//------------------------------//
// Shimmering Emerald 
// Story: The Shield, the Storm, and the Dark 
// by Lightning Shield 
//------------------------------//

	The boy was out like a light. It wasn’t surprising because he had just killed the general of the griffon army. A small pool of blood started to pour from under his body.
“This isn’t good.” I thought to myself.
After, picking up the boy with my magic I flipped him and laid him on the floor again. He hadn’t lost that much blood and none of the cuts were that deep so he would survive. 
“Looks like everything here is about settled and the changelings probably won’t be attacking in this weather.”. I told the princesses while I was undoing their restraints with my magic.
Not a second later a changeling burst into the room head first. His entrance destroyed some of the stain glass windows of Equestria’s victories and also left a crater in the floor. Its impact caused a dust cloud to cover it, obscuring my view of it.
I tensed and waited for the creature to come at us snarling and hissing at us. I could hear the hum of the two princesses’ magic being focused through their horns. After I stole a quick glance at the dragon king it was made it obvious that he didn’t care.
His face had boredom written all over it. It was as if the changeling was hadn’t just come crashing through the window.
The sudden gasp from Celestia tore my attention from the dragon and back to the changeling. The creature was laying motionless on the floor smoking like the smog of a dying fireplace. Some of the creature’s skin was completely burned off only to reveal the bone underneath. Its horn was snapped and the bug wings on its back was almost entirely singed off.
I let myself relax. The bug monster had been killed by the storm but we couldn’t enjoy it because there were probably a whole army of changelings inside the clouds. I couldn’t help but feel bad for the poor pegasus that had to do the sky today. I wished they had just killed him and didn’t drain him of all his emotions and turned him or her into a mindless slave.
 The same thing would happen to the rest of us if we didn’t stop these imations of an alicorn. 
“We should evacuate the city if we want to make sure everyone is safe.” I suggested. It was as if it was on cue the ground shook and the sound of thunder filled the air.
“Princess Luna are you using the weather to slow them down?” 
“The storm is not our doing.”
“So who is?” I asked her.
“We do not know.”
Celestia stared at the storm that lay past the broken window. Her white elegant face growing sterner by the second. 
“Princess Celestia are you okay? Is there something wrong?”.
The question broke the princess’ concretion from the window. 
“No, its is nothing.” she told me.
I knew it was a lie and that she was hiding something from me. From Luna’s reaction it seemed as if though Celestia was holding something from her own sister.
“What are we facing?” I thought. It was obvious that whatever it was it was something even Celestia feared.
Then the thunder came. The sound shaking the ground. It was as if someone shot a cannon right next to my ear. My ears must have rang for a couple minutes before a bolt of lightning lit up the sky. 
That’s when I finally understood what she was so worried about. A being that was even stronger and Luna and Celestia. The king of the alicorns, Cloud Bringer. A man I would always respect.
Then the fact that he had died about three years before the Empire had vanished came to me. So this couldn’t be him, could it?
This made me feel a bit of unease that was only increased when another changeling came crashing through the roof. The thunder and lightning following afterwards, again.
The changeling looking almost the same expect for the broken neck. I looked back at the princesses. They faces made me feel more nervous about this situation. I didn’t look back at Jackal because I already knew what he was doing, standing there being bored.
To break the silence I asked the princesses “Should we excavate?”.
“It should not have to come to that.” said Celestia.
Then a series of bolts raced across the sky. The lightning ran all across the storm, the bolt broke off into smaller bolts in different directions.
As it was before and after the lightning the changelings fell. This time they didn’t fall into the throne but instead they fell somewhere else in Canterlot. 
I turned my gaze towards the ceiling, waiting for the changelings to come crashing down. But instead we heard a giant thud that was strong enough to shake the ground and by the sounds of it came from the courtyard, right outside the room. The princesses and I exchanged glances not sure if we should check.
We didn’t have time to answer when a barrage of dead changelings smacked into the ground. It must have been twenty in all if not more. 
“We should check if they’re still alive.” I said while making my way to the exit.
“If thou are?” Luna asked.
“If its up to me they will go through interrogation. But that’s not my call.” I answered while I picked up the boy in my arms.
As I made my way through the center of the room I couldn’t help but notice all the dead bodies on the floor. Most were black and blue from the beating that they took, some had foot long scratches across their mid-section and/or chest. The bodies had been stack on top of each other that had left the a small pathway over the carpet in the center of the room. Even with that the floor had giant pools of blood that had been blackened from time.
I took a quick glance back at the dragon king to find that he wasn’t at throne but had instead joined us and was following us outside. I turned my attention to the princesses to see if they knew to be answered with a slight nod from Celestia. So, I looked back to the door.
“So what changed your mind?” I asked him.
After waiting a couple seconds to wait for the response that never came. I took this as a hint to stop asking questions. Luckily enough we reached the doors leading outside and after opening them up with my magic I could see the carnage that the storm had caused.
The courtyard must have been littered with forty to sixty dead changelings. Each one twitched uncontrollably. I could only marvel at the feat that the person who was controlling the storm had done. 
