//------------------------------// // 1- Protect The Future // Story: Change: A New Dawn // by FlutterTwi //------------------------------// Dawn a young unicorn mare and younger sister to Princess Twilight Sparkle and Shining Amour was sitting at her desk looking through her sheet music trying to decide what music to play on her Organ when a knock sounded at her door. Dawn halted what she was doing and she opened the door and saw a griffin in royal guard armor standing outside. "What seems to be the problem, Gallus?" Dawn asked the Royal Guard who gave her a salute before answering her question. "Dawn, Princess Twilight Sparkle and her friends have requested you to come to the royal hall immediately!" Gallus said "Please, take me to see my sister and her friends," Dawn said to the Royal Guard who set off towards Canterlot Castle. "Twilight, is Grogar and his army attacking the castle? Why have you summoned me to the hall so suddenly?" Dawn could see Princess Twilight was sitting at her royal throne, Spike at her side with her friends sitting across the table, all wearing a grim expression on their faces. "Dawn, we're safe for now but my friends and I have made a difficult decision that involves you." Princess Twilight said the look in her lavender eyes was filled with sadness when looking immediately towards her younger sister.   "I understand big sister. You want me to fight alongside you and your friends to defend Canterlot together against Grogar and his army, right?" Dawn said in a hopeful tone of voice, willing to help them in any way that she could against the upcoming threat to Canterlot that they all faced. "There’s no wrong qustion, only answers." Rainbow Dash Captain of the Wonderbolts said with an exaggerated sigh. "Now hold on their sugarcube, nopony said that you're going to fight with us in this war, that’s not what ya’ sister was trying ta’ say." Apple Jack said firmly. "Darling, we all agreed it's for the best that you stay out of this war." Rarity said looking towards Dawn with a soft smile across her face. "It's definitely not a magic spell that involves you and a magical portal to another world!" Pinkie Pie exclaims in one giant breath. Dawn blinked a few times then looked up towards the group of the four middle-aged mares before turning toward her sister the Alicorn ruler of New Equestria. "Twilight, is what Pinky said true?" that you're going to cast a spell and send me to another world?” Dawn said, her ears wilting downwards sadly.  “Why Big sister don't you want my help?"  "Dawn, what you heard from Pinky Pie is the truth but it's not as bad as you might think it is." Fluttershy says embracing the young unicorn in a hug. "Dawn, I love you with all my heart and so do my friends but we're doing this to protect you, the vision that you saw is about to become a reality and I don't want you to witness it." Princess Twilight said her horn glowing the colour of Magentas as she cast the spell to open up a dimensional portal to another Equstria. "I don't wanna go!" Dawn said tears streaming down her face as she tried to escape her sister's spell which was slowly pulling her towards a strange new world. "I know which is why I have to do this, you have to live for us, you're the only pony who can." Princess Twilight said, nuzzling her sister goodbye as she used her magic to seal the dimensional rifts closed, taking with it their last hope in stopping Grogar and his army. "Twi, You did what was best for Dawn, I just got word from Captain Gallus that Gorgar and his army have just invaded Canterlot Castle and has gbut ained even more magic to wipe us and the whole of New Equestria to extinction," Spike said reading the report aloud so everypony could hear him. "Everyone gets ready for the fight of our lives and it's been an honour being your ruler and friends." Princess Twilight said looking towards each one of her friends with no regrets. "Hey Applejack, I bet I can kill more of these basterds than you can!" Rainbow Dash said determinedly. "Perpare to loose that bet Rainbow!" AppleJack said not backing down from Rainbow Dash's challenge.   