Lockon Astros was a strapping young unicorn colt at the age of fourteen. He had a snow white coat, a short brown mane and tail, and sapphire blue eyes.
He was on his way back to his house in Canterlot from school with an excited look on his face. He could not wait to show his parents and his older sister what he now had.
At last, he had made it two his two-story house, which, while fancy, could not really be classified as a mansion.
"Hey guys! I'm home!" He called to his family as he stepped in through the door.
"Hey there, little bro." Said the voice of his older sister, Star Sapphire, as she came down the stairs. "What are you so excited about?"
This unicorn mare was at the age of seventeen, and quite beautiful. She had a sapphire blue coat, and a long and straight cut mane and tail that were of a similar color with a streak of light brown going down the middle. Her cutie mark was a star sapphire jewel above a microphone. And her eyes were the same shade of sapphire blue as Lockon's eyes.
"Check out what I finally got, sis!" Lockon answered her in a happy tone before showing her his flank. In place of blank pure whiteness, there was now a black circular targeting reticle with fine crosshairs and a smaller circle in the middle as the focus point, while in the background of all that was a bunch of white stars outlined with black borders.
"Hey!" Sapphire chuckled. "You finally got your cutie mark! Way to go, little brother!" Then she hugged him while ruffling his mane.
"I know!" Lockon said with an eager grin. "Wait until Mom and Dad see this!"
"See what, kids?" Came an older female voice. The two siblings turned to see their parents coming down the stairs.
Their father, Sharp Shooter, was a very muscular unicorn stallion with a gray coat and a medium length mane and tail that was the same shade of brown as Lockon's. Both siblings got their eye colors from him because his eyes were also sapphire blue. His cutie mark was a target with ten rings on it, with an arrow stuck inside the bull's-eye mark indicating that he was very skilled with a crossbow.
Their mother, whose name was Jade Glimmer, was a very beautiful unicorn mare. She had a lime green coat with a forest green mane. Her eyes were a beautiful shade of emerald green and her cutie mark was a sparkling lump of jade stone indicating her work as a jeweler.
"Check out what I got!" Lockon said as he showed them what he just showed his sister.
"Well how do you like that?!" Sharp Shooter chuckled while ruffling Lockon's mane. "Looks like you're following your old stallion's hoofsteps somewhat! Way to go, son!"
"I am so proud of you, honey!" Jade Glimmer smiled as she gave her son a hug.
"Thanks, Mom." Lockon smiled. "I am positive that I could do well as a royal guard with this kind of talent."
"I'm sure you will." Sapphire agreed. "The royal guard is probably going to need all the help it can get, especially with those changeling attacks becoming more frequent AND getting closer and closer to Canterlot."
"I'll say." Sharp Shooter replied. "The last reported sighting was confirmed to be just outside of Ponyville."
"That is close." Jade Glimmer agreed with slight worry. "But I am confident that Princess Celestia is taking every possible effort towards the prevention of any disasters they might cause. Now, let's get dinner started."
Soon afterwards, they had all just finished eating dinner. Lockon and Sapphire were just about to start ascending the staircase to their respective bedrooms to turn in for the night, when suddenly, they all heard what sounded like a cannon shot.
By the time the two siblings and their parents turned to see what was causing it, it was already too late. The next thing they knew, a sudden and powerful explosion blew through the front entrance to the house. Lockon and Sapphire were taken through the walls on the opposite side and landed in the back yard.
Both of them recovered and were able to stand on their hooves. The house was now on fire everywhere.
"Lockon!" Sapphire called to him. "Are you okay?!"
"Yeah, sis, I'm fine." He answered before turning around to the now destroyed house. "But where are-"
Then he gasped. "MOM! DAD!" He galloped over to the unconscious bodies of their parents. Both of them were covered in rubble and broken glass, and had serious third degree burns over every part of their bodies.
"No, no, no!" Lockon started crying. "Why is this happening?! Who would do something like this?!"
"Lockon, we have to go." Sapphire told him in a sort of half-choked sob. "There's nothing we can do for them."
