We stand united 1x1 Maple Bat

[Maple Bat 3,568]

Graystone smiled happily, "Finally someone to talk to about this stuff! The wings draw kinetic power from Treasured blood flow, that powers the generator and the wings work! You have no idea how much tech is inside Treasured... He didn't care as long as he could become the king he wanted to be. We may be the bad guys... but you have to admire the dedication he has to his cause... No pony else would do what he did..."

"And what id I don't like this arrangement... YOu say you want to kill alicorns and ye-" Shining was cut off.

"And I would've if that was my goal... I'm here to help... This tech messes with my blood flow in fact... Most of said blood is synthetic... So I can't exactly turn. at least not easily. I don't know how I can help but Graystone is quite the marvel with machines... I really came to leave him here to help Caerson. Stone! Wing!" He shouted to Graystone who took the wing back and put it in the slot on Treasureds side "I'll be leaving if you don't need me..."

"No... Stay... We need as much as we can get." Then the unicorn jumped out of the window "Someone catch her now! I need to watch him..."

[MickeyAdaptus 2,211]

Caerson thought about the concept of how they made these type of things in Equestria, it amazed him to no end on how they where able to manufacture and invent things without the use of things like cars, computers, anything of that, but instead focused on the use of magic, and other type of things. Seeing Treasured wings was one of those examples.

'This is fascinating, imagine just how many lives could be saved if survivors didn't have to depend on the salvage tech that they are stuck with, but instead use this easier to produce type of tech, its easier to maintain when it comes to the resources, but still very efficient at the same time.' Caerson thought.

The concept of Treasured being one of the bad guys wasn't something that Caerson really had much of an opinion by, he didn't really see anyone as *good* or *evil*, but rather looked at ones intentions, he had known many who had done some rather questionable things, and he couldn't deny he had done things himself that might or might not be considered bad, after all, could they really help it? They where all victims to a common threat, and he couldn't help but feel bad about the fact of how his very people where reduced to a life of scavenging and acting as a bunch of rogues's in order to even live, something that Equestria didn't really seem to have, atleast not yet that is, because nobody knew what the future held in store for them.

"Shining, I will stay here and keep an eye out, you go help to catch her because if she gets away, ponies are going to suffer from something worse then death, and I know you intend to protect your citizen with your every fibre in your body, so, please... Go." Caerson told Shining Armour because it was easy to read from Caerson's face that something really bad might happen should that corpse happen to escape, considering the powers that it possessed.

The 4 guards in the room where looking at Shining Armour, waiting for a response, whether he would join in or not.

However, Caerson gave some fast orders. "You, go inform Cadence, and you, go inform every commander that you can find, whether it is Royal Guard, Night Guard, Dragon, Changeling, Griffon, it doesn't matter what commander it is, as long as it is on our side!" Caerson ordered 2 of the guards.

 

The corpse was running through the hallways when she ran into one of the patrolling castle guards.

"You! Stop right there!" The guard shouted, but the mare didn't seem to be stopping at all, but kept running, straight towards the guard.

In response to this, the Guard drew his blade and slashed at the corpse, the blade slicing across the body, in which the guard presumed it must have done a good amount of damage, but presuming that caused him to make a fatal mistake, as the corpse did experience the pain, but simply slashing at the corpse like that wouldn't do much.

And so the corpse bucked the guard hard during the moment of surprise after the slash had been death, sending it crashing againts a wall, it was lucky that the guard had been wearing armour, because while the corpse had no access to her unicorn magic, the other type of power that was flown from within her seemed to not be entirely nullified, but rather heavily suppressed, since it this type of power was not of the same realm.  So while it did heavily suppress it, it didn't stop her from using more simple forms of this power like telepathy, the sensing of nearby magical signatures and some other rather basic things that these power allowed her to do.  But she couldn't do that much with it yet, as she hadn't learned yet how all of these powers worked just yet.

----------------------------------------------------------------

"Say... Haven't I really told you or anyone more in-depth about my stories of Cyril have? I mean, I have only told you guys small things about it, or just parts of the stories, but never beyond those things on it.  If you could get the others over here then i could do a little Q&A about it, do you think that sounds fun? If we are going to sit here for a while we might as well do something fun?" Jack asked Evelyn with a smile, as he was actually eager in trying this, it was one of the things he had never really done with any of them before.

 

[Maple Bat 3,568]

Shining sighed "Yea you're right I should chase her... But she's gotten so far now... I'll never catch her now."

Treasured, without a word realized something, he ran over to the window and jumped out of it, the metal wings started to make a lot of mechanical whirring and clanging, extending to full length, "I'll catch her! I can fly so it'll be easy! Take care of what needs to be done!" With that Treasured flapped the large wings powerfully and started to chase down once he got closer he'd execute a plan to catch up to her but for now he'd have to find her first.

Shining jumped "H-Hey! I'm not letting you go alone!" Shining armor raced down towards where Treasured was going to land.

After all that, Graystone wondered what he should do "So... Anything you're working on that you need a helping hoof with?"

--------------------------------------------

"It would be amazing to hear about Cyril, So when we head there I know what to expect" Evelyn grinned widely making sure she was comfy as she was sitting. "Don't skimp out on any details. I wanna be blown away by this!"

[MickeyAdaptus 2,211]

The corpse was running now through the hallways, and fast at that.

'Where is the blasted exit?! This castle looks almost completely the same in every hallway, but at the bright side, this seems alot easier the imagined, either I have become significantly stronger than before or all of these guards are too incompetent, only about 2 guards have tried to stop me so far... A good thing for me that is.' She thought.