The doors to the Royal Hall were suddenly hurled to the ground as a blue rum entered with his army."Do you surrender your magic to me or should I take it by force!" Gorgar says with an evil gleam in his eyes. "We will never give up our magic effortlessly to some sorcerer like you!" Princess Twilight declared back angrily. "No matter, I'll still take what is truly mine and end your very existence with death and destruction of this world!" Gorgar said as he rang his bell the magic energy snatched their own magic away from them. When the evil act was accomplished Gorgar then approached the weakened Element of Harmony and their Dragon relishing in his moment of glory. Gorgar could see the suffering in their eyes. He then ordered his army to kill seven of Twilight's friends in front of the Lavender Alicorn, who could only watch in utter horror as the cries of being tortured echoed around the walls of the castle and directly into Twilight's ears. The blade slide across their necks, as blood quickly pours from underneath their necks colouring the carpet floor a crimson red. "You're highness, any last words before you perish and I destroy this precious universe that you once resided in?" Gorgar said utter any lack of empathy towards the fallen ruler of Canterlot Castle. "Gorgar, your tyranny of death and destruction will come to an end!" Princess Twilight whispered to Gorgar before perishing at his hooves. as blood quickly from the severed throats pooled on to the carpet, staining it crimson. Gorgar looked at the now dead bodies of Princess Twilight Sparkle with great satisfaction. "You were saying Element of Magic, nopony can stop me or my army!" Gorgar screamed casting a spell to set fire to the throne room, burning the bodies to cinders. "Gorgar we have found that Twilight's sister has escaped to a different world, what should we do about her sir?" ask the Captain of his army saluting to Gorgar as he waited for his order. "We will send a special Assassin to deal with that problem and then steal that worlds magic." Gorgar with an evil grin across his face. He then used an ancient scroll to open a portal to another dimension orderding his army to go travel it and wait for him their. While Gorgar stayed behind to watched the rest of Canterlot Castle burst into blazes until nothing remained of the castle.   Captain Vladimir was enjoying a nice cold beverage with his friends, Captain Shining Armour of the Crystal Empire and Broad Sword the now-retired Captain of the Solar Guard as they were chatting amongst themselves about the good old days. "So, Vladimir are you ready to settle down with a nice mare or stallion yet?" Shining Armour said nudging the Thestral gently with his elbow in order to attract his attention. "I'm content with being Captain of the Lunar Guard, I also have my friends and brother/sisters in arms to contend with, But if I do meet a nice mare that I like and have feelings for one day then I'll settle down." Vladimir said truthfully. "Vladimir, you're not such a young stallion anymore,you think any mare's will go for an old colt like you?" Broad Sword said teasing his thestral friend with a grin on his face. "I believe that Love has no age, no limit; and no death." Vladimir said, finishing up his last drink before bidding them farewell. As they all departed from the bar to get ready for Grogar as he had declared war on Equestrian and Vladimir will do everything in his power to stop him with the help of his friends.                      "So let me ask you a question about this great plan of yours, when you've killed all the good guys and when you have finally taken over this world and have it exactly the way you wanted it, what are you going to do with the creatures like you The Destroyers, how are you going to stop them with your glorious power from the next one." Dawn says distracting Grogar enough for Pinky Pie to swap the bewitching bell with the fake one that Queen Twilight had. "I will Win!" Grogar proclaimed proudly to Dawn thinking himself to be unbeatable. "Oh will you, maybe you might win but nobody wins for long, the wheel just keeps on spinning so come on break the cycle." Dawn continued on like Grogar hadn't spoken. "Why are you still talking?" Grogar said sounding bored listening to the unicorn who was meant to die today. "Because I'm trying to get you to understand and I can see it happening your almost their!" Dawn says explaining to Grogar. "You know what I see Dawn, a bell with everything I need." Grogar says as he reaches for the bewitching bell. "It's a 50% chance for us to destroy him!" Queen Twilight Sparkle also agrees and reaches for the other bewitching bell. Dawn then looks at the two of them on the  opposite side of the battlefield before speaking up again. "And we're off, fingers on buzzers folks, are you feeling lucky are you ready to play the game, who's going to be the quickest and who's going to be the luckiest?" Dawn says acting like a announcer. "THIS IS NOT A GAME!?" Queen Twilight Sparkle yelled seriously at Dawn. "No, it's not a game, Queenie and I mean that most sincerely!" Dawn replies back to Twilight. "Why are