"Then let's head to the castle." Lockon agreed in a very sad tone. "Princess Celestia will definitely help us."
"You're not going anywhere." A creepy unfamiliar voice replied. Both siblings turned to see an insectoid pony with a black hide, bug wings, a small horn on its head and fang like teeth in its mouth. Both siblings recognized this cockroach on hooves as a changeling, the creature from the attacks that they kept hearing about.
Lockon, immediately believing this creature to be responsible for the destruction of his home, and the deaths of his parents, instinctively charged up an attack spell and fired it at the changeling.
The changeling did not have any time to react as Lockon's sapphire blue magic beam struck him dead center and pushed him out of the house and a considerable distance further back.
"Lockon, we have to get to the castle now!" Sapphire said to him. "Who knows how many more of those things are out there?!"
"Let's high-tail it, then!" Lockon shouted in agreement as he broke into full gallop towards Canterlot Castle with Sapphire right behind him.
Sure enough, Sapphire was right. More changelings appeared and started to chase the pair of siblings as they were headed for the castle. Before long, the castle gates were visible to the eyes of both siblings.
"There it is, Sis!" Lockon shouted behind him to Sapphire. "We're almost there. Let's hurry!"
Sapphire nodded in agreement and both siblings kicked their legs into overdrive. Even though Sapphire was older than Lockon by three years, Lockon was still able to run faster than her. He was now increasing the distance gap between the two of them.
Lockon had just made it inside the castle gates and turned around to wait for his sister. He had to explain to the two royal guards on either side of the entrance that he and his sister were attacked and were just seeking protection.
Sapphire was running as fast as her legs could carry her and a few dozen changelings were in pursuit. However, just before Sapphire could get within a few dozen yards of the castle gates, she tripped and toppled forward for one complete rotation before collapsing on the ground.
This gave the pursuing changelings the chance they needed. Once they caught up to her, they started grabbing her body in an effort to hold her down.
"SAPPHIRE!" Lockon's voiced shouted as tried to come to his sister's aid.
Sapphire knew what he was doing and she responded by charging up and then firing a spell towards the castle gates. The spell hit its mark and formed a sapphire blue magic barrier around the entire castle gates.
Lockon was not aware of what Sapphire just did until his head collided with something invisible. When he rubbed his head and got a better look, he instantly recognized his sister's barrier spell.
"Sapphire! What are you doing?!" Lockon called out to her. "I can help you!"
"No, Lockon!" Sapphire answered him while the changelings held her down. "You can't do anything against this many changelings, especially not on your own. Run. Go find Princess Celestia. Ask for her help."
"I am NOT leaving you, sis!" Lockon replied. "We've already lost Mom and Dad. I don't want to lose you too!"
"You won't lose me, Lockon." Sapphire assured him with a smile, even despite her current situation. "And you haven't lost Mom and Dad either. We'll always be with you, inside your heart."
"Lockon," Sapphire continued, "this will probably the last time I see you like this. So I just want to say, ever since you were born, the last fourteen years have been the best time of my life. My only regret is that I won't get to see you grow up. I love you, little bro."
"I love you too, Sis. I always will." Lockon sniffled with tears streaming down from both of his eyes.
Then, he saw another changeling walk up to the group that was holding Sapphire down. This changeling however, was bigger than all the rest. It had a feminine appearance which was emphasized by a long mane and tail that was a mix of green and cerulean blue. She had eerily green eyes, and her horn had holes in it, giving it a mangled appearance, just like all of her legs.
"I thought I told you idiots that we needed as many ponies alive as possible." The large female changeling addressed and scolded the ones holding down Sapphire in a two-toned voice. "Your carelessness with your attack spells cost us two valuable sources from the very beginning."
"My sincerest apologies, Queen Chrysalis." One of the drones holding Sapphire down spoke to the large changeling. "But you'll be glad to know that the other one is right over there watching even as we speak. Once you drain this pony, her barrier will drop and we can go after the other one."
The changeling queen, now known as Chrysalis, then turned to Sapphire as she was held down by the drones.
