Chapter 1 - A journey begins.
When The Silent Roam.
Chapter 1 – A journey begins
Ponyville sat in its usual place. The usual citizens roamed around and mingled. Friends played in the ever green parks and relatives hugged relatives in rare, cherished meetings. The bakers baked delicious goods for all to enjoy and the writers wrote books that may line the shelves of libraries or stay as a personal memento. But, this meant nothing to Shuur ‘Makhanee right now. He was concentrating. Ten books floated in a circular fashion around him, each enveloped in a deep red field of energy.
His current magical mentor spoke, “Okay, that’s great. Now, try lifting twenty books.”
Shuur stretched out his mind, and doubled the amount of books he was currently floating. His hands grew brighter as he used more magic to grab the extra tomes. Each he studied with his Mind Eye ability, a power that allowed him to magically sense all around him. It let him see others magical fields and even if he was blinded, he could see all directions at once. It took awhile to get used to, but he adapted.
Twilight smiled, “Great! See, your already getting better at this. I remember when five books gave you trouble.”
Shuur smiled in return, “Those were the days, magic was so new to me. I could barely cast a beam spell, only when I attacked that green vengeful dragon did I really use one effectively.”
Shuur let his mind wander, the first time he figured out how to use his newly found powers; he was lying in a hospital bed. Right after he had… *Bonk*
“Gah!” cried Shuur in surprise.
The rest of the books followed suit from the first that had hit him. And each one that fell, Shuur’s confidence went with it. He could feel the want to continue slipping. He wasn’t very good with magic. He tried levitating, he failed, he tried illusions, he failed, and he wasn’t even good at using offensive spells. Sure, he would release the occasional beam or blast, but they left him drained and were almost never accurate.
Shuur surveyed the area around him with closed eyes, his mind eye ability allowed him to see everything at once. At least he had that right. His unusual ability was the only thing that kept him for giving up magical training. That and whenever he found himself trying to quit, Harmony would visit him in his sleep and scold him for giving up so easily.
“Aw, you were sooo close to. Just a little longer and you would have beaten your old record.”
Twilight was always encouraging him to do better, another reason he did not simply give up. This entire magic thing was confusing and frustrating; he had trained his entire life! Learned how to pilot nearly every vehicle and use every weapon! Now he was having trouble keeping primitive books afloat.
“I believe I’m finished for the day Twilight, I need some rest and time to meditate on my learning’s.”
Shuur rose from his seated position on the floor. As he bent upwards, he felt his muscles cramp and tighten from sitting for hours on end trying to cast some
Twilight sighed, “Fine, you can go Shuur. But remember your book this time please.”
Shuur nodded and moved to the Library’s center table and picked up his book on the behavior of magic and some novice spells. Twilight had given the book to him a year ago. An entire year he had been training with Twilight, helping around at the Apple’s farm, taking care of the Cutie Mark Crusaders and simply becoming a well-known resident. He had repainted his home, added some furniture and had even invited guests for a bite to eat. He was a softy now a days. Just a year prior, the only ponies he would trust were the Cutie Mark Crusaders and he would kill other creatures without hesitation. But this planet, this country, had changed him. He trusted every pony, hesitated when he hunted for meat, and even gave up his armor and weapons for study at a Canterlot College. What was he becoming?
“Ahem, Shuur, you said you’d be going.” coughed Twilight.
Shuur blinked, realizing that he had been standing there with his magic book in hand.
“Ah, yes, thank you Twilight. See you tomorrow I suppose.”
“Alright, tomorrow it is. Bye Shuur.” Twilight waved as he exited her home and occupation.
As he left he looked up at the sky, it was covered in the dainty speckles of stars and a single solid full moon. Shuur sighed; it had been on a night like this he had figured that the rest of the Covenant would have found this world. Asked the ponies to join the covenant, let them advance throughout the ages. Now, he walked home with a book in one hand, and a fistful of air in the other. Thoughts of leaving this world seemed like a stupid idea now. Why would he want to? It was peaceful; he had friends and a home. Why was he so down in the dumps? Oh, that’s right; he would never see another of his kind again. Never have a child of his own or a mate that he loved. This place was like a paradise in prison.
Well sorry that you feel that way Shuur, but I’m afraid this planet simply doesn’t have the technology to even reach it’s moon.
Shuur was surprised; Harmony had never contacted him outside of his dreams other than the first time they ‘met’.
Which is why I reserve this kind of communication for emergencies. Get your rest Shuur, Twilight will receive a letter tomorrow that may change your life forever.
Before Shuur could enquire further, he felt her leave his mind. She was mysterious that way. He continued his solemn night march to his home, just meters away.
Once he reached the gate, an honest smile crossed his maw; he made this house a home. The small fence outside was a pearly white, the house itself had a base color of deep red, but not crimson. A small rug was placed just in front of the door, it stated ‘WELCOME’ sewn into the fabric. Shuur grabbed the doors brass handle and gave it a firm twist. The oak frame opened silently on its well-maintained hinges. He stepped inside, and let out a long breath. Home is where the heart is they say. This obviously meant his other one was still with the hopes the Covenant would find this world.
He snickered at his own terrible joke and walked upstairs. The floor boards no longer creaked under his weight as he had some new apparel, a long grey cloak to be exact. Of course, Rarity couldn’t make it plain; she added brass buttons up the middle and embroidery along the edges of the hood and sleeves. He really didn’t mind that terribly, it was just hat it made him look like he was going to some Canterlot college, not a noon day stroll or lessons with Twilight. Shuur made his way to his bedroom, opening the door and setting the book down on the dresser beside the door. Why was there a dresser? Because Rarity had also seen it fit to make a whole line of different clothes and cloaks for him, that’s why. She truly was an Element of Generosity, and she showed it every way possible.
He undid the buttons on the front, slid his arms out and threw the cloak to the floor, too tired to actually care. He literally fell into bed and covered himself up beneath the warm sheets. He stared at the ceiling, what had Harmony meant by a life changing letter? Or was it a changing letter that was alive? Perhaps it was… ZzZzZz…
(ஜ۩۞۩ஜ)
*Knock Knock Knock*
Shuur was shaken from his dark dreamless slumber by the door. He rose up from bed looking out the window to see he had over slept. Shuur retrieved his cloak and book, figuring it to be Twilight wondering why he was late. He hastily buttoned up the cloak with his telekinesis and ran down stairs to the door.
He grabbed the door handle and yanked it the door open, “Sorry Twilig…”
That was not Twilight. The Unicorn standing in front of him was a bright white and wore golden armor. A royal guard.
“Err, morning officer, something wrong?”
The Unicorn looked him over, “I take it your Shuur ‘Makhanee?” he asked, a tone dead of emotion, obviously a little more experienced.
“Yes I am, again, something wrong? I have lessons I am to-” Shuur never finished as the guard interrupted.
“That is why I’m here; Princess Celestia has asked that all the Element bearers are gathered, plus one.”
“Oh, well then, lead the way.”
The guard nodded, then began to trot towards the Library. Shuur followed without hesitation, if this was a Princess level of attention then he would never question to where he was lead.
The guard looked him over again, “You know, when the Princess said you were different, I thought she meant like a crazy or deranged pony, not an 8 foot tall lizard.”
Shuur cringed, “Saurian, actually. And I’m not just a different citizen, I’m alien, seems you didn’t get the memo.”
The guards eyes widened, “O-Oh, sorry sir, I just never thought…”
Shuur chuckled at the guard’s sudden change in mood.
“I am not your superior, and I don’t have any death beams if that’s what you think; I gave those all to college students.”
The guard seemed to calm down just a smidgen, “It’s required I say sir to a person of importance, that and you are slightly imposing; and college students? Isn’t that a bit dangerous?”
Shuur shrugged, “Both Princesses said that my donation was appreciated, so I assume that it is fine. Though yes, students just learning about this sort of thing and then messing with plasma batteries is a little dangerous, I’m sure they have teachers who know how to handle the situation.”
The guard was considerably more relaxed now, “Okay then, oh, we’re here.”
Shuur looked up, yep the Library. The guard stepped aside and Shuur went inside, wondering what it was that they needed his assistance with. What he found awaiting inside surprised him; both Princesses and all of his friends were present, each looking his way.
Celestia smiled, “Ah good, Shuur, you’re here. Now that everypony is present, let me explain why you’re all here.”
Shuur stepped alongside Twilight, eager to know what Harmony would have contacted him for.
“Well, everypony remembers when the… infected Six stated that he transported the Elements of Harmony all across Equestria?”
Celestia looked over them all, after confirming they remembered, she continued.
“Well, for a year now, we have had our best adventures and scouts scour Equestria, and they found something very disturbing.”
Shuur gulped, knowing what was coming next.
“They were only able to retrieve a single Element, Magic, the rest are truly spread across the planet.”
After Celestia finished, a chorus of gasps followed suit.
“But Princess Celestia” asked Twilight, “how are we supposed to protect Equestria if there are no Elements?”
Celestia smiled, “Well, since you all can’t wield magic that can defeat gods, I have decided to send you all on a journey to explore the rest of the world and find the remaining Elements.”
Shuur stood dumbstruck, a journey all across Equis? It couldn’t be done, well, not without some sort of fast mobile aircraft that didn’t require the winds guidance. And since the only air transport ponies had was a hot air balloon, he doubted this plans execution.
Twilight spoke for everypony’s silent mouths, “But princess, we don’t have any way to transport us all across the planet. That would require some sort of mobile air platform, which we haven’t developed.”
Luna smiled and stepped ahead, “Oh contraire Twilight Sparkle, thanks to the generous donations by a certain alien, we have developed an airship with special propelling technologies. And some other cool features as well.”
Shuur raised a brow, “How did my armor and weapons help with aircraft technology? Sangheili armor wasn’t developed for flight, even a ranger’s armor was made for the weightlessness of space.”
Luna kept up her smile, “We were having troubles with weight and durability. Your armor metal is light and tough, making it an excellent choice. But, we didn’t have a single metal like it, until I remembered something.”
She lifted the crown off her head using magic and held it in front of her.
“My regalia are made of Lunar Steel, a special metal only found on our moon. I had the two compared on a hunch, and the Unicorns magical tests turned up positive. After I personally went back to the moon for a period of time, I retrieved as much Lunar Steel as possible. The amount I dug up was enough for us to make a proper airship.”
Shuur was, to say the least, a little in denial. How could Princess Luna just up and go to the moon but not go around the planet and find the Elements? And what spell allowed them to test metals, that could be a useful in a couple of simulations Shuur made up.
“Well, that is the plan. Any questions?” questioned Celestia.
A single cyan hoof rose up.
“Yes Rainbow Dash, what is it?”
Rainbow smiled, “Okay, first of all, what color is it?”
Celestia smiled, “Its base color is blue, and the metal structures are deep blue from the Lunar Steels natural color as well as a few red stripes for added effect.”
Rainbow Dashes smile spread, “Soooo awesome!”
Celestia turned her focus to the group entirely, “Well if there are no further objections, the airship will be here in five hours to pick you all up. Please use this time to pack and say your good-bye’s.”
Celestia watched as the group dispersed. She didn’t like not giving them a choice, but with the rising hostility from the Griffins and the re-appearance of the Crystal Kingdom, Equestria was becoming a little too unstable without its main line of defence.
Luna sat down beside her sister, “You forgot to tell them I was coming.”
Celestia’s eye’s widened, “Oh dear, sorry Luna, I was distracted.”
Luna waved a hoof, “It’s nothing huge, I will tell them myself when they are ready to go.”
Celestia sighed, “This entire situation has me so worried. If we can’t find the Elements, Equestria is vulnerable to attack. We have no standing military; yes we have the Royal Guard, but there are no more of them than there are ponies in this town. That is nowhere near enough to defend a country, especially a country large and peaceful as Equestria.” Celestia
Luna wrapped a wing over her sister’s shoulder, “That is why we must not fail. Worry not sister, we have the most famous and powerful ponies in Equestria joining the Leviathans crew. Not to mention an alien who has wielded Harmony’s power directly, we shall return with the Elements and perhaps even new allies.”
Celestia smiled and leaned into the hug, “Your right, you won’t fail. You’re going so I don’t have to worry about their safety, and I know that Shuur has the ability to defend himself and others as well.”
“See, you’re already feeling better, we’ll be fine and maybe even come back with a few tales to tell.”
Celestia was nothing else than happy right now, her sister was right. They would be fine, they would return unharmed and with the Elements in their possession. The only reason Luna was going though was because of the slight chance they would meet other races, other tribes species beliefs, Luna would be a royal ambassador for Equestria while Celestia looked over the nation alone. Again. Though they had argued that Celestia should be the one to go, Luna insisted that she wasn’t ready to govern the country alone and that Celestia was still the major figure head. Celestia had cringed at her sisters thinking that Luna was still saw as the old day mare, even after three years of staying and learning modern Equestrian traditions.
A nudge removed Celestia from her wandering mind.
“Cely, are you alright?” asked Luna, “You seemed to be zoned out.”
Celestia shook her head to clear it out, “I’m fine, just reminiscing on events past.”
Luna nodded and stared off at the many books lining their shelves. Each sister sat in silence as they waited.
(ஜ۩۞۩ஜ)
…And waited, and waited.
“Ready!” called twilight from upstairs.
Both sisters turned their heads upward, one from a slumber, and the other from a book she had found in the library.
“Oh, Twilight, good to know. The airship will be here in an hour or so, you still have plenty of time.” said Celestia as she replaced the book.
Twilight let out a sigh of relief, “Good, it’s going to take a while to get all my bags downstairs.”
Luna raised an eyebrow, “Just how many bags do you have?”
Twilight lifted a disturbingly long list from behind her and began to read.
“Bag 1: Scrolls, quills, ink, extra ink, extra scrolls, extra quills.
Bag 2: Coat, rain coat, scarf-”
“Alright, I understand, just how many bags though?” interrupted Luna.
