaw that made a sicking crunching sound as her jaw was broken. A second punch to her face broke the side of her head. He took hold of her horn and let go of her throat. In one movement he turned and flung her across the cavern at a damaged statue, causing it to crack and knocking her senseless as it shattered. As she struggled to recover Markus roared with all his anger as he approached her.
"I AM MARKUS ORDAIN! SOLE SURVIVING HEIR TO THE SOVEREIGN TERRAN IMPERIUM THRONE!" "AND I," he said once more punching her in the chest, causing a massive gout of green insect blood to spurt out of her mouth "WILL NEVER SURRENDER!" Pulling his right fist back, he extended the middle blade from his gauntlet. He swung the blade as Chrysalis' eyes went wide, his words the last thing she heard as the blade cut clean through the exoskeleton, tendons and sinew of her neck severing her head in one clean stroke.
As he held her head his rage began to abate, until the head he was holding began to shapeshift into the head of one of the common changelings. With that his rage almost returned as he turned to make a mad dash to the chamber. As he raced inside he could see a black box broken and shattered, and more importantly, empty. Markus felt his rage return in full force at having been deceived. While the attack happened, Chrysalis had changed places with one of her changelings and had deceived everypony there.
Exiting the chamber he screamed out as loud as he could. "CHRYSALIS, I WILL HUNT YOU TO THE ENDS OF THIS WORLD UNTIL I KILL EVERY LAST ONE OF YOUR RACE!!"
Struggling to regain his anger and self control he could see a number of changelings dead. The gryphon ambassador as well as Luna in her silver armor and Celestia in her golden armor looked at him with fear and suspicion. He recalled what he said and retracted the blade into his wrist gauntlet. He couldn't help but noticed that Luna and Celestia had multiple cuts and slashes on them. As he rushed to pick up the Blade of Forest he came over to Scootaloo, worried as Rainbow Dash and Swift Wind were helping the young Pegasus.
Rainbow Dash gave him news that pulled a weight off his shoulders. "She's alright, the cuts are only on the surface. She'll be alright." Rainbow Dash said hugging her little sister as Markus turned to look at the scene of battle. With the gryphons and ponies they had defeated the changelings.
Celestia, Luna, and the other ponies looked at Markus as he went over to retrieve his helmet. Celestia spoke up. "We need to have a talk."
"Yes we do. However I don't think that this is the time or place considering we have wounded and injured. Chrysalis is out there and she could send in an army of Changelings to harass us." Markus said.
Both Celestia and Luna came up on either side of Markus so they could teleport everyone away. Shortly after the group had left a figure cloaked in both shadows and a dark fabric cloak went around the battle site. Small vials floated out from under the cloak to collect an ounce of Celestia's and Luna's blood before placing a stopper in them and moving away. A laugh of evil erupted from its voice.