 

 

"As of yet? Nothing much really, I have been taking a small break, since somebody else has been working a cure, though I have been planning an expedition, one that might have be to delayed as of recent developments." Caerson said as he scratches his chin.

"Tough at the same time I still need to revamp that one weapon I had made a while ago since it's too powerful to a point where it is able to... create a tear in reality, a weapon that is far too dangerous to be used in its current state, by all rights I should just destroy it, the technology used in that thing shouldn't be made for public eyes, as this weapon has demonstrated," Caerson admitted.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Alright, though it might be better if you ask some questions about it and I answer them since we would be sitting here for days if I would have to tell *everything* about it,"  Jack said with a chuckle. "Just ask me what you want to know about it and I will answer it."    Jack then looked into the distance where the others where.

"Tough don't you want the others to hear this as well? I am sure they will want to hear this, not just Celestia and Luna, but more of the folks in this group as well, sharing stories is one of the things that most seem to love. Besides, it is a way for us all to spend more time togheter.." Jack mentioned.

[Maple Bat 3,568]

Treasured was rushing after the corpse after a lot of running he managed to see them "Hey you! Stop! Or I'll make you!" Treasureds wings where pressed against his side as he ran, ready to spring out should they need to attack something... 

 

"Well... I could help you modify the weapon at hoof... If you so wish." Graystone offered "I mean I'm not even sure what you're talking about but again... here to help."

------------------------------------------------------

"Well... Maybe I should save the questions until the other can hear... Let's go chat with them now... What do you say?" Evelyn offered her wing to Jack "Or do you want to stay... I mean that's fine too. If the second one then I'll ask what I'm thinking."

[MickeyAdaptus 2,211]

"No thanks! I cannot afford imprisonment!" The corpse shouted back as she kept running.

'If they think I am defenceless, then they are sorely mistaken, I will attack anyone who will stand in my way if I have to!' She thought.

 

Caerson thought for a second.

"Yeah, you could, but like you said, you don't really know what i am talking about, so the chance will be big that you might not really know how this weapon is made," Caerson admitted.

"But believe it or not, the princess of Friendship, Twilight Sparkle happens to become my pupil of a sort in engineering, I have thought her everything I know, but boy is she a fast learner!" Caerson said with a hint of pride. "I bet she can explain to you about how this thing works because i would need to do some serious management on it before i could open up the weapon in the first place, sounds alright to you?" Caerson asked him.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I think the first option is the best, and I bet Luna, Celestia, and those other people might have questions as well, but when we do start it, you will get to ask your questions first!" Jack said to her with a smile, as he climbed from her wing back into the saddle.

"Well atleast I hope they have questions as well, you guys usually don't really ask about my past unless I bring it up," Jack mentioned.

[Maple Bat 3,568]

Treasured was certainly gaining, the wings were positioned to help rid himself of most of his wind resistance plus he was self-trained to a point to face Celestia so catching up to a mere Unicorn was nothing to him the hall way was a bit narrow for him to fly but he could still run fast.

 

"Well... I am practically skilled when it comes to stuff that most ponies wouldn't understand... Would you mind if I took a look at it? I mean I won't touch it unless you ask of course..." Graystone rose a hoof to his chest crossing over it.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Evelyn started to fly back to the others "I'm sure they'll have a number of questions I have a few myself. Just you wait" She smiled to him happily

[MickeyAdaptus 2,211]

The corpse kept running but noticed that Treasured rather fast.

'Curse this... I am getting nowhere with this, I have to finish this now.' The corpse thought with dismay.

She then stopped running and turned around to face her pursuer.

 

"What do you even want with me? Aren't you supposed to be Alicorn hunting or something? Tch... Not that it matters, as it seems that treating an innocent mare like some sort of caged animal is not beyond any of you." She growled.

 

 

"Alright, just give a moment," Caerson said as he walked away to retrieve the weapon, he turned with some sort of pretty big casing, which seemed to be the container that the weapon was locked in, he then entered the code that would unlock the container and then grabbed the weapon from it.

"This weapon powered by these crystals on the side, the energy source is.... something I rather not name... But to give you a brief explanation of what this weapon can do.   Imagine if a Unicorn would try to teleport, but by some terrible accident the teleportation would go wrong and said unicorn would be lost in space and time.     This weapon is capable of creating a tear in reality, in other words, you could trap not just one person, but an entire room full of people in the space continuum. Though I doubt they survive because this weapon creates such a force that they.. suffer a crushing death just by the sheer pressure that it causes when someone gets hit or sucked inside the tear." Caerson explained as the crystals were glowing with a fierce and bright dark red colour, and the colours themselves seemed to be flowing in it.

"Of course this weapon was never meant to do that, but due to the unstable and unpredictable energies that are powering this weapon, the result turned out to be this way, something that I want to fix before it could fall into the wrong hands."

------------------------------------------------------

Jack smiled at her response, and when they landed, Jack looked at the others.

"May I have everyone's attention, I am going to start a little storytelling, but I am doing it the form of a Q&A session, for those who want to ask questions or just listen to the storytelling itself, please gather around," Jack told everyone.

And like Jack had predicted, alot of people started gathering close to Jack and Evelyn because Jack knew from earlier experiences that storytelling was actually one of the things that many seemed to like, especially those who had experienced alot in their lives. Tough usually it where the elder or older people that would tell stories, which was a bit of a special case that a 13-year-old boy would be doing it like this.

Most notable Edgar had looked up from the conversation that he was having with his friend and had also gathered around, seeming very interested in hearing this.