"Do your worst, you overgrown cockroach!" Sapphire snapped towards the queen.
"Oh, I plan to." Chrysalis smirked before reaching her front hoof out over top of Sapphire's back, right above where her heart was.
Chrysalis's hoof then started glowing green like her horn would have. Then energy started flowing from Sapphire into Chrysalis's hoof. As this continued, Sapphire kept looking worse and worse as her strength kept on depleting, all the while, Lockon could only watch helplessly from behind the barrier as his beloved sister was drained of all her stamina.
This kept on going until Sapphire's hooves put up no more resistance and dropped lifelessly to the ground. Her head did the same thing as her eyes closed for the last time. The minions holding her down let go at this point. Chrysalis looked back towards the castle gates only to find that Sapphire's barrier spell was still functioning while Lockon was still behind it.
"I'm impressed." Chrysalis told to Sapphire's lifeless body as she lifted it up in a haunting green aura exactly like the one surrounding her hoof during the draining process. "Even in death, you still do everything you can to keep your little brother safe. Too bad that barrier won't protect him for long."
"Take down that barrier and bring her brother to me!" Chrysalis ordered her minions as she unceremoniously and uncaringly dropped Sapphire's lifeless body to the ground.
The minions then started smashing against the barrier while the two royal guards quickly got up in front of Lockon, facing the barrier and the oncoming enemies with their spears at the ready.
"Kid, get inside the castle!" One of the guards shouted to Lockon. "Find Princess Celestia and tell her about this! We'll hold them off!"
"Changelings…" he mumbled in anger. "You heartless monsters… I will never…forgive you…for this..."
Lockon just stood there, blood boiling, all the recent events of his beloved family fueling his rage. As he grunted with his rage rising, his magical power began to build up along with it. And this did not go unnoticed by all who were present.
As Lockon's rage fueled power kept on surging, the surrounding area was also affected. The ground was shaking violently. Loose pebbles and other such rubble near Lockon's hooves began to float up into the air on their own, without magic.
Lockon then shifted his attention back to Sapphire's magical barrier. The changelings had already cracked it to the point where it looked like only one more blow was needed to bring it down.
Chrysalis just stood there on the sidelines looking straight at Lockon through the weakened barrier with an evil, almost sadistic, smirk on her face. Then, she started laughing evilly in a manner as though she did it to mock Lockon.
That was when Lockon finally snapped. With that one last push, Lockon's magical power finally surged to breaking point. And with a mighty and thunderous yell, all that magic let out a powerful and somewhat explosive force.
The resulting shockwave left a huge crater-like indentation in the ground where Lockon was standing. It blew the two royal guards back and knocked their heads into the gate walls, thus rendering them unconscious. It even shattered Sapphire's barrier just as the changeling minions were about to touch it, causing them to be blown backwards and away from the gates.
"W-what?" Chrysalis shouted in shock and surprise, even though she was seemingly unaffected by the shockwave as she still stood where she was while her minions quickly recovered from the blow they had just received.
Lockon had also changed dramatically. Not only did his rage cause his magical power to surge, it also triggered something that nopony would have ever expected to happen from a situation like this.
When he instinctively checked his body by moving it slightly, he felt a certain set of muscles and appendages on each of his sides that he knew he never had before now.
'What's going on?!' He immediately thought to himself as he continued checking his body. 'Why do I suddenly have wings now?! And what is this incredible power surging through me?!'
"What the…?!" Chrysalis said in a shocked tone. "Where were you hiding such power?!"
This brought Lockon's attention back to her and her minions.
"Heartless monsters!" Lockon said to them in anger. "You're all going to pay!! I will destroy you!!!"
Then, he fired a sapphire blue beam of magic at all the changelings. This beam was powerful enough to actually knock all of them back several dozen feet.
Despite all the damage, Chrysalis and her minions still recovered. Several of her minions headed straight for Lockon, but he somehow was able to punch away every minion that was headed his way.
