Bravery's ascension

by Stucks-24_6

Uprising

The room was dark and glistened with the light of the magnificent stars above. Tall, sturdy lunar guards marched in orderly lines as they passed the great doors of the space coliseum. After Princess Luna had settled back into her life as the Princess of the night, she had constructed this coliseum for her Lunar guards to train new recruits and colonise her army for important events.
Eventually, when he could see the end of the room, Bravery picked up his metal indigo helmet he had just recently received after completing his vigorous training and nervously trotted over to his commanding officer: Moonlight Stronglegs.Moonlight Stronglegs was a large pony with a black scar that crossed the left side of his face; at first glance Bravery was mildly intimidated by his assigned leader but he would learn to tolerate it in the future, much more important matters were at stake.
"You all consider yourselves lunar guards just because you were given the honour to step into our ranks!" Stronglegs bellowed to his team. "You will not be worthy of such a name until you prove your own unique worth as a soldier of the night." he added. The sturdy stallion's words were like fire arrows to the face from Bravery's point of view, never before had he met a guard as serious as this. Bravery put on his helmet after his CO had paused between speeches and watched his fellow comrades discussing their plans for tonight's 'ultimate contingency'. This made Bravery curious as he fiddled around with his midnight blue armour, but he did not intend to ask what this was all about yet for he was still too uncertain of why he was here in the first place....
3 months ago, Bravery was in the Canterlot castle speaking with princess Celestia about some recently discovered anomalies of necromancer magic located outside the Crystal Empire. Magic was an unfamiliar concept to Bravery, he was an Earth pony and possessed no magic or flight, this was irritating for him in his childhood since most of those he met in school were Unicorns.
However, Bravery knew enough about the evil entity of necromancer magic to know that it is not to be trifled with. During his investigation he had learnt the habits of necromancer magic and what it does, none of it good.
Bravery Pureblood was never one for getting involved, 12 years after his parents were killed during King Sombra's invasion of the Crystal empire, it had left his soul trapped by his guilt and tortured by the grief that still tears at his heart every day.
Feeling some pony nudge at his side, Bravery turned away from his flashbacks and looked up to see Princess Luna of the night and Shining armour of the Crystal empire stand on the monumental pillar that towered over the space coliseum. The room had suddenly gone silent, no one spoke or even directed their eyes elsewhere for this was something that the lunar guard was not willing to miss. Such a silence was a sign to Bravery that even he among these elite warriors of the night had to be listening.
Princess Luna elevated herself higher into the air, beating her wide, blue wings. She wasted no time in coming here; it was her who colonised the lunar guard to the space coliseum. Tonight would be the night where the lunar guard would finally know the secret she had concealed for too long.
"For 1000 years!" Luna began, "We have proved ourselves strong against our enemy, however this night I shall reveal the true enemy that we face with great fear!" Luna's royal Canterlot voice was echoing painfully throughout the coliseum and Bravery dropped his head down slightly just to escape the intensely loud noise that was his Princess's voice. As Bravery lifted his head back up to look at Princess Luna she continued to bellow out to the thousands of dark, hefty stallions and mares that looked like blue ants from where she was.
"Tonight brave souls of Equestria, we fight for the very survival of the lunar guard and the World itself!" Luna shouted in a brazen yet slow voice.
The words that had exited the Princess' mouth took its toll on the guards. Frantic conversation immediately developed as the confused guards failed to contemplate the true meaning of their Princess' words.
"Your majesty! Why do you speak to us as if the world is coming to an end?!" A male lunar guard had finally broken the scattered words in the hall and brought the attention back to Luna.
Luna was not sure what to say to the objection and so she hesitated whilst struggling to hold herself in as the sudden words had angered her greatly. No guard had ever spoken negatively of the future, her soldiers were to remain loyal and resilient, it was part of their personal code and their pure origin.
Despite the fact that he had no permission to intervene, Shining Armour raised his voice so it could be heard throughout the coliseum.
"It's not your place to question her, but the truth must be revealed!" he said loudly in a very self-confident voice.
"Necromancer Magic throughout Equestria has corrupted the minds of the royal guard and has lead to the destruction of the Crystal empire, my home and my kingdom" Shining's voice began to lower as he continued to speak, saddened by the loss of so many memories and lives
Regaining her confidence to speak, Luna lifted her head high in the air and spoke with great power:
"King Sombra is the source of this blight and has risen from hiding to use necromancer powers as a way of stealing the minds of all sentient life and turn them into merciless killers, bent on the demise of his enemies and guided by his deathly voice"
