//------------------------------// // Regret // Story: Can't Look Past // by Freed_Writer //------------------------------// When we made it to Ponyville we met up with Flash Sentry and his group. They had a few Rowdy ponies they had detained but other than that they were alright. Ponyville looked vastly different from the last time I saw it. Bars covered the windows of every store and no door was made of wood or glass it was all metal. “We’ve run out of tests at Canterlot and since this sort of drug isn’t popular up your way we wanted your assistance.” Flash said. “Well we’re here to help.” Shard said. “Are you the captain of this group?” Flash asked. “No sir Ash here is but he is unable to speak so I help with things like this.” “How does that work? How does he give orders?” “Ash can talk just not in the way me and you do.” “I see.” “He is offering to show you but it’s up to you. Since not everyone is ok with it.” “I’ll hold off for now.” “What do you want us to do?” “Test the locals for the drug if they’re positive, apprehend them and give them to us.” “You know if you want the root of this you should check out the town to the west of here when I lived there drug use was a major issue.” I said. “We weren't told about this area but we’ll be sure to have it checked out unless you guys want to?” “We’ll check it out when we’re done here.” Shard said. “Thanks we’ll let Canterlot know.” they moved on. I assumed back to Canterlot to deal with the guys they had detained. We checked the local people for the drug which consisted of a simple spit sample and a two minute wait. Ash told me to go and check out the unicorn window shopping the grocery store so that’s where I headed. “Excuse me sir, as you may know there’s been an issue with abuse towards a certain illegal drug and  we have been asked to test as many civilians as possible for this drug.” “You guys don’t look like you’re from Canterlot.” He said. “I am not. I have come from the Crystal Empire. We were called in to help since this area is quite big.” I replied. “Ok well what do you need from me?” “Spit, sir.” “Ok…” he hesitated a few seconds then did as needed. A quick two minute wait proved he was negative for use of the drug and was free to go. “You’re free to go we’re doing this to help remove those who have used this drug and make the area safe again.” “Thanks I guess.” He went inside the store and I headed back to Ash. “Do you just want me to go around testing?” “Everyone except the elderly. If an old pony is alive they aren’t on the drug.” “Ok.” I went around testing the civilians. Many were happy to see that something was being done about this drug epidemic, others were just having a bad day I guess. Between our group and Flash’s group we got most of Ponyville done before nightfall but they still wanted us to go and check out that small town I brought up so we headed off that way. “Are you sure this is the way Onyx?” Shard asked. “I’m sure I've made this trip many times although usually it was only three ponies not eight.” “Three?” “I had friends.” I did have friends but only one and that was Shade until he turned on me. Really this trip was made with my wife and child. “Is this a backyard?” “Yes to my old house.” “Let’s get out of here quickly then.” “Holy crap this place is really bad off.” “It wasn’t like this when you were here?”Ash asked me. “No.” “Yikes.” Ash said to me. “This place is pretty small, we should be able to knock it out before dark.” Shard said. “I’ll check out the police station.” I said while walking that way. I opened the door to the station and was pleasantly surprised to see the old Sheriff at his desk. “Sheriff?” “How are ya kid?” “Good, how about yourself?” “Well unlike this city I'm doin alright.” “Good.” “So you became a guard anyways?” “Yeah it was kind of my only option.” “How’s Canterlot treating you?” “I’m not in Canterlot, I'm in the Crystal Empire.” “Well then what the hell brings you all the way over here?” “The drug issue.” “Has it gotten that bad?” “Yeah.” “Well I tried my best in my area but you see what it looks like.” “That’s alright you tried, that's what matters.” “What do you need from me?” “Well I came in to have you take the test but I think you’re old enough not to have to.” “Well if it helps I'm old enough that my parents, my brother and all my friends have passed on.” “Well I'll be honest you look mighty well for the age I’m guessing you are.” “What are you guessing?” “Around 85.” “I’m a young 82.” “Welp you don’t need to take it. Didn’t you have a deputy? I’m sure he’s young enough.” his smile faded to a slight frown. “He was killed in a bar fight when someone on the drug stabbed him.” “Oh… sorry Sheriff.” “If only sorrow could bring them back.” “Yeah…” “Alright get back out there and do your job before you get caught lollygaggin.” “Alright nice to see you again Sheriff.” I left the station and saw the group standing around something so I made my way over there. “What’s up guys?” “You lied to us?” Shard asked. “Huh?” I replied. “This says you were involved in a robbery. At least the photo is of you. The name is different.” “So me and another pony have the same colors. Why does that make you think I lied to you?” “I’ve never seen a pony with your colors, they're too unique. Besides, what are the chances two identical ponies are in the same place at once?” “We’ll