Chrysalis then fired a beam of green magic at Lockon from the air, but he took to the sky to avoid it. Lockon did not even know how he was able to fly at that moment, especially after he just got his wings. Perhaps it was more instinct than anything else, but Lockon did not really care. The only thing that was currently on his mind was avenging his family by destroying the changelings who killed them.
Lockon then flew to a level height with Chrysalis, who fired a beam of green magic at Lockon. He countered it with a sapphire blue beam. The two beams struck each other dead on and were now in a heated battle with both sides trying to overpower the other.
At first Lockon was evenly matched against Chrysalis, but Lockon soon began to tire out and was starting to lose the struggle. Just before it looked like Chrysalis was about to win, Lockon let out an explosive yell, and his beam suddenly surged with magical power, easily pushing back Chrysalis's beam, causing both beams to strike her and push her back a considerable distance.
However, that explosive surge began to take its toll on Lockon, as it left him panting very heavily while trying to recover. Unfortunately for Lockon, that caused him to let his guard down, at which moment Chrysalis's minions all flew at him full speed, all at once, feeling certain they would capture him now.
However, just before they could grab him, a massive golden beam of magic blasted them all back towards their queen. Lockon turned to see Princess Celestia herself a short distance away from him.
This frightened the changelings. Even Chrysalis backed away.
"Blast it!" She said in slight anger before turning to her minions. "We wasted too much time. We're no match for Celestia. Retreat!"
She and her minions then turned around and took off into the horizon.
"Don't you dare run..." Lockon seethed in anger before heading to take off after them. "Don't you dare run away from me, changelings!!!" He then flew just outside and above the castle gates, directly above where his sister's deceased body lay.
He then fired a magic beam out towards the fleeing insectoid equines but it dissipated before it could even hit its mark. So he tried to fly after them, but was unable to move as he found himself inside a golden levitation bubble.
"Let me go!" Lockon shouted at Celestia. "I have to get those changelings. They need to pay!"
Celestia said nothing in response, but did not drop her spell. She just floated back down to the ground with Lockon in her levitation bubble floating down with her. By this point Lockon had stopped struggling to break free. He did not even notice the heavy rain that just started to pour.
When Celestia released him from her levitation bubble, Lockon looked up and saw Sapphire's body lying not too far from them. Lockon immediately walked up to her, tears cascading from both of his eyes.
"Sapphire…" Lockon wept as he stood over his beloved sister. "Why'd you have to do it?...Why'd you have to leave me?...It's not fair...You were my sister...and my best friend...You were everything to me...Everything...This just isn't fair..." Then he knelt down and wrapped both of his front legs, and somehow his wings as well, around his late sister's body and embraced her one last time while crying his eyes out.
Princess Celestia could only let tears of her flow down her cheeks from her own eyes, as she watched this heart wrenching scene. Never before had she seen Lockon in so much pain.
"Lockon…what happened?" Celestia gently asked him with worry and sympathy in her tone of voice. "Where are your parents?"
"They're gone…both of them…just like Sapphire…" Lockon sniffled in reply. "And you just let the ones responsible for their deaths get away."
Celestia then put a hoof to his chin before lifting it up make their eyes level with each other. Her horn then glowed with a golden aura before she touched it to his horn. For a brief moment, an orb of magic and light transferred from Lockon's horn to Celestia's. Then, she broke contact between their horns and the next thing Lockon knew, he saw her eyes turn to a pure white before they rapidly flashed through a bunch random images.
When the images stopped, Celestia's eyes turned back to normal before those beautiful amethyst purple eyes formed a sympathetic look in them. A lone tear even escaped from her left eye.
"Come." She gently said to Lockon as she used her magic to gently levitate Sapphire's body in front of her. "Let's get you to the infirmary. You can spend the night there. I'll send some guards to your house to look for your parent's bodies. We'll make sure that both of them and your sister get a proper burial."
Lockon only nodded sadly with tears in his eyes before following Celestia into the castle. After his initial checkup in the infirmary, Lockon was left to rest in his bed, where he cried himself to sleep for the night.