Author's Note:
Hello, everyone, transcendantviewer here. Long time no see. Now, normally, I exclusively write Borderlands stories, and I do have plans to resume Pandoran Nights, to those still holding out for that series, but I've gone through some changes recently. First, a slight recap; my writing has dwindled significantly due to changing interests, personal struggles, and general life experiences intercepting progress. I started going to a small gaming shop in my area, and have had my love for the Dungeons and Dragons franchise rekindled, as well as been formally introduced to a budding, wonderful community: The Bronies. Yes, I have been inducted into the ranks of the Brony people, and I must say, I'm rather comfortable with the transition. Now, that aside, I've been somewhat perusing the Friendship is Magic stories here on Fanfiction, and I must say, a lot of them have great promise, though the road is long and arduous. Due to shifting interests, I've decided to start up a MLP: FiM/D&D story. I hope everyone reading this finds it entertaining. Now, without any further ado, I give you my newest story: Metal and Magic. Enjoy.
Chapter 1: A Wandering Monster.
The skies shone with a wonderful blue, something Sentinel rarely saw; though, not for a lack of observation. You can't live your entire life, eternally conscious, and just miss the skies, after all. When you don't sleep, eat, or even breathe, means to occupy your daily life can quickly become scarce. Watching the stars twinkle in the night sky and seeing the sun rise in the morning becomes commonplace. But what wasn't commonplace, was the beautiful hue of the sky this morning. It wasn't its ordinary light blue, with the occasional spattering of white, cottony clouds, drifting lazily through the sky: no, on this particular morning, it was the color of a blue diamond. The clouds didn't drift lazily either, they floated on, seemingly with monotonous purpose, almost willed to move along some pattern that he was unaware of. But... There were no druids for thousands of miles; he'd made sure to take absolute care to keep clear of sanctuaries. Who could move the skies? What could move the skies if not a druid?
With each heavy footfall, Sentinel stepped into the sun's welcoming light from under the canopy of trees above. He stood, a towering fortress of a being; a solid 7'2'' tall. Eyes of amber crystal met the warm rays, thick armor shining in midday's illuminating embrace. The clouds drift through the cerulean sky lazily, sliding overhead with haunting sluggishness and graceful uniformity.
"Something strange is going on here..." Sentinel mutters to himself, his focus shifting from the bewitching skies above to the forest all around. With weary movements, he trudges on, his bulk leaving deep impressions in the fertile soil. Slowly, the forest opens up to a wide area; a meadow of sorts, filled with rustic buildings of hay and wood. In the distance, a sweeping orchard of rolling hills and lush apple trees comes into view. "What is this place?" he asks himself softly, heading towards the orchard.
As he approached, an odd fact came to light: everything was small. Sized for Halflings, even the trees, however, before he could take the time to further inspect anything, something even stranger wandered into his view. A horse. A very small horse. A horse small enough that it could serve as a mount for a Halfling. But curious of all, was its attire. It bore a ranching hat, with its golden tail bound into - ironically enough - a pony tail. It, no she, scans the landscape with her deep, green eyes that shine brightly with deceptive intelligence as she trots towards a beautifully painted red barn. Then, just as he'd noticed her and froze in confusion and wonder, the mare freezes after catching Sentinel with a glance. She stops suddenly, her rough, golden mane's bangs bouncing beneath her hat, as if protesting the sudden halt. Her eyes widen and her small, pert mouth slowly widens, as if to speak. Then he heard it, an "it" that will haunt his hundred-year-old mind for the rest of his life. This, well quite frankly, gorgeous mare opens her mouth and releases neither a whinny nor a neigh, but a word. A simple word. The word that every other person – and now horse – that had ever met Sentinel has first said upon laying eyes upon him.
"What?" He heard the softest of drawls to her tone, an unmistakable word uttered with unmistakable intelligence and confusion. And as if on cue, he catches the very same word leak from his metal mouth, for the same reason as it had leaked from this mare's. "What?" At his response, the mare's eyes squint, processing what she'd heard, and her ears folded down ever so slightly before again, her eyes widened. Her expression is filled with even more confusion and shock than before, and so would Sentinel's, should it have been capable of expressing anything at all. With a courage that one could only expect from another fully aware, sentient being, the mare approaches slowly, her eyes squinted with a cautious determination and her head sunken, as if prepared to turn and run at a moment's notice. She closes the distance painfully slowly, taking nearly a full minute to travel what could have taken only a few moments. Sentinel remains perfectly still, his hands not leaving his sides and his crystalline eyes transfixed upon her glimmering emerald ones.
When she'd finally came within about ten paces of the massive metal humanoid, she again stops, allowing her eyes to only then roam over his figure, taking in his heinous features. Then, again, with unmistakable intelligence, the mare speaks. "Wh-what are you?" she asks softly, as though to ask herself more than him. Her confused eyes transfix on his metal jaw as he replies to her question.