talk about this later. Ash wants us back to work.” We went on with our work then headed back to the Crystal Empire. The day after was my day off so I headed to Shining but he wasn’t around so I went to Orange Tides. “Tides I've run into a problem.” “What is it?” “My group is suspicious of me. They found an old newspaper with me on it.” “Stick to being Onyx Fang and go talk to Shard’s dad.” “Who is that?” “Shadow colt you didn’t know that already?” “You want me to talk to him?” I asked wide eyed. “I get it he’s scary but he has a similar experience he can help you out.” I reluctantly headed to the dining hall which is where I saw Shadow earlier. “Hey Shadow?” “What's up kid?” “I need help?” His demeanor changed and he told me to sit down. “What’s bothering you?” “My group is coming to find out who I really am.” “Did you talk to Orange tides?” “He sent me here.” “Hmm… I’m not sure why. I would hold to it that you’re Onyx Fang.” “I’m trying but they don’t believe me.” “My son is in your group. I'll ask him what he thinks of you. Until then don’t bring it up and if it comes up you are Onyx Fang.” “Thanks, I'll do that.” He stood up and called another guy by the name of Blue over. “Blue?” I asked. “He has an experience similar to yours.” “What do you need Shadow?” “This guy needs some help and he has an experience similar to yours.” “Alright, what’s the issue?” “My group is suspecting that I'm not who I say I am.” “You’re Onyx Fang right?” “Yeah.” “Well I was going to talk to the guys about you. Apparently you’ve been doing really well, at least that's what Ash said. You know, let's make this simple. I'll go talk to them and see what they think of you right now.” “If you’re eating, I don't want to interrupt you.” “No, I was just having a drink.” He left. “So Shadow what got you here?” He sighed then his eyes got wide. “Eclipse!” He shot up from his seat. “Shadow!” a Blue Stallion came running over. He had quite a few scars on him. I couldn't tell if it was more than Shadow had but I had a feeling it wasn’t. “Onyx meet Prince Eclipse of Equestria.” “It’s nice to meet you sir.” I said as I stood up. “It’s nice to meet you too. I don’t want to interrupt any work that may have been going on. Besides, I have work to tend to at the moment anyways I’ll be here a few days. We'll talk later.” “Sure thing but before you run off how is Trigger?” “He’s doing alright hasn’t asked about you as far as I know though. I’ll let him know you asked about him and tell him where you are.” “Thanks.” Eclipse walked off and Shadow turned back to me. “I’m sorry about that I haven't seen him in a while. I didn't know how long he would be here.” “It’s ok.” We both returned to our seats. “Would you like a drink before I answer this question? It'll be a while.” “Sure.” “What do you drink? Wait, are you off today?” “Whiskey please and yes I'm off today.” “Ok cool.” He got up and went to the bar where he stood for a rock solid ten minutes talking to the bartender. I started to wonder if he had some disorder like ADHD because this was some highway to hey look a pony crap. He came back and gave me my drink. “What do you have?” “I don't know I had Flask give me whatever he felt like.”  “Ah yes the mysterious.” He took a drink. “It’s a grape Nehi. I swear this kid is five.” “You guys must be friends.” “Life long.” “Must be nice.” “Come on man, give it some time you’ll make friends here I promise.” “So what got you here.” “Here as in the crystal empire or to be a guard?” “To be a guard.” “You picked the long one. My life goes like this. Me and my father are shunned by the family after he tried to kill my crazy brother. He dies at least as far as I know he’s dead and I become a royal guard. Celestia and Luna lose their minds and the guard splits; those who think the princesses are right stay a guard; everyone that splits becomes part of a group. I became the leader through a unanimous decision and in our final battle with the royal guard we won at the expense of both my moral standards and emotional state. After that I found safety in the forest where I found Spark. I stayed there for many years until Spark got lost then I gathered courage to come back to Canterlot. I won’t deny Luna scared me then I became a guard again under Shining's teaching. Soon I was a captain with my own group and not too long later I told Luna about my brother and how he was not a good deal. The fight broke out and at that time I got my son back. It wasn’t too long after that I realized how horrible I was, see Eclipse is the son of Luna but what many don’t know is that Celestia had a son whose name was Trigger. In the final battle with the royal guard I got injured by Eclipse. I retreated from fighting him and turned to Trigger. I killed Trigger. I had at the time no remorse, no care, just anger and a will to kill. When I realized this I brought Trigger back using a piece of his armor which Celestia had. From there Celestia seemed to go crazy. She had it out to kill me so I took refuge here and without going into detail made her regret trying to kill me. I was still uneasy about going back and taking my son with me so I stayed here and I don’t regret it one bit.” “Holy shit.” “Yeah, and now you know my life story, you're one of seven.” “You’ve only told seven?” “Well you know a little less than everyone else but you have all the