//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: Colt 1911 // by BradleyFries //------------------------------// 2 To tell a story with out the beginning is to show you the lock but hide the key. So there are no short answers to life and none to our story. The origins of the Queen Agents are old as the land itself even though they began long after its foundation. It was a new age of peace and prosperity on the day of Hearths Warming when the races of Pegasus, Unicorn and Earth ponies joined together to form the vast kingdom that would be forever known as Equestria. The peace of the new land was unprecedented in all of history, by working together with friendship in their hearts the three races found new pleasure in their lives. Hope, happiness and a future for their children were now forever within everypony’s grasp. But alas nothing lasts forever and old alliances are soon forgotten when old hatreds are left to fester. For who would rule this new empire? So it was once again that the races began their feud. The Unicorns demanded rule, the Pegasus wanted war and the Earth ponies had no say in the matter just as always. The short peace almost forgotten and the seeds of detest already spread all chance of what was and what could be began to disappear. But just as the kingdom began to spiral into its own destruction two Ponies stepped forward. They stood like angels in the fray, towering over the other ponies, they were more beautiful than anything seen before. The Unicorns noticed they had horns and rejoiced, the Pegasus heard the flapping of their wings and gave a fearsome battle cry, whilst the humble Earth ponies took comfort in their warm and gentle smiles. It was when these two graceful creatures spoke that the three races notice that they had both wings and a horn. From that day the two sisters came to be known as Alicorns. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna spoke to the crowd and offered guidance and comfort, easing their minds and calming them. The sisters spoke of the time of peace and asked why it could not last. Nopony could answer, they had been so consumed by past hatreds that peace was thought to be out of the question. Celestia and Luna had no visible affiliation to a particular race of pony, even the Earth ponies agreed this was true because the princesses strong will and determination was seen as an earth pony’s trait. And so it was that Peace once again came to Equestria under the careful eye of the Alicorns. Many years pass with the Alicorns rule and all of their decisions brought happiness for all the races, but one less than others. The Pegasus had been a race of war and glory, where was the glory in peace? So the Pegasus asked the princesses how we can occupy our time when peace can give us no glory. The sisters both gave faces of confusion and answered ‘You can no longer fight for glory for following glory will only lead you to ruin. Now you fight for peace because peace will always bring you to glory.’ Thus the Queen’s Agents were created to fight for peace, happiness and the protection of Equestria. To serve the people, then the kingdom and last yourself. The slow rocking of a passenger train was a welcome comfort compared to the harsh conditions I usually got when stuck riding a commercial freight train with few to no accommodations for ponies. At least this train had seats instead of steel floors, even a third class cabin such as this one was enough to make me feel like royalty. Although it was quite relaxing the rhythmic sway of the train wasn’t enough to ease my mind of wandering thoughts. My team is entirely capable of handling any situation on their own but that didn’t mean I couldn’t worry about them, which is my job after all. My duties entail protecting the people, the royalty, the agency and my team in that order. I am loyal to my cause but right now with a possible crisis brewing, the fact is I’m not sure if I could place anything above my team if forced to make an impossible choice. The cabin was thrown into darkness as the train entered the tunnel exiting Canterlot. It took the lights a few seconds to flicker on, their dull glow cast odd shadows in the room. The walls of the tunnel had the mysterious effect of consuming the sound of anything within creating an almost eerie atmosphere. I had no way of knowing the next time I could sleep so this train ride was perfect for a nap. Years of training and experience told me to sleep so sleep I would, it only took a second from thought to action. Although sleep came fast it came at no comfort, instead haunted with nightmares from the past, old but never forgotten. Colt’s life was destined to happen even before his conception. This was because of his long heritage. All his fathers and fore fathers that could be found in the records had served in the Queen’s Agents. It was also the case that his mother was the daughter of the first female Agent. The history of Colt’s parents gave great hope to their first born, and it was said that he or she would be able to bring great honor to the joining of these two great families. So it was from birth that Colt was told stories of great heroes and their acts of valor in belief that he could be inspired to greatness. It was his parent’s great devotion to their cause that an old tradition rarely used was passed unto the child. In older times was law that the son of an agent would become an agent himself. The child would be given the name of Colt, this was to give all the children starting in the academy an equal footing and also to strip them of a personality. Their only individuality would come from an identification number. The many strict laws on the Queen’s Agents were lifted after the banishment of Luna and no longer required as many sacrifices from its members. But although the laws against the name were gone it was still a tradition a small portion of ponies liked to continue. To name a son Colt and to give him the last used ID number became rare but not odd. Colt 1911, at the age of five, was then given over to the great training academy of the Queen’s Agents. Colt’s days at the academy are easily looked back upon as some of his best years in life and he enjoyed them to their fullest. Even from the first day he made friends and behaved well, in those days everything was easy and training was nothing but fun games. Colt was well known for his trustworthiness and his determination, his friends called him loyal and his teachers called him confident. He wasn’t the strongest academic but he always gave his all. Early on he was the easy choice for a team leader, there was nopony that disliked him and his insight was clear. It seemed that his future was bright but Colt was slowly losing interest