"My name is Sentinel, I'm what you'd call... a golem. I just wandered by through that forest over there. I don't mean any harm." He said, his training as a soldier allowing him to maintain a calm and collected tone as he speaks. He then leans down, resting his hands on his knees slowly, to kneel on the ground, keeping his hands in full view. "See? No harm." He continues, removing his equipment, weapons, and shield and tossing them several feet away, out of his reach.
"And uh... My name's Applejack. Don't uh... Don't go nowhere, ya hear?" the mare asks, slowly lifting her head and stepping backwards towards the small farmhouse behind her. Her eyes never leave Sentinel as she makes her way inside, her powerful hind legs kicking the wooden door open. She then darts inside and a shrill voice echoes from within.
"Applejack! I done told ya not ta kick in that door!" an aged voice hollers at the brown-coated, golden haired mare.
"Granny Smith, we ain't got time for that now! We got some kind of... Two legged metal varmint in the front field! An' it talks! Get Big Mac and keep an eye on 'em! I gotta get Twilight and the others!" the mare shouts back, her voice distinct against the silence of the orchard. Then, the golden haired mare, Applejack, gallops off, away from the farmhouse and off the orchard, towards the small village in the distance. Then, a few moments later, an elderly mare, with a peculiar, green coat and experienced, wise brown eyes slowly steps out of the house, followed by a large, obviously muscular horse behind her. The horse behind her has a large green apple on their flank with a horse collar around their neck and the elderly mare possesses a steaming pie, seemingly tattooed onto her flank.
"Keep an eye on 'em, Big Mac. Don't want 'em causin' any trouble." The elderly mare said, using her dainty front hoof to point towards Sentinel. The red-coated, muscular horse, Big Mac, nods before responding in a deep, gruff, simple affirmation.
"Eyup." He replied, their voice making it obvious that the horse was in fact a stallion. With a resolute trot, this new stallion approaches his eyes intense and his haunches sturdy.
"Well... Quite the welcome wagon." Sentinel states, remaining completely still.
"Eyup." The crimson-coated stallion retorts simply.
"Not one for conversation, are you?" Sentinel asks, his eyes meeting Big Mac's.
"Nope." Big Mac answers cautiously, both not moving an inch.
"Perfect." Sentinel commented with a sigh. In the distance, where the elderly mare stands, a young foal trots out, stopped by the green mare.
"Hold it, there, Applebloom. We got no idea what it is yet." Granny Smith said in a hushed tone, her eyes never leaving the kneeling, metal man.
"Awe, but granny~!" the young foal replied in a whiny, girlish tone.
"No buts. We ain't takin' any chances." The elderly mare counters, both staring at Sentinel.
A long, heavy silence then befalls the area, only the sound of the blowing wind to be heard for the longest time. The tension hangs in the air like a miasma, thick and suffocating, almost as though it was malevolent, threatening to strangle the beauty from the land. Then, the wind blows, its gentle howling shooing away the horrifying quiet. A single thud echoes a short distance away, as an apple falls from its branch, gently bouncing off the ground and rolling down the soft, sloping earth to stop with a gentle tap against Sentinel's knee.
Finally with a reason to attempt to break the tension, Sentinel looks down at the lustrous fruit beside him. "May I?" he asks, gently gesturing at it with a thick finger from his three-digited hands. The elderly mare's eyes shift between Sentinel's crystalline eyes and the apple several times, a contemplative expression on her face before she finally grants him a response in the form of a simple nod, her eyes only closing for a brief instance as she does so. Sentinel nods in turn, slowly reaching for the naturally polished fruit, picking it up and practically swallowing it, crushing it beneath the force of his massive jowls, seeds and all. In less than several seconds, the pulpy, mashed remnants of the apple are gulped down by the kneeling metal behemoth, the fruit's death knell of its final crunches heard. "That was delicious. I don't eat often, but I've never had an apple that good before in all my life." Sentinel states, attempting to break the tension once more.
His attempt, however, fails, and the all-encompassing silence grips the scene yet again. Then, as though the will of the Multiverse was forcing the silence to relinquish its tyrannical grip on the world, the sound of something piercing the air can be heard over head. Sentinel slowly turns towards the sound, looking up to the sky to see what appears to be a beam of prismatic color sailing through the sky, then, it suddenly shifted like a ray reflecting off a pane of glass towards them. A loud crash of energy can be heard as it suddenly accelerates, releasing a burst of radiant prismatic light and crashes to the ground several dozen feet from where Sentinel sits motionless upon the dirt. The dust kicked up from the impact gradually clears, revealing a new mare, this one sporting a curious sky blue colored coat and a rainbow colored mane and tail of spiky, tousled hair. Upon her flank is imprinted a mark of a cloud with a lightning bolt of rainbow colors dashing from it. At her back rests a pair of wings. Sentinel quickly pieces together that she's a Pegasus.
