//------------------------------// // Lost Chapter 2 // Story: In the Royal Guard // by J8ck78 //------------------------------// “Princess Celestia, most of the palace staff has made it to the shelters, and what's left of our Guard have fortified them off, using whatever they can to hold back Discords influence.” reported Shining armor “What is taking them so long?” asked Celestia's She looked out over Canterlot toward Ponyville, seeing the sheer chaos erupting all the way to the epicenter of it all. “My sister knows what she is doing.” affirmed Shining Armor, “Have faith in her.” “I have faith, but discord is cunning. If he managed to disrupt their friendship, just imagine what he's done to them.” “They can overcome it.” said Armor “Let's hope.” said Shadow, looking out over the city, “Because I think that's the bank.” She pointed out to the building rising out of the ground upside down, a few ponies falling out of it. “Wow.” said Luna, “That's impressive.” Suddenly, the doors to the room opened and slammed shut. They looked back to see a shaken and beat up Sergeant David standing there, breathing heavily holding the door shut. “Yep. Run for my life. That's my move.” “Sergeant! We meet again.” spoke Celestia “So it seems.” said Luna “Huh?” asked David realizing where the door had opened to, “Oh you have to be kidding me!” The sound of heavy hoof stomps could be heard outside getting closer and closer as he charged down the door. David dove out of the way before the door burst open revealing the statue of Commander Storm, snorting ready to attack all before him. David stood up and got one look at the things read eyes before he swiped to the side and smashed through the wall. The Pony leaders looked in fear at the amazing sight. The false commander looked to them and smiled. He charged up his horn and aimed it at them, and fired. The Princesses and Commanders fired back and met his beam in the center. Tragically, Storms own natural prowess and strength in magic, mixed with with Discords own influence over him, even if it was a marble statue of the former Commander, overpowered them all, and they flew back and slammed into the wall. They looked on as the statue laughed at their defeat. Underneath it, one could hear Discords own voice laughing as well. “Impossible!” said Celestia “Oh I always planned to have this Alicorn to turn against you.” said the statue The two Princesses recognized the voice of Commander Storm, but along with it spoke Discord, the dracqouness in full control of this creation. “Just the Alicorn died taking on the Dragon Migration.” said Storm/Discord with distaste “He diverted it so it would never again harm Equestria again!” shouted Armor “Really?” asked Storm/Discord His horn charged up and Shining Armor was flung out the window and into the city. Storm/Discord almost rolled over laughing at the sight. With a flash of his horn, Armor was spared falling from such a height and landed next to everypony else. “Oh this is soo much fun!” he cackled with glee, “It's a surprise I never cam back sooner! Now for the rest of you!” The horn charged up again, Celestia and Luna looked on defiant while Shadow stood up before her leaders, ready to take the whole blast if needed. “Very noble of you Captain Shadow.” giggled Storm/Discord Right before it could unleash all of it's power, a loud crack took it off. The marble horn shattered on the floor a few feet away, and they looked to see David standing there before the hole he had been punched through. In his hooves rested a rifle, still smoking from where he fired it. His helmet was cracked and armor dented in from the blow he took from the statue, but he was still standing there. He cracked his neck and glared at the Discord controlled imposter. “You're going to pay for that!” sneered Storm/Discord David smirked and stood out of the hole he was standing before, revealing where he had been tossed into. Of every single room in the Palace, of the thousands of areas, he was tossed into a Armory. Eight cannon standing there, each one's rip cord connected to one larger one, and held by his wing. With a tug of his wing, each one fired at the creation. Storm/Discord looked at it with worry, holding up a sign that read “Ouch” before each one impacted him. The explosion could be felt throughout the city and the light seen for miles. As the blast subsided and the smoke cleared, all that was left of the the statue lay in shambles on the ground. “Sergeant!” said Armor in amazement “I want to retire.” groaned David “Negative!” praised Armor, “We need Ponies like you in the Guard!” “I can't anyway.” griped David as he sat down “Why Sergeant?” asked Celestia standing up “I'm sentenced to 70 years Royal Guard Service as per Judge Springfield's orders.” said David They all looked at him in the awkward silence that came over, while Shadow just facehoofed. David tossed his rifle back into the armory when there came a distinct rumbling from the pile of what was the statue of Commander Storm. They looked on in shock as the pieces began to rise up off the ground and reform in midair. Soon, they began to form together into a familiar shape, but some parts were missing. Soon, a horrific and disturbing parody of Commander Storm stood before them, its eyes red in anger. It was hardly able to be looked at before Discord started laughing, his voice under a demonic version of the old Commanders. “Such cute little toys will hardly stop me.” he chuckled before narrowing his vision on David, “Now prepare to get what's coming to you.” David gulped in fear. “Enough Discord!” demanded Celestia, “Stand down now and I will spare you!” “Spare me what?” asked Discord “The Elements!” answered Luna “Ooh! I think I hear them coming!” said Discord, “I'll leave you here with the Commander. Be careful, he's not as forgiving as I am!” “Copyright!” yelled David for no real reason Discords presence seemed to dissipate, leaving the furious imposter Commander standing there. He looked to the Princesses before he was headbutted by David and flew through the door. The horrific statue tumbled off down the hall as David adjusted his helmet. “Sergeant! Are you crazy!” yelled Armor, “That thing will kill you!” “Not if I kill it first!” said David “Sergeant! You know what thing is capable of!” said Celestia, “You can't beat it!” “No, no I can't!” said David His demeanor had changed, something was different about him. “What happened to you Sergeant?” asked Luna “I accepted I'm going to die.” He was about to give chase before Shadow stopped him. “David....good luck.” He nodded and gave a salute before taking off down the hall. The fighting between the two could be heard as they grappled with each other through the Palace. “If Twilight and her friends are making their way to Discord, they may have chance!” said