//------------------------------// // Chapter 18: A Battle on Two Fronts // Story: Discovering the Past // by Astral Star and Company //------------------------------// With newfound confidence, Sunshine Smiles wore the key around his neck, and flew right out of the old castle. He did three lazy loops before gliding gently down to where Lance had stationed camp. The camp consisted of four tents and a small campfire, set out the traditional camping way. Lance sat with his back to his tent, whittling a small statuette with his hunting knife. Rough House sat by the fire, staring intently into its hearth. Much to the bat pony’s surprise, Carver Pie had returned, and was now wrapped up in a blanket, curled up by the fire. Potence was nowhere to be found, she was presumably hiding in her tent. Golden Lance was the first to notice him. He quickly sheathed his knife and stowed his whittling project in his tent, then proceeded to greet his fellow lieutenant. “Ah, Sunshine, you’re back,” he said, giving him the customary salute “How’d your business go?” Sunshine returned the salute “Rather well. Celestia gave me this,” he said, gesturing to the key around his neck “She said that if I out my hope into it, some pony would come round to get me out of here,” “Lucky you then,” Lance chuckled “I won’t pry, but it’s nice to know that Celestia’s still in there,” Sunshine took it as his dismissal, then began to pitch his own tent. It was identical to the others, a waterproof cloth suspended over two triangles made of sticks. Also, like the others, it was built to house two, yet each pony had one to his or herself. He supposed that they could use a little comfort before the dark night ahead. He was just about to finish his tent, the familiar form of Potence. She gingerly walked over to Sunshine, summoning the courage to speak to him. “Um, excuse me?” she asked quietly Had it not been a bat pony she was talking to, they probably have dismissed it as back round noise. “Something on your mind, Potence?” Sunshine responded, hammering down the anchor points for his tent “I was just wondering,” she whispered “How did you get into the Guard?” Sunshine stopped his hammering and through a curious look to the shy Pegasus. “Funny,” he said “That’s the first question that popped into my head when I saw you,” He went trotted over to the fire place and motioned for Potence to sit beside him. Sensing an impending story, the others sat down and watched him eagerly. “Now,” Sunshine sighed “Where to begin…” Astral’s Estate (Present Time) Honour Bound galloped with all his might back to the mansion. The landscape blurred past him, the only thing clear to him was his destination. When he finally reached it, he didn’t stop, and ran straight for a vine covered brick wall. Focusing his magic, a green sheen rippled across his body, and the wagon trailing behind him. Instead of ploughing straight through, a ring of green fire erupted from the wall’s base, growing wider and wider in diameter. Without hesitation, Honour Bound dove right into it. He now found himself in the main room of the Mansion’s underground laboratory. Quickly unharnessing himself from the wagon, he turned back the way he came, and used the glowing ring of fire to jump right back into the outside world. What he found at the other side, didn’t surprise him in the slightest. An assembly of eight Royal Guards stood defiantly before him. Each had a spear pointed at his chest, and a sword scabbard strapped to their left side. There were five unicorns and three pegasi. Honour Bound grinned at the prospect of battle, and let his mind relax. The disguise he wore for so long burned up in green flame, showering the ponies before him in ragged chunks of ash. Honour Bound felt the confines of his form loosen, as he began to grow taller. His exoskeleton became harder, resembling armour more than a part of his body. His horn grew longer and more crooked, like Queen Chrysalis’ during the Canterlot invasion. His wings grew larger, a second pair sprouting behind the first. Raw power shimmered across his form like an angry fire, ready to lash out at any who dare came closer. The only ponies who have ever witnessed this form and lived, were his family, and three princesses mere days beforehoof. Relishing the freedom of his true form, he towered before the guards and eyed them hungrily. He tasted the aroma of fear flow off of them like water from a spring. His mouth watered as he geared up for an attack, sparks of lightning crackled across his body, swirling at the tip of his horn. “Kneel!” he screeched, letting loose an arc of terrible green flame. The attack was poorly fended, as all but three ponies were blown metres away, lying still as unconsciousness claimed them. The remaining guards fared no better, the attack robbed them of all the fighting strength they had, leaving them breathless and on the verge of collapse themselves. Honour Bound strode towards them, the grass wilting in his wake. He put a hoof underneath one of the remaining guard’s chin and raised his eyes to meet his own. In the changelings eyes, the guard so only his altered reflection, no remorse or pity could be found in those emerald green eyes. The guard began to shiver as his mind broke down with fear. This only made Honour even more eager to take