you doing this?" Grogar asked Dawn looking puzzled by Dawn's actions. "Yes, I'd quite like to know that too, you set this whole thing up but why?" Twilight says as she looked towards her sister wondering the same thing. "Because it's not a GAME Twilight!" Dawn says yelling back sounding very Irritated. "This is a scale model of war, every war that's ever been fought right here in front of you, because It's always the same when you swing that sword no matter how right you feel you have no idea who's going to Die!" Dawn shouted at both them as her eyes burned as tears started to form. "You don't know how many fillys are going to scream and burn, how many hearts will be broken, how many lives shattered how much blood will spill until Everypony does what their always meant to do is sit down and Talk." "Listen to me...I just want you to think, do you know what thinking is it's just a fancy word for changing your mind." Dawn begs Gorgar to try and stop this war. "I will not change my mind!" Gorgar says firmly acknowledge that he won't stop this war. "Then you'll die stupid, alternatively you can step away from that bell and you can walk right out of this battlefield and stare your army down." "I thought you'd say that Gorgar which is why I asked Dawn to distract you and then I got Pinky pie to swap the real bewitching bell for the fake one that your currently holding in your hooves." Twilight Sparkel said with a grin. "Queen Twilight, if I can't have this worlds magic and destroy it, then I'll take somepony precious to you!" Grogar says throwing the fake bewitching bell on the battlefield in a fit if animosity. "Wait just an apple picking minute, your whole plan was for us to listen to Dawn's emotional speech when we could of all just listen to her sing!"  Applejack says sounding a bit critical. "Trust me A-J, when I telling you this, but NO PONY wants to hear Dawn start to sing and that speech was perfect. Spike said to AppleJack honestly. "Well we can't all have musical singing voices in the family that talent had to go to my big sister Twilight Sparkel." Dawn said butting to their conversation. "I'm sorry Dawn." Apple Jack quickly apologizes to her. "No, problem Apple Jack now let's focus on the battle against Twilight and Gorgar will do next." Dawn says to Apple Jack. Gorgar then ordered Carapace to attack  Twilight's life as the Changeling's horn glowed with magic but Dawn glimpses that her Sister was in danger and directly leaps in front of her taking the blow and is now bleeding heavily from the attack and falls to the ground as Twilight Sparkel catches her in time. "Oh no, are you okay!?" Twilight says looking shocked for a moment at what she'd just witnessed in front of her very eyes. "NO!" Princess Luna exclaims flying towards Dawn's side as Captain Vladimir stood their motionless knowing the state of Princess Dawn's injuries and being unable to anything to help her. "How could I of missed?" Carapace said in confusion as he just attacked the wrong mare. "I never thought that I would die in my big sister's hooves, it's actually quite comforting." Dawn says with a sad smile as she started coughing up blood from her mouth. "We could use healing magic right?" Spike said offring a helpful solution.  "Good idea Spike, my sister and I could combined our healing magic to help her." Princess Luna says as Princess Celestia then approach her sister as they started using a powerful healing spell with their horns to heal Dawn's wounds. "I'm not the sister you know, I'm from a different universe a whole other world theirs no reason for you too cry?" Dawn said reaching her hoove out towards the Changeling Queen to wipe away her tears. "The Twilight who lives in this world get's too keep on living with her friends and family, so you don't need to be sad." Dawn says her face turning pale. "But we are SAD, we don't care what world you come from no matter what anypony says your still our Dawn, your my sister and we love you, we don't ever want too lose you, so of course we're sad how could we not be!?" Twilight Sparkel says with a sob of despair and she hugged her close to her." "You...need to...protect the future!" Dawn says to Twilight as she soon becomes unconscious from the loss of blood. "Her life is Irrelevant, every choice you think you have, has been decided by fate!" Grogar shouts as his horns glow up with magic as he intends for his attack to kill Dawn probely this time. "Then, I'm going to turn fate into a pile of ashes!!!" Twilight shouts casting a counter spell to negate Grogar's upcoming attack on Dawn with her own magic. When Dawn's injuries had magically