"Whoa. I see why Applejack was stumped how to deal with you. You're big, and kind of awesome." She comments, casually sauntering towards Sentinel as he remained motionless.
"Uh... Thank you... I think?" he replies, somewhat confused.
"Don't mention it." She said, now making a relaxed trot around him, inspecting him intensely. A purple burst of light momentarily blinds everyone in the immediate area before giving way to five more mares, each of varying coat colors, with interesting mane colors and styles.
One possesses a curious pink coat with a fluffy, seemingly gravity defying mane of a slightly darker shade of pink, her eyes a brilliant powder blue. Her body language alone shows that she is hardly able to contain her energy, like a soiree of glee is ready to erupt from her at any moment, exactly as energetic as the marking on her flank, a set of three balloons, two of which were blue with a yellow one between them.
The next, at her right and somewhat behind the rest, stands with a sunken, fearful stance, her soft, sea-blue eyes somewhat hidden beneath her long, light pink mane. A pair of feathery wings positively glued to the sides of her body. Upon her side, a triad of pink butterflies, standing in direct contrast with her coat's gentle shade of yellow.
The third is the mare from earlier, Applejack, though now, her expression is far from curious and uncertain. Within her eyes lie a determination and a stalwart courage. And beside her stands a hypnotic sight; a mare with piercing blue eyes, framed by long, meticulously styled lashes. Her coat is a spotless white and her mane a curling, violet masterpiece with a tail to match. Upon her flank lies a set of three blue gems and her head is accentuated by a single white horn, denoting her as a Unicorn.
And the last of the new mares, by far the most curious of the bunch, possesses both a horn and a pair of wings. Her coat is a glorious violet and her eyes a haunting shade of violet. Her mane, however, possesses a variable multitude of colors. A navy blue base with a purple and pink streak down the center, stopping to divide and make way for her horn; her flank adorned with a six-pointed light pink star with five other white, twinkling stars surrounding it in a circular pattern.
"OOH! It's a new thing! Newnewnewnewnewnewnew! Wait. What is it?" the pink one shouts energetically, hopping up and down, her mane bouncing just as much as she.
"Pinkie Pie, do calm down, darling. This is no time to lose... Focus... Oh, my word, just look at those eyes. They're the deepest set of rubies I've ever seen in all my life!" the white mare said, practically losing herself in Sentinel's unique crystalline eyes.
"Girls! This isn't the time for this. We don't even know if it's dangerous or not." The purple mare interrupts, stamping her hoof against the dusty ground.
It's at this time that the brown mare with golden hair speaks up. "It did toss all of its belongin's on the ground, there. Ah don't think it's here to cause any trouble. Told me it was just passin' through. Found us by accident."
"Uh... Yeah, can I get up off the ground now? My knees are starting to lock up." Sentinel interjects, gradually lifting one of his hands to draw their attention.
"How do we know we can trust you?" the mare with the rainbow mane asks, her reddish-violet eyes glaring into Sentinel's pair of crimson crystalline lenses.
"Well, I spent the last 10 minutes in a meditative position so I wouldn't get kicked in the jaw by an angry stallion or mare..." he starts, nodding in Applejack's direction before continuing again. "...and willingly disarmed myself so none of you would feel threatened. I just want to get some bearing on where I am, and what's going on here." He said, finishing his response.
"Group huddle!" the pink one shouts, using her forelimbs to, almost humanly, drag the other five into a tight circle so they may whisper among themselves for several moments. After less than a minute of hushed speaking, the group disperses to all face Sentinel, their expressions unreadable, aside from that of the pink mare, which looked to have been using every last bit of her willpower to contain her enthusiasm.
"We've decided that we'll take you to the castle and talk about it there." The purple mare said, her wings splaying as she speaks, as though she were commanding his attention. "Applejack, would you do the honors?" she asks, turning to the rancher-mare, who then nods. She then steps over to the side of the farm house's porch, using her tail to make use of a rope that had been coiled against it. Like it were prehensile, her tail makes total use of the rope, lassoing Sentinel's shoulders, binding his arms at his side. The purple mare's horn then glows a vibrant violet and Sentinel's items lift from the ground, surrounded by an aura of the same color. "Well, let's get going." She states, leading them all down the path towards the crystalline castle off in the distance, Sentinel having been forced to stand due to his bindings. As he followed these colorful, strange, sentient ponies back to a glistening castle in their small, rustic town, Sentinel mentally chides himself. Well... This has been an interesting day already... It's only going to keep getting worse from here. I can feel it...
End Chapter 1.
End note. And that concludes the first installment of this unique crossover series. I hope anyone that reads this enjoys it. Anyway, as always, read, review, and feel free to drop me a PM whenever you'd like. Stay frosty, my friends!