Tough Jack hoped that Luna and Celestia would also come.

[Maple Bat 3,568]

Treasured held up a hoof, not approaching, wanting to chat with the pony a bit "Well you tell me... you died right? So aren't you supposed to be rotting... No 2 of the princess vanished and now I have no choice but to help find them... I want them both their full powers when I first fight them... otherwise, I might not make the proper statement of power... back to you.. what are you planning on doing? You call us ignorant but won't even tell us what the hay is going on... seems like faulty reasoning to me..." If there was one thing he hated... it would be alicorns... but ignorance was a close second and he slammed a hoof down standing nobly and powerfully.

 

"Well for starters... perhaps if you used a bit of a less... questionable... energy source... then it might not be that strong. However... if you're trying to trap infested... then the weapon will need something strong... Ahh... I've got it. How about a plasma? Like lighting sort of. We could harness it in a crystal... or maybe something else? But it would need to be a lot of whatever plasma. We might only get it to have one shot per recharge... but it will be less powerful initially... that's what you wanted correct

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Celestia came over quickly "I've already got one... How's the climate on most of the planet over there? I don't know why but I think it's cold and snowy for some reason..."

Luna came over too. She wasn't ready with a question like Celestia was she was interested though.

Evelyn smiled. "Quite the crowd right Jack? I bet it's better than what you thought right?"

[MickeyAdaptus 2,211]

 

"I wish I could die, but the term corpse is not even valid, I am more now an enslaved spirit that is trapped in its former body, I don't even know if I am myself anymore or if I am now some sort of reject clone." The corpse said with a sigh.

"But I am having trouble understanding your entire motive, make a proper statement of your power? It will hold little value when everything has become ash and cinders, it is why I don't understand any of you... Why all you are trying to keep up this crumbling little kingdom... Equestria is one of the biggest food sources for a hungry entity that is waiting for its followers to descend and drag everything you care about into its massive jaws.  Because even if I told you or anypony else everything, what would it matter? I know how all you act.." The corpse said with a scowl.

"The moment I will reveal the treath, you will all get so caught up in your own confidence, thinking we are strong enough and should just start fighting it without a second thought of even considering if there are better options, or even trying to find out something about said threat for that matter! Well, I have a newsflash for the lot of you... the luck will run out this time, no longer will Ponykind be able to rely on its own presumptions and thinking it knows best because you want to know a little secret?"

"You have all been manipulated from the start... Someone is rigging things that shove situations in the favour of Equestria, or that is what he wants you all to think...   But I can already guess how it will all end up..." She said.

"You will all ignore the real situation at hoof, and trying to do things on your own accord, but you know what is even more stupid? None of you have even TRIED to uncover things yourself, no... Some stupid alien has to bring you all up to date and tell you things that even a filly could figure out! it's for the fact that none of you even tried... Even the last time someone had found an important piece of information? Ha, ignored! And look where it has brought us... Most of us have been reduced to nothing but dead and converted monsters, atleast I still have control over my own body!" She said with a mocking laugh.

"But I guess it doesn't apply to you does it? After all, you have been trying to seek out your own greed and ambition rather than help your own race when you injected yourself with that virus, it goes to show why we don't stand a chance because we have to suffer the consequences due to the incompetence of our so-called leaders, who where not even willing to figure out themselves on how these aliens have become so powerful."

"When I got resurrected I not only got my body back, but I also got a preset of new memories, and I realised now just how much is at stake, how much our race could prosper and for the most important fact, LIVE, but the current plan? Salvage some broken kingdom? Face it, Equestria won't be able to remain an independent society, nothing will, not after what is to come... So give me a GOOD reason why I should tell you what I know because I doubt any of you will even do anything useful with the information." She said as she showed her very sharp teeth, which must have formed when the infection had taken hold of the body before the 2 DNA even started merging together.

 

 

"That actually sounds good... But there is a problem to this, you mentioned it being used againts infected, but a one-shot per recharge would give up all of its usage if the weapon has fired, because infected tend to be in big numbers, you would rather use something that has the potential to fire alot before becoming unusable for a while rather than use a one time weapon for that moment." Caerson explained.

"Your idea to use plasma is smart, but we should rather tone down its strength a bit in order to make it capable of firing alot more times. And then accuracy, rate of fire and mobility will come into play, if you where to create a plasma-related weapon, you would want something that would have a slower firing rate for better accuracy but at the same time have the potential to fire alot before it overheats, because a single plasma projectile is already very strong on its own." Caerson suggested.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

"Yeah, it definitely is!" Jack said to Evelyn with a smile, he then heard Celestia's question.

"That is an interesting question, and one I will be glad to answer."

"Cyril's climate tends to be on average temperature, similar to that of Equestria's, or atleast it used to be. It would range from pretty hot temperatures to cold winters at times, where the seasons played a big part in those. And there were alot of clouds at times, with lots of rain. However..." Jack said as he paused a bit.

"Your assumption of Cyril being cold and snowy is very accurate Celestia, because I have a pretty disturbing thing to tell about it. Ever since Cyril had gotten overrun, our enemies started building lots of things, most notably the massive conversion tower that is the key location of the entire planet. But you wouldn't believe what they have done."

"After Cyril had gotten overrun, they have been trying to eliminate all survivors present there, and what seems to make them stand out from their other counterparts, they don't bring their victims to conversion centers, but rather destroy their enemies straight up, no mercy or hesitance."