Twilight frowned but continued, “Well considering the circumstances, 7 large suitcases is packing a little light. Would you like me to pack more?”
“No, that’s quite enough.” answered Luna rather quickly. She had no desire to be packing Twilights entire house aboard the airship.
Twilight stored the list and began floating her first bag away from her room. Luna eye’s widened as it barely fit through the door. And she had seven others like this?
“T-Twilight, are you sure that all of those supplies are necessary? Surely you could do without seven suitcases full?” inquired Luna.
Twilight looked back, and then gave a sheepish grin, “Well, I suppose I could do without bag six and four, and maybe three.”
“Much better, now, shouldn’t you be saying your goodbyes? I’m sure that there are some ponies who would wish you well.”
Twilight scratched her chin, “Well there’s… no… then there’s… nah…”
Celestia looked a little concerned, “My dear Twilight, how many real friends have you made here?”
“Let’s see, there all of my best friends and they’re coming, spike asleep after helping me pack. So that leaves…” Twilight looked back at all the ponies she had met, she had really considered all of Ponyville her friends, but not such great friends that she would really need to say goodbye to.
She sighed, “I have plenty of friends, but none are really great enough friends that I need to personally say goodbye to.”
Celestia smiled, “That’s good to hear, I had almost thought you stay in the library for most of your time here. Being in-sociable is not a healthy lifestyle for a pony.”
Twilight nodded, “I know, it’s just hard to make good friends with everypony when you can’t break physics like Pinkie Pie.”
Both princesses chuckled at her jest, then Twilight continued to bring down bag one.
Luna stepped upstairs, “Need any help?”
Twilight looked rather surprised, “W-What? No, I’m fine princess, I can handle this.”
Luna waved a hoof, “I insist, now which bags are you taking?”
Twilight looked a little troubled but sighed in defeat. She pointed out the bags needed to be moved and Luna picked them up. Twilight picked up the remaining bag and headed out the door, she could only wonder how her friends were doing.
(ஜ۩۞۩ஜ)
“Ah’ll be fine Big Mac, stop yer blubberin’ and shape up! You need to take care of Granny Smith and little Applebloom while ahm gone.”
Big Macintosh nodded, wiped a tear from his eye gave Applejack a hug.
“Take care of yerself sis.” He said his usually monotone voice had a faint sadness to it.
Applejack returned the hug, “Ah will, you just focus ‘ere and we’ll be back before you know it.”
With that, Applejack threw on her saddle bags, bulging from to unusually large load they now carried. She started down the path to Ponyville and gave a final glance back. She saw the farm just like the first time she left while she was a youngin’. Big mac and Granny Smith sat out front, each with distressed looks, and a feeling that she would never see the old farm again. She puffed up her chest, strengthened her resolve and set out.
This was very important, if they didn’t find the Elements, then Equestria was defenseless. She saw the bigger picture; if she failed then there might not be a farm to come back to. If she came back at all. The stakes were high, they could be attacked by some vicious creature while on the journey, or maybe the ship would be damaged beyond repair. She didn’t know a whole lot about the flyin’ doohickey but she knew anything could break.
She then literally bumped into the side of the Library, not realizing that she was in town at all.
“Ow, okay so ahm here. Now what?” she asked to nopony in particular. She looked around, seeing she was the first, she wondered how the others fared.
(ஜ۩۞۩ஜ)
“And that that that, and those those those, and ooh, look at that I’ll take it.” sang Rarity in her best sing-song voice as she gathered the needed supplies.
Things such as extra materials, needles, hats coats scarfs, they were all coming. Rarity forced shut her fifth bag, chocked to the brim with materials and other trivial things she dubbed worthy of the trip. She looked over the pile of suitcases she had packed, just hoping that the ship had enough space for her bags. She would be another ten minutes or so; she wondered just how little Fluttershy was doing.
(ஜ۩۞۩ஜ)
Okay, so Angel only accepts a good salad, the feed for the chickens is in the shed just beside my house and the bird feed is on the shelf above it.” said Fluttershy, watching Carrot Top carefully write down notes.
“Okay, got it, you can trust me Fluttershy; there won’t be a thing different from when you left I can assure you.”
Fluttershy smiled, “Oh thank you so much Carrot Top, this means so much to me and on such short notice to.”
Carrot Top waved a hoof, “I got your back, don’t worry, I’m sure that being an Element of Harmony can be stressful.”
Fluttershy nodded, “It’s not that bad, but it can be a little stressful. Thanks again Carrot Top, I had better hurry, I wouldn’t want to upset any of my friends.”
Fluttershy turned around, adjusting the weight of her bloated saddlebags on her back with her wings. Carrot Top waved good bye as Fluttershy left for the Library, she saw a streak of rainbow cross the sky, and how was Rainbow Dash doing she wondered.
(ஜ۩۞۩ஜ)
Rainbow Dash soared towards the Library, she needed no baggage. She had everything that she needed at her immediate disposal. Wings, check, hooves, check, awesomeness… wait for it… check! She was prepped. On her way, she spotted Sugar Cube Corner, and wondered how Pinkie was doing.
(ஜ۩۞۩ஜ)
Pinkie Pie bounced around Sugar Cube Corner, she already had her bags stashed near the Library. Her Pinkie sense told her about a long trip near the Library, and so, had a saddle bag and a suitcase buried near the Library. She had said her good byes to the Cakes; shed a tear over not getting to see the baby Cakes again, and then grabbed a tray of freshly baked cupcakes for the road. She was on her way out when she noticed something she thought was a little under looked.
“Hey, you! Up there writing this! Why does RD have so little?”
If you had read it, you would see why. She’s awesome.
“Well if she awesome, then why so little?”
Just read it, this shouldn’t even be possible! Gah, I’m going nuts aren’t I?
“Aw, it isn’t so bad. At least reality won’t bother you so much!”
Let’s just move on, please?
“Fiiine, you’re no fun.”
I’m Human, you're literature, of course I’m no fun.
Pinkie just shrugged and bounced away in her own little fashion and her own direction. I say this because I really don’t have that much control over her.
(ஜ۩۞۩ஜ)
Shuur hobbled along the path to the Library, he had given up trying to pry Lyra from his leg about an hour ago. He had said his good byes to his new friends, Vinyl Scratch, Octavia, Carrot Top, the Cakes, then came Bon Bon and Lyra. After learning that he was going on an adventure, Lyra had begged Shuur to take her. After refusing multiple times she latched herself to his leg, he had tried removing the mint leech by means of both magic and physical strength. Lyra proved stronger than he expected and had held strong for all of the trials, if he really wanted to get rid of her it would require him to break her spine.
“Please take me with you!” she yelled up to the robed giant.
“no.”
“Please!”
“No.”
“PLEASE!”
“NO!!! For the last time Lyra, I have no desire to take you with us. If anything, you are putting yourself at risk, this trip could be dangerous.”
He looked down expecting to see her at least a little afraid; instead, she had the slightest twinkle in her eyes.
“I know! Imagine all the fun we could have, meeting all sorts of new animals, and the Sea Ponies!”
Shuur sighed, final chance, “Look, you’ll have to speak to the princesses about it, because you’re not getting my recommendation.”
“Okay then, onward mighty warrior! We have princesses that need to be talked to and far away land that need discovering!”
Shuur sighed, at least they were close. He could see Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity and Rainbow Dash all waiting outside the Library.
Rainbow looked his way, smiled and then fell over laughing. The others all gazed his way and joined in Rainbows fit of giggles. Shuur sighed, of course they would laugh, who wouldn’t get at least a giggle at the eight foot tall alien being harassed by a tiny minty green pony with a horn.
“Hahaha, laugh it up, would someone please assist in the removal of this minty annoyance.”
Applejack stopped for a moment, “And why haven’t you mister big and tough?”
Shuur groaned, lifted his leg, and gave it the hardest shaking he could manage. Lyra was sent flying back and forth at a speed of at least sixty kilometers per hour.
“Woawoawoawoawoawoawoa!” she cried, desperately clinging to his leg.
This only served to send the group back into a chorus of laughter. The Library door swung open, and four large suitcases were thrown outside.
Twilight popped her head out the front door, “What’s going on here? And Shuur, why *snicker* is Lyra attached to your leg?”
He sighed and lifted his leg for Lyra to speak, “I wanna come! And I’m not letting go until you let me.” she said, voice sturdy and unmoving.
“Please, for the sake of my sanity, remove this mint parasite from my leg!” Shuur pleaded.
Twilight was holding back snickers, but lit up her horn and teleported Lyra off his leg.
Shuur clutched the leg, feeling the circulation returning. “Thank you, I was beginning to feel numb.”
Twilight nodded, barely fighting off a case of the giggles. “It’s alright; Lyra overreacts about pretty much everything.”
Shuur smiled, “I know, you should have seen her when I told her about me giving away my armor. She couldn’t believe I had sent it to Canterlot and not her, Bon Bon was able to calm her down though.”
Twilight released a couple of giggles, “Really, just over your armor?”
“Yep.”
The sound of somepony clearing their throat made them all turn towards the Library.
“Ah, good to see you’re all ready; the airship will be here to pick you up shortly.” said Celestia.
“Also,” began Luna, “I have decided that I will join you on this journey. Should we encounter another tribe or sentient species, I will act as Equestria’s ambassador. If we do not, I can always try to keep us all safe from the dangers that no doubt await us.”
Twilight smiled a wide grin, “Great! Having a princess aboard will allow us to tackle challenges that would be too great for us alone.”
Celestia nodded, “And I will stay here to watch over Equestria, as usual, but also contact me if you require assistance. I will track Luna’s magic signature and teleport a regime of guards to help.”
The group agreed the plan was sound, and so began their wait for the airship. It wasn’t long before a certain rainbow maned somepony was tapping her hoof out of impatience.
“Aw, come on! Where is it!” shouted Rainbow Dash.
“Hush now Rainbow,” scolded Rarity, “the airship will be here when it gets here.”
Rainbow ‘harrumphed’ but otherwise obeyed.
They all sat about doing nothing other than twiddling hooves and playing with rolls of grass. After about ten minutes of doing so, a shadow cast itself over the group.
They all looked out towards the sun and found it covered by a huge black shape.
Luna stood, “Ah, there it is! Feast your eyes upon: The Leviathan.”
As she said so the ship moved away from the sun to reveal itself. They all gasped at its appearance. The huge craft loomed above them, its blue coat of paint a shade darker than the sky, making it stand out rather handsomely. It looked as if someone had taken a cruise ship and made it airworthy. It had a low swept hull and had two rather large flame spewing engines attached to the rear. The vessel made an odd humming noise as it passed overhead, engines roaring as they belched brilliant blue flames. The craft began to slow and make a right turn, a smaller engine mounted to the front left lit up, pushing it in the desired direction. They all saw the name imprinted by in pale white stencilled letters on its side.
Shuur searched the vessel, and found the engines were made of Lunar Steel.
“Princess Luna,” he asked, “Where is the rest of the Lunar steel? Surely there are other places than just the engine.”
She smiled, “Ah, Shuur, glad you asked. The crystal we have powering The Leviathan is called The Magna Crystal. The crystal was created by Starswirl the Bearded. He found out that if you took a crystal of high enough quality, you could supercharge it with self-renewing magical energy. This event unfortunately took his life, but he made a humongous breakthrough in the theory of crystal energy. Unfortunately, the crystal gave off much power to be used successfully, and so it was stored in a Canterlot vault. Upon the discovery that Lunar Steel could be used to successfully contain the crystals power immense power, we built an engine to draw the energy out.”
She looked among the group, “Does anyone know what a Pyre Crystal is?”
Twilight instantly raised her hoof, “A Pyre Crystal is a fire type crystal that can emit flame so long as it’s powered. Unfortunately, it emits flames in a propelled fashion, making it unworthy for basic heating.”
“Precisely, so the engines funnel the energy towards the packets of Pyre Crystal in the large engines to the rear, another reason they are made of Lunar Steel is the extreme heat. With those in place, we found the crystal had much, much more power to be used before it began to become unstable. So, studying Shuur’s armor further, we developed our own version of his shielding unit. The entire vessel is covered in a shield that will temporarily protect it from harm.”
Shuur was flabbergasted. Humans had made their own shields, some stronger than a Sangheili’s, but never to cover an entire craft. The ponies had simply studied his light Spec Op shields and come out with a ship wide shield. These ponies were geniuses!
Rainbow Dash raised a hoof, “How does it fly? I don’t see any wings or hot air balloon, so it has to do it somehow.”
“After we made the shielding unit, we still had plenty of power left over. The original design had wings, but after discovering that we had power to spare, we used Cloud Crystals to float it. And if you haven’t studied the effectiveness of Cloud Crystals, they are the reason that Canterlot has not crumbed off the side of the mountain it resides upon.” stated Luna in a matter of fact voice.
These Cloud Crystals reminded Shuur of the anti-gravity units used to float their huge ships into a planet's gravity field.
Luna turned around to the ship, which had just touched down and was opening a rear ramp.
“With the remaining power, we invested in lighting, and some weaponry.”
Twilight turned to face the princess, “Weapons? Like big crossbows and archers?”
Luna shook her head, “No, by studying Shuurs advanced weapons, we were able to replicate this plasma effect by using a special type of fire crystal called a Plasmass* Crystal. It literally masses together a ball of plasma in its core that can be fired, but only once, and then it must be replaced.”
(*Plaz-mass - a word I made up)
Shuur was once again, surprised. It was like an old artillery cannon, only instead, it fired plasma. Then he realized, this entire ship was possible because he donated his armor and weapons, ultimately it went back to Discord bringing him here. So in the end, Discord had foiled his own plan! Now that was actually rather funny.
As Shuur chuckled, Celestia looked his way, “What is so funny Shuur?”
“Nothing much, just that in the end, Discord foiled his own plan.”
Celestia thought about it, then snickered a bit to herself as well, “Yes, I suppose he did, didn’t he.”
Well, actually, if you wanted to get really technical, this entire event was possible because a tiny particle of matter exploded to fill in the space that is the universe today. But, back to the story.