been been sealed as the wound around the skin around was the only evidence that Dawn had been injured that she had a tiny scar across her chest. "Let's get Dawn away from the psycho murderer trying to kill her!' Spike says picking her up her in his claws and putting enough distance from Grogar. "Yeah, good idea Spike!" Twilight agrees with the Dragon not wanting Dawn to die like her Mother had with Queen Crudelis. "Not so fast Dragon, Dawn still has to die I'm happy to let you both perish together at my hooves!" Carapace says drawing his sword as he directed his blade towards them for a deadly assault. "You can Fucking try but I won't let you Carapace!" Captain Vladimir Vespertillo says coming to Dawn and Spike's rescue by blocking Carapace's sword with his own. "I'm going to enjoy killing you Captain, then I can finally avenge my ancestors who were slaughtered by the Vespertillio bloodline!" Carapace said as he continued to swing his sword directly at Captain Vladimir Vespertillo with a murderous gleam in his gaze. "Carapace, your resentment for my household name is delusional that you'd  pursue to kill me, just too get revenge for a thousand years old war?!" Captain Vladimir exclaims to the Changeling as he continues to strike at Carapace with his own blade. "Don't you dear utter my name on those murdering fangs of yours Vespertillo!" Carapace shouted with such hostility towards Captain Vladimir Vespertillo that you could feel it coming off him in waves of hatered. "Your all the same you screaming foals, you know that!" Dawn announces interrupting Carapace who was about to attack the Thesral Captain again. "Look at me I'm unforgivable, well here is the unforseeable part, I Forgive you after all you've done... I forgive you!" Dawn says interurping the fight between Carapace and Captain Vladimir. "You don't understand,YOU'LL will never understand!?" Carapace shouts as he knocks Captain Vladimir's sword out off his hoove. "I don't understand are your kidding me, you call this a war this funny little thing, THIS IS NOT A WAR I'VE FOUGHT IN A MUCH BIGGER WAR THEN YOU COULD EVER KNOW, I've done worse things then you or anypony could ever impossibly imagine and when I go to sleep at night I hear more screams then anypony could ever be able to count, and you know what I do with all this pain should I tell you where I put it, I hold it tight until it burns my hooves and I say this nopony else will ever have to live like this nopony else will ever have to feel this pain not on my watch!"  Dawn says to Carapace as she was breathing very heavily and the Changeling then decided to drop his sword and surrender. "Dawn you shouldn't be moving around so much, you've only just been healed from your serious injuries." Spike says hurrying to her side panicking "Spike is right what you just did was stupid, stopping our fight like that when you were nearly killed almost a few minutes ago!" Captain Vladimir said as he picked her up in his hooves with great tenderness not caring if anypony was watching them. "Vladdy... you can let me go now, I'm fine." Dawn says as she found the affectionate Thestral Captain to be most surprising as they were in the middle of a war. Luckily for Dawn Captain Vladimir quickly came to his senses and placed Dawn gently back down on the ground then he ordered his comrades to surround Carapace who had looked up towards Dawn like he knew her which was unlikely considering the only Changeling friend she had know other apart from her adopted parents were dead. (A few days later) Dawn had rested for a few days under the royal request of Princess Luna much to her dismay. Had decided to just get up from her bed when a Scroll magically appeared in front of her and she opened up to read a letter of some sort which was addressed to her. Hi Dawn? Yes, is this Vladimir? Vladdy. And yeah. Vlad. Who called themselves Vlad? Hi. Hey, we doing this? “This” being going on a blind date because our mutual relationship with my Aunty Princess Luna (who’d set us up,where I'm Staying with Twilight's friends at the Castle and that her nephew is Prince Shining armour) she tried to let it go even though Dawn got the impression both of us consistently, and for some time, tried to put her off. For her part, Dawn knew just that. And his “we doing this?” solidified the impression he did too. "Sure." What more could I write back to him? She was Princess of the night, Shining amour’s aunty’s former mare in the moon, and Vladimir was a commando. You around Tuesday? Yeah I'am. How about 6:00? Liks. In The Gilded Horseshoe. I do of know it. See you later then. Great. Yes. See you