"They seem to be very desperate about this factor, because of how big of a planet Cyril is, it would be almost impossible to find all survivors, granted they have managed to wipe out most by now presumably, they still would have a hard time. So they did the scummiest way ever, the tower that I had talked about before, keeps sending a massive beam into the sky, and I guess you can already understand what it does."

"That tower over there is slowly freezing the entire planet, making it colder then what a normal body could survive with. Since they are having trouble killing the more hidden survivors, they are using this temperature method as a way to FREEZE all their enemies to death, letting nature do the job rather than themselves.  It was one of the reasons why my group had been so so desperate to destroy that tower because it had been a one time chance we had, it was either do it and be horribly outmatch, or do nothing and freeze to death after a couple of years." Jack explained.

[Maple Bat 3,568]

"Well... You're talking about... not planning... nor making a strategy to the wrong pony... I mean. I've already got a plan to kill all 4 alicorns... but now is not the time for that... It seems you lack patience... Plans need to be set in motion and we have yet to find the resources nor horsepower to execute it... I know you're upset but honestly you could be a great aid to this plan I'm trying to execute... Care to assist or continue your worthless plight to do it alone..." Tresured walked close his wing scraping the ground Sharpening the wing

 

"Hmm... Well I may need to do more research on this." Graystone said pondering the design... I'll get back to you..." He walked over to the schematics to think on this.

---------------------------------------------------------------

"That's inhumane!" Luna roared outraged "I mean how far are they going to kill! You seem to know a whole lot about this... So... Why are they doing this? Control? Do they just want to see everything die? Where does he even recruit from?"

[MickeyAdaptus 2,211]

"If you tell me about this *plan* I might consider, but it had better be good, I want to save everypony from the incoming threat, so if you tell your plan, I will tell you to know what I know, how does that sound?" The corpse asked as she tilted her head a bit.

"Tough it had better be for the benefit of our species population, rather than your own benefit only..."

 

"Of course, take all the time you need," Caerson said. "In the meantime, I am going to try and find Twilight."

 

 

----------------------------------------------------------

"They are doing this because Cyril turns out to be an industrilization world, when I first got there I never knew until someone from my group pointed it, and it then became apparent to me why they are this desperate. Cyril has become their largest industrialization world in the sector that we are, producing the biggest starships and war engines, as well as many other things. So the reason they are doing this is that they don't want anyone to rise up and attempt inside attacks, they had already witnessed major uprisings from others planets, and so I presume they simply did not want to take the risk and just murder anyone who could potentially become a threat to them." Jack explained.

"And for the fact that on Cyril they don't have conversion centres, but instead the different strains and soldiers are being shipped from other planets straight into Cyril. But I guess you would want to know who is responsible for this? I can tell you, it is a person named Ormagon, otherwise known as the Tyrant of Cyril,  he leads a big army called the Kalabites, but this army is unique from the more usual armies that contained half sentient soldiers, this army is filled with real soldiers, those who are not infected, and have been known to exist even before Valtrek's return."

 

"And well... They are responsible for the event that came to known as the Great Scouring, in where they swept a massive campaign across the planet to kill all its inhabitants, and at first, you might think we could hold a stand, but not even close... Because they used the most brutal and infuriating kind of ways in warfare, they used chemical warfare, releasing a form of gas upon the victims that would cause them to die without any form of resistance, as well as using vehicles like Tanks, Helicopters, everything, because they still possess those for some reason while most of us no longer do. But how could a measily group of survivors with some weapons stand againts an entire army like that? We couldn't."

"That is probably the reason why we... Yeah.." Jack explained.

[Maple Bat 3,568]

"Me and what was left my own force of alicorn hunters were going to go around Equestria... Exterminating the infested and those that may be. We don't care about that so-called "Cure" That Zecora thinks she's making. Once the infested are removed then our plan can take action, we move all EQuestrians to a condensed area like canterlot or ponyville... Rationing out what we can to those who need it... We need to make sure everypony is ok before we begin to make... rehabitation efforts and we go back to normal. All without that stupid royal guard knowing a thing..." Treasured checked to be sure no royal guard heard him and chuckled knowing that he was clear "What do you say..." Treasured help out a hoof but wasn't meant for a real shake... "Do you want to be a part of this?" His grin showed that he was to be trusted but there was a deep meaning behind his motivation... No that it could be gathered only from his smile.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Luna seemed a bit angry but not towards Jack "That doesn't answer half of my question... Why the hay is all of this happening? Does Valtreck even have a motive? Or is he only out to kill every living creature that might stand in his way. Either one of those makes me angry especially the second... As that's what Nightmare Moon wanted too... So... Tell me more about Valtreck... his motives, skills. Whatever... How did he even get such an army in the first place?"

[MickeyAdaptus 2,211]

"Your idea has a good purpose to it, but it has a serious flaw... Trying to stay in Canterlot or Ponyville is the very thing that will be everyone's undoing. There are so many things out there that see us as prey, wars are being fought that all of us are unaware of, creatures that feed off the very soul essence of others, and many other things." She says with a frown

"And now that Equestria has become known to said dangers, we will face the constant danger of being wiped out if we stay here, if I have a say, leave Canterlot, or even leave Equestria in its entirety, there is one place where those creatures can't get us, in the outer fringes of the galaxy... That is where we will be safe because I know that those royal guards have access to a spaceship, don't ask me how I know, but I have seen it."

"If you truly want to safe our race, then my method will prove better because we will only destroy ourselves in the process if we keep fighting this ridiculous battle in which we are sorely outnumbered."