When the distinct and fearful chatter started to fill up the coliseum again, Bravery was in a daze of disbelief and distraught. Was this his fault? Had he doomed Equesrtia to an era of tyranny? He started to get the feeling that he was responsible for this disaster. Bravery considered that his encounters with the necromancer magic had lead the entity of evil right to civilisation. With necromancer magic afoot no one was safe! The fear inside Bravery's heart started to swell up like a cactus after rainfall but was instantly cut off by an impulse of strength that made Bravery feel angry but ultimately determined.
He may have caused this disaster but he would NOT allow it to hurt any pony else, his world had suffered enough, now was the time for change, an era of strength and hope for the good. With the strength of the lunar guard, his princess and captain of the royal guard alongside him, Bravery felt stronger than ever. What was once the feeling of uncertainty and fear was now replaced by the spirit of a warrior in his heart.
"Then we fight him!" Bravery finally shouted. No one shred of regret was felt by this newly found stallion as all eyes around the coliseum fixed their eyes on him.
Princess Luna and Shining Armour quickly looked down into the audience where they finally located the speaker, he was a stallion of medium size with a blue streak in his dark mane. Neither had seen this one before but they could not help but constantly look at this greyish stallion that had shown no fear to the words spoken.
It was clear to Luna, that Equesrtia needed more ponies like this one so she flew down from the pillar towering over the coliseum and landed in front of Bravery.
"What is your name, Earth pony?!" Luna demanded, sure he was brave but how did she know this was not just another mockery amongst her guard, disobedience would not be tolerated.
Luna's words did not halt Bravery's actions and so he spoke in a deep, smooth voice to the princess before finally meeting Luna's sparkling eyes. "Your majesty, I am Bravery Pureblood, born of the Crystal empire and a former lieutenant of the royal guard!" Bravery bowed before his princess and looked back up shamelessly to see the look of surprise in Luna's face.
"Why do I know that name?" Luna whispered silently to herself, she had heard the story of an earth pony known as 'Bravery Pureblood' who was rumoured to be a god of strength from another universe but that was only myth. Alternatively, necromancer magic was rumoured to be part of Equesrtian mythology but it was attacking the minds of every living thing as she spoke. It was not impossible but she still did not fully believe this one earth pony was a god like her.
"Forgive me my princess for my interruption, but for too long have we lived in fear of Sombra's wrath" Bravery exclaimed in a very expressive manner. Luna could not agree more with Bravery's statement for it was all too true. For over 1500 years King Sombra's hateful pursuit for power had placed Equestria in state of delirious fear and hostility, Equestria's society was crumbling under the weight of Sombra's lust for power and violence.
Using his magical powers to teleport down from the pillar, Shining Armour materialised in front of Bravery, eager to hear more from this newly found soldier. "I'm assuming your great ambition means you have some kind of plan in order to carry out such a task, Bravery". This earth pony certainly had some guts even for Shining Armour's quality, King Sombra was now the most feared adversary in all of Equestria and Shining did not the intelligence or magical strength to outmatch this kind of evil. He had found this out the hard way only a few weeks back when he was confronted by Sombra on his way to Canterlot, where evacuation was in full swing. That battle had been a tough one to forget, Shining had tried to hold off Sombra and protect the running families from his deadly use of magic. Shining had lost that day and the families had died unintentionally after Sombra blinded Shining and impaled the innocents in an attempt to distract and kill Shining. Fortunately, Shining escaped the chaos with his sister: Twilight Sparkle when he finally reached the Canterlot castle and left for Ponyville, the only safe place left.
Returning to the present, Shing shook off the memory so that he could listen to Bravery. "I have a plan indeed, it will however require a great deal of resources." Bravery said. "I know of a stronghold outside of Las Pegasus that will prove useful to our fight against Sombra, if we can retake it. It used to be look out for royal guards in Las Pegasus, but now Sombra's new army has converted it into a defence tower."
Shining Armour began to puzzle for a few seconds. "Why there?" he thought, Las Pegasus was a city of lowland mostly, it would provide very little for King Sombra. Most of its major resources for trade were food, clothes and textile products, a tyrant such as Sombra would have no need to capture a city like Las Pegasus.
As Bravery continued to explain in detail, he could see other lunar guards around him murmuring different things to one another, "He's insane, we can't defeat this tyrant by fighting.", "Who let this guy in to the guard?" These words angered Bravery, but there was no need to let go now, his knowledge could have been one of the last hopes Equestria had left.