An earth pony stepped out of The Leviathan, he had a thick black coat and a short cut grey mane, his cutie mark consisted of a wooden wheel, like that of a wooden sailing boat. He sported a white captain coat and a black brimmed hat.
“Well lassies, we best be off! Them Elements aren’t about to find themselves y’know.” He said, voice heavy with a Shetland Pony accent.
Luna looked his way, “Ah, Captain Coal Stack, good to see you too.”
“Aye princesses, a pleasure. Now can we go, I’m desperate to fly ‘er about a bit. I only got to take this beauty from Canterlot to ‘ere.”
Shuur raised a brow, “It can’t be that fast, it took you hours to reach here.”
Coal Stack smirked, “That was because we had to run over a system check and basic maintenance. We left from the dock about twenty minutes ago.”
That, again, surprised Shuur. Twenty minutes? He had been to Canterlot twice since he began his stay, and both trips took at least an hour by train. And this thing had made it in twenty minutes, he was impressed.
“Hah,” chuckled Coal Stack, “I can see that look on your face ya oversized lizard, she may look like a floatin’ boat, but she soars like a Pegasus on a tailwind.”
Shuur had to chuckle at his directness, not many were willing to call him a lizard, especially when he was the reason that their ship existed. He liked Coal Stack, he reminded Shuur of the Ship Masters, always ordering commands and never giving a second glance to anyone.
Celestia stood and cleared her throat, “Alright everypony, and alien, grab your bags and board The Leviathan. I do hope you’ve said your goodbyes; you will be gone for quite a while.”
The rest of the group looked about each other, then grabbed what baggage they weren’t already carrying and walked towards the ship.
Shuur noticed that Twilight was shaking a little, and so decided maybe he could comfort her.
“It’s not that bad, I’ve travelled world to world so I know. After the initial take off, you be feeling fine.”
“It’s not that, it’s just that we’re going to riding on a ship made from alien metal and powered by the magic of Star Swirl the Bearded!”
“Oh…” well Shuur felt a little dumb, great way to start a journey.
Luna turned and gave a brief hug to her sister.
“Be safe little sister, if anything were to happen to you again…” Celestia’s voice trailed off.
“I’ll be fine Cely, you just worry about the Griffins. I’ll take care of the trans-continental affairs.”
Celestia smiled weakly, hugged her sister again and watched her board the craft, praying that it wasn’t that last time they see one another. When they were all aboard, Coal Stack tipped his hat to the princess, then boarded himself. The rear ramp slowly lifted shut; Celestia stepped back a little and watched the ship as its mighty engines flared to life. It hoisted itself off the ground by means of the crystals inside.
It reached a height of at least forty meters, then the rear engines spewed bright blue flames and it rocketed forward, onward towards the sparkling oceans and into the unknown. It roared across the sky, edges of its shield glittering off the high noon sun giving it a very mystical appearance. Celestia watched it disappear above the clouds and into the distance. Whatever dangers awaited them, she could only hope that they would be strong enough to defeat them.
And this marked the beginning of the a grand adventure, a tale to be told over the eons, of how a single ship, a crew of the finest sailors ever to live and breathe in Equestria, shaped the borders of the planet forever.
Chapter 2 - Day One: The Storm
Chapter – 2
Day one - The Storm
Shuur and the Elements were lead deeper into the bowels of the ship by Sky Breeze, a light blue Pegasus with a cloud being shoved by a breeze as his Cutie Mark. The grey metal walls of the ship were lined with rivets and the occasional light. Shuur really didn’t mind it, it reminded him of his days aboard space cruisers, of course, they were in space then, and not over the land of an unexplored planet.
“And here we are, room A-1 Shuur ‘Makhanee. The rest of your rooms are all lined up here, remember this floor ladies and gentlemen, these are the crew quarters after all.”
Shuur turned his attention to the large wooden door embedded into the wall. It had steel hinges and a brass knob, almost like his old house. He watched the others find their rooms before entering. He twisted the golden orb and threw away the wood portal to reveal his room.
It was a little underwhelming, the walls were the same drab color, and there was a small bed in the center of the room. The room itself was only about ten feet across. At least there was a window revealing the outside world, easing up on the claustrophobia lined in the walls. He set his backpack on the floor beside the bed; the room lacked any sort of real furnishings, only a bed and another door that he presumed lead to a bathroom. The window was more of a port hole being only a few inches in diameter and lined with rivets itself.
Only one window…I’ve had worse at least. he silently thought to himself. The room was more like a prison than a living space. Oh dear, how was Rarity holding up?
(ஜ۩۞۩ஜ)
Twilight looked over the room, it wasn’t so bad, it had a small bookshelf near the bed. The bed itself looked comfortable enough. She really wished that they could get some more furnishing in here, though the room was rather small, they probably couldn’t fit anything else in it. Oh well, she could make the best of it. Oh dear, how was Rarity doing?
(ஜ۩۞۩ஜ)
Rainbow Dash looked over the small room, it wasn’t exactly what she called awesome, but it would do. She jumped into the air and landed in the bed, which bounced her out immediately. Whoa, now that was fun! She continued the activity until an idea popped into her head, in which case caused her to fall over laughing. How was Rarity doing?
(ஜ۩۞۩ஜ)
Fluttershy gently placed her bags down beside the bed. The room was nice enough, she supposed. It could do with another window at least, not that she would say anything, she wouldn’t want to seem greedy after all. Then she heard some sort of rustling behind her. She turned around to see her bag explode slightly and reveal a small white rabbit sticking his head out of the left pouch.
“Angel? What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be back at Ponyville with Carrot Top.”
The small rabbit simply shook his head before bouncing over to her and landing on her back.
“O-Okay then, I guess you can come, but no leaving the ship, I wouldn’t want to see you hurt.”
He nodded in response, pounding a foot on her back repeatedly.
“Oh right, I had better check on Rarity.” She said, slowly trotting out of the room.
(ஜ۩۞۩ஜ)
Applejack looked over room; it was drab grey metal wall to wall, a small window in the center of the opposite partition and a bed on the farthest wall, the blue covers made her smile though.
“Well this ain’t so bad, though ah can’t see how Rarity is gonna stand living here.”
She chuckled a little at the thought of how Rarity was holding up. She cantered inside; slipping the heavy bags off her shoulders and onto the floor, a little inconvenient that there was no nightstand, which would have been nice. Oh well, might as well head topside for some fresh air.
(ஜ۩۞۩ஜ)
Pinkie lined up her sights, pushed a tiny button and fired confetti and paint all across the room. She smiled triumphantly at her handy work; the room was now covered in pink paint, confetti and streamers.
“Perfect!” she exclaimed, storing her party cannon away and bouncing on the bed, which so very super soft and bouncy. She continued bouncing around hoping that Fluttershy could carry Rarity into her room.
(ஜ۩۞۩ஜ)
Rarity had long since fainted; her room was the farthest away, meaning no one had seen her. She lay upon the cold metal floor; a nightmarish void consumed her mind. Nothing but the nightmares of a horrible room she was to stay in filled her head. Good thing they were just nightmares, right… Right?
(ஜ۩۞۩ஜ)
Coal stack sat in his captain chair in the helm, the second highest point on the ship. The highest being the crow’s nest. He surveyed the crew, each was looking over small dials and gages, making sure everything stayed in working order. A chestnut brown earth pony walked up beside him, demanding attention.
He turned towards the stallion, “Ah, Doctor, good ta see yah lad. I for the life of me will never understand why your name is Doctor, but you are ta be our navigator. What news do you bring?”
The Doctor pulled out a small chart and reading glasses, “We are approaching the continental border; soon we will be over the oceans and into the unknown!”
Coal stack smiled, why The Doctor had yelled that he didn’t care “Good, she’s running beautifully. Attention all crew, prepare to test our waterproofing, make sure that rear door is closed!”
Parts of the crew shouted “Aye Captain!” and began scrambling about.
He turned back to The Doctor, “Thank ye Doctor, that’ll be all.”
“Right, bye.” he said, trotting off to wherever he stayed.
Coal stack didn’t even remember him receiving a room, or even if they had a navigation room. Whatever, he wasn’t his problem now, time to test out their flyn’ boats ability to be a floatin’ boat. The ability was a failsafe, if they ever need to cut down on energy, they could land her on water or even land. The bottom was mostly flat, so it just required a setoff landing gear and the engines still allowed for water travel.
A yellow unicorn mare marched up to him, “Sir, we are ready to begin water transfer.”
He smiled, “Excellent, thank you Morning Shimmer.”
She saluted before trotting back to her station. Coal stack stood from his chair, walking up to the varnished steering wheel and a few silver levers. He promptly pulled the lever closest to the wheel, causing a faint whine to sound as the ship began its descent. Coal Stack smiled, this was what he lived for, to feel the ship, such a mighty vessel to obey your every command and follow your orders to the point of a pin.
“50 meters… 40… 30… 20… 10 meters captain!”
Coal Stack pushed the lever a ways ahead, causing the same whine to heard, this time at a higher frequency. The ship leveled out and began flying a few meters above the sparkling ocean. Coal stack pulled slowly on the middle lever and the ship began to decrease speed. Even from so far above, he could hear the water being thrown into waves as they began to descend into the green sea.
“Five seconds until cruising speed!” he heard a voice cry out. But he already knew that, he had studied hard to pilot this beauty, he knew every angle and speed required for ever maneuver and mode. This was HIS ship, and he controlled her.
He moved one of his hooves pressing it against a small floor panel.
“Captain, our engines just shut down!”
He smirked, “I know ya wingnut, I just shut ‘em down. We’re taking a breather, ya know, look around ‘n see what there is ta see before moving on.”
Coal Stack heard some chatter, but soon everypony moved near a window or made their way downstairs to the outside. But not him, he had his captain chair and what he could see above all else. The others could look about; see Equestria for the last time and all. He was happy with his ship; it sustained a crew of forty plus and had rooms to spare. One magical engine ran on the spirit of Starswirl and guns big and hot enough to melt metal. Oh, and the shield was nice, a big ol’ bubble surrounding the ship. It could take about 3 seconds of dragon fire, two cannon blasts and protected them from the elements. It was more of a luxury than anything necessary. Oh, and he was supposed to tell Shuur what was running it, for his approval. Not that Coal Stack was about to let that eight foot tall lizard touch his ship. If he didn’t like it, too bad.
(ஜ۩۞۩ஜ)
The Doctor trotted back into a storeroom, in which now housed a large blue box. His blue box. He really didn’t like being ordered around, in fact he hated it. But, Ditzy said she wanted a vacation where they actually travelled, and one she could see out windows. So, upon hearing about there being an exploration, she begged him to take them on it.
He of course refused.
But, with his daughters big eye’s, and Ditzy’s even bigger crossed ones, he broke. Now they were aboard a ship that travelled only about 80 knots, he materialized on different planets! Why would she want him to take her on a planet wide cruise if they could go to different galaxies! He would never understand her, but he still loved her.
To Shuur and his friends, it had been a year, for him, four years. He had since fell in love, something he vowed never to do, and had a kid! A child for pete’s sake! Not that it was his; Ditzy had a previous unicorn lover, who promptly left her with the foal when she received a head injury that made her wall eyed. Ungrateful bugger… Anyway, now he was stuck with the job of navigation, which he did excellently in his opinion.
He beat his hoof against the floor three times, and the door’s opened. He loved that, ever since he figured out that hooves could beat against the floor in place of snapping he had neglected to use of a key.
He stepped inside her, his blue box. That good old TT type 40 TARDIS that never failed, occasionally. He still had the console where as he had met Amy Pond. He loved it; it also had some good memories tapered into the very core of her. He had met his TARDIS in person here, and he still never pulled the door open, always pushed them. She was indestructible, traveled time and space as well as dimensions apparently.
He found out that Humans were no longer the species he’s known and loved, they had grown up as a different branch of the tree. Turns out, they were fighting a religious alliance known as the Covenant. As it also happened, Shuur was once part of this alliance.
Of course, the day they met when Ditzy flew into him, he thought nothing of it. If he helped the ponies, then whatever. When he discovered the Covenant, he tried to find and get rid of Shuur, only to find out that Shuur had saved the planet instead of him. He forgave Shuur, then also found out that he was learning to live like a pony, in which lead the Doctor on a laughing spree. A Sangheili, live like a pony? It was like a Dalek that learned about emotions, it made him laugh. That was another thing; some of the species in this universe were like ponified versions of his previous enemies, except the Daleks never showed. Neither did the Time Lords, which had actually quite disturbed him.
“Doctor!” yelled Ditzy, who then flew and hugged him.
“Agh, Ditzy, I was gone for about five minutes. You couldn’t have missed me that much.”
She let go, “I know, but this is just so exciting! We’re actually going on a proper holiday! No vanishing here, materializing there, just a good old fly around Equis. It’s wonderful, really, I know how much you hate actual travel, so thanks honey.”
“You’re welcome Ditzy, now, where is little Dinky?” he said, looking around control room.
“She’s taking a nap after her magic lesson. She’s doing so well; I can’t believe how far she has progressed.”
“Oh, okay then. I just know that she like amphibians, so I thought she would like to see the first sentient species The Leviathan meets, they’re a-”
Ditzy cut him off, “Look, don’t spoil it for me! I want to find out normally.” She said, almost flustered.
“I don’t understand what it is about your normal so lately; I thought you loved TARDIS travel.” The Doctor responded, “You couldn’t get enough, ‘let’s go here, let’s go there, and when.’ Where did that go?”
She smiled, “Oh I do, but every now and then we all need a break, even TARDISes.”
Ditzy flew up by the console, “Huh girl? We all need a break every now and then.”
The Doctor just smiled warmly, it was cute that she thought the TARDIS needed a break, not that she did. The TARDIS could travel across the universe and back and not need a break, so travelling every now and again wasn’t going to hurt her. Oh well, he supposed it was a little nice, and having Ditzy around made it all the better.