it. The changeling brought his mouth closer, salivating at the prospect of a meal. Honour Bound closed his eyes, opened his fanged mouth, and inhaled deeply. More than air was drawn into his gaping maw. A blue-white vapour radiated out of the guard, and was immediately sucked into the hungry changeling’s mouth. The guard didn’t feel afraid anymore, he felt it literally drain from his body. He grew weary, quickly becoming unable to stand on his own. When Honour was finished, the guard slumped forward, as exhaustion finally claimed him. Honour Bound looked up at the remainder of his numerous adversaries. All eight of them were now nothing but unconscious stallions in field of grass. Honour Bound grinned wickedly, eagerly awaiting the next wave of his would-be prosecutors. Charlene and Chest Nut did their best to pack the bags of the foals and their own. Astral taught that lying to children was a sure fire way to make them complacent, so the four foals were completely aware of the situation. Charlene packed two sets of clothes, some food and some form of entertainment for each foal. She crammed them all into a single suit case and carried it along with her as she galloped full pelt to the arranged meeting place. Chest Nut and Verity were organising a stage coach to take them away from the mansion. They decided to take Astral’s coach, an ornate black carriage with gold trimming, built to transport six ponies. It was luxurious by today’s standards, sporting red velvet seats, tables and two sets of curtains on each window. Two burly earth stallions, both Big Macintosh size, were harnessed to the coach. They were both a dark grey, with deep blue armour, reminiscent of the Night Guard’s. Their eyes held no pupils, only an opaque aquamarine colour. Verity stood by the coach, still clad in gold armour, while Chest Nut and the foals clambered inside. Charlene arrived in the nick of time, securing the baggage to the roof, she took her position at the driver’s seat, holding the reins of the two stallions before her. Just before she geared them up to go, she caught a flat dark object flung at her by Verity. In her hoof was a round, smooth river pebble. Etched onto its surface was a rune shaped like snowflake. “Take the sigil with you,” Verity instructed gesturing to the stone “Run through the gates to the south of the Estate. It will take you to the Crystal Empire,” Charlene nodded, and stowed the sigil in her saddle bag. “Good luck,” she said, then snapped at the reins, causing the stallions to gallop forward, pulling the carriage with it. Verity watched them go, then as soon as they were out of sight, she turned to the Weeping Angel which stood silently behind her this whole time. “Come,” she said to the Angel “We have a lot of work to do,” The Old Castle (Thousand Years Ago) The first thing they saw was a green glow in the distance. The company of five had long since fallen asleep. The starless night sky cloaked the land in darkness. Not even the moon shone through its shroud. They spent the evening telling stories of how they got to where they are now. So long have they spent without interruption, that they have all succumbed to the need for sleep. However, they’re sleep was fitful, as a distant rumbling threatened to wake them. Golden Lance was the first one to wake, and quickly roused the other guards, but left Carver Pie sleeping soundly in her tent. As the glow grew closer, the lights began to separate. A cluster of three bobbed along close to the ground, while a larger source swayed several metres above it. Its movement was accompanied by the cracking of metal against stone. “What is it?” Sunshine asked, bewildered at the sight before them “It’s one of them,” Lance growled “Rough House, Potence, take up your positions and light the warding torches. Sunshine, get yourself a weapon. Looks like we’re about to be very busy,” The Guards obediently followed their orders. Taking a piece of lit firewood each, Potence and Rough lit the perimeter marked by glowing blue torches. These torches shone a bright cyan light, illuminating a large amount of the surrounding grounds, humming persistently as they shone. Sunshine snatched his sword from his pack, as well as his belt of throwing knives. Hurrying back out, he saw the creature finally come into view. It was huge, easily the size of a small barn. It walked in a steady gait on its four large, shield like legs. They reached up to the height of its tail and impaled the ground beneath with razor sharp points. The main body was smaller, forming a disk shaped cephalothorax the size of a tent. It had three narrow, blank eyes, glowing a sickly, piercing green. Its tail arched over its body, like a scorpion’s. The same green glow could be seen between its three claw like stingers. The whole thing’s black shell glistened in the fire light. “Potence, get your crossbow,” Lance ordered The shy Pegasus dove behind a log, then fumbled for her crossbow, loading in a bolt, drawing back the string and took aim. “FIRE!” The bolt sailed straight and true, whistling as it made its deadly path through the air. It hit its mark with a hard thwack, causing the creature’s stride to stutter. Sadly, it did not do much else. The Darkling let loose a horrifying shriek, like claws raking across a chalk board. It stopped its