there. Are we still going to the restaurant? “Yes,” I said out loud to my scroll. “We’re still on. But I actually do not want to have dinner with you, alpha male, probably toxic male. , but Princess Luna warned me you had ‘issues’ and needed somepony to settle you down, and apparently, she thinks I’m that unicorn.” I stopped writing to Vladdy, who Princess Luna told me was actually called Vladimir, who had't my written me back. And Dawn stared at the scroll thinking that the issues Princess Luna didn’t share with her, but the Royal Guards in the castle did, were that some mare had broken Vladimir’s heart, and like a definitely toxic dude, his strategy for curing it was sleeping with everything that moved. However, to be honest, although this appeared to be one more project I didn’t need, even if Princess hadn’t been entirely forthcoming, my sense was that mostly Princess Luna seemed like she wanted to fix us up because she liked us both a lot, thought we’d be good together, look out for each other, and in the end, be happy. I could not imagine what she was thinking. A commando was so not my style. A Thestralwhore? Totally not. Did you put on your jewelry?” "Yes.” There was a pause then, “Did good, babe. As gorgeous as you are, you don’t need much.” My hooves stilled. Dawn wanted to be offended he’d called her “babe” and thought she needed his approval of her accessorizing. All Dawn could hear was the word “gorgeous.” And this was the charm she needed to guard against. The problem with that was it felt too nice aimed her way. Dawn didn’t know what to do, or say, so I looked down to her bag, fumbled her lip gloss, it fell off the counter, Dawn bent to retrieve it… And then, typical, within minutes of meeting him, I gave him a massive dose of the real Dawnlight Sparkle. This being, I slammed my forehead into the edge of the counter. And that hurt. A lot. “Oh, My Luna. Dee-dee,” Vlad called. But I did not reply because I was in the midst of overcompensating the recovery. Staggering back, I slammed into the counter behind me, the edge of it digging painfully into the small of my back, and between the crack on my head making me dizzy and the sting in my back, I went down, flat on my flank. Fabulous. Vlad was there in what seemed like half a second, crouching beside me,his hoovd coming toward me. Dawn started to rear away from it, and he murmured, “Whoa,” and again moved fast so Dawn banged the back of her head into his hoove, which cracked against the cupboard. Dawn felt totally mortified. “Just…don’t move,” he ordered, taking control of my chin and lifting it slowly. She forced her eyes to his face to see him examining my forehead but that close, Dawn could see how whtie his fangs were. Not good.Because they were awesome. “Smacked yourself a good one,” he murmured. Man. This was just…Humiliating.“I think you need ice,” he went on. “I—” I stopped speaking because he moved fast again, doing this to pick me up. In an effort to do that, I peered out from under the towel and started, “Vlad—” “Vladdy.” “Sorry.” “What?” “What?” Dawn parroted, because he wasn’t close, but he was not far, and Dawn could see how white his fangs were again. “You said my name.” “I did?” His eyes narrowed and he stopped bending over me, holding the ice to my head, and bent into me, pulling the ice away and staring into my eyes. “What day is it?” he asked. “Tuesday.” “Who set us up?” “Princess Luna.” He held three hooves up to my face. “How many wings do I have?” “Two, Vladdy, stop it. I’m okay. I just…” Dawn didn’t finish. “What?” he asked. “Just…” Dawn again didn’t finish. "What, Dawn?” God, really, was he actually that handsome? And right there, hovering over me, looking concerned, which made him even more handsome? “Dee-dee?” he called. His gaze changed, it was an amazing change I felt in amazing places, it shifted to my mouth, and I felt that too, it was also amazing, and last, he murmured, “Baby.” “I’m not your baby,” I breathed. His gaze shifted back to my eyes, and he rumbled, all sexy, hot and sweet, “Oh yeah, you are.” My hooves curled. “De-de—” “Vladdy.” “Vladdy, I— Then a scroll appeared and Vladimir opened it to read it, he's eyes narrowed into slits then shouted in an angry tone, " What the Fuck!" "Who are you planning on meeting at 11:30 at night Dee-dee in the Fucking Everfree forest!?" "Hmmm.... Just somepony you don't know." Dawn said suddenly and could see the twitch in Vladimir's right eye before he grabbed her in his hooves as he pulled back he's lips in a snarl revealing his sharp fangs. "Don't you dear think about lying to me, Dawn!" He was angered by her terse excuse.