(ஜ۩۞۩ஜ)
Shuur searched the room a bit more thoroughly; he sat beside the bed as a small notch on the wall caught his attention. He pushed a finger on it, finding it to be a button. There was a hiss and click behind him. He turned around to find part of the floor had opened up and a glass case was slowly rising from the floor like a ramp. He walked up to it, finding his armor inside. Why would they hide it? Oh well, better put it on, get into the adventuring mood and all. He flicked away the brass lock that stopped him from receiving his reward. He began replacing the armor, but noticed something rather disturbing. His helmet wasn’t present. Where was his helmet? He began to search the room more completely, hoping to find another hidden room or button.
When his search bore no fruit, he returned to what remained of his armor.
A HUD and proper shields would help him; then again, not much could even scratch the armor. Nothing on this planet at least. The armlets felt a little different, like they were bulging slightly. He strapped on the leggings, pneumatics fitting it properly. The armored boots fit as well, just the way he liked it. He looked over the chest piece, seeing that it had another part strapped onto the back that definitely wasn’t Covenant build. It was too bulky; it almost looked out of place, just another bulge with glowing lights. He strapped that on as well; hissing marked the resealing of the armor. Shoulders, check, armlets, check, chest piece, check, leggings, check, boots, check, helmet that usually ran the system check for him, negative. Oh well, there were worse things to happen to him. Just then, the ship began to make a decent, seemingly at random. He looked out the window to reveal that they were already over an ocean; glittering and sparkling in the afternoon sun’s rays.
He decided to take a closer look on the surface, perhaps even catch a last glimpse of the mainland.
(ஜ۩۞۩ஜ)
A small black head popped out of the left barrel of the main cannon, looking frantically to make sure that every pony had gone back inside the ship. After confirming so, it wriggled back down the tube to make a plan.
“Okay, what to do, what to do… I can’t just run out there, they’ll throw me overboard! And I can’t stay in here, what if they use it! I need a better plan; this was not a good idea.” The black thing said, completely camouflaged in the guns darkness. In hindsight, sneaking aboard the really big airship just because it was leaving Equestria was a bad idea. Now he was stuck in a gun barrel, with a broken wing and not enough magic left to disguise himself. Not the best thought through plan at all.
“Okay okay, okay… what to do, what to do… GAH! This is getting me nowhere!” he cried in frustration.
“What in tarnation, who’s up there!” hollered a not so distant southern voice.
“Uuum, no one!” he replied. ‘Idiot idiot idiot! You just answered!’
“Uh-huh, ah might not be th’ sharpest of th’ garden tools, but ah can tell when yer lyin’. Now get down ‘ere!”
“No!” he yelled back, voice echoing off the solid metal. “Ow, my ears…”
“Land sake, I ain’t gonna kick ya or nothin’, ya’ll just shouldn’t be in a giant gun!”
“Y…you promise not to kick me?” ‘Fool, don’t fall for their pony lies!’
“Course ah ain’t, why would I do that?” the voice sounded rather bewildered at his question.
“Or throw me overboard, or hit me, or blast me, or k-kill me?”
“Now why in Celestia’s name would we do that? Wait, are you some sorta national villain or somethin’?”
“Maybe…” ‘Gah, you’re hopeless! No wonder they kicked you out of the hive!’
“Now come on down ‘ere, before ah get one a those gun shooter ponies to haul ya out the rear!”
Checkmate, “Alright alright! Just, don’t kick me over board, please.”
The black mass in the barrel shuffled ahead slowly, wriggling his way to the front of the cannon. He stopped when he was just at the top, should he really? She had him at them opening the rear door and dragging him out, but maybe he could escape while she went for them? Worth a shot.
“On second thought, I think I like it in here.” he said rather smugly.
“Oh fer, if you don’t come down right now mister, ah’ll personally remove that there gun with mah hooves!”
Yah right, “Let’s see you try pony. Go ahead, try.”
He could hear muttering and the sound of hoof steps approaching. He heard them stop just in front of the cannon, hehehe, silly pony, the guns were solid steel, she would hurt herself pretty bad trying to-
BONGGGGGGGGGGGGGG
The entire barrel vibrated and the black thing inside was shook around roughly, further damaging his wing.
BONGGGGGGGGGGGGGG
The pony struck the guns base again, causing a shock wave to course through the barrel and nearly deafen the victim inside.
BONGGGGGGGGGGGGGG
“ALRIGT ALRIGHT, I’M COMING OUT!!! JUST PLEASE STOP THE KICKING!!!” he cried in anguish.
“Ow, thought so, ow, better get down ‘ere or ah’ll, ow, start again… Ow.”
He shuffled further ahead, crawling towards the daylight. This was it, now or never. He pushed himself a little further, and his head breached the top.
“Uh, hehe, hi.” said the Changeling.
“Figures, ow, a Changeling. Now why don’t you clamber on back down here and tell me, ow, exactly what yer doin’ aboard.”
He moved a little further, popping out a holey hoof. He hooked one of the holes around the edge, and then forced himself out further, sliding the rest of the way. The momentum was caught on his hoof, causing him to swing slightly, do a backflip, and then drop the ten feet to the deck unharmed.
“Ta-da! Mirrors Edges at your service ma’am. What is it you require?”
“Not buying th’ whole nice guy act Mirrors, now what ‘n tarnation’s is a Changeling doin’ aboard an Equestrian ship?” she prodded.
“Hehe, sorry. Now the answer to your question, I am an outcast; I’m too honest or obeying to be a very good Changeling. I was kicked out of the hive for my twentieth mission failure, not a very good score.”
The orange pony in the old hat snickered.
“What’s so funny eh? You’re a pony, which should be insult enough.”
“It’s just that yer a Changeling that ain’t very good at being a Changeling. And what do you mean, ‘insult enough?”
Mirrors Edges huffed, “I mean that ponies are lying creatures that will stop at nothing to insult or judge you.”
The pony looked appalled, “What do ya mean, Equestria is th’ most kind an’ lovin’ country there is!”
He pointed a hoof at her, “You see, right off the bat! You’re lying about your own country already! The only pure ones are supposed to the Elements of Harmony, and I don’t see an Element on you.”
The pony shook her head, “What are they teachin’ you in yer hives? That we’re evil?”
“Mostly, yes.” He replied nonchalantly.
Applejack stared at him in disbelief, “Well that’s a load of horse apples. Equestria is the nicest place that can be found this side of Equis.” she said proudly.
“So you’re admitting that there are nicer places eh?”
“W-What? Well, ah don’t know. We haven’t seen any other places yet so no one knows.”
“Uh-huh, I’m going to assume that continuously bashing my hiding place was just your nearest option, which nearly left me deaf by the way.”
“Well ahm real sorry mister, but you are a stowaway on a flyin’ Equestrian airship.”
He smiled sheepishly, “Ehehe, sorry for that by the way, I just really needed to get out of the country full of lying ponies, who MIGHT not have been lying ponies at all.”
She smiled, “Ah can assure you that we aren’t lyin’ varmints like you have been told, nearly all Equestrians are real swell ponies, or aliens.”
“Ha! You see, you said aliens, your lying!”
“What’s all the ruckus up here? Applejack, who is that? And why does he have holes all drilled into him?”
Mirrors Edges froze, just down the deck was an eight foot tall, armored, alien.
The pony turned her head toward it, “Oh, hey Shuur, ah found this here stowaway in one of the gun barrels, he thinks us all lyin’ monsters.”
Shuur sized up the tiny holed bug thing, noting that one of its wings was crumpled, “Let’s see here, black body, holed appearance and has both wings and horn, let me guess, a Changeling.”
Applejack nodded, “Eeyup, won’t believe a word ah say, he’s been taught to think us all lying food sources.”
Shuur chuckled, “Really now, are you so sure little Changeling? I’d say you’re too low on power to change forms and a broken wing most likely from squeezing into a gun barrel. You can’t fly away, and you can’t hide anywhere else because of the shear amount of ponies, you are stuck, and we’re about to take off again.”
The Changeling simply continued to shake, “A-alien… alien… ALIEN!” he suddenly screamed and began to run away.
He got about four feet before he was enveloped in a red aura.
“Whoa now, we wouldn’t want any other crew to find out about you, chances are that the events of Canterlot haven’t been so well forgotten by everybody else.”
“Ye-yes sir, of course sir, I will never leave your sight sir.” The Changeling continued to shiver, dead afraid of the monster in front of him as he was sucked towards it by magic.
Shuur chuckled again, “I can see your afraid, worry not little changeling, I have no weapons and I wouldn’t dream about harming you, so long as you harm nobody else. Otherwise, you’ll be nothing but a boiling puddle of plasma, is that clear?”
The Changeling nodded rapidly, not wanting to further enrage the giant.
“Of course, I’ll stick with you. Oh and, my wing was broken before, when I got kicked out. Standard procedure to make sure that I don’t spread secrets among our prey, I also had my magic drained.”
Shuur raised a brow, “Then how did you get aboard, the hallways would be too dangerous to just walk inside, and you have a broken wing pre-flight, so how?” he queried.
Mirrors Edges smiled proudly, “I’m well trained in the art of parkour, self-trained in fact, I didn’t use my wings that often, too many types of ponies without them. It’s actually rather fun.”
Shuur was again confused, “Parkour, never heard of it.”
The Changelings eyes widened, “Really? My goodness you would be great, given that your arms and legs are strong. If not, well, don’t try and jump from the top of trees, you might die.”
“Heh, I am plenty strong, Changeling, but you still haven’t explained the concept.” he said slightly annoyed that he would be good at something he knew nothing about.
Mirrors Edges smiled, “Parkour, my new friend is the art of fast movement over urban terrain. Like jumping from building to building, or scaling walls and the like. There isn’t a lot of place to train in the hive, too cramped and slippery, but a city, oh hoho, a compressed city is every parkour’s dream land.”
Shuur set down the Changeling, “Very well, show me how you got into a tight gun barrel then.”
Mirrors Edges smiled, “Maggots play.”
He ran straight at the gun, but just before contact, he moved his front legs up slightly and jumped with surprising strength. His hooves caught onto the six foot tall base then he pulled himself up in one motion, continuing to run up the length of the barrel with precise balance. When he neared the edge, he slowed slightly and turned around, letting himself hang down over the edge, then swung inside of the cannon's barrel.
His head popped out again, “See, piece… of cake…” he said, panting.
Shuur crossed his arms, “Doesn’t seem like it, the event was satisfying, while the result is less than desired.”
Mirrors Edges frowned, “Let’s see you go without food for two days, then try that, it isn’t easy.”
Shuurs eyes widened, “Two days without food, and you did that? Well now I’m impressed, such a small creature, that must have been challenging.”
He smiled in return, “Not at all, now if you’ll excuse me, I believe that I’m too tired to get myself out. If you could find someone to be friends with, or perhaps someone to love, I would be grateful.”
Shuur frowned. Great; he had gone and gotten the Changeling stuck. “Just a second, I’ll get you down, I’m sure that some of the ponies onboard wouldn’t mind having a little more diversity in their friendship.”
The Changeling just nodded silently, looking a little under the weather. It was hard to tell when his entire frame was black, and he was covered in hard carapace, but it was obvious he wasn’t at one-hundred percent.
Shuur closed his eyes and focussed on Mirrors Edges, grabbing the small creature with his telekinesis. There it was again, that odd humming and the feeling he was being powered, he felt stronger than usual. The Changing slid free with ease, popping comically out of the cannon’s barrel.
He slung the near unconscious Changeling over his shoulder, making sure he was secure; he began to move for the cabin.
“Hey, uh Shuur?” began Applejack, “Was that hummin’ glowy light thing always on yer back?”
Shuur looked over his shoulder, not an easy feat mind you, his shoulder plates reached above the top of his head.
“No, I noticed that before, you said it was the cause of the humming?”
Applejack nodded, “It wasn’t doin’ much until ya used yer magic, then it lit up like a lantern in the middle of th’ night.”
Shuur looked it over the best he could, “Well then, I believe I have a new question for Princess Luna.” he said, bewildered by the protrusions true purpose.
They marched inside, just as Shuur noticed some clouds moving their direction, dark ones. The kind that made little children fear for their lives and cower beneath beds, the kind that sank ships. They needed to rise out of the ocean, and soon, being caught in a storm wouldn’t be a wise course of action.
(ஜ۩۞۩ஜ)
A monster stirred beneath the waves, something had disturbed it from its precious slumber. It looked up, finding a huge boat hull floating on the surface. A large mistake. None disturbed it from its century slumber and lived, or left unscathed. It spread wing-like fins and swept its massive finned tail back and forth, guiding it with millennia of experience. It would strike fast, and then tear it in two, feasting on the ships inhabitants. This was its world, none others; and it would justify all trespassing with death.
(ஜ۩۞۩ஜ)
Princess Luna sat in the helm, looking over the ponies working the various dials and gages. She had to admit, the royal ship master and the engineer ponies had outdone themselves. Her seat was near the captains, which was on a high rise allowing all to be seen. It wasn’t that big a room, enough for twenty ponies or so. Each had a purpose, each had a responsibility.
She smiled; this was truly Equestria’s mightiest vessel, rivalling a shipment boat in size, and the Plasmass cannons packed enough power to punch a hole through anything, if a little costly to use. That was why she had some smaller, more renewable weaponry packed into the ship. If the foe was too fast for the main guns and rear guns, then they used smaller magical blasters atop the helms roof to take them out. An anti-air measure she herself had invented millennia ago, of course, with the abandonment of warfare, her designs were scrapped, so she had to pull out thousands of years old memories to remake them.
They took very little power to run and were relatively accurate, though could do with some improvement.
Just then, a huge force shook the ship, followed by a below sea roar.
“What was that!?!” she heard Coal Stack yell.
A pony turned to face them, “I don’t know sir, but whatever it was just brought the shields down by thirty percent.”