major things that happened to me.” I took the last sip of my drink. “So if Eclipse injured you why does it look like you injured him?” he sighed, his straight face turning to a frown. “After killing Trigger I noticed my group made it into the castle but something felt wrong. I knew I wasn't right for what I did and that my group was wrong but at the same time I knew the sisters were wrong. I ran into the castle and that’s where I saw Eclipse. He wasn’t knocked out but he was bleeding really bad. I forced my guys out of the castle and tended to Eclipse “We need to leave now!” I said to my group. “Why? We won, there's no one to oppose us.” Vane said. “This isn’t right and you know it! Vane you’re my best friend just leave! We made our point!” “Fine.” He left and the others followed after they rounded the corner and I was out of their sight I ran to Eclipse. “Where are you hurt?” I asked him. I spooked him as he had closed his eyes. “Get away from me. Please.” “They’re gone, I'm here to help you.” “You can help by leaving me alone!” “You're bleeding, you won’t make it like this. Let me help you.” he grunted and coughed. “The bags have medical supplies.” I reached for his bags and pulled out the supplies. “How did you get against the wall?” “Did you look at the wall?” I looked up and there was a hole in the wall clearly his size. “That doesn’t explain your bleeding.” I said as I rapidly unwound the cloth I was going to use to stop his bleeding. “I was doing good until one came up behind me and stabbed me.” “I have to roll you.” “Touch him and you die!” I looked to my left and saw Luna. “I’m trying to help him.” “I think you’ve helped enough.” “He’s dying Luna!” “Shadow just go she’ll take care of me.” Eclipse said. I gave the cloth to Luna. “The rest of the supplies are in the bag.” I walked out. “So that’s partially the reason he looks that way but not all of his scars were there already, like the fire or chemical burn on his face that wasn’t there.” “How are you guys friends?” “I don’t think we are, I'll be honest I think it's just us being cordial.” “That looked more than just cordial.” “I don’t know, maybe we are. I've never thought to ask because I don't want to sound like an idiot or a jerk.” “I think he thinks of you as a friend.” “Alright I’m back.” Blue said as he jogged over. “What’s the news?” Shadow asked. “Well they think you’re a good fighter Onyx but they are certain you’re lying to them about who you are… Shadow, do you have Grape Nehi in your glass?” “How did you know?” “It’s the only purple drink Flask has.” “Look, I told him to give me whatever he wanted. What set them off that he was lying?” “A newspaper article about a bank robbery attempt.” “You didn’t tell me it was a robbery. Am I safe to assume it was gunpoint?” he asked as he swirled his drink in it’s glass “Yeah.” he downed his drink then said something about getting one with a bite before walking off to the bar. “He doesn’t like a liar just so you know.” “I didn’t tell him anything about my past life he didn’t ask so I never told him.” “I wonder what’s got him all bent out of shape then.” “My guess is that we put innocent ponies in danger with intent to kill. Which is something he told me he hates.” “Oh yeah that’s the reason. I hope you weren’t friends with him.” “Why?” “Because you ain’t no more.” Shadow came back with two glasses in hoof. “If you can look me in the eye and say that you’re changed and you regret doing that I won’t put your head through this table.” I looked him dead in the eye, unwavering. “I have no plans to do it again. I felt bad the day before it happened which is why I went to the cops and told them no one got hurt.” He stared into my eyes with a rage I had never seen before. “Alright we’re good then. Going with the fact they know it was you I would simply tell them.” “What? You just threatened to kill me and now we're good? “I didn’t threaten to kill you, I said your head would go through this table.” “Yeah that's a big difference. If I tell them I feel I won’t be looked at the same.” “You affected the way everyone saw you when you decided to rob a bank. Do you have any family?” “Not anymore.” “Who did you have?” “A wife and son.” “What happened to the kid?” Shadow asked as he harshly slid the glass across the table.” “He abandoned my wife and she didn’t go after him. She then divorced me.” “A stallion has at least one job and that is to protect his children your wife didn’t abandon him you did!” He got up, put the glass bottom up and ran it into the table, crushing it like it was paper. “I wouldn’t talk to him for like… the rest of your life.” I saw Shadow walking back over “What was your son’s name?” Shadow asked. “Iron Wing.” “Come with me.” I followed him mainly because I didn't want to die. He led me through the halls and to a large door at the top it said Princess Cadance the door was surrounded with natural looking crystals and other precious looking minerals. “Cadance do we know the whereabouts on an Iron Wing?” “We’ve been trying to catch a guy that goes by that name. He's a distributor but he’s all over the place. Last we spotted him he was in Ponyville hence the recent outbreak over there.” “Any idea where he might be now?” “The only place he hasn’t been is here.” Shadow turned to me. “Get suited. I’m going to give you a proper tour of the crystal slums.”