There was no way these could be done by a pegasus or unicorn. Both would’ve used magic to make lightning but it wouldn’t have caused the damage that it did. Only natural bolts of lightning could do this.
A tap on the shoulder brought my attention to the sky. The clouds the were being sucked away to reveal Celestia’s sun. The storm was condensing inside a lightning bolt inside the hands of a winged figure. Whoever this was had been controlling the storm like pro. What else was surprising it was that he wasn’t an alicorn.
I already knew that only pegasi could walk on cloud so that crossed out this person being a unicorn or earth, but this was a major stretch for a pegasus. No pegasus could control the weather without actually touching a cloud. Alicorns though are able to change the weather without a second thought but even they couldn’t hold a lightning bolt, except for Cloud.
But it couldn’t be him because Cloud was an alicorn. Could someone turn back into a pegasus after becoming an alicorn. What could have caused the process?
So, if that wasn’t him then who would be stupid enough to fight Chrysalis and her army of changelings alone? How could he have control the storm like he was? 
The changeling queen stood alone even with his show of power she stood her ground. Her long, green hair blowing in the wind revealing the long black dress with multiple holes around the waist. Slowly channeling all of her magic into her crooked horn while the pegasus pooled whatever of the storm was left of the storm into its bolt.
“Finally, things are getting interesting.” Jackal said. I turning to look back at him.  To be honest I was somewhat surprised because this was the first time he had actually said anything and I almost forgotten that he was even there. I wanted to say something but the impact of the two forces brought my attention back to the pegasus.
The pegasus was holding the bolt of lightning like a sword he his hands. His bolt was cutting through the Queen’s magic and slowly advanced. The bolt making its way down to the Queen’s head. The more the pegasus moved closer to the Queen the more she would come closer to the ground. 
Her descent brought her right in front us making her stand and fight. Now I could see that the pegasus was a teenager and a was boy. Me and the princesses were too shocked to do anything. 
The bolt wrapped itself around its wielder and his eyes whited. His grey hair was standing on ends. The Queen was struggling to keep him away from her. Her head was beading with sweat. 
“I will not be defeat by a fool!” yelled Chrysalis as she put all had into her green energy beam causing a stalemate between the two. The Queen’s energy morphing itself into a giant green bubble that was being pushed deeper into the ground by the boy as pushed harder and harder.
His energy swirling out of control. The bolt was shooting off smaller bolts leaving craters on impact. It was an amazing feat but he was losing energy. His bolt had gotten smaller and was only on his upper body but  he still was breaking through Chrysalis’ force field. Her force field was on the verge of cracking open.
The bubble was shaking under the beating it was taking. The small cracks starting to spread all across the bubble. The Queen, who had given up on going on the offensive, trying her best to keep the thing together but even with that it still wasn’t enough and the bubble popped.
All of the energy of the two was suddenly release that caused a giant backlash that was strong enough to make a shockwave. Knocking off my feet and thrown back into the throne room. The child falling out of my grasp and he was sent flying back to the where I picked him up. 
        I had the wind knocked out of me. My ears rang from the shockwave. I struggled as I pushed off the ground. As I made my way back outside the world spun around me making me stumble a few times and nearly fell over. 
        By the time I reached the doors the princesses were already rushing to check on me.
“Art thou alright?” said Luna, the only person to say thou and art anymore.
“Yeah just I’m just a little dizzy.” I told her.
“But where’s Shield?” Celestia asked me.
“I’m right here.” a voice answered.
We were all shocked. It wasn’t strange that he was up but the fact he had walked all the way here with those scars. He didn’t even seem to notice the scars were even there. He held a sword in his left hand and a gun in the other.
“Hello Blade are alright?” Celestia asked him.
“Yeah I’m pretty okay even though the my parents just died.” he said while he fought tears that begged to come out.
Celestia looked down at the dirt as if that would make everything better and Luna tried to comfort her sister.
“Hey! There is no reason why you need to act like that. At least we get to live to talk about it.” breaking Celestia attention from the ground. 
“There is no reason why we should be sad about this. We should always be happy when someone dies because then you get be the one who carries on their memories.”
This made the princess feel better but she still seemed sad. “Hey. Smile.” I said while I used my fingers to pull lips into a forced smile. The group burst into laughter.
“Alright lets get these bodies out of here.”



	
Three Hours Later in a room in Canterlot:

I sat in the room to inform some of the most important people in Equestria. Women who were more important than the princesses. The room was small but it would fulfill its purpose. In the center was table with eight chairs around it. The walls were bare except for the window of the southern part of the room that gave a breathtaking view of Canterlot. Sadly, this was being held in one of the biggest hotels in the city and not inside a government facility. 
 But now wasn’t the time to complain at least we could talk about things in private. I had waited about ten to fifteen minutes for them to arrive. Finally, the six women enter the room with a little baby dragon following behind them. They were all very important people who managed to keep a low profile even with their status as the Elements of Harmony. 