Coal Stack grumbled, “Well then, it wants a fight eh? So be it, get our Cloud Crystal matrix online, I want use out of the water and into th’ air in forty seconds! Ya hear?
“Aye Captain.” the pony replied.
“Alrighty then, stop standin’ around ‘nd send word to the gunners th’t we have ourselves a fight!”
The pony saluted, then ran down the exit to inform the cannon crew.
The ship shuddered again as whatever was attacking them pounded the shields with mighty blows. It was beginning to irk Luna.
She stood up, “I will see that the rest of the crew knows of our situation, and also see if I can join in the defense.”
Coal Stack tipped his hat, understanding that there was no changing the night goddesses mind. He had tried before, and had a new found fear for the princess afterward. Though he did think high of her, there was no time to sit upon ceremony, something big was attacking, and they needed every bit of firepower they could get.
A low hum sounded from deep in the bowels, Coal Stack smiled as the ship began to rise slightly. He took hold of the controls, flipping the already familiar levers and forced the ship to rise higher at a much quicker rate. A low roar was heard, muffled by the sea as whatever monster was attacking them rose up to strike again. The ship shuddered more violently as its airborne state was much more open to a loss of balance. A thunderous splash was heard below as the creature fell back beneath the raging waves.
Coal Stack saw cracks forming at the edge of the shield, marking its nearing destruction.
“What in the name of all that’s good is that thing?!” he yelled out.
None of his crew had an answer, as it jumped from the waves again, always below their field of vision. Another shudder and audible cracks were heard, one more hit and they were vulnerable. Coal Stack hit the throttle and they shot forward. The seemed world to shake as water was chasing them took to the air. When they were far enough, Coal Stack forced them to turn towards the mighty beast so their cannons may do some good. Then they actually saw what they were up against.
An enormous creature hovered a distance away. It was covered in massive green scales that gleamed with the afternoon sun and teeth that sparkled like huge pearls. It was so large in fact; Coal Stack ventured a guess that it rivaled the size of Manehattan’s Empire Country building.
Its giant black glass orbs were staring directly at them, malice and hatred filled the huge pools that were its eyes.
It could easily swallow us whole… thought Coal Stack.
Coal Stack shook his head, “All cannons, FIRE!”
One of the ponies shook his head as well, clearing his mind he pushed a button on his console.
Soon, the ship rocked back and forth as the ends of the barrels became balls of light. The orbs travelled slowly compared to a cannon ball, but they were true to their mark as they landed blows on the colossal sea serpent that lay before them.
It screeched in pain, not expecting the tiny projectiles to hurt so much. As its scale glowed a red hot and even a few dislodged themselves, it dove back under the waves, trying to escape the ungodly flaring pain it was feeling.
A chorus of cheers were heard, but Coal Stack stood frowning.
One of his crew stepped up to him, “Do you think we scared it off?”
Coal Stack looked down at him, “No, we just made it angry.”
The pony gulped, but nodded and returned to his place among the others.
Coal Stack knew better than to tangle with an actual Leviathan. Luckily, it seemed this one was younger and had not yet grew in its tentacles. A sharp crack sounded, as if the world itself had been torn. Coal Stack stared out the front window and what he saw disturbed him even more.
It was the teen Leviathan again, but it was doing something that scared the wits out of him. It was guiding the storm that was at least a half an hour away towards them. The cracking sound was the lightning that had struck dangerously close to the bow, as the storm was almost above them now. Coal Stack swore he could see it smiling, the gales it conjured rocking the ship as well.
“All hands, brace for turbulence!” he yelled out loud.
Another thunderous clap joined the last, then another and another. Coal Stack realized something; he was flying his ship into a huge storm! He did his best to pull up, but another crack of lightning brought itself down upon their shields. He watched in horror as the pink bubble shattered, little bits fizzling out of existence.
He heard the doors for the helm open up, a large bipedal figure entering with great haste. He scowled as he climbed the staircase to his rise in the room.
“What is it Shuur, can’t you see, and feel, that I am in the middle of something!”
The alien stopped and nodded, “I know, but I just realized that this ship is using old model burst shields.”
Coal Stack scoffed, “Old for you, a massive push in our technology for us.”
Shuur again agreed, “But, that means you’re using power coils to help heat and transfer quick energy for the shields, correct?”
Coal Stack said nothing, but nodded as he tried to dodge another bolt.
“Well then, couldn’t you use a ten second energy stock to quick start them, as well as keeping the engines online?”
Coal Stack turned around, anger in his Shetland face, “Y’u know that th’ energy would back up, melt th’ coils and then set off our reactor, leaving us all for a hot, melted death!”
Shuur raised a hand, “But what if you fired the energy towards the cloud crystals and the main engines in staggered progression, then use the buildup to fire them to a higher level?”
Coal Stack stood quiet for a moment, “That’s… That’s bloody brilliant!” he said, turning back to his levers, “It w’uld fire us out of the cl’ud and bring us back our shield while keepin’ the coils cool enough to last!”
He turned back to the Sangheili, “If I wasn’t th’ pony I was, I’d kiss ya!”
Shuur smiled weakly, “Just focus on the shields.”
Coal Stack nodded, turning back to his crew, “Alrighty, you heard the split head! Charge those coils, ten seconds, staggered two second bursts to the clouds crystals and main engine!”
Shuur cringed as the use of the term ‘split head’ was used, he wanted to strike the pony something terrible, but held back as Coal had no knowledge to its other meaning. Shuur watched as some ponies scrambled and tampered with the not so complicated controls, a steady whine building up that got lower every two seconds, then rose again. It sounded like the ship was breathing.
“Ready!” yelled a voice.
Coal Stack felt a vein show itself on his face, “If you value your life, then you would have already fired it!”
The pony nodded, pushing down hard on the small blue button, nestled among a jungle of others.
The ship lurched, a faint pinkish aura gathering about the exterior and a loud roar of the engines was heard even from the helm. The clouds became streaks as they fired at speeds to rival the lightning that was assaulting them.
Shuur held his breath as the clouds didn’t break, but then he noticed them getting lighter in color. Soon, the rumbling of the storm was below them as they rose. A soft pocket of light breached their cloud like shielding, forcing him to cover his eyes.
His eyes stopped burning after a few minutes, allowing him to remove his hand from his face. He saw others doing the same and all began to look out the windshield. He felt a smile grace his maw as the sun had lowered itself slightly and was casting the most beautiful shadows on the cloud below. It made for a very appealing view; tingling his senses as he saw the clouds move and shape themselves in the high sky breezes, shadows following in a harmonious dance that spanned as far as the eye could see.
Shuur listened as Coal Stack sighed in relief, “I’ll put her into a lock, we all deserve a rest after that little encounter.”
Shuur nodded in agreement as the old horse attached a few slabs of wood to the wheel, locking it in place. He did similar acts to the levers that controlled speed and height, then turned and began to make a descent on the stairs. Shuur followed suit, though it was a bit of trouble for his large feet compared to the ponies’ small hooves, as that was what the stairs were designed for.
As they reached the bottom, a group of them were heading downstairs to the mess hall no doubt, while others were heading outside to see he magnificent sights of the new world.
Shuur smiled as they went, Just wait until they get into space. he thought to himself.
The things that the universe had to show were beyond incredible; just the sights in the galaxy were enough to blow minds. Shuur joined Coal Stack down stairs in the mess hall, a room just larger than the helm that could house all of the crew for their meals. Right now was a time of celebration, as Shuur could see large casks being moved out, and wooden mugs brought from the cabinets.
He smelled the now familiar smell of cider touch his nostrils, he had been there at the Apple Family’s cider season event last year, these ponies love their cider. He smiled at the memory, the taste of the fermented apple juice reminded him that apples in their most whole state weren’t the only way to eat/drink them.
He lost Coal Stack in the crowd. As he searched for the old pilot, he saw him coming back carrying two mugs of cider on his back.
He hoofed one to Shuur, “After what y’u did today, ya undergrown dragon, ya deserve this.”
Shuur grinned and took the mug, “Just one, this stuff does things to me.”
Coal Stack chuckled, “Alright, to Equestria!” he cheered, raising his mug.
Shuur joined the flurry of voices, each yelling the same thing, “TO EQUESTRIA!”
They drank down the mugs and went back for more, save for Shuur, who just smiled and thought, Well at least things are off to a good start.
He continued to join in the festivities that followed, and only wished that he had as much fun with the Covenant.
When the Silent roam
CH. 3 – Interlude unto Arganis
Arganis, the land of jungle and forest and of mountain. A land of mystical magic’s and
sorcery’s. Of grand tales of adventure, and incredible feats of strength. Where the waters flow
more purely than any other, and where its peoples thrive and dance and sing.
The continent is inhabited by two sentient species, along with a myriad of other
semi-sentient creatures. The first to emerge from the shadows of animalism were the Songli*.
The Songli’s lives began in the great forest of Narias*, a forest that stretches from the
sparkling seas of Maundo*, to the tiny fields of Konus*. They were a saurian race, their eldest in
history living to be two-hundred and ten cycles of age. Many of them found themselves with
extraordinary powers, and became shamans. Others still, found themselves with similar powers,
only to a higher level and able to focus the energies farther than communicating with the spirits
and had the ability to make their own magic. These were the Songli Cinedas*.
They built their homes among the trees and studied their habitat extensively, as to
preserve the forest that sustained them. They made great mechanisms that could fly, and
devices that could absorb mana and power a great deal of things.
As they never truly fought amongst themselves, they made no weapons. This movement
of peace was their gravest mistake.
They explored to the north, past the fields of Konus and into the mighty Fungaus* jungle.
There, the explorers set up villages, and began to study the jungle. But inside, lay a species of
monster, the second to achieve true sentience, though not by far.
They were the Gorilsa* .
The Gorilsa were a species of primate, very muscular and warlike, they often ravaged
their jungle for its resources. When they found the Songli’s camps and villages, they attacked
indefinitely. The Songli, who had no weapons to protect of fight back with, were wiped out in two
fortnights. Their ships were stolen and the Gorilsa decided that these new invaders would be
much more fun to kill if they all attacked at once.
With their contact severed to the fleet, the Songli predicted that their deaths had been
orchestrated by another sentient species in order for them to be all wiped out in but a day or two.
They did what little they could to prepare, but the Gorilsa were upon them in days, and had
weapons hungry for death. They rained cannon fire on the Songli in their villages and small cities.
They swept the forest as a disease and enslaved or killed the Songli as they went. It wasn’t until
they reached the capital that they met resistance. The Songli had finally developed a weapon,
one capable of destroying an airship with ease.
The capital was equipped with such anti air measures, and fought back against the
devastating wave that was the Gorilsa. They successfully held them off for at least three months,
before the Gorilsa’s endless waves finally overcame both moral and their advanced technology.
They were thrown into chaos, and the enslavement of the entire continent was ensured. But not
all hope was lost. The Songli had constructed a floating city, and experiment to inhabit the sky.
What was left of the Songli retreated to the city of Sanctuary and formed a resistance
movement.
Floating above the clouds and using stealth as a major part of their arsenal, the Songli
were able to pester the invincible Gorilsa. But whatever they did, whatever they stole or shot
down, was always replaced by another ten by the Gorilsa’s ravenous power lust. They had
slaves building them dozens of airships a month, and they land was feeling it. For being so well
treated by the Songli, the earth itself became sick from its caretakers absence and such a
ravaging on its soil.
Once the earth began to sour, the Songli had seen enough. They made their own fleet,
one with the most advanced of their technologies, and most powerful of Songli Cinedas.
Sanctuary was turned into a fortress, and other sky cities were constructed. They began to truly
take effect on the tyrannous Gorilsa. This is the story of Princess Cathedra, and how she met
with the most powerful airship known to both the Songli and the Gorilsa.
(ஜ۩۞۩ஜ) Fortress city, Sanctuary - War room (ஜ۩۞۩ஜ)
Princess Cathedra pounded a fist against the crystal holo table, “What do you mean we
lost Cloud Vanquish?!” she yelled across the table.
An older Songli raised his claws in defence, “I am sorry your highness, but we simply
could not afford to send another airship, the southern fleet was spread too thin!”
She sighed, slumping back down into a velvet seat made just for her. She raised two
green clawed hands and rubbed her temples, trying to release the stress through her actions.
“Gah, we are losing more than we are winning…” she looked to the war room. There had
once been twenty of their best generals, or best in their short history of combat. Now, there rest
only twelve, the other eight going down with their ships and posts. She looked back into the holo
table, a once green dot now a flickering red, the crystals needed replacing.
“What of High Zenith?” she asked to no one in particular.
Another, younger Songli spoke up, “The city is holding strong, your majesty, it has
enough ships to defend itself against the entire Gorisla fleet.”
She nodded, at least something was going right, “What of Ground Zero, and it’s mining
operations?”
The same Songli shuffled some papers, “It has just found a large deposit of iron ore and
some gold. The diamonds that the local Songli Cinedas sensed are yet to be found, but she
promises that they are there.”
Again she nodded, that wasn’t great news, but it was good. Perhaps the iron could be
used to expand the city, as it was beginning to become crowded.
“How long until enough iron has been mined to be shipped?”
“… One month, your highness.”
Cathedra sat still, one month could be all the time it took to get new refugees and take up
all the space. They needed to start construction soon.
“Very well, are there any other occurrences that should be brought to my attention?” she
asked anonymously.
One Songli raised her hand, “Yes, Veerna?”
The hooded Songli Cinedas cleared her throat, “I must warn you mistress that there is a
ground force of Gorilsa approaching. They will be here in ten days’ time.”
Cathedra lowered her head, “That is bad news, Veerna. Have your forces locates and try
to find their intent, a ground force could not reach us with cannons.”
She nodded before curtly bowing and leaving the glowing table. Cathedra leaned back in her chair, and sighed.
Why did the Gorilsa have to be so cruel? They could have formed relations, made further pushes
into the fields of science and magic. Now, there were rumors of encampments meant solely for
her captured subject’s torture.
She hoped dearly those rumors were creations of fear in her subjects.
