"Are you sure about this Bluesteel? It's not exactly the safest thing you've ever done."
"Relax Redshield, I got this," the pony named Bluesteel snapped back.
"Okay, whatever," Redshield replied.
Bluesteel jumped from the building top they were on onto the one adjacent to it. Bluesteel has a black coat with a red and blue mane and tail. Her cutie mark is a blue dagger. Her eyes are yellow, which would be fine if not for the next detail. Her pupils are slits, more similar to a cat's eyes than a pony's.
"Remind me why we're building jumping again," Redshield remarked, sounding bored.
"It's good for agility. Besides, it's fun," Bluesteel said between jumps.
When Bluesteel landed on yet another building top, she almost fell from the force of the explosion that shook Canterlot.
"What is going on?!" Bluesteel shouted, more of a rhetorical question.
"It's some sort of magical discharge, but I've never seen it with this kind of effects," Redshield explained.
Bluesteel nimbly jumped down from the building tops, followed closely by Redshield. There were guardsmen swarming the streets of Canterlot, trying to reassure the ponies that were affected by the explosion that it was fine. Bluesteel knew it wasn't.
"Hey, guard! Can you tell me what's going on?" Bluesteel asked a nearby guardsmen, before realizing it was the captain of the guard.
"Look, I'll tell you what I've already told most of Canterlot's population. It's nothing, carry on with your business." With that the guard walked away.
"Is the rest of Canterlot buying this? That was not 'nothing'," Bluesteel ranted, before going quiet.
* * *
The Guardian opened his eyes, and awoke to an old friend of his sitting nearby.
"Hey, you're awake. Now that you are, care to tell me who you are?" The pony asked, a hint of suspicion in his voice.
The Guardian opened his mouth, but he had to try a couple times before his voice would work. "Captain, you should really remember those who you fight alongside," he answered, his voice as rough as sandpaper.
The captain's eyes went wide when he realized who it was. "Fallen Fortune! I watched you die from that... relic you own. You shouldn't be here," the captain looked bewildered.
"Many do believe that the Rune of Misfortune killed me, but I am still alive. The Rune faked my death and left me with nothing," Fallen replied, a look of remorse upon his face.
"Well, it's good to have you back. I'm only going to ask you one more question. Why have you come here?" The captain had a look of curiosity and concern of his face.
"Crion, you must believe me when I say the shades have returned, with Dark leading them. Brave's dead. The prophecy is coming," Fallen explained, using the captain's real name.
"Than I suppose it's about time we reunite the remaining members. I'll notify the princess." With that, Crion dashed out of the room, but poked his head back in. "You'd better come with me." He added.
* * *
"Blaze!" Onyx called out to the broken figure of his brother. It didn't shift from its position on the ground.
Crystal immediately rushed forward and placed her hoof on the pony's abdomen. "His heart's beating, but it's very slow," she reported to Onyx.
Snapping himself out of shock, Onyx rushed forward and tried waking his brother. Blaze's former appearance was drastically changed. His left cutie mark had a chunk taken out of it, dried blood surrounding it. His mane and tail were caked with blood and dirt. The worst of all was his coat. It had slashes from blades all the way down it, not to mention how skinny he now was.
"Will he be alright? I..I can't imagine what he went through. He looks like he's been, well, tortured..." Onyx trailed off, lost in thought.
"He looks like he's been starved and cut, but tortured seems a bit much. It almost looks like...." The unicorn went silent and her face took on a blank expression.
"Crystal? Crystal!" Onyx was starting to panic. He knew what was happening all too well. Crystal was being possessed.
* * *
"Without you helping him, Onyx will lose his sanity, more than he already has. Now, I must activate your magic to be entwined with mine," the shade spirit told the now captive Crystal Quartz, but it couldn't seem to establish a connection.
"What have you done?! Your magic is gone! I..I don't understand! Your a unicorn. Without your magic, I can't leave or control you! You will never survive, mortal! Dark curse you!" The spirit's rant finally came to an end when it was destroyed, leaving Crystal to be able to focus again.
* * *
"Princess Sunset!" Crion shouted as he walked into her mostly empty throne room. She hated it when he did that.
"Crion, please quiet down. Shouting is highly unnecessary, although you could argue otherwise about you're soldiers. Now please calm down and tell me what the ruckus is about," Princess Sunset addressed the captain, getting only a jumbled mess of information.
"PrincesstheshadesareattackingandI'mnotsureifwecanholdthemoffand...." Crion was cut off by Fallen.
"Crion, perhaps I should explain it to the princess," Fortune told Crion, a look of fury in his eyes. All he got in return was a nod.
Princess Sunset still looked puzzled as she looked at the two. "Princess, I'm sure you know about Crion involvement in the organization known as the Guardians of the Runes. Our archenemy, Dark Storm, is leading the march against Equestria. She seeks to destroy all mortals, and corrupt those who aren't. One of our members are dead, as well as three that went missing before we disbanded. Princess, we need your help in this. We also need both of us on this journey," Fallen explained, Princess Sunset listening closely after he mentioned Dark.
"Dark Storm you say? I never thought she would have the nerve to return here," Princess Sunset said, even surprising Crion with the statement.
"Princess, how do you know Dark Storm? Her existence was kept a secret, even from you," Crion inquired, feeling rather awkward when telling her that he had withheld an important fact from her.
"A parent should know who their children are."