The newest princess, Twilight Sparkle wore a light purple vest and dark purple skirt that complimented hair pink and purple highlights. Her new wings constantly twitching trying to find a comfortable place as she eased herself into a chair.
To her left a sat woman with rainbow color haired hair who had on a blue sweat jacket that had holes for her powder blue wings and sweat pants pants to match. On the princesses left sat a small purple scaled dragon with green spikes that ran down its back. One of the newest members of the the top flyers in Equestria, Rainbow Dash.
A women in a beige colored turtleneck and a pair of blue jeans inched her way into chair next the as if the chair was some type of monster. Her pink hair her slightly curving around the tips. She couldn’t hold eye contact for more than a second. The timid little thing was the caretaker of animals for most of the people in Ponyville, Fluttershy.
The polar opposite sat next to the fearful Fluttershy, her friend Pinkie Pie. This was a woman so random that Discord would think she was crazy. Her hair was a big pink puff of cotton candy. The blue jean jacket and pink shirt she had underneath went well with her blue jean shorts. 
On the other side of the princess sat a woman with a white collared shirt and a pair of black dress pants. Her white horn stuck out of her hair, that hung from the front of her face in a giant purple swirl. She was the Element of Generosity and fashionista, Rarity.
        Next to her sat the Element of Honesty and the head of the Apple family, the family that ran most of the companies that were apple related, Applejack. She wore an orange plaid shirt over a white t-shirt. Her blond hair was covered by a cowboy hat.
        “Rather informal for the occasion but it should be enough for the briefing.” I said. I told them how the child managed to ward off the griffon force. How the changelings were defeat by the pegasus.
        “So, what happened to the pegasus?” asked Twilight
“We don’t know. After Chrysalis’ force field fell we think that it knocked him into the Everfree forest.” I answered
“Where’s that varmint Chrysalis?” asked Applejack.
        “She is currently being held inside the in the mines under Canterlot it’s the same place Chrysalis imprisoned you Princess Sparkle. I thought it was poetic justice.”
        “But why isn’t the princess telling us this?” the new princess asked.
        “She is currently watching over the Shield she wants to make him her new student.” I answered.
        This confused the princess and even made her sad. “I thought I was her student.”
        “So what makes that kid so special. He probably can’t do half the things Twilight can do.
“Blade Shield is the son of Silver Tongue and Crimson Blade, the royal advisors of the princesses. For his age he is quite mature and from what I heard is also very good with his words. She is probably trying to make him her and Luna’s new advisor.” I said trying to clear things up. 
“So how is that squirt doing anyway?” questioned Rainbow Dash. 
“He is alright but he’s still pretty beat up. They placed him in the hospital today and is expected to come out by the end of the week.” I explained.
“I sure hope he’s alright. He must be scared from fighting all those griffons.” Fluttershy whispered.
“I wouldn’t say scared but his is scary.” I say while I thought about the anger that I saw in his. The way he was able the move around after the fight he had just been in. 
“What you mean by that sugarcube?” asked Applejack.
“Think about it. He drove off an entire army of griffons and even killed their king and queen. And all he got was a couple of scratches.” I say pushing the lie even further. 
         “Let’s get back to topic. As you already know we were attacked twice today and both has left us vulnerable. So you the princess wants you to six go to the dragon kingdom to make sure that they will support us in the upcoming war.”  I tell them.
        “Can I come to?” the baby dragon asked. 
        “If you want to ruin the entire summit. Human hatched dragons are thought to be wake among the dragon community because they couldn’t hatch on their own.”
        “Sorry Spike it looks like you’ll have to stay at home okay.” she said while hugging the dragon.
        “Shining Armor and the royal guard will go with to provide security. I will also try occupy you all to help during the negotiations.”
        “That you darling but I think we can handle it especially with Twilight being an alicorn. Those ruffians won’t dare try to harm us thing.” Rarity said smugly making her friend blush from the complement.
“Rarity, if the dragon kill wanted to he could kill her without a second thought. He is strong enough to fight survive a battle between the princesses’ father who was a tremendously stronger than both of his children.” I told her.
All eyes were on me. It was as if a Ursa Major burst into the room. 
“You know how the princesses’ father was?” Twilight asked me as she leaned across the table. I eyes filled with millions of questions
“Yes, he shortly died after killing his wife.” I told her.
The alicorn frowned “Why he kill her? What was her name? What was like? How did he die? Why haven’t that princesses told us yet?” she said quickly.
“I personally don’t know how he died or why he killed his wife but I do know that there wasn’t something that wasn’t right. It....”. I was interrupted by a guard bursting into the room. “A dragon was spotted in the Everfree Forest.” he panted.
“Dragons are always in the Everfree so why should this one be different?” I questioned even though I already knew the answer.
        “The dragon was killed right before it got inside Ponyville. Small bolts of electricity are still coming from the monster. Princess Luna is wanted the Elements and you help her investigate.” he answered.
        “Well it looks like the pegasus is still alive. We'll have end this here and go meet this hero."