"So if you agree by those terms, I am willing to be part of it. But if you are not... Then I will save our race myself, with or without your help, or anypony's help for that matter." She said with a serious look in her eyes.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jack had to think about this one for a moment, not because he didn't know, but more because it was a pretty sore subject to talk about, not just for him, but for most of his kind in general, as Valtrek was the biggest embodiment of what it means to be a traitor.

"To answer your question, Luna, it is both of those, he seems to regard anything that doesn't benefit him in some way as *expendable* and *Fragile Toys*, and sees the entire galaxy as his personal playing ground, the way he murdered my father, the way he acts, but he also does a certain motive, it was that one artefact I had talked about before, something very powerful.." Jack explained.

"Yes... He is talking about the Aurora of Life, a legendary artefact that contains powers which are described as unphantomable, of course, most consider it  a myth and a legend, but you have to keep in mind that Valtrek himself wouldn't be chasing something just for the sake of it being a myth, he had seen the powers of the artefact with his own eyes, right before a person named Aliah used its powers to bring an end to the civil war that lasted for a good 6 centuries." Edgar Explained.

"You should look at it this way, Valtrek is already considered to be one of the strongest beings to walk around this era, but if he could manage to get his hands on that artefact, he could reach a state of power in which no one could even get close to his level ever again. So you can assume that is exactly what he is trying to achieve."

"But aside from this motive, Valtrek intends to destroy everything, not even his own armies will matter to him anymore once he has destroyed everything that would be capable of opposing him, but to make matters worse, its the motive behind this all destruction thing that seems rather... hard to understand."

"As I had told you before with how the civil war ended, Valtrek had a big grudge againts Aliah, a grudge that even to this day has never ended, but since Aliah is gone, and Moriah has gone missing... He instead decides to make all of us suffer instead, as he considers us to be, and I quote here: 'Weaklings who have thrown away all of their power and potential for the sake of protecting inferior races.' Because apparently, he always used to see the Terrans as a superior race over others, that we could undermine all other races due to our large spanning numbers across the stars during that time. It is how that entire civil war first started."

"So in the end, he wants us to *suffer*, by giving us slow and agonizing deaths, but he is taking his sweet time, and is purposely stalling to bring out as much fear out of us as he can before he makes his crushing move. And then you realise that he is willing to destroy absolutely EVERYTHING over a personal grudge and that this entire war is based on his own personal vendetta. There is something important to note here, while the old Valtrek was still very evil, he wanted the Terrans to be the dominant species in the galaxy, and overthrow others, but centuries later, after his revival, he now wants to completely eradicate that very race, by using horrific methods such as that virus.   He turned from an evil tyrant to an embodiment of extermination." Edgar explained.

Most of the others in the group nodded in agreement as they had the look of grief on their faces, which was something that every single one of them could relate to, regardless of different backgrounds.

"You have explained it better then I could have ever done, that truly was an impressive way to explain it," Jack said to Edgar with an praising nod.

"Thank you, but I used to be a historian, I am supposed to know these type of things," Edgar said with a smile.

 

"And to explain how he got such a strong army, that one is easy to explain,  despite Valtrek losing the civil war, many of his followers had still survived, and his second in command took over,  and for the remaining 4 centuries, there was still a war going on, even though not on the same scale as the current or the civil war one, it was still a notable one.   The Terran Prince had taken up arms and was intending on destroying the remnants of Valtrek's army."

"And it was this war that ended up being followed up by the war that we are talking about today, but its also important to note that most of Valtrek's current army consists of these semi-sentient soldiers which have been infected by virus and have been modified in conversion centers, along with all those other strains, its these things that make up most of his current day army, where most of his old army has somewhat degenerated from their former selves."

Edgard was now going to say something very important, something he felt like he needed to share.

"But I guess I should mention one final thing, something that you should remember carefully, The Terran Prince is an offspring of Aliah, so like you can probably already imagine, Valtrek wants to gladly put down the one person that might be our last hope. Because beliefs or not, this entire war seems to have a hidden message written in it, have you wondered why so many have been constantly talking about Aliah? The Artefact? The Circle? That is no mere coincidence, I strongly believe that a spiritual message is being send through all of us, this means we are all linked in a way, not by powers or anything, but more in the terms of the afterlife, where we all still hold this invisible link."

"Though I strongly believe that this link isn't just reserved for these subspecies, no... I believe EVERYONE is linked to one another. See this war as struggle between good and evil, where the evil seems to be prevailing, and the good is struggling to remain, with its heroes spread all over the galaxy, and in a desperate action, it sends out a message, a call for help, for all of us to unite, and find the final puzzle piece that will be able to completely unite the good, and destroy the evil." Edgard explained as a smile was growing on his face

"Aliah wants us to find the Aurora of Life, and use it to destroy Valtrek, that is the hidden message he is sending us." He said, and the reaction of the crow was something he had not initially expected.

The people started to cheer and applaud at his explanation, especially on the part regarding the hidden message.

"It was beautiful... It was something I could imagine my father saying." Jack said as he felt a bit of joy inside, a feeling he couldn't exactly describe.

"It is something we can all say because what I said was not something I thought of, but merely the words that came from my heart, call my words just some belief, but I call it a connection that we all share, something that defines our race as a whole, not by the motives of wars and self-proclaimed hatred, but by a connection of devotion that we share in the will to let life remain the way its supposed to be," Edgard said.

 

[Maple Bat 3,568]

"Oh please... There's not a planet left in this system that's not infested... Besides you'd need a large ship to carry the whole race to another planet. Not one that Equestria's seen yet even... Plus not even Graystone could make it in his whole lifetime... not only that but Ponies are more inclided to stay close to home... SO staying here is the best option... I'm not saying your plan would be worse...merely commenting on holes that even a "Filly could notice" " He said the last part simply to mock the corpse he was wasting his time with.

