“I hardly doubt you'd believe me” the creature chuckled.

“I have walked the void between universes, I have been to heaven and back, I have seen things that most can’t even imagine” I responded, walking towards the creature before pointing one of my swords at his throat “don’t you fucking dare tell me I won’t believe you”

“First, don’t blaspheme” he responded calmly, before drawing his sword, knocking mine out of the way and reversing the advantage in his favour so his blade was against my neck. “and second, don’t think for one minute that you are the only being experienced in combat. Now, to answer your question, that creature was a Dæmon, one of the 666 leagues of Satan, and I am a Gargoyle, of the Gargoyle order, I had been sent to track down this Dæmon, but it seems you beat me to it” he then resheafed his sword and stepped back. Suddenly a pony descended from the shadows and charged towards us…only for Sombra to plough into him and pin him against a wall. His bottom jaw split in two and latched onto the pony’s neck, the pony began thrashing before going still after about 30 seconds. Sombra then backed away and the pale, lifeless body of the pony slumped to the floor, his eyes still open in shock.

“Excuse me for that uncouth display” Sombra apolagised, wiping blood away from his mouth with his magic “but it has been oh so long since I last fed”

“You’re a vampire?” I asked.

“Half-vampire” he corrected, I noticed his eyes had turned a deep red colour “My father was a Vampire, I inherited his powers, but none of his weaknesses”

“A Daywalker” I mused.

“That is what my kind is referred to” he said, tapping his chin with a hoof

“Wait, that’s the actual term for your species‽” I asked in surprise. “I was merely thinking of something from Earth” Sombra went to answer me but the Gargoyle spoke up.

“Whilst this is all very interesting, I’m sure we can discuss this in a better location that the stronghold of a cult”

*POV 3rd Person*

Whilst the heroes were talking, two unicorns snuck towards the ship.

“Are you sure about this, Seastreak?” asked one; a stallion with grey fur, black mane, and a magnifying glass cutie mark, as they entered through a maintenance door and began walking through a dark corridor with pipes and wires snaking along the walls like vines in some strange jungle

“Come on, Spellbook” said the other; a mare with dark blue fur, light blue mane, and an ocean wave cutie mark. “they are going to be travelling the stars, this is an opportunity we cannot pass up. Just think of all the things we could see and discover” they soon made their way to one of the main corridors and were just about to merge with the crew of the ship when a shadow loomed over them.

“Vwell” a gruff voice, oddly accented voice spoke “Looks like vwe have a couple of stowavways” the two ponies looked up to see a large bipedal Timberwolf in armour looming over them with its arms crossed and gulped nervously.

*POV 1st person Prince Nova*

We were walking back the The Defiance when my comlink activated.

“Nova” Scar’s voice spoke “Vwe’ve apprehended a couple of stowavways, nothing too serious. But their reasons for boarding are…unusual”

“What do you mean?” I asked, the others gave me an odd look and I waved them away.

“They vwanted to study the ship” I stopped dead in my tracks.

“What‽” I asked, laughing “Is that all‽”

“Yes, and to travel the stars vwith us” Scar grumbled.

“Alright, hold them there until we get back” I said “We’ll be back shortly” I then shut off the comlink before turning to the Gargoyle, who was now in his disguised form; a Human in armour and a cloak.

“So, how exactly does one descend a Dæmon?” I asked.

“By making a weapon sacred” he explained, before drawing his sword and passing it to me. I held it with my magic and examined it, my eyes lingering on the cross of the gargoyle order “all you need to do is inscribe your weapons with that symbol and you’ll be able to descend Dæmons. It can be stylised in any way you desire, so long as it has the key features of the cross of the order” I passed him back his sword before shifting into my Neu-Toa, drawing my swords and shifting back, I then used my magic to carve an elegant version of the cross on each blade. The gargoyle motioned to try out the blades and I passed one to him, he took it in his hands before giving it a few test swings and passing it back.

“A bit too large and heavy for my tastes” he admitted “but then again your fighting form is larger and stronger”

“You know” I mused  “I never did name these blades” I then began to engrave words onto the blade of each weapon; ‘Eldsvåda’ on the right blade, ‘Sáttmáli Banamaður’ on the left. Whilst I was at it I began to engrave an intricate flame pattern into the metal.

“Now” I concluded, giving them a twirl “they are truly my swords” I then shifted into my Neu-Toa form and used my Alicorn magic to engrave a similar flame pattern into the chest plate, shoulder armour and mask.

“Would a warrior such as you normally be allowed to customise their armour in such a way?” the Gargoyle asked.

“Normally?” I asked in response “no, they would not, but as Prince and co-leader of the Sol system alliance, I get certain privileges” we soon boarded the ship and began to make our way back to Canterlot, where the Gargoyle would part ways with us, but not before warning us of the Dæmons first.

I was walking through the hallway leading towards the detention center, when I felt a pair of hooves prod sharply into my back, making me shriek in surprise.

“Jesus fucking Christ!” I exclaimed, panting. I heard a female voice laughing and I sighed. “Really, Depth Charge?” I turned to face her with a deadpan look on my face. Depth Charge was a garter-blue Earth Pony with a grey mane and tail. She was the demolitions expert on my Honour guard.