advance and levelled its tail at the fearful Pegasus. The glow between its three stingers steadily glowed brighter. Having fought these creatures before, Lance yelled urgently at the rest of the guards. “Hit the ground!” With a loud squelching sound, a large projectile covered in glowing green goo was flung at them from the beast’s tail. All ponies hit the dirt in time as its attack flew over their heads, landing with a thud several metres behind them. Sunshine took a glimpse at the projectile. It looked like a bee’s stinger, but much larger, almost the length of a spear. The glowing green goo turned out to be acid, as it ate its way into the stone beneath it. No sooner had he looked back, than another stinger flew right passed him, missing his head by centimetres. Sunshine grimaced in pain as a drop from the stinger landed on his exposed foreleg, melting through his flesh and exposing bone. Oddly, no blood flowed as the acid melted that too. “Don’t let it touch you!” Lance warned. “Now you tell me!” Sunshine yelled furiously, hastily bandaging his new wound. The Darkling eventually grew tired of its ranged assault, and battered the warding torches away with a sweep of its claw. With the gaurds only advantage gone, the creature advanced again, chittering menacingly as it readied yet another stinger. Mustering his courage, Lance charged forward, impaling the creature’s front leg with his spear. The creature howled in frustration and tried to dislodge him. Lance hung on tightly, drawing his sword and hacking relentlessly at the creature’s leg. Sunshine charged in next, jumping and landing atop the creature’s carapace, and stabbing downward with his sword. Whereas Lance found a chink in its armour, Sunshine only found hard plating, as his sword rebounded harmlessly. Rough house charged in last, while Potence continued to provide cover fire with her trusty cross bow. Rough house used the momentum from his charge to slide underneath the creature, stabbing upward with his spear. The spear went right through the Darkling’s soft underbelly, going in until half the shaft was stuck inside it’s body. When Rough went to pull it out however, things began to go very, very wrong. The creature’s blood was acid, the same liquid that dribbled freely from its tail. When Rough withdrew the spear, he only got half the shaft back, and a healthy dose of poison to the face. The brave unicorn screamed in pain, trying fruitlessly to remove the acid as it worked its way through his head, melting flesh, boiling blood and singing bone. It took only moments as Rough House’s lifeless form, crumpled to the ground, his eyes mere hollow sockets, and his face stretched into an empty, lipless smile. It was all too much for poor Potence as she immediately dropped her bow, curled up and cried. Seeing its reprieve, the Darkling readied its tail for another attack, but this time, with no stinger. Lance heard a gurgling come from within the creature as a bulge made its way up its tail. He broke free from the creature and flew back a safe distance, metres away. “Sunshine! Get out of there!” he yelled Sunshine noticed the bulge too, and took off, abandoning his sword due to his haste. A huge spray of acid showered the area above the creature where the two guards were mere second’s beforehoof. Curiously, the acid did not affect the creature at all, dribbling off its exoskeleton like water before sizzling on the ground beneath it. The creature shrieked, flinging another stinger straight up into the sky. This one was a lot bigger, and brighter as it arced through the air like a deadly mortar. As the projectile made its descent, the two remaining ponies came to the realisation that they were in its downward path. The two of them took off in separate directions, seconds before the stinger landed. Instead of striking the ground like all the previous ones, this stinger exploded violently, showering its surroundings with shrapnel and acid. Sunshine’s youth and natural agility allowed him to avoid the deadly shower. Golden Lance was far less lucky. A large shard of chitin buried itself in his left wing, causing him to fall in a downward spiral, where the creature hungrily awaited. With his last moments of life, Lance flung a gold object attached to a chain at Sunshine, who promptly caught it in both hooves. Lance closed his eyes, and remained calm as he awaited death by the worst possible means. The Darkling reared up, opening its fanged mouth as the doomed Pegasus fell inside, catching him neatly in its jaws. The creature swallowed him in one gulp, accompanied by a sickly bone crunching sound. While the creature recovered from its meal, Sunshine took a quick peek at the object in his hooves. It was a locket, simple but elegant in design, shaped like an oval with the sun carved on both sides. Inside, were two pictures and a folded scrap of paper. One was of a younger Golden Lance standing proudly beside Princess Celestia. The other was him again, in a suit by a flowered archway, beside him a beautiful mare in a white dress. Realising Lance’s meaning, Sunshine stowed the locket, and turned back to the creature, vengeance burning deep inside his soul. Letting anger consume him, Sunshine yelled a battle cry and charged at the monstrosity before him, intent on avenging his comrades.