---------------------------------------------------------

Luna was very happy along with Evelyn too. They both really enjoyed the speech but Celestia... She was caught up in something "Aurora of life... I should do more research on that... "Celestia acted like the remainder of the crowd.

Luna gave Edgard a pat on the back "Well said friend... I'm amazed! to say the least... You too Jack!"

[MickeyAdaptus 2,211]

"I beg to differ, a galaxy is a big place, and who say's we need a spaceship? I know of a way you can get off Equestria without it, well, 2 ways in fact... Besides, No pony would want to stay close to a home that would become nothing more than a breeding ground for hungry perpetuals." The corpse said.

But her frown then suddenly turned into a smirk. "But I guess it would be bad if you have no more kingdom to rule over? I bet that is the reason you don't want to move away... Your little pride would be torn to shreds... You are willing to gamble the lives of everypony here to satisfy your own needs... But I guess it doesn't matter what I say, you would be unnaturally stubborn in wanting everypony to stay here, even if it would come at the cost of their very lives, you sure have given me that indication."

"However... I know you presume me to be some type of corpse without proper intelligence, but that leads me to believe you will underestimate the coming threat as well. But it baffles me that you claim you are willing to put your little alicorn skirmish side, yet to me, it isn't really hard to figure out that you are doing this partly because you want to get a closer approach on your target before you make a move, regardless of the threat would be still there or not. So why would you-" She suddenly stopped as something seemed to change in her thoughts.

"Oh... I see why... You are too weak, aren't you? That is why you injected yourself with the virus, in an act of desperation, or for the fact you tried to kidnap the boy, your desperate bargain... For something in return..." She said as her smirk grew bigger.

'I may have complained how I have become a walking slave, but I have to admit it feels good having these powers, this must be why Montarion acts the way he does, having powers that ignore the physics that we all have to obey...' She thought to herself as she eyed the wall for a moment.

She then looked back at Treasured, her irises seemed to have disappeared for just a split moment before returning, although it was so fast that it would come over as a mere sun reflection.

"Your dreams with Sombra, your crystal growth spell without the addition of becoming corrupt, those where just indication, that you want more power, you need more power... I see where your intentions are at... You go so far as to describe the rule of Celestia and Luna as tyranny... And oh yes, you want to take over Equestria, hm, most of these were pretty obvious, but a few details in particular about you were something you attempt to hide." She said as she narrowed her eyes.

"Tell me, king... You claim you want to help everypony, even going so far as to set aside your burning desire that comes from deep within yourself. But perhaps, there is a bigger motive to this plan of yours, something that is in that mind of yours, but you are not willing to show it to others... Isn't that right?"

 

"Just so you know, I am so easily fooled by your methods, lying, trying to keep that tight little poker face up, it doesn't work againts me, surely you know that I am not the one you presume me to be? After all..."

"I already have someone..."

--------------------------------------------------------

"Hey, thanks, it isn't often I can say these type of things," Edgard said with of a laugh.

Jack gave a nod "It was really good, and thanks, Luna." He then tried to lie down a bit on the saddle on his belly, trying to lay down a bit comfortably.

"Does anyone else have some questions about Cyril? I have so much that I can answer. How about you Evelyn? I remember you where very eager to ask some questions" Jack asked her.

 

[Maple Bat 3,568]

Treasured flinched How did she know all... Never mind that... If she wants answers... She'll get them. The 'alicorn' gave an angry glare and stomped a hoof down and his horn glowed brightly. Crystal walls grew on both sides of them spikes jutting out on the outside so no one could get it "It's quite amazing you noticed all that. You are correct in most regards... When I used the virus I realized that it wasn't exactly a good idea. I had no intentions of taking Jack, I lied to them so I could eliminate a certain pony," A small yellow colored crystal grew out of the ground He lifted it "My rival, That... Bat who always got in my way..." He dropped the crystal, shattering it under his hoof "She is gone... Now no one in the universe can stop my ascension to power. So I do not need more power than what I have" Treasured grew several crystals now into a throne design and he sat on it "You wonder why I want to rule and question why I want to do things the way I do... Well, ponies may not hive mind... but when one defies..." A small colorless crystal sprouted from the ground "... Many more will follow." Hundreds of small crystals sprouted along with the same one and they turned red "The one insect you let slip is now suddenly a swarm and you have no way to combat them. If you make them like you." The crystals turned green. "Then the swarm will serve you. I must earn trust so my plan will flow smoothly and I don't hit many ridges. I'm sure someone like you could understand the most simple of concepts." Treasured rose from the detaching his metal wings, resting them on the sides of the throne and he slowly approached this... corpse. "I still can't help but Feel I'm wasting my time telling you all of this. Why don't I just prove how strong I am to you..." In a blink he had a hoof touching her horn and a sharp, painful magic shot through her body, Crystals grew out of the unicorn's horn blocking off their magical capability... Not only that but most of her body grew crystals as well... They grew out of the surface as opposed to from inside her body, the end result caused the mare's hooves to be rooted to the ground, linked to it by the dark red Sombra-like Crystals. "Now... Shall I take care of you... Or do you wish to join me? Your unique skills would make you a very valuable asset to me... an asset I won't allow to fall into another's hooves." His wings levitated back into place locking into the slots. Treasured swung and stopped his bladed wing, inches from the mare's throat as he prefers to scare ponies by doing that. "5... seconds..." He threatened.

