"Trust me, once we send a beam from the Elements of the Ancients directly into that thing, well, they are going to be feeling that boom. Then after that, it will be a matter of playing guerilla warfare, taking out as many as we can, making the attrition not worth the cost. This is a war we can't win, but that sure as hell doesn't mean we can't beat them to a bloody pulp." Heculius said slightly smilingly. "And once Tremalion comes back, those skies are going to be so chok full of storms that those ships wouldn't dare coming in, though I believe our fate lies with the Knowledge."
Karl intervened in their conversation, smiling wildly. He looked like he was gonna explode of joy, "Um, why can't whe just talk to them? It seems to be a likely idea!" He looked at them both with a wide smile on his face, as if he had something behind the fact of what he had said. "They're friendly to ya if you're friendly back, and we wouldn't be able to take down that Orbi-" He realized what he almost had said, and quickly went past it. "I mean that thing, even if we use our magic it would most likely blow out a good chunk of it, but not the full thing." His smile turned a grim direction."But, i got a pretty solid plan if we can get through the first step." He looked at both of them with a childish smile. He knew what he was going for, and if everything went his way, he would soon have The Truth in his hands.
Heculius gave Karl a strange look, "You do realize that the Elements of the Ancients are the most powerful magical objects outside the Knowledge O.P.I.A.T., it can wipe out whole cities." Just as Heculius finished, yet another bright blue beam streaked down to some unknown destination far away. "I think our best hope lies in the Knowledge O.P.I.A.T., if our calculations are correct, these guys are the ones who made it a long long time ago, like 8000 years ago."
Dark Shine tapped his chin. "How are we planning on doing something from here? Eventually, if we stay here, we will get caught."
Karl tapped his chin, "You say humans built it huh?" He started thinking. "Wait a second! Opiat...Opiaaat..." Suddenly his face lit up like a sun ending it's life, and he started shaking Heculius. "WHERE IS THE OPIAT STATIONED!?" he screamed out in his face.
Heculius shoved Karl off him, "It used to be in Canterlot, but it disappeared with Tremalion." Heculius then turned to the group, "If you are wondering what the O.P.I.A.T. is, it is an A.I. that's full name is Operation Projection: Internalized Automated Teaching. It is essentially a massive database of all knowledge ever about this world and any connected to it, and it also functions as a fully intelligent back-up leader."
Karl looked down on the ground and said, "Oh. Okay well i guess i'm going nowhere near that then..." He walked to the right, and stopped dead in his tracks, ears perked up as he was listiening to something."Hey guys, listen. There's someone singing closeby..." He looked through the bushes, and then he looked back, motioning for everyone to stay quiet, then jumped through the bushes faster than a torpedo.
Snow's ears perked at the sound of the singing, "And alone, the Trooper wound his way through the shadow." She suddenly smiled and listened for the repeat, which happened as expected, "But together, The Troopers could face the terrible foe, as sure as a shade." she returned. A pony then came sprinting around the corner, leaving a light blue streak behind him, "Snow!" he called, almost tackling her in a bear hug, but quickly remembered she was carrying their creation, so Winter settled for a stationary bear hug, "I thought I lost you when I saw that big ship over Canterlot. I thought that Rashall might have been able to help so I was heading to the Shadowed Forest when I saw a blue laser just disentigrate a ship of his, so, here I was, lost, alone, with a Staff of great importance, thinking everypony that I knew and loved was dead." he explained, on the verge of tears. That's when he noticed the rest of the group, "Thank the heavens you guys survived!" he exclaimed before seeing Rashall, "Oh, I do believe this belongs to you." he said leviatating the Staff of Light over to him.
He looked around at the other side of the bushes, to notice a lone soldierm singing as he walked along. "Heh." Karl chuckled as he looked at the ridicolous soldier, because that soldier, was him. It was Karl, clad in full armor, singing his favorite song infront of Karl. "Here goes nothing..." He quietly said, and started singing himself. "And that song is so very far from wroooong!~" The soldier turned around to notice the dark red pony, and instead of shooting it full of holes, he continued to sing with Karl. "I got spuuurs that jingle jangle jingle!" They both sang in unison for the whole forest to see. (Oh yes, the dreaded song is back!)
Tyro sat, struggling to process any of this. He was always the outsider, sure, but this was off the chart! "Sorry...A.I., Ancient Elements, wormholes...Could somepony please explain this to me? Apparently it concerns me and apparently, you'd find me useful! Can I just be taken to the side and talked to by somepony who's likely to explain all this clearly? I mean why would you all know members of the royal family? And, and..." He was causing a scene...He wanted something like this, sort of, but not quite on this scale. And nothing quite so sudden. He was rusty at engaging quickly on other ponies business.
Snow shrugged, "I don't get much of it either, but I know all four of the rulers through various reasons. Celestia was my tutor, Luna, well, I just kinda met her I can say, Tremalion because I helped fight against him in the Resistance Wars then ironically supported his and Heculius' rise to the throne beside the Princesses. Also when your husband is the best secret agent in all of Equestria, your sister is the Master Protector of the Capital region, and you yourself being the president of Equestria's largest mining and services business, you tend to be well connected. Now, where could this O.P.I.A.T. be Heculius?" He shrugged, "Anywhere, the best we can do is try to find a magical source that emits more energy than we do."
