Author's Notes:

Bold - Character Narrating (Either Perspective or Narrator)
Italics - Character's Thoughts
Color - Character Who's Narrating or Thinking: Loarven Swuen
Clover the Clever
Sharp Sight

Uhhhhh… It hurts; to move, to think… Where am I? I remember falling, and crashing into… a mountain I believe? Either way, I need to find someone… the others… I need to find…

“Vallan...” said Swuen. Swuen slowly opened her eyes and gazed at her surroundings. Swuen found herself on a bed; possibly used for taking care of the injured and sick… guessing by the bottles and medical equipment strung around the room. The room itself was glimmering white, the floor and walls made of marble; a window was opened on her right side of her bed, the moonlight shining inside. A single candle was lit on a table beside her, on it was a plate and a glass of water; the plate held a loaf of bread… it smelled like honey.

I need to get out of this room, and find out where I am. Swuen attempted to move her body, and the second she set her feet onto the ground, she felt a quick pang of pain throughout her body. A small gasp comes out, as she tumbles to the cold marble ground; taking a close look at her body, Swuen was covered head to toe in injuries. Apparently the crash landing she took with A.I. wasn’t so light for her, noting the bandages wrapped around her torso. Before Swuen could move, the door opened as a very strange creature appeared before Swuen’s eyes.

The creature was a pony… well, a pony with a horn above it’s eyes; the most strangest description on the pony was it’s bright colored fur and mane, as if someone vomited a rainbow of colors all over this strange creature. Instantly the pony spotted Swuen and gasped, rushing to her side; Swuen’s hearing was still having trouble and when the pony spoke all she heard was some garbled sounds, but after awhile she heard the next line of words the pony said.

“Miss, you shouldn’t be out of bed; I don’t know how long you’ve been here, but you need to rest,” said the pony. The pony’s horn glowed and suddenly, Swuen found herself floating in the air, until she was gently placed back on her bed with a simple plop; the pony’s horn glowed again and this time, Swuen’s blanket hovered and landed on top of her. “Now I’ll be right back, I need to tell Master A.I. of your awakening.”

Master… A.I? Swuen watched the pony leave, rushing to wherever A.I. was; but right now, many questions began swarming Swuen’s head. What has A.I. done now? Why are these… ponies, being so hospitable to us? I expected to be locked in some sort of cage, but this was the last thing I expected… Stay calm Swuen; you need to stay calm. Your Psycho Corps’ number one infiltrator and espionage specialist; only I can handle these kind of situations. I can probably think of a story to explain what I am and my purpose here without raising any suspicions.

“That isn’t necessary Swuen.” Swuen stopped in mid-thought and glanced at the door the pony from before went through. At the doorway was A.I, and behind him was the same pony from before. “I need some privacy with my friend; could you call Princess Platinum and her adviser… Clover was it, to meet me in the dining room.”

The pony, who Swuen now realized was wearing a maid outfit, making her a maid of this place bowed down and rushed away. A.I. turned to look at Swuen, giving off a smile, but the kind of smile that makes the hair on the back of your neck stiffen… for Swuen, all it did was make her glare angrily. “What’s going on A.I?” asked Swuen.

“A lot of things actually; but to better simplify it...” said A.I, walking up to his fellow companion. “It’s best to show you.” A.I. extended an upturn fist, opening it to reveal a very familiar pill. The pill laying on A.I’s hand was a regenerative pill; Swuen and A.I’s boss who had the natural ability of self-healing, shared that power with his followers. Taking the pill, Swuen swallows it whole, grabbing the glass of water to make the process easier. Once downing the whole glass, Swuen feels a strange sensation across her body; flexing her hands, Swuen steps off her bed, able to stand on both feet once more.

“Lead the way,” said Swuen. A.I. nodded, and made his way to leave the room; before Swuen followed, she grabbed the loaf of bread which was coated in honey, making her hands sticky. Taking a bite of the sweet pastry, Swuen smiles and decides to ask the chef who made this to make more for her in the future.

Swuen and A.I. exited the room; outside standing by the room’s entrance was a pony, wearing armor and a helmet, signifying her role as a guard. The pony turned and saluted at A.I, but when she noticed Swuen, she stepped back and was ready to point her weapon. Before anything could happen though, A.I. raised a hand for her to stop. “Now now… she’s with me… Now come; both of you, we need to see your princess,” said A.I.

The guard takes a look at Swuen and follows behind; in return Swuen follows too, walking beside the guard following A.I. Swuen took a bite of her bread, until a voice spoke up; looking around it was the guard who pointed her weapon at her before. “Are you… ‘his’ mistress or something?” asked the guard. This caught her off-guard, and caused Swuen to spit out a piece of loaf, nearly gagging in the process; the guard went straight to action and began patting her back until Swuen could breath once more and speak.