in the academy. Having just turned thirteen Colt still lacked a cutie mark and was the only one in the academy over eleven that hadn’t gotten one. Nopony understood his distinct lack of a cutie mark. It wasn't unheard of for ponies in the Queen's Agents to not get their cutie marks until they were eleven or twelve because of the obvious lack of free time to pursue their own talents but that was still quite rare. Colt was thirteen and still lacked a cutie mark. Slowly trying to deal with his missing cutie mark Colt started doing poorly in his physical activities and his schoolwork came to a halt. Colt felt that he would never be useful to anybody if he didn’t have a skill. Nopony could help him because everypony had already gotten their cutie mark. Two months went by and had it not been for his parents and outstanding potential for leadership the academy would have dropped him by that time. It was the arrival of a particular mare that brought Colt out of his depression. It was usual for ponies coming back from missions, especially the Pegasus, to stop by the academy on their way to headquarters. On that day an orange Pegasus dropped down into the school yard during the lunch break. She was small and sleek like most Pegasus and had a light purple mane. What only a few ponies noticed was her lack of a cutie mark, which didn’t escaped the gaze of the sulking pony in the corner. After talking to a few of the children the Pegasus had left and Colt was determined to find out who she was. By talking to a couple of teacher Colt learned her name and found her record. Codenamed ‘Crusader’ this Pegasus had a record of bravery a mile long, she had also been given more awards than anypony still alive. That day Colt found himself lifted from his slum. Colt realized that a cutie mark wasn’t what gave you talent and purpose, a cutie mark just showed everypony else what you talent is. With his depression behind him Colt strived for greatness once again, knowing that a cutie mark may come eventually. At the age of fifteen Colt's class graduated from the academy. Upon finishing Colt was given a partner, they would work together for three years at which time a graduate could be assigned to a team. Colt’s only goal now was to one day lead a team of his own to protect and serve Equestria. Colt was paired up with Star Chaser, a bright yellow unicorn with an even brighter mane. Star was a graduate from the year before so he was a year older than Colt. Although Star had graduated the year before he hadn’t been given a partner. He had a reputation for pranks and seemed to like goofing around more than work and so his classmates wanted nothing to do with him. The academy’s hope was that Colt could straiten him out and make he act more appropriate for a Queen’s Agent. Colt soon learned that Star being a Queen's Agent wasn't exactly a mistake. Star's laziness was just like his pranks, harmless. When needed Star could pull more than his weight although he was usually not the first to volunteer. Star was particularly good at finding things, whether living of inanimate. Colt found the talent uncanny and would always ask how it was done, but the only reply he got was star smiling at his own cutie mark saying “you wouldn’t understand”. Two years after teaming up Colt and Star were Becoming close friends and quite a team. Their talent for solving cases hadn’t been seen in a long time. Most off the older Agents gave the credit to Colt because of his heritage. Colt knew however that it was Star Chaser’s talent for finding lost things that solved most of the cases. At that time the two were on the chase of a pony that had on multiple occasions attempted to kill Agents. The dangerous pony had brought them to a far corner of Equestria never explored by anypony before and it was easy to see why. The land was devoid of life and filled with rocky coves and dark crevices with no bottom in sight. Nothing could survive out here, there was no water no plants and everything was dark and foreboding. Three days into this dreary territory while walking the endless plains, Star Chaser spotted a small village. With nothing else in sight the two made there way to the village. What they found would change Equestria. It wasn’t who lived here but what lived here, the creature had never been seen before. They had the figure of a small pony but their skin was loose and leathery, each was identical to the next and to tell them apart was impossible. Walking into the village Colt and Star Chaser where greeted with kindness and smiles but the creature never spoke a word. The two ponies soon discovered that these creatures were more than just odd they were amazing. Once they got to the center of the village the creature began to shift their shapes, changing their color and size. Even the most powerful unicorns couldn’t do that. The act of transformation left the two amazed and stunned. Slowly the whole village began to surround the agents, there must have been a hundred of them. Colt and Star were trapped in a circle looking back at exact copies of themselves. The friendly smiles combined with their size had lured the two into a false security, but now the crowd had a look of death in their eyes. Without any further warning the crow attacked with bloodthirsty ferocity. Even with years of training Colt and Star were completely overwhelmed by the hundred or so small ponies. Being slightly stronger than his unicorn partner Colt held off a little longer against the hoard. Star chaser wasn’t as luck and when Colt looked over to his friend only his face was visible beneath the black swarm. At the last moments of his life Star Chaser used his dying breath to yell "Run!" and as the words left his mouth Star's horn began to glow surrounding Colt in its yellow light. Colt was screaming back at his friend when he suddenly found himself standing in the middle of a field back at the Queen’s Agents academy. The sudden appearance of a screaming pony started the young Phillies, but not as much as Colt. Before that day Star Chaser hadn't had the ability to teleport anything, let alone a whole pony. After that Colt tried to hide his inner torment, concealing his feelings from everypony else. Colt was given a less stressful job doing paperwork at headquarters but he wasn’t very good at it. His nights were filled with nightmares of the day Star Chaser died and his days became dreary monotony. Even with Colt’s recent tragedy the Queen’s Agents still wanted him to command a team. So just a few months after the death of his friend Colt was promoted to a team leader. This had been Colt’s dream from a young Philly and even though he hadn’t slept more than a few hours each week Colt swore to himself to never let his team down.