“Well the, if there is no further subjects to review, I am retiring. Good day ladies and
gentlemen.” with that, the Princess rose from her seat and left, flanked by two guards.
The remaining Songli began to debate towards their next move upon their princesses
absence. Some wanted new ships built, others wanted more ground farms, and others still
stated that they needed to seek out more Songli Cinedas.
The princess signed as the voices slowly became louder and louder, until full out yelling
was heard. Those were politics, always worried that they may die tomorrow, but never faltering
to send a battalion to their doom. She needed to get out more, lest she become one of them.
As she rounded the corner, Veerna merged into the group seamlessly, startling the
guards.
“I have a feeling that you wish to accompany me, highness?” she snickered.
Cathedra looked to her friend, “Yes Veerna, I believe I would like that.”
Veerna nodded, falling away to prepare her ship and troops. Cathedra smiled as the
Songli Cinedas became but shadow, that was always her talent, stealth to the highest levels,
and that’s saying something when you have clawed feet.
She resigned to her quarters, it would be another twenty minutes or so before Veerna
and her ships were ready, and another ten to that for the princess’s flagship. She lay in a silk
sheeted queen sized bed, a hearth of warm kindle burning brightly and a window in the center of
the roof allowing for the moonlight to filter in. She had to admit that the architects had done well,
if not overdone it. Of course, nothing was good enough for a princess, now was it? She sighed,
that was one problem being so high and mighty, you never got a humble compliment, or an
average meal, it all had to be lush and over stated.
the monarch laid her head against the pillow, and stared up into the beautiful night. Cathedra
swore sometimes that the stars themselves were woven by a goddess. Of course, such a thing
was not possible, for one thing to have that much power was… inconceivable.
She lay there until a knock at the door notified her that it was time. Cathedra gathered her
things, a small dagger, cloak, compass and a canteen. She knew that the compass and the
canteen were not required, but her father had always taught her to be prepared.
She stopped at the thought of the man, he had died in the defence of the capital, and her
mother had as well. Both had stood at the gates as the Gorilsa broke through and slaughtered
them all. She felt a hot tear dribble down her scales before continuing to the door. She opened
the gold deckled portal to catch Veerna getting ready to knock again.
Veerna bowed before explaining that the ships were ready. Cathedra nodded
and followed her to the docks. Once at the edge, Cathedra spotted her ship, The Dominion,
resting against a gangplank. The silver-gold craft was not hard to see; its unique aerodynamic
shape and armored gas bag made it stand out from Veerna’s small fleet of scout ships, with
rope tied gas bags and small protruding cannons from the front. Her ship was equipped with
twelve Arcana Cannons, ten Anti-air guns and a single Catalyst Cannon. Generally, Catalyst
Cannons were mounted to the side of ground structures, but her ship was large enough to
support both the weight and force of the gun.
She boarded her ship, watching Veerna do the same. She sat herself in the officer chair
and began to command her crew for dust off. She heard old steam pipes whistle and heard the
engine flutter to life. The massive Arcane Gyro was expensive, but required to run most
systems. The ship lurched forward as the propellers spun into life. Her ship left the dock with
Veerna’s quintuplet in tow. She took lead as the co-ordinates of the Gorilsa ground force sprang
up from her holo table.
She looked down at her table; the ETA was five hours and counting, so best time to relax.
She lay back into the velvet chair and wondered, what wait them ahead?
(ஜ۩۞۩ஜ) Now back to your regularly scheduled Sangheili (ஜ۩۞۩ஜ)
Shuur was sitting in front of Twilight, whose horn was aglow. She was
concentrating on something that had not been descried to him. He wished to know, but he was
the apprentice, and she the master. Soon, he felt a tap at the edge of his mind, and realised that
it was her. He grasped it, and felt Twilights conscious become known to his senses.
‘Testing, testing, 1 2 3… Shuur, you there?’ she said, but not aloud.
‘Yes, Twilight, I am. I must admit, this is a new sensation…’ he replied.
‘Great! Now we can communicate whenever we like, without having to talk out
loud… So, how have things been?’
Shuur sighed, ‘ I do hope this is causing you little mental strain, Twilight.’
He heard her mind giggle, ‘This is nothing, mass teleportation does a number on
my magic and mind though. Anyway, so long as one of us doesn’t feel tired, then neither of us
do. The mental link is sustained by the power of both the communicators, so we could talk even
if we were both absolutely drained.’
‘So, does that mean this is not magical in nature then?’ he asked.
‘Well, not entirely. It was established by magic, but now it is sustained by pure
stamina. This connection is more mental than magical now.’
He nodded, ‘Sounds good, but, what if one of us is harmed during contact?’
She wondered for a moment, ‘Well, because this is mental, I suppose that the
other would feel the same thing, but this is just a theory so don’t worry too much.’
Shuur snickered, ‘You do realise how many theories of yours turn out to be true,
right?’
‘Yes Shuur, I do. It’s just that I haven’t read a single time when somepony else
has achieved such a high mental connection, so I don’t have a whole lot to base my theory off of.
I suppose that Luna and Celestia may have a connection because they’re Alicorns and sisters,
but Celestia hasn’t told me about it so I don’t know.’
Shuur crossed his legs, ‘You said that you have never seen or felt the Mind Eye?’
He felt Twilights mood change from content to ecstatic, ‘Ooh, actually, that is
something I wanted to try! Can you use it, like, now?’
Shuur chuckled, ‘Very well, hold on, this may feel odd.’
Shuur reached back into is mind, finding his all sight thrust out from its place. He
could suddenly see everything, every particle of air and every corner of the room became
apparent.
‘Whoa… This is how you see when you close your eyes?’ she asked, bewildered
by her sudden ability to see in every direction.
‘Well, not all the time, I can turn it on and off, though I prefer to see a sneak attack
from Lyra coming.’ he said jokingly.
He heard Twilight giggle again, ‘Yes I suppose this would come in handy to see
her question attacks. Hey, do you think it could sense Pinkies movements, or powers?!’
Shuur sighed, ‘I wish it could, but she seems to be able to evade even it. I tried to
track her once with it, but the hunter became the hunted.’
Twilight groaned, ‘Oh come on, something has to be able to track her. Hey, are
you feeling a little light headed?’
Shuur took himself away from the conversation, and noticed that he did feel a little
dizzy.
‘Shuur, sever the connection NOW!’ he heard Twilight yell.
‘I am trying Twilight, but I have no control!’ he shot back.
Soon, darkness began to sink along the edges of his vision. He felt the same
become of Twilight, watching her slowly lay down. Why did this theory of all of them have to be
right…?
Soon, both the alien and the pony were lying on the ground unconscious.
(ஜ۩۞۩ஜ) Luna’s quarters (ஜ۩۞۩ஜ)
Luna began to search the world for her sister, finding her getting ready for bed. She
‘knocked’ on her sister’s mind, prompting them into conversation.
‘Hello dearest sister, how are things going back in the homeland?’
‘Not well, Luna, the Griffins are blaming us for their bad crops this year, even though we
have had reports of our soil being suspiciously low quality as well. Their hunting grounds are
growing scarce and their fields bare, as are ours. We have enough to sustain us, but not to
supply them with.’
‘Oh,’ replied Luna, her mood much more dampened than when the conversation started,
‘well that isn’t good…’
‘No it isn’t, our relations were already going sour as it was with the pulling back of all
Equestrian guards from Griffona to help reinforce the Everfree barriers. They saw it as a sign
that we were rallying an army. Now, we have a food shortage and threats from a militant country.
Please bring back good news Luna, I’m not sure that Equestria can take any more bad.’
She felt Celestia sever the connection as she went to bed, probably overly tired from the
current events of Equestria. Luna sighed as she got up from her bed, being a night pony herself.
She looked out the window and spotted her moon, just rising in Equestria and almost past
midnight here. They had come a long ways since The Leviathan met a Leviathan. Two days
travel since they had started, and two days since she had last spoke with her sister, this
conversation notwithstanding. Now they were who knows where with a shrinking larder and not
an island in sight.
If she said she was not discouraged, it would only be to the crew. She knew the chances
of landfall were slim, and even if there was other land, what was stopping it from being a craggy
mess with no life? This ship had eaten up a considerable amount of cash, not to mention the
chance that they may not find the Elements at all.
She sighed, leaning against the wall and staring at the moon again. It had always
been there for her, even when she was but a small filly. Now, it seemed so far away like the
farther from home they travelled, the weaker her connection with it got. She was reminded that
she still had control every night, but the feeling was always there. She was homesick and she
knew it.
The diarch was headed out when she felt something curious. It was a mental link, like
the one she and her sister shared but newer, younger, as if it had just come into creation. She
smiled when she realized it was Shuur and Twilight. They had established a link, probably to help
with their continued magical studies.
They were conversing, she could not tell what it was about without connecting to
the link but she could tell nonetheless. She felt Shuur share his Mind Eye
ability with Twilight, who seemed to relish in the experience. She stood still for a while before she
noticed something neither of them had sensed. Twilights mind was rejecting the Mind Eye, trying
to find a way to adapt to it.
She began to race down the halls as the connection solidified and became
unbreakable, lest she kill one of them. As she reached their door she could only hope she was
not too late.
(ஜ۩۞۩ஜ) Shuur (ஜ۩۞۩ஜ)
Shuurs eyes fluttered open, he found himself lying down, and so sat up. Then he
fell over backwards as if the action was beyond his grasp. He pushed himself from the ground,
before seeing what was raising him. He traced the appendage up its length, confirming its origin
to be his shoulder, now a light shade of lavender. He turned around only to have hair block some
of his vision, startling him. He moved it aside with a swipe of his new limb and looked ahead
bewildered, as before Shuur lay himself.
He watched his own eye flutter open, rubbing his head and moaning. He sat up
and fell over as well the bodies new host not used to being so tall. He didn’t blink as she righted
herself, adapting quickly to her new motor functions. They stared at one another for a few
seconds, never blinking.
“What…” began Twilight Shuur.
“The hell.” finished Shuur Twilight.
They both turned their attention to the door as it slid open, revealing Luna.
“Oh dear, am I too late?” she asked them, looking between the two.
They looked again to each other, before turning back and nodding.
“I do believe so, Princess Luna.” said Shuur Twilight, he couldn’t help but despise
how high and girly his voice was.
“Yeah, okay this is weird.” added Twilight Shuur, trying to clear her voice as if it
was too rough.
Luna blinked, this had never happened before. The most she had seen from a
connection rejection was a mismatched body part, not a body switch!
“Okay then, the first thing you two need to know is that this is temporary. You will
go back into one another when you sleep, so worry no- Shuur, what are you doing?”
Shuur Twilight looked up and turned his head, “Currently, I am trying to stretch my
fingers. I have none. I hate this voice.”
Twilight Shuur looked down at the body snatcher, “Hey, at least you don’t sound
like a cart full of gravel!”
“I like my voice thanks you very much, I at least sound MALE!” he shot back.
Twilight crossed her armored arms, “Yes well I like being a pony, this body is too
big and clumsy.”
“It is only clumsy because you are piloting it.” Shuur Twilight deadpanned.
“ENOUGH!!!” cried Luna, using the royal Canterlot voice to silence them
effectively.
They both had their attentions turned back to Luna, who was about as happy as a
dragon who was woken a day after he started sleeping.
“Enough, now, go to bed, and all will be fine.” She said, pointing to the bed on the
wall of the room.
They looked between one another, then back to Luna with no idea who should
sleep where.
She face hoofed, “Shuur, you sleep in Twilights room and Twilight you sleep in
Shuur’s, that way when you wake up you will be in the correct rooms.”
They looked at one another again, and then shrugged, climbing into bed and
leaving the room.
Luna rubber her temples, she should not have to take care of two full grown
subjects like they were foals a week within the ability to talk. She trotted back to her room herself,
suddenly feeling a lot less like wandering the corridors tonight and instead decided to rest in her
room and trying to figure out how a body switch had occurred.
(ஜ۩۞۩ஜ) The Dominion (ஜ۩۞۩ஜ)
Another blast rocked the wall of the craft, leaving a nasty paint scratch on the side
of the princess’s flagship. She cursed under breath as one of Veerna’s ships caught ablaze as
an incendiary cannon ball struck it. The Gorilsa had somehow gotten wise, knowing that a
ground patrol would indefinitely catch the attention of the Songli and so camouflaged their
smaller anti-air guns from Veerna’s scouts.
Not only that, but they had Stinger ships on standby as well. The Stinger was a
small one Songli craft meant for light skirmishes. They were originally developed to help a Songli
map areas of unexplored territory, but the Gorilsa had seen it fit to mount small Arcana Cannons
to the wings and use them as skirmishers. Now the anti-air guns were having a tough time
keeping up with the pests as they tried to assist one of Veerna’s scout ships. Veerna herself had
landed a little early to scout ahead, when the report came to retreat, Cathedra knew better than
to question her friend.
But, as they were leaving the Gorilsa had flanked them with Stingers. Now they
were being swarmed with the small craft, and they were getting on her nerves. The Stingers
themselves could not really do much to The Dominion but they could do some damage to
Veerna’s lightly armored scout ships.
She watched her guns take down another Stinger; she swore she could hear the
Gorilsa pilot screaming as he crashed. Why was it always that she could hear their screams?
That she always felt their spirits fade away. She was no Shaman, or Cinedas, yet she could hear
them like they were beside her, and it made her shiver. Soon, and thunder crack brought her
from the stupor her mind had made and she looked out the window to a sight that made her
heart stop.
A massive beam of red light had pierced one of the other ships, leaving a hole at
least three meters thick in the craft. That was more than twice the size of a Catalyst Cannons
bore. She ran outside and looked over the edge of the ship to see the Gorilsa reloading a
massive cannon, still smoking from its last shot.
“ALL SHIPS PULL BACK NOW!” she yelled back into the cabin.
She saw the crew begin to scramble and she saw the radio operator relay the
message. The ship lurched and her knees nearly buckled as they pulled away from the Gorilsa’s
monstrosity.