 

Graystone smiled "What a fool. Leaving me with a device that could make my lieges job easier..." He was going to take the weapon to Treasured but he hesitated. "No... Something this strong... no one needs to have this..." Graystone carefully started the process to exract what was currently the power core. Worried about it's capabilities.

---------------------------------------------------------

Evelyn chucked "W-Well... You answered most of the questions with that speech... I only have one more." She wondered if she should really ask... "Those few you made a promise to... Aside from them... why is Cyril so important... not to them... or us. But to you... I just don't really get it."

Edited February 1, 2018 by Maple Bat

[MickeyAdaptus 2,211]

The corpse's eyes widened at what Treasured was doing.

'Blast it... That really is something that Sombra would do... That magic inhibitor was already annoying, but now my horn has become a worthless rock altogether. This is bad...' She thought with anger.

'And then this pain... I- Wait a second... I wonder would happen if....' She thought before looking at Treasured again, and with a weapon, straight at her throat she couldn't deny she was in a bad position, but she wasn't about to back down.

"You know what? I am calling your bluff, I don't believe you would dare to kill me if I really am such valuable as you say, then I would be irreplaceable in your book as well." She said with a glare.

"Besides, if you listen more closely, you can hear somebody approaching, and I bet you know who it is don't you? Would be unfortunate if somebody would have managed to overhear our little conversation doesn't it?"

'He certainly is obsessed with power, little does he know that his little dream is going to be crushed in the long run once another major power decides to attack him out of nowhere, at first I never knew anything about outside forces, only things like Sombra and all those other powers  that have plagued us, but once I got.. reborn...  I realized there are things out there that attack in motivates for more than just conquering and murder... And what use would it be if I would tell anypony here, what could they possibly do with the information? After all, they are too stubborn to get to a safer place, instead, they wish to remain in their own homes like a bunch of house dogs, regardless if it means they risk the possibility of being exterminated... I personally never wanted to be hostile to them in the first place, but I have no choice in the matter if they don't see the error of their ways.    At the very least I could save a hoof-full of ponies, that way our race might atleast not risk the chance of extermination once the meteor arrives in this system... And then there is still that monster lurking around, who knows where he is at, he could even be listening to us at this very moment, which means I can't stay around here for much longer, I need to wrap things up soon.' She thought with concern.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I can.. Answer that, tough can I perhaps lie down on something else first? I rather lie down on something more comfortable than the saddle since what I am going to tell you might be a pretty long story." Jack explained with a nervous smile.

Edited February 1, 2018 by Mickey Adaptus

[Maple Bat 3,568]

Treasured smiled "Calling my bluff are you? Fine then." He focused his magic and the crystals completely enveloped the Mare. He smashed the now statue with his wing, putting the pieces in a compartment of his metal body parts. "Then let's see what you think of stasis." He said to himself as he lowered the walks and started to head somewhere more private before putting the mare back together. The crystals didn't cause her to die, more of before she did she was warped to a pocket reality where nothing existed, She couldn't do anything... not even think while suspended in such stasis. 

Shining was the first to run after the crystal walls fell "Where's the mare?! Treasured You're the only one here so you best answer me."

Treasured sighed and faced Shining armor "She got away... I tried to put up my walls to stop her but... She managed to pass it somehow. She has powers... Similar to that Montarion character... I'd be very cautious around her if I were you. Good day Armor." With that Treasured walked away.

----------------------------------------------------

Luna helped Jack down with levitation and she brought out whatever she could find that was soft inside the camp for him to rest on. "There... How's that? Better for you?" She hoped so as she couldn't think of what else to do.

Edited February 1, 2018 by Maple Bat

[MickeyAdaptus 2,211]

"Yeah, it is, thanks, Luna," Jack said.

He then thought for a moment how he was going to say this to everyone.

"Well, the reason is that Cyril had been the first place I had landed after... you know, the death of my father and all because during that time I felt like a broken person, I had something missing... And keep in mind I was only 6 years old at the time, forced to wander through the places where infected where roaming, I would have died if my group hadn't found me, taken me in... I started to see them as a family, or atleast that was the way it felt like,  if it weren't for them, I would have been long dead." Jack explained.

"And once I had grown attached to all the people there, I started to consider Cyril as my new home, ok sure, I was not  a native of that planet, but after my original home had been turned into a bunch of space debris, I had all the right to consider it my new home, well that was until I came to Equestria, I guess Cyril has now sort of become... my second home if you could call it.

"But I guess my biggest reason for wanting to go there is because I want to my find my old group, or rather what is left of the group.  And then I wanted to take them back to Equestria first, il be damned if I let them behind, but for all I know, i might... Find them death..."

"After all, it wouldn't be to weird if you think about the fact that they might have to end their lives themselves, i sure remember i along with them had almost done it, but at the time we din't knew better, we where going to killed or worse, most of all, we where scared, very scared because at the time we knew there was no place we could have gone, and fighting our way trough was just madness, because we where not some experienced soldier group, we where just survivors, and we all had grown so close to eachother...  Even if everything seemed to bad for us at that moment, the only relief we had is that we could atleast die together, it was our only comfort..." Jack said with a bit of difficulty.

[Maple Bat 3,568]

Shining got angry quickly as he was completely disregarded "Hey! Treasured! I need to interview you and a few other guards... Why don't you come with me so we can chat? We still need to agree on our next move right?"

Treasured let out a painfully long sigh "Right... Well, let's think... There's only one true outcome we can seek here is safeguarding Equestria as a haven for our surviving ponies right? That means that step one should either be getting rid of the rest of the infected... Or providing a helping hoof to those that are living in safety. I see no other options."