“Oh, come on, Nova.” she said in a Manehatten accent “You need to lighten up”

“I do not need to lighten up” I said, continuing to walk along the hallway “you need to take it down a notch”

“Oh, sure you do” she retorted, slugging me in the shoulder. When she trotted away from me I rubbed my shoulder with a hoof, she had a strong punch “whenever you aren’t with Autumn you have this sour look on your face” she then put on an exaggerated pissed off expression.

“Because before I was with Autumn I thought I’d live my entire life alone!” I exclaimed, before walking closer to Depth Charge and lowering my voice. “You might not think it, but when I was a human on earth, I wasn’t exactly the most desirable individual out there, several events in my life put a pretty big dent in my self-esteem, so by the time I came to Equestria, I was convinced no one would want to spend the rest of their life with me, hell I still think I didn’t deserve anyone a wonderful as Autumn, or Glück, they are both wonderful mares and I don’t deserve them”

“Well, that’s where you’re wrong, Nova” Depth Charge said, tapping my nose with a hoof “and I want to prove that you are not ‘undesirable’”

“Where are you going with this?” I asked uncertainly.

“Dinner” she said “that’s all I’m asking, you have your own private dining room on this ship, why not make use of it?”

“Are you serious?” I asked.

“Dinner first” she said “then if we connect, we’ll see where we go from there” she then trotted off before I could answer, leaving me stood n the middle of the hallway with a stunned expression on my face” I heard hoofsteps approaching.

“You have to remember you’re royalty now” Autumn said, giggling “You’re more desirable and at some point you will have to start turning away mares and the occasional stallion” I resumed my trek towards the detention block.

“Talking from experi…?” Autumn cut me off.

“Two mares and four stallions” she said “to be fair though, the mares were kind of cute, I was almost tempted to say yes to at least one of them”

“Then why didn’t you?” I asked “I’ll always be accepting of your choices, and you’re practically the leader of our herd” she then trotted closer to me and whispered in my ear

“Don’t you mean that you’re just my little ‘Weibsstück?” she whispered, smirking.

“Well, I wouldn’t say ‘little’” I whispered, returning her smug expression. She blushed and stepped back before following me into the detention block. We soon entered a room where the two stowaways were being held and I sat opposite them, with a table between us. They were two unicorns; a stallion with grey fur, black mane & tail, and a magnifying glass cutie mark. And a mare with dark blue fur, light blue mane & tail, and an ocean wave cutie mark “Care to explain why you snuck aboard my personal ship?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

“We’re interested in the design of the ship” the stallion said “the idea of travelling the stars seems tempting too”

“We can help out on the ship if you want” the mare said

“Are you even aware of the type of commitment that would be?” I asked “if you called it quits, we wouldn’t be able to just ‘turn the ship around’, we will be travelling upto hundreds of thousands of light years away from terra, and we are expected to be gone for decades at a time, this is a long term commitment. You sign up to work on this ship? You better be damn sure you don’t have any long-standing commitments here on Terra”

“We are certain we want to do this” the stallion said.

“Okay then” I said “what skills do you have?”

“I can analyse and replicate any spell I see” the stallion explained “and Seastreak here can manipulate water”

“Combat experience?” I asked.

“You wouldn’t believe me” the Stallion deadpanned.

“I’m Prince Nova…fucking…Blast” I said “chances are no matter what kind of cray shit you’ve seen, I’ve seen crazier by far. I was the first Human to be displaced in Equestria…”

“Not true actually” the stallion said “I am…or was, human. I’ve read up about you, I’m from a parallel to your Earth where magic and technology are used side-by-side. Long story short, crazy stuff happened, I fought, and defeated, a bunch of demi-gods, got fused with a spell book and we’ve been traveling around this world”

“How can I know you’re Human?” I asked.

“What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?” he asked, smirking.

“African or European?” I asked back smirking.

“How do you know so much about swallows?” the mare; Seastreak, asked.

“Well, you have to know these things when you’re a prince, you know” I said “Anyway, I have a proposal for you two”

“Go on” the stallion said.

“you’ve both seen to have seen your fair share of combat, and the fact that you’re still here means you must have some degree of skill” I said “so, how would you feel about becoming my 5th and 6th honour guards?” their jaws hit the table, bounced off and hit the floor with a thud.

***

[The next day]

We were now back in Canterlot, this was our final full day and we were going to make the most of it, we wouldn’t be back here for at least a couple of decades. I was walking back to the castle when suddenly I was confronted with the sight of two columns of paparazzi and news reporters.

“Your Highness, what do you have to say about the allegations?” one called and they all went silent.

“I am unaware of any allegations and for the moment I have no further comment on the matter” I then ignored their further questioning and continued walking into the castle and eventually made my way to my office before sitting down behind the desk, I just needed to sign off a few things and then I would be done. One of my P.A.s walked in holding a newspaper in her magic and a nervous expression on her face.

“Heh heh, your highness?” she said, before dropping the paper on the desk and promptly bolting out of the room. I raised an eyebrow before levitating the paper over and freezing up when I noticed the words ‘IS PRINCE NOVA A COVENANT SYMPATHISER?’ printed in bold, capital letters, with a picture of myself conversing with a Sangheili during my day court. The paper promptly vaporised and I uttered two, very particular words.

“Prince….Blueblood” Next Chapter: Chapter 7 Estimated time remaining: 2 Hours, 6 Minutes