“Cut all power from weapons and up propeller speed, I want us out of here
yesterday!” she said as she walked back inside.
Their guns ceased fire and the propellers usual whirring became more frantic. Another
shot was fired from the oversized weapon, barely missing The Dominion. She felt herself let
out a breath she didn’t know she was holding as the heat wave left behind by the gun crossed
into the cabin.
She heard a siren sound, telling all of them enemy airships were approaching. She
ground her teeth as the speed was still increasing, she didn’t know how far a cannon that size
could fire, but she doubted it was meant for short range confrontations. Another thunder crack
sounded, melting down one of the remaining scout ships flying around them. Now it was down to
two, her and Veerna.
A small brigade of Stingers flew beside her friends ship, and began to open fire.
“Send power to three left side AA guns, help that scout!” she ordered.
Seconds after, tiny red blast were scorching the Stinger planes, making them brake
formation.
“Cease fire, let Veerna take care of them.” she relayed.
The hailing stopped, and they continued their retreat back to Sanctuary. She saw Veerna
firing on those few who dared to fly near her. Cathedra sighed; she knew her freind could handle herself. The sirens slowly faded out as they outran the enemy airships, the Gorilsa were getting wise, which was disturbing to say the least. The Stingers were keeping up, though they posed no real threat, they were going too fast to be boarded and their tiny cannons were useless against The Dominions armor.
Then the thunder cracked again and Cathedra watched in horror as Veerna’s ship was
grazed, ripping the gas bag. It slowly began to sink beneath the clouds, as if it was a slowly
sinking boat. She watched as the last of the viewable parts fell beneath the waves of clouds.
“I want all AA guns back online and firing NOW!” she barked into the room.
It seemed as though someone had read her mind as the guns began to fire a moment
after she finished. She listened to the screams of the Gorilsa pilots again, only this time, she
relished in it. Every burnt hair, every broken bone and every melted corpse was a tribute to her
friend.
Soon, the Stingers were swarming them again as they lost speed. The sirens sounded
again and she looked down at the holo table in wonder.
“Your majesty,” began the table operator, “unknown aircraft entering our airspace, and it
is approaching FAST!”
She looked down at the table as the question mark changed course and began to line up
with them.
“Assume hostile, do not fire until fired upon.” she commanded.
He nodded, looking back to the blue table in wonder.
(ஜ۩۞۩ஜ) The Leviathan (ஜ۩۞۩ஜ)
“Sir, we are changing course to the ship you mentioned, it appears to be under fire.”
reported one of the navigators.
Coal Stack nodded, “Alright, thanks lad, now let’s make sure to not shoot at the good
guys, eh?” he replied.
The pony nodded before returning to his duties, and Coal Stack to his. He watched the
large gold craft fire tiny red spheres a the smaller ships which were swarming the larger one to
no avail. Soon, a group of the smaller one broke away and began to approach them.
“Steady lads, do not fire unless fired upon.” he said calmly to the room.
As the small ships neared, Coal Stack got a sense of dread as tiny cannons unfolded
from the wings and began glowing red.
“Set the AA guns to shoot those wee buggers down!” he ordered.
Soon, little flares of blue fired from the top and began to swat at the tiny aircrafts, which
had begun to open fire as well. Their shots literally deflected off the shield, one even bouncing
back and striking the little airship.
“Ha ha, think that we were an easy kill, did yah?” he laughed at the mini ships which were
currently trying to break the shield.
Coal Stack simply sat back and smiled as they repelled the tiny ships, their shots but a
nuisance to The Leviathans shield.
(ஜ۩۞۩ஜ) The Dominion (ஜ۩۞۩ஜ)
“Princess, the Gorilsa have opened fire on the U.F.O.” reported one of the crew.
She nodded, watching in amazement as some sort of shield bounced the shots away
while at least six AA guns dealt with the Stingers. As the ship approached, she noticed that there
was writing on the side of the craft, in Songlian. It read: The Leviathan.
“All crew, the ship labeled The Leviathan is to be registered as a friendly craft.” she
announced.
As the craft flew by, it expertly took the last of the Stingers swarming The Dominion
while keeping the Stingers attacking them away. She saw it change course, lining up with The
Dominion.
A voice crackled on the speakers, “Hello? Is this thing on? Darn it, somepony- ah, I see.
So, the little red light means that it’s on? Okay, let’s try again.” then it switched off.
Cathedra scratched her head and the crew looked awkwardly at the speakers, the voice
spoke in clear Songlian, but it had a very distinguished accent, and not one she was familiar
with either.
Then it crackled on again, “Hello! This is Captain Coal Stack of The Leviathan, I do
apologize for that, but radios ‘re a rather new feature to Equestria, just got th’ towers set up and
what not.”
Cathedra nodded and leaned over to the microphone near her seat, “Hello Leviathan, this
is Princess Cathedra of the new Songli capital, Sanctuary. All of us aboard The Dominion thank
you for your assistance, those Stingers were giving us some trouble and… and we just lost five
other ships, my friends included.”
There was a silence for a moment, and then Coal stack came back on the speakers, “I
am sorry to hear that my lady, now, is there something we could do for ye? Perhaps search for
survivors?”
“Yes, that would be much appreciated. Could I send you Sanctuary’s co-ordinates?” she
replied.
“Uh, that is a no with the co-ordinates, we don’t have anything to receive them on, nor
record them.”
Cathedra nodded as if he could see her, “That is a pity, now, my friends ship crashed a
ways back. There should be a reasonably large smoke column as her gas bag was ripped and
she fell some hundred feet to the ground.”
“Aye, hear yah loud ‘n’ clear. We’ll pull back and search, your majesty.” came his reply.
Soon, the light blue craft pulled back with a hum and sank beneath the clouds. She
sighed, hoping that they found her friend.
(ஜ۩۞۩ஜ) The Leviathan (ஜ۩۞۩ஜ)
Coal stack tapped a button on the device as two ponies carted the radio off. It was a
rather large device and Coal Stack decided that they would try to hit and miss contact the golden
airship. Once they had contact, he was surprised to hear the responding voice speak in Equish
and announce that she was a princess. Now they were looking for survivors after one of her
friends ships were shot down.
Coal Stack cringed as he remembered seeing his friend’s boat being dragged under by a
Kraken, horrible way to go. They barely escaped themselves, and remembered why few other
creatures tangled with the mighty beasts.
Coal Stack already saw the large column of smoke emitting from a small crater, and then
there was gunfire. He shook his head as the small cannons began to bounce off their shields;
they were going to have to relocate. He ordered them to move two kilometres to the north, that
way they could drop their shields and release a rescue team without getting a few new paint
scratches and dead crew.
They landed in a small clearing, a little further than he had expected, but it would do. A
small group had formed in front of him, ten guards, and an alien.
“All right, here is th’ situation.” he said to them, standing above the group from his rise in
the cabin. “This nation’s Leader, one Princess Cathedra, has asked of us to see if we can’t
rescue any surviving crew from her friends ship wreck. Do this right, and we will have earned the
trust of a national leader, fail, and we will be sitting knee deep in conspiracies. Shuur has the
most combat experience here, and will lead you to the crash site. I want this done quick and
clean, got it? Quick, and clean. Now, grab your spears and helms and move out!”
“Yes Sir!” came the reply, a few solutes to the captain.
“Then what are you doing standing here? Get movin’!” he barked.
They nodded, taking off down the hall. Coal Stack smiled, sitting down in his seat and
leaning back. They were going to get in trouble, but Shuur would take care of them, he knew it.
(ஜ۩۞۩ஜ) Rear door (ஜ۩۞۩ஜ)
Shuur tested his wrist blades, a longer sword shooting out instead. He knew it
would happen, his confrontation with Harmony had left his suit altered. The device on his back
was a magical enhancer, something that only he was equipped with. Apparently, it had been
there since he had his armor, but he knew it was the work of the Harmony goddess.
The others stared at the blade with envy, knowing that the advanced weapon could cut
almost anything in half. He tested the other, and instead found a shield much like a Kig-yar’s. He
looked at them both, yes he missed his Plasma Rifle and Energy Sword, but these would
suffice. And if her ever needed long range, he had his magic.
The back door fell open on its pistons and they all jumped out, weapons raised.
“Alright team, listen up, there is a crashed ship about two kilometres away and we are to
rescue any survivors. Should you meet with any enemies, make sure that they are not beyond
your combat capabilities, understood? For all we know these things could be better with a blade
than I am.”
They all nodded and began their long trek into the forest.
(ஜ۩۞۩ஜ) Remnants of team Zeta (ஜ۩۞۩ஜ)
Vaman 'Inanrar raised his Plasma Repeater, aiming it at the head of the Brute-like. He
spotted his brothers at the edges of the crater, where one of the Lizard Peoples ships was shot
down. The apes lumbered around the craft, doing the most abhorrent search for survivors he
had ever seen.
Nyfre 'Valis, their Ultra, gave the signal and Vaman squeezed the trigger of the weapon.
He was against wasting ammo on the inferior apes, but obeyed his officer nonetheless. The gun
spewed blue plasma as the caster rotated to help keep the weapon cooled longer.
The Brute-likes stumbled around confused as the bolts literally tore through them, decimating their
forces. This had become routine for them these past three months. Three months since these
idiots shot down their Phantom and left them stranded on the rock. Three months since they
abandoned ship after a Loyalist fleet had shot them down, not without cost though, as their
brothers decimated the remaining Brute frigates. Their Phantom had a damaged Repulsor
Engine from the explosion and the transmitter was in maintenance when the attack happened so
that rooted out that option.
They were stranded here, with little supplies, ammo, and moral. They had been helping
the Lizard People in the shadows for some time and had taken the name of the Forest Monsters.
It suited them as the way they slaughtered the idiotic Brute-likes. Once the final ape had fallen,
Nyfre gave the signal to search for survivors. He attached the weapon to his magnetic holster
and stepped into the open, his blue Minor armor glinting in the moonlight. He saw his Major
brothers, Vassi 'Kasam and Ustaf 'Fulsam, step into the open followed by Nyfre.
They approached the wreck, which had little damage considering its condition. He stepped
inside the craft, instantly seeing the cowering survivors with his HUD. One yelled, jumping forth
with a shard of metal and trying to stab him. He simply grabbed his wrist and gave it a light twist,
relatively speaking. The Lizard Person screamed, dropping the makeshift blade and holding his
arm to his stomach.
Vaman cringed, “Sorry, this planet have rather light gravity compared to Sanghelios.”
They stared at him bewildered, not expecting him to speak English. Truly, Vaman’s English
was a little rusty, but he had learned it to help him better communicate with the Humans he often
found himself fighting with.
“I apologize for my brother’s actions; he must learn to control his strength.”
Vaman turned around to see Nyfre standing behind him, his features concealed behind his
silver Ultra helmet.
“Sorry brother Nyfre, I am not used to anything but higher gravity.” he said in Sangheilian.
Nyfre nodded, “It matters not, now, get these civilians out of here, there was another ship that
touched down a ways from here that the Brute-likes shot at.”
He nodded, turning back to the group, “Please, follow us, we take you to safety.”
One stood up in the back, “Listen to him, these creatures are not our enemies, the dead Gorilsa
outside are proof of that.”
The others seemed to listen to her, standing and giving shaky glances to the Sangheili warriors.
“Good, come.” said Vaman, waving his arm.
He stepped back out, where Vassi and Ustaf were standing guard.
“Did you spot the blue craft as well brother Nyfre?” asked Vassi.
Nyfre nodded, “Yes, and it was shot at. It seemed to have a shield, though I may have been seeing things.”
Ustaf shook his head, “No, we saw it as well. Whatever it was, it had more advanced technologies,
I suspect it is neither these creatures nor the Brute-likes ship.”
Nyfre sighed, “It seems we cannot catch a break as the Humans say it, nonetheless, it is worth
scouting out. Vaman, you go, we will return these Lizard people to the camp.”
Vaman nodded, “Understood brother Nyfre, which way did the craft land?”
Nyfre pointed southward, “Head that direction, make sure to kill any of these ‘Gorilsa’ on the way as well.”
“Yes brother Nyfre.”
With that, Vaman was in the woods, moving the direction he had been pointed.
“Now,” said Nyfre in English, “We will take you to our camp until Vaman returns. If that craft is
hospitable, then we shall transport you there, if it is hostile, I’m afraid you will be staying with us.”
The female nodded, “Understood, Forest Monster, now, everyone follow him.” she said, pointing
to the Sangheili.
They nodded, following Nyfre into the woods.
Vaman broke another branch on accident, he wasn’t very good at reconnaissance, but the more honorable of the Sangheili said that stealth was a major part of battle, and so should be taught to the younger warriors. He moved a low hanging branch out of the way and saw a small path in the same direction as he was headed. He decided to take it, but keep his wits about him, lest he be jumped by these ‘Gorilsa’. He doubted that their minds could comprehend such an action, judging by the way they fought and co-ordinated their efforts.
He followed the path for a kilometre, before hearing a small rustle to his left. He dove
back into the bushels of the forest, watching the area that had moved. Before he could react, a
hand grabbed his back plate and forced him to stand.
“Who are you and what is your name?” said a rather rough voice.
“I tell nothing to enemy!” Vaman cried out.
“Good, at least they are still teaching you Minors with some intelligence.”
Vaman’s eye widened as the hand let him go; he wheeled around to see a red armored
Sangheili Spec Op staring him down helmetless.
“Cloud Skipper, tell the rest it is fine, this is a true Sangheili.” he said to the bush that had
rustled.
Soon, a voice sounded and then more. A small group of equines like nothing Vaman had
ever seen stepped out, garbed in intricate but near meaningless armor and wielding spears and
swords.
Vaman raised an eyebrow, the one that had stepped out first had wings, the next two had
horns, the next two had neither and the remaining five all had wings.
“What… are they brother?” Vaman asked in Sangheili.