"I'll have my ponies give out supplies... We have plenty and those down there... Those ponies need supplies." Shining armor called up his men and gave some simple orders to provide provisions for any pony who needed them that meant excluding nobles.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Luna smiled "I'm sure your friends are ok, If they're anywhere near as strong as you then I have no doubt about that." She smiled, She wasn't trying to give false hope but Luna didn't necessarily believe her own words in this instance

Celestia was still caught on the same thing but she'd managed to snap out of it. "I wouldn't worry too much about that... Betrayal feeling. Your friends won't be mad at you they'll be overjoyed trust me that's how it always is. You can trust a pony who's well over 1000 years old." She added with a chuckle

Edited February 2, 2018 by Maple Bat

[MickeyAdaptus 2,211]

"Well, you guys are right I guess,  perhaps I shouldn't worry about it too much, though I cannot deny that I am still worried, I mean... Strenght isn't the sole thing that defines the capabilities of survival and considering where they are, they are being written a death sentence if they haven't made it out of there." Jack admitted.

"But yeah, I should focus on the better things of it, I need to have more trust in this matter, they will survive.." Jack said as he smiled again.

Tough suddenly someone called out, one of the people from the group was looking through binoculars in the distance.

"Everyone, heads-up! There is an enemy group moving somewhere nearby! No, wait... It appears to be a convoy, they are carrying 2 very big containers, with double steel inch walls and on the side there seem to be cables going inside of it, probably some sort of life support system.. I don't like this guy,  they are obviously carrying something important if they plan to choose the route in which barely anyone chooses to go." The person mentioned with concern.

 

[Maple Bat 3,568]

Treasured finally managed to get away from Shining without him noticing and he teleported to the sewer system putting the mare back together. "Now... Let's continue our chat from earlier shall we?" Treasured broke... Most of the crystal of the mare's body, removing them from stasis.

 

"He's betrayed us... I don't know what he did... but He's hiding something Find Treasured and I'm going to have a chat with Graystone..." Shining was angry since he noticed he was trying to hide something he knew without a doubt.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Luna smiled again "Well that's simple we'll just stop that from getting to where it's going! I mean if its vital stuff then why let the enemy keep it?" Luna asked rhetorically. "Sister should we go to it?"

"Oh for sure! Maybe we can get some stuff that our party needs from the convoy. It's kinda a stretch but they'd need food and water. What do you thinkg Edgar? Jack? Eve-" Celestia was quickly interupeted by Evelyne and Celestia flinched when she spoke she thought she'd finish

"Well I like the idea, Been too long since our last scrap!" Evelyn was showing that usual dragon's firey blood with that comment.

[MickeyAdaptus 2,211]

The corpse blinked for a moment when before she glared at Treasured with anger in her eyes.

"You... After crystalising almost my entire body only to follow up with some sort of time suspension, did you really think I would join up with you? If it was meant as a means of intimidation, it wasn't quite as successful as you hoped to be." She said with anger.

She then looked him straight in the eyes. "Because i am done playing games with you, this ends now."  It was then that her sudden anger was drawing forth her internal powers, but it was not the unicorn powers, but the other powers that were inside of her, the anger was causing it to rise up in her body like a spiritual flame, a faint but purple aura started to surround her entire body.

What happenend next was something you would not expect, instead of attempting to break the crystals that were making her stand still on the ground, it instead started to reshape, and they changed from the crystal material to something akin to her flesh and became almost like a second layer.

While the chains that had connected her hooves together where now gone, due to Treasured's crystal spell, which had somewhat worked in her favour in the end.

But she was not done, the only crystals that weren't changing were the one on her horn due to the magic inhibitor, but she wouldn't let it hinder her any longer.

"You can continue to rely on your little toothpick, but I have already outgrown mine..." She said coldly as she grasped her horn with one hoof, and yanked it off with relative ease since it had become mostly crystal.   "You can have mine." She said as she threw her now detachment horn straight before Treasured's hooves.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

"I will definitely join as well, I might not be able to stand but I can still shoot with weapons from a distance, tough my magic might be a bit out of the question since it will drain me rather fast. What do you prefer Evelyn, shall we fight together like usual where I sit on your back or you do prefer to fight without me near you this time? If you prefer to do the second option I can always just lay down on one of the sand hills and shoot from there?" Jack asked Evelyn, tough he smiled with how Evelyn reacted on the situation.

 

 

"Well... I am not really a fighter, even though I could somewhat handle myself in battle, it is by no means meant for outright attacks but more as self-defence.  Besides, my wife would be furious if I where to get hurt badly. Can't take any chances you know? I rather stay with the others, protect them if need be." Edgar said with a nervous chuckle.

 

[Maple Bat 3,568]

Treasured took a step back "W-Woah..." His horn started to glow and his wings flaired outwards "Alright I don't know how you are but that proved you're too dangerous to be left alive... Die, Now!" He ran, full stride wing extended out like a lance, moving full speed to impale the mare. Since they were now a threat.

-------------------------------------------------

Evelyn sighed "Jack... You are in too bad of a condition to fight. You really need to get some rest. We can handle this, I just... Like this, you really are a liability like that. More so than what you could help with... I'm sorry Jack. I know you really want to help... but If you're going to the center later... then you'll need all your strength."

Luna agreed "Her words are true. You really do need rest, you haven't gotten any since we left and you've had it very bad so far. Sit out, Just this once and then we'll have you back in action in no time!"