“MISTRESS!? I ain’t nobody’s mistress you hear; he and I are of equal standing. Heck, I could kill him where he stands,” said Swuen.

“You’re not wrong,” said A.I, agreeing. “Though, I do have my uses.”

“Well… He seemed worried when you were brought to the infirmary wing of the castle… So I assumed...” said the guard.

Swuen eyes widened, looking at A.I, then at the guard… until she exploded into laughter. “Him… worrying… Pffft; the only thing this heartless bastard gives a damn is his own hide and research,” said Swuen. “I also have a feeling he didn’t strung you along just so he needed someone to guide him around the place.”

That caused the guard to shudder, as she took a few steps away from A.I. “Anyway, my… my name’s Sharp Sight; I was assigned with Master… A.I. here as his personal bodyguard and guide,” said Sharp. “I’m also unlucky enough to be his lab assistant.”

“By lab assistant, does he tell you to stand pretty while he stares at you and writes notes down; while other times, poking you with strange instruments?” asked Swuen, raising a brow.

“Well… yes,” said Sharp, blushing. After answering Swuen’s question, Sharp gazed at her spear, taking a sudden interest on it.

“Of course he is,” said Swuen, taking another bite of her loaf.

“I have more reasons than that Miss Loarven; besides… we’re here,” said A.I. In front of the trio was double-door made of wood and some other material like gems or some sort of rock. A.I. opened both doors with ease for his thin frame and stepped inside; Swuen and Sharp followed close behind.

Once inside, they found a large long table, with numerous seats surrounding it; two large seats were set on the far edges of the table, while ten smaller seats were set on the sides which made a total of twenty two seats for the table. Sitting at the far side of the room was Princess Platinum, with her was Clover the Clever who decided to stand than sit. The princess was in the middle of conversation with her until she noticed A.I. entering the room; stopping her conversation, Princess Platinum focused her attention towards him.

“Sir A.I, why have you called us this late at night?” asked Platinum. “Are there news of your friend’s status?”

“Indeed… you could say she’s doing fine now,” said A.I, sitting on the other large seat. At the same time that he sat down, Swuen found a seat of her own near A.I, while Sharp stood on the wall left of A.I. “Princess, I would like to introduce to you, ‘Mistress’ Loarven Swuen.”

Platinum gave an inquisitive look and placed a hoof onto the marble table, making a quiet tink noise. “Mistress you say? So is she your-” Before Platinum could finish, Swuen slammed a fist down and glared daggers at Platinum.

“Whatever your thinking, I don’t have those kinds of relationships with… him,” said Swuen. “Mistress is simply a codename we use among each other; it also portrays our… skills.”

Skills? Clover gave A.I. a glance, wondering if he was their leader considering his intellectual personality, and cold but logical tactics. It makes perfect sense if he were the leader; but his companion seems to show signs he isn’t. So what is he then?

While Swuen continued to eat her bread angrily, the surrounding guards who were standing by were prepared to strike when necessary… however… Sharp knew better to deal with these “creatures”. A.I. who seemed flimsy as a stick and could break any second, held a strange feeling to him… as if a cloak of ice was surrounding him. If you couldn’t sense it then you would notice it from the way he looks… his eyes; his lifeless but focused light blue eyes. A.I. shifted his hand and pulled something from under his cloak; every guard froze and focused their attention at A.I… but what came next came to a surprise to everyone.

“What I have on my hand is something that many of you may assume by it’s look… it’s not what you think,” said A.I. On the palm of his hand was a silver crystal, it gave off a strange aura around it; everypony in the room stared at awe at the strange crystal. A.I. gently placed it on the table then slid it toward Princess Platinum. “That would be my payment… or incentive in this case.”

“Incentive?”

A.I. stood up and walked toward Platinum and Clover then stopped only a few steps away from them; grabbing a chair A.I. leaned on it with ease. “You see, those crystals are from my world and while yes they are rare, I am the only being on this world who have’s the capabilities to make them,” said A.I, staring at his feet.

Princess Platinum used her magic and levitated the crystal to her view; the strange crystal while would possibly be sold for a thousand bits… was possibly more valuable than Canterlot’s treasury. “And what do you wish in return?” asked Platinum, tossing the crystal back to A.I, only for him to catch it without looking.

A.I. stared at his creation and pocketed it back inside his coat; he then stopped leaning against the chair and stood straight, staring at the two mares with a crazed look. “Three things… Knowledge, security, and information on any strange sightings from the last several days,” said A.I. “These are my requests and in return I will give you these special crystals in return; I won’t tell you how to use them though.”