The red armored soldier cleared his throat, “They are Equestrians, of Equestria,
though they often refer to themselves as ponies.”
The pony in the front raised a brow, “Is that like some secret code language, or native
tongue Shuur?”
“Native tongue, Cloud, this Minor knows very little English. I suppose that I could act as a
translator.”
“That won’t be needed,” chimed in Vaman, “Brother Nyfre, our Ultra, speaks fluent
English. He can communicate with these Ponies and the Lizard people as well.”
“Ah, so your part of a Legion then?” asked Shuur.
Vaman nodded, “What’s left of Legion Zeta A-45. Our Cruiser was shot down in orbit by a
Brute Loyalist, were had just escaped in a Phantom before these Brute-likes shot us down and
stranded us on the planet.”
Shuur growled, “Those traitorous bastards, I always hated Jiralhanae.”
Vaman raised a brow, “How long have you been here? And what post where you at to
reach here?”
Shuur laughed, “I have been her for little over a year, I was at Reach, infiltrating a Human
command post. Why? What has happened to the Covenant?”
“Reach?” Vaman scoffed, “That is three quarters of the galaxy away, how in the name of
the Forerunners did you end up here?”
Shuur felt his legs wobble, “Three quarters… You have not yet told me what has become
of the Covenant.”
“The Covenant?” Vaman confirmed, “The Covenant is all but dead, The Great Schism
saw to the Sangheili’s glorious and honorable posts were replaced by the treacherous Brutes.
We were driven out by the San 'Shyuum and left as foot soldiers being commanded by apes.
Then, an even greater event occurred; we discovered that the Humans were not Blasphemers,
quite the opposite, Humans were Descendants of the Forerunners.”
Shuur had since sat down; the very foundation in which he used to stand was no longer
stable.
“We combined forces with the Humans and lead a campaign against the Covenant. With
the Sangheili no longer joined with them, the Covenant began to fall apart as groups of Unggoy
and Kig-yar joined our cause, along with some Mgalekgolo and Yanme’e. We fought alongside
the Humans, which is something that I must say I enjoyed. Their forces may not be perfect or
that honorable, but each has the heart of a Sangheili Zealot inside them, fighting until the last
light. I imagine by now that the war is over, and we are but more bodies in the pile.”
Shuur was rubbing the sides of his head, the fact that Humans were friends now was not
such a harsh thing to his mind, but the fact that he was attacking descendants of Forerunners
was a little much as well as the fact that the San ’Shyuum had known, and were just trying to
stay in power. They had broken apart, an entire empire, with the single knowledge that the
enemy had always been the treacherous worms in their floating chairs.
“I understand that this may be a bit much for you to take in at once, but we have survivors
that we rescued from the crash and I was sent to make sure the ship that landed nearby was
friendly.”
Shuur slowly rose to his feet, “Right, survivors, Cloud, follow this Minor to their camp, I
have some things I must meditate on.”
Cloud raised a hoof to his forehead, “Yes sir, Minor, show the way.”
Vaman nodded, giving one last look back to Shuur before following his waypoint home.
Shuur sat alone in the path, his mind astray. Those damnable San ‘Shyuum had been
lying all along, and they never questioned their ‘divine authority’. Humans were suddenly a lot
more sacred to him, and Jiralhanae were suddenly a much deeper pit of hate than before.
‘Twilight, are you there?’ he asked his teacher, hoping a friend might help him through the
worst of his times.
‘I am afraid she is asleep, Shuur, but I am here.’ answered Princess Luna.
‘Right, thanks. I… I have some information I wish to show you.’ he uttered.
‘Very well, let me see.’ He felt her crawl into his mind, watching and listening to his
memories.
‘This… this is troubling information for you, is it not?’ she asked, slightly frightened in what
she saw before Shuur's coming here, but more on that later.
‘Yes, yes it is. I had no idea, I do hope they can forgive me, I have done so much wrong to
the Humans, and for absolutely no reason! I should be worshipping them, n-’
‘Shuur, calm down, panicking will get you nowhere, listen to the creature with millennia’s
experience with stress.’ she cooed.
‘Right, sorry… This is all so much to take in though… To think, I was once worshipping a
dead race and fighting what I believed as heretics who defiled what few sites they left for us,
when it turns out, they were the sites. They were the things that they had ‘defiled’, they were
remnants of a civilisation lost tens of thousands of years ago. They were something I should
have been protecting instead of burning to glass. I am in a war against myself here, it is nice they
are our allies, that was a dream of mine, but to know that we are fighting with our gods children
is something else entirely.’
‘I think I understand, Shuur, you just have to let go. That Sangheili never gave his name,
but I doubt it was the same now as it was before.’
Shuur thought about it for a while, ‘True, the ee suffix to our names is bestowed upon us
by the San ‘Shyuum when we are worthy for battle. But, that is such an honorable title and one of
my last remnants of home…’
‘Shuur,’ she said, voice like iron, ‘do you wish to live with a name that means the death of
which you believe in, or do you wish to live like you want to, free of burden and living among
those you care about?’
‘I know, but… It has such meaning to me, it is something that proves I am worthy of
something, if not a soldier, then what?’
She laughed, ‘Shuur, you are capable of so much more! Our god, Harmony herself saw
that and bestowed upon you her power and a gift to last your lifetime. Embrace these things, find
the Elements and come home, to your new home.’
Shuur sighed, ‘You are right, as always. I suppose I could do without… Shuur ‘Makhanee,
Shuur Makhan… I suppose it doesn’t sound that awful, but I do prefer the ee suffix version to thi-’
‘Shuur!’
‘Very well, Shuur Makhan it is.’ he finished.
‘Thanks you, now, perhaps it is time you returned to the ship and got some rest, even
soldiers need sleep.’ she commented.
‘Right, I shall. Good night, Princess Luna.’ he said, standing and walking back in the
direction of the ship. Today had been a long day, and it was finally over.
(ஜ۩۞۩ஜ) Vaman (ஜ۩۞۩ஜ)
“So, uh, do you have a name?” asked Cloud Skipper.
“Vaman ‘Inanrar.”
“Alright, Vaman, do you know Shuur?” he questioned.
“No, I never seen Shuur…”
“Makhanee.”
“I never seen Shuur Makhanee in my life. Though, seem like good soldier, if a bit
‘outdated’.”
“What do you mean, ‘outdated’?” prodded Cloud.
“He knew nothing about what going on, and not heard of The Great Schism. He needed to
be told.”
“Great Schism?” wondered Cloud.
“It was rebellion in way, but to join different side, and we were forced to rebel by aliens we
rebelled against.” replied Vaman.
“Oh, okay.” Cloud went back to looking at the back or Vaman’s armor, which was
noticeably different from Shuur’s.
“So why is your armor different?”
“My armor is Minor armor, Shuur’s is Spec Op armor.” he answered quickly.
“Uh huh…”
“Oh look, we here.” said Vaman, a little annoyed by the behavior of the guard.
Cloud Skipper looked beside the Sangheili to see a large amount of Lizard People
gathered around a fire, while the Sangheili in silver armor discussed with a hooded one.
“And so, your name is Veerna, a Songli Cinedas?” asked the larger silver Sangheili.
“
Yes,” replied the hooded Songli, “A Songli Cinedas has power, magic, that allows us to be
more efficient in nearly every respect. A normal Songli is not to different though, and I respect
those who have not been blessed with such power, though some others brag and boast that
because they can lift a pebble without touching it, they are better than another Songli who can fly
an airship blindfolded.”
“Ah, an influx of power among a common group has a tendency to do that, we all know
personally.” he nodded.
“Sorry to disturb you sir, but I have confirmed the ship to be friendly, and even carrying a
Sangheili Spec Op from Reach.” announced Vaman.
“What did he say?” asked Veerna.
“He said that the ship we saw land a small ways away is friendly and wished to help. I am
guessing those are some of the crew?” said Nyfre pointing at the ponies.
Vaman looked behind himself, nodding, “Yes, these are some of the guards, though I
doubt they could really do that much damage and the one in front attempted to talk my ear holes
out.”
“Ah, oh well, Veerna, I do believe these ponies will lead us to the ship.” He said, turning to
the Songli Cinedas.
Cloud Skipper saluted, “I am Cloud Skipper, leader of this rescue squad. It is an
honor to meet another of Shuur’s kind, he once saved our entire race and I have heard your skills
with the blade are legendary.”
Nyfre snickered, “National hero is he? I hope that did not go to his head all too
fast, be a shame to have to smack him down.”
Cloud shook his head, “Quite the opposite, he lives in ponyville now and is
learning how to control his magic; he has been a citizen of Equestria for some time now, a year
if I remember correctly.”
“Ah, a humble national hero, just my type. Now let’s get moving, we are burning
moonlight and I have not eaten in three days.”
Cloud Skipper nodded, “Follow us.”
He then turned around, guiding the team through the forest.
(ஜ۩۞۩ஜ) A little later (ஜ۩۞۩ஜ)
“And here we are, The Leviathan, Equestria’s first airship and first intercontinental
aircraft, equipped with six anti air guns and four Plasmas cannons that can melt through three
hooves of steel, if not more.” (Hoof = 1/2 foot)
Nyfre had to admit, the craft was admirable for their first ship. He saw the tip of
one of the main guns and noted the dark metal lacing the inside.
The rear door lowered itself to the ground and revealed a slightly drab looking
interior, at least Cruisers had some texture to them. As they marched through the halls, a few
ponies brought some of the Songli crew to the sick bay, treating their wounds and such. As for
Nyfre and his remaining Legion, they were guided to the mess hall where Shuur had set aside
some of his meat ration for them.
As they entered, they noticed the ongoing festivities, and asked Cloud Kicker
about it.
“We had just proven The Leviathan combat efficiency by fighting off a swarm of
small ships and saving the princess of this land. In fact, Princess Luna of Equestria should be
here to see you soon.” was his answer.
Nyfre nodded, and sat down at some specially formatted tables especially for
Sangheili. As they sat, a Unicorn in a greasy apron brought them some plastic containers of
meat. They took it thankfully and had their regards sent to Shuur.
As they were eating, some of the room went quiet and they looked over to see the
crew bowing before a deep blue winged and horned pony in near black regalia. As she walked an
aisle opened up before her and she was soon sitting beside Nyfre, a little upset about the meat,
but there nonetheless.
“I assume you are Princess Luna?” he asked, snapping up the last of the mystery
meat.
“Yes, and you are?” she asked as a salad was floated over to her.
“Nyfre ‘Valis, Ultra and leader of this Legion, or what is left of it.” came his reply
looking down at the small princess, intruiged by the deep blue aura coating the salad bowl.
She nibbled at her salad before asking another question, “How did you all end up
here? Shuur came here by means of death before Discord pulled and reanimated his corpse
here.”
Nyfre choked on air, “You can reanimate the dead here?!”
Luna nodded disturbingly calmly, “I don’t know about these Songli as has been
described to me, but a powerful enough Unicorn can do a great many things with magic, though
the darker arts of magic are usually illegal or forgotten by time.”
Nyfre nodded, gulping about the thoughts of a zombified Sangheili Spec Op, “So
this Discord was an evil Unicorn was he?”
Luna snickered, “Unicorn? No, Draconequus, yes. He was the god of Chaos, and
after our Elements of Harmony had trapped him in stone for a second time, he sought a way out.
He found Shuur, and brought him here. When Shuur refused to obey him, he brought something
that Shuur called a Demon here and had him free him. Once free, Discord took the demons mind
and became a god of death and destruction. Shuur came to Canterlot and with the help of our
goddess Harmony defeated the abomination with a ‘Cleansing Light’ level of attack. The
resounding heat wave was astronomical, but we’re able to keep it under control as the excuse
that it was a solar flare and that Discord had escaped again, which was not a complete lie.”
Both Nyfre and the blue Sangheili were staring dumbfounded at her explanation
as the two red ones looked at one another and shrugged, simply happy to be fed for once in a
while.
“He really gained that much power? He made a Cleansing Light with his hands?”
asked Nyfre.
Luna finished her salad, and nodded, “Yes, such is the power of Harmony. My
sister and I are considered powerful among our people, we move the sun and moon, while
Discord was stronger than us both and could do just about anything he wanted, Harmony has
the power to restore order anywhere, and is strongest of us all.”
Nyfre was having trouble believing all this, especially without a reference. “And if I
don’t believe you?”
Luna shrugged, “I wouldn’t blame you, as far as I can tell, all of us are but myths
and legends to you. Magic is something that doesn’t exist and friendship is something rare.”
Vaman nodded while Nyfre pondered, “How did that power not destroy him?”
“He had the Power of Harmony on his side and so it held him together, though it
did cause him to pass out for some time afterwards, he found himself with the ability to use
magic and the Mind’s Eye ability which allows him to see in all directions at once. He has moved
in to a small town called Ponyville and has made a good number of friends there, though admits
to missing his own kind, or at least something he recognized.”
Nyfre had to admit, these past few months had been hell, and he had had the
company of his squad with him, Shuur had to live with the knowledge that he was the only of his
kind on this planet, and that he would never speak to another Sangheili again.
“I do understand if you have some fears for him, but worry not, he is doing well
enough and is even the reason this craft exists after he donated his armor and weapons to our
colleges.” She assured.
Nyfre nodded, looking about the room and noticing the occasional hint of dark
metal accent here and there and signs of Covenant technology.
“I do believe it is time for me to lower the moon, and then get some rest, good day
gentlemen and welcome to The Leviathan.” she said, rising from her place on the bench.
Nyfre walked outside and watched her, deciding to see if this whole sun and moon thing
was real or not.
As she stepped to the bow, her horn glowed, and the moons speed
increased considerably as it sank beneath the horizon. Nyfre watched slack mawed as she
walked away, into the cabin of the ship as if it was a daily occurrence. Well, obviously it was, but
still, to treat such power with so little regard was terrifying.
Nyfre rubbed his head and just hoped that Shuur could shed some light on the subjects he had just witnessed.