Karl and Karl were now laying on the ground, laughing as hard as possible. "Ahaha, well that was fun. We gotta dance more!" He looked at Karl, whose red coat was dirty of all the dust and mud. "Ye, we totally gotta dance more!" Karl stood up and said, "Hey, wanna meet my new friends? They're over through that bush!" Karl nodded, and jumped to the other side, causing everyone to jump. "AHAAH, you've been spotted! Now you will all be my slaves! Muahahahahaaa!" He couldn't help but burst into laughter at all the creatures around him, and the faces they were making. Pony Karl jumped through the bush and introduced the Human Karl to the others. "Hey guys! This... hehe... is me!" He pointed a hoof at the human on the ground before them. "Karl! Serious business okay?" He jabbed a hoof into Human Karls stomach, but it didn't seem to affect him. "Okay, sorry other me..." He stood up slowly, giggling over the event.
Heculius just stated at them, "You really think this is the time or place for these kind of things? The fate of the world hangs in the balance and you are acting like a couple of colts! Are kid, in the human's case. Anyways, we need to find the Knowledge O.P.I.A.T. As soon as possible!
"The Opiat? Last time i heard 'bout that was on the Breifing Pad over on Reach... They say it's positioned somewhere in some forest or something..." Human Karl responded. He then looked over to Karl and said, "Dude, is that the Longinus Knife?" Pony Karl responded, "Ye. Got it from The Clockmaker." Pony Karl drew the blade and swinged it, putting it under Human Karls chin. "Wanna test drive it?" He asked with a grim smile. "Not right now. Got somethin' for you... Ya know, tht you asked for?" Human Karl opened up his chestplate and took out a small crystal, about the shape of a walnut. Pony Karl quickly holstered the blade and swiped the crystal from Human Karl and looked at it with hungry eyes as his mouth began to water. "You brought it... Thats very good." He quickly put it in a pocket (don't ask me where the pocket is, because i don't know.) and looked back to Human Karl. "So?" He asked Karl, who looked at him with a confused face, which was hidden behind the mask.
Tyro take a wild glance at the newly arrived human, then at his equine counter part. Then back at the human before ramming a paw into his forehead, again and again then cradling his face, breathing heavily. He wanted nothing more than to curl up into a ball.
Human Karl looked at Tyro with a grim smile to his face. "Something wrong Tyro? It seems as if you want to beat me up." He began taking off his armor, still smiling. He reached out his arms and said, "Go ahead. I won't blame you if you kill me." He looked at Tyro with a cracked smile. Pony Karl looked at himself, he knew what was gonna happen if Tyros body met Karls skin. It had all happened before, with another furry little creature. Pony Karl looked at Tyro, who was breathing heavily, and smiled the most wicked smile ho could come up with. "Go ahead Tyro, take a shot."
Dark Shine saw the human Karl out of the corner of his eyes and then saw Tyro, getting uncomfortable. He simply growled as he stood in front of Tyro and inbetween him and the human. "Mind telling me, why you are smiling? Or do I have to beat the truth out of you." He pulled out an amulet (No not the element) and put it on.
Pony Karl looked at Dark Shine and simply said, "I'm just giving Tyro the chance to become what he once was." He then looked at Human Karl and said, "But i can do a better smile than that, come on use your flames!" Human Karl looked at the dark-grey pony, lowered his arms, put a hand infront of Dark Shine in a kind of upwards fashion, and lit up a black flame that completely consumed his whole elbow. He then put the burning black hand on his face, and rubbed of the flames on his face. When his face had been completely consumed by the flames, a red eye opened, and a wide smile appeared, creating a nightmarish face that could kill a lesser animal. "I smile because i want to. Is there a problem with that?" He asked in a contorted voice. Pony Karl was smiling. He used this technique when he scared of weaker humans, but there was much more to the Black Flame than that.
Dark Shine simply glared, which although was unlike him, he had not had to do this before. "Now you listen here. Your race came here, and sent us out of peace and into war. Give me a few reasons why I should not punish you?"
"Because i'm not a human." 'Human' Karl responded. The confused face from Dark Shine was enough to make him facepalm inside the burning mask. "I am indeed something else: something more sinister." He looked at Dark Shine. "I am a demon." He simply said, taking of the Black Flame mask. "Just kidding, i'm really a Lithian." He sat down and looked at himself, and continued. "I am part of a race that evolved from humans. We carry the looks, but the genes and physics are more advanced." He looked at Dark Shine with a smile, this time one similar to the on Celestia gives to her subjects. "I am not really part of this invasion, i only snuck in check on this fella right here." He pointed at Pony Karl, who looked a Dark Shine. "In 20 years, he's gonna be talking to you and i'll be sitting over here, being all dumbfounded and stuff like that." He pointed where Pony Karl was sitting. "You see: it's all just a circle that goes 'round and 'round." He then leaned a little, looking at Tyro. "You still have the chance to beat me up, ya know?"