“And why not?” asked Clover, stepping a few trots closer to A.I.

“Not all crystals share the same reaction on every being it makes contact with; it could have adverse effects on your kind so I recommend experimenting them in the future. Another thing you should know is that if your attempting to change anything about the crystals, tell me in advance… I don’t want to find a blackhole when I’m walking around the castle halls,” said A.I. “One more thing… Whatever you do… do not… combine… two separate crystal types… ever.”

Clover glared daggers at A.I. having hearing that last piece of advice very… vague. “And why shouldn’t we do that? Will something happen if we do so?”

“Yes, but will it be dangerous… probably not… if you know how to contain it of course,” said A.I, grinning. A.I. made his way walking back to his side of the table, sitting down on his chair with his arms planted on the arms of the chair. “Do you accept my offer?”

Princess Platinum contemplated this and looked toward her adviser; as the two spoke together, A.I. waited patiently for a response. “What should I do Clover? While we don’t know what his capable of, he might give us an edge on the other nations… and possibly the other pony tribes,” said Platinum.

“Platinum; we mustn’t think like that, we made peace with the other tribes… but you’re not wrong. I can sense a powerful energy coming from that single crystal, if we had something like that the other nations wouldn’t dare wage war with us.. We could even begin a new era…”

“Then it’s settled...” said Platinum. Platinum rose from her seat and took in a deep breath as her voice increased in volume. “Sir A.I, I accept your deal; the ponies of this castle will grant you any assistance you may need, and in return you create these… gems for us. However; you and your companion cannot leave the castle’s grounds until we properly introduce you to the public… is that correct?”

Swuen took a good look at A.I. until she saw it; the faint glimmer he had when he was gambling with a situation that could possibly support his plans… or be the death of him. “I accept; from this day forward, I A.I. and my companion shall stay here and create any crystal you ask of me. Whilst in return you give me all the knowledge you have within this castle and beyond,” said A.I, bowing.

Sharp whilst was beginning to fall asleep since it was getting late… saw it. At first it was small like a snowflake, but then it grew to a chunk of ice. Within A.I. was a light blue piece of ice that glowed; it was unnoticed by anypony but Sharp knew that whatever she was seeing… it gave her more than the chills… it was as if something was trying to freeze her soul.

“Well with that done, I must return to my bedchambers. Good night; sir A.I,” said Platinum. Platinum trotted with Clover as a small posse of guards followed behind. Leaving only A.I, Swuen, and Sharp Sight in the room. At that moment Swuen rose up and began leaving the room.

“Now where do you think you’re going?” asked A.I.

“I was asleep for half a day; where do you think I’m going, I need some food to eat. You and your ‘bodyguard’ can go back to your creepy experiments for all I care,” said Swuen.

“Oh I don’t need her for awhile; for I need all the privacy to make the crystals for her highness. Sharp!”

Sharp shook the sleepiness from her eyes and focused her attention at A.I. “Yes, sir A.I,” asked Sharp, saluting.

“You mind showing Swuen where the castle’s kitchen is,” said A.I.

“No of course not; I’ll bring her right away. This way Miss-”

“Just call me Swuen; it gets aggravating when someone calls me Miss… makes me sound like I need protection twenty-four seven,” said Swuen.

“Of course… Swuen, this way.” Sharp led Swuen away to the castle’s kitchen; while they left, A.I. was left in the room. Once he checked he was truly alone, he pulled out a rectangular object out of his coat. Pushing a few buttons, a few whirs and beeps are heard as the radio turns back on to life.

“At least this isn’t broken; third head of Cerberus, this is Virus. Do you copy, over?” A.I. awaited a response but only heard static. “I need to make a few tweaks before I could get anyone to hear me… looks like I may need to ask a few favors.”

A.I. walked away from the large room, leaving behind a trail of ice with each step. Just where A.I. was sitting, the seat is slowly engulfed in ice, as the room is slowly coated in snow from a mysterious power. “I should really control my abilities… I haven’t been this excited in years,” said A.I, from outside the room; not noticing the path of ice he left.

Elsewhere in the castle, Sharp and Swuen arrive at the castle’s kitchen; inside the kitchen were some ponies, possibly the cooks that were cleaning today’s dishes. At first everypony continued to work when they spotted Swuen; instantly everypony froze where they stood to stare at the strange creature standing by the doorway. One of the chefs approached Swuen, he wore a chef’s hat and had a mustache on his muzzle. “So you must be Sir A.I’s companion, you don’t know me but I was the one who prepared the food for you until you awoke. My name is Fresh Scent; it’s my pleasure to finally meet you,” said Fresh.