"Then again soldier, how do we actually get there without getting spotted?" Shining Armour quickly said, Sombra's army was few in numbers but even one of them where just as dangerous as the tyrant himself. These soldiers were emotionless killing machines developed from recently deceased animals which were physically and psychologically moulded into dark minions of the tyrant himself.
Princess Luna and Shining Armour had experienced combat with Sombra's soldiers when the invasion started around 4 months. They were eventually defeated and destroyed but half of Manehattan had crumbled under the destructive battle. Many lives were lost that day, never had Luna or Shining seen such barbarism and destruction in their lives.
Whilst Bravery continued to discuss his plans with Shining Armour, Luna looked back to that fateful day and her imprisonment on the moon, those times shared the same emotional impacts on the princess of the night. Both saddened her and terrified her because she was afraid that they might happen again. Furthermore, Luna started to think, why had one common stallion among all her predecessors stood out and shown an abhor approach to Sombra's tyranny? Luna was vulnerable to her emotions and had been blinded by fear since her 1000 years on the moon. This Bravery Pureblood had something she would never have, hope, hope for a brighter future, free of tyranny and violence.
Bravery was still consulting with Shining Armour as they started to debate how they could find a way past the canyon outside Las Pegasus; it was deep and very wide, this natural land form was a vulnerability point for the lunar guard, they would easily be seen with their inappropriate colour for armour.
"The lunar guard cannot reach Las Pegasus wearing this armour Shining, we must find another way." Bravery explained with frustration.
Shining considered, the lunar guard seemed very unprepared due to their lack of military resources but the royal guard base based in Ponyville had everything they needed along with the best flyers Equerstria had to offer: the Divinity bolts. They were the ideal ones for scouting, their ability to turn invisible, harness destructive solar magic and fly at great speeds would be the best way to aid in this contingency plan.
"Bravery, there is a base in Ponyville where the royal guard have taken refuge, we can use the resources there and convince the Divinity bolts to help us out with the defences outside Las Pegasus." Shining said, it was a great risk but this had to be done, some pony had to stand up to Sombra and end his tyranny once and for all!
Shining Armour's noble words filled Bravery's heart with happiness but fear once again began to interfere. He had promised to allow no innocent to die because of Sombra's terrible deeds, he could not allow his beloved lunar guard comrades and the honourable royal guard to suffer losses because of this, so much regret he feared would be felt during the endless battle against the raging darkness, many deaths would be brought and much suffering would be felt in this time of war.
Bravery's fear soon led to words and he spoke with a spike of anxiety in his voice: "Do not burden yourself and your soldiers with this fight, Shining. I have seen enough innocent blood spilt because of this conflict, no more need to die because of this."
Suddenly, before Shining Armour could talk back to Bravery, a flash of pure white light burst throughout the space coliseum and out of the blistering light rose the all powerful Princess Celestia of Equestria. Her enormous white wings were radiating with magical solar energy and the lunar guards stepped back in awe as Celestia lowered herself in front of Bravery.
As Celestia finally touched down on the cold metal floor, Bravery stood upright trying to give a good impression of himself as the most magical being in all Equestria stood before him, her chest proturding from the rest of her body and her alibastar face showing signs of anger and fear.
"This will not be a burden, Bravery." Celestia said in bold and firm tone, "This will be an honour, an honour that we will take with us into battle and use to take down the merciless tyrant that had seized control over our precious land!"
Celestia had losses that neared heavily upon her, her home in Canterlot, her friends even the elements of harmony. Failure to protect her home had made Celestia feel powerless which led to hiding until Sombra has destroyed the Crystal empire, the home of her adopted daughter: Princess Cadence. Cadence had survived but was left traumatised as Sombra mercilessly ravaged her home. All leaders of Equestria were left with heavy burdens of the heavy losses they suffered during Sombra's invasion. Now that some pony was strong enough inside to defy Sombra, Celestia had immediately journeyed to Bravery to find him and prepare herself for battle.
"Join me Celestia, in the fight to take back Equestria and free your people from the tyranny that threatens them all." Bravery said with a determined expression on his face.
"With pleasure, soldier!" Celestia instantly shouted
"I agree to follow you too, Pureblood" Luna also shouted with her royal Canterlot voice, mildly surprised by her sister's unexpected arrival.
"They follow you so I follow you! Shining boldly said after Luna's voice stopped echoing throughout the coliseum.
"To victory, to freedom!!!" the lunar guard suddenly shouted with great passion and determination.
And with those words, Bravery Pureblood began his impossible quest to take down the most dangerous tyrant Equestria had ever seen with all Equesrtia's bravest and purest souls and hearts behind him......

Comments

[aceboy]

it is a good story nice one