“Its nice meeting you and thank you for the food, it was so delicious I decided to have seconds… if that is fine with you?” asked Swuen.

Fresh smirked and chortled in response to Swuen’s question; Fresh then led Swuen to a table which had plates of leftover food from this evening’s dinner. “This is food some of the guards didn’t finish; you can have it… if you can eat it all,” said Fresh, stroking his mustache with his hoof.

“This isn’t a problem… I am hungry; haven’t ate since the day before yesterday,” said Swuen, taking in the scent of the food.

“That long huh; well hope you enjoy our cooking, we weren’t sure what you eat so we made that honeyed bread since it was the only thing that anyone would eat,” said Fresh.

“I actually loved it to be honest… I originally wanted to ask if you could make some more.”

Fresh thought about making the honeyed bread he did before and nodded his head in agreement. “I could make some in the morning for you, simply come down here to have some alright,” said Fresh.

“Of course,” said Swuen, grinning. “By the way I forgot to introduce myself; I’m Loarven Swuen, but you can call me Swuen. Well… time to eat, I-am-starving!”

Swuen ate her food happily, whilst talking with the cooks of the castle; some of the conversations was small talk, rumors, and recent news from outside the castle. No news of Swuen’s fellow allies so far, but A.I. has that under the bag; as time went by, Swuen was able to eat all the leftover food, saving some drinks for later use. “Well it was nice meeting you all, have a good night’s sleep,” said Swuen, bowing.

“It was wonderful meeting you Swuen, hope we have more conversations like this in the future,” said Fresh, chortling.

After taking her leave, Sharp took her back to the infirmary room which was now her room. Once arriving at her room, Sharp left with bow but before she could Swuen stopped her for one second. “Hold up Sharp,” said Swuen.

“Yes Lady Swuen?” asked Sharp.

“How many time I told; just call me Swuen. Also, if A.I. ever does anything creepy or gets on your nerves, just find me and I’ll make sure he doesn’t try anything,” said Swuen, grinning and raising a thumbs up.

Sharp smiled knowing that A.I. is the only strange being she would meet today. “I’ll make sure to… and, thank you for watching my back,” said Sharp.

Swuen grinned happily and waved Sharp goodbye, returning to her abode; Sharp continued patrolling the castle halls since she has nothing else to do… until a particular memory rises up. I should probably check if Master A.I. hasn’t done anything to blow up the castle yet. Sharp made her way to where A.I. was residing in the castle.

Meanwhile at Princess Platinum’s royal chambers, Clover the Clever speaks to her highness about A.I’s part of the deal. The princess and adviser sit upon a table on the princess’s balcony, as moonlight shines upon them. Clover takes a sip of her tea, and glances at the far reaching lands of Equestria; imagining the future for this nation. “Princess Platinum… I don’t think Master A.I. will keep his part of the bargain,” said A.I.

“What makes you think of this possibility?” asked Platinum.

“Now this is just speculation… but if I’m correct, it’s possible A.I. may come from a dangerous group; to whom is the leader of this group is still unknown and as to where they originate too is unknown. However it’s clear A.I. is possibly a high ranking member of this group, same for Lady Swuen too… my guess is to say is that she’s their spymaster while A.I. might be their adviser. Which leaves two important members of their group… the commander and ambassador.” Clover used her magic, levitating a spoon to swirl her tea in a circular motion. Her attention was taken away when she stared at the lights down below Canterlot Castle; while it was midnight many of Canterlot’s residents move to inns and other such places that sell a good drink.

“So your saying they might be members of another nation?”

“No, I doubt it… they hold a sense that they might be mercenaries or something related to that occupation; whatever it is they do… A.I. can’t be trusted… the looks in his eyes… Their the kind of look someone who has nothing to lose… his betting everything he has… The question is; what is he trying to gain?” said Clover, placing her spoon back down. Clover took a sip of her tea, savoring the taste; Princess Platinum was too curious to A.I’s true intentions, but was busy handling with Canterlot’s nobles and other issues arising.

“Well for now, we can’t focus our attention on him, but I give you permissions if A.I. does anything… unsavory,” said Platinum. Standing up from her seat, Platinum makes it to the balcony’s fence glancing down at the capital of Equestria. “And if he does break his side of our arrangement… lock him and his companion to the dungeons… I don’t care if his some outsider that got lost… Nopody will belittle me; I may not be like the other pony tribes’ leaders… but I have a few tricks up my hooves.”

Clover rose from her seat, and bowed before her princess before speaking. “Of course my princess; your wish is my command. He won’t dare cross you… nor this nation,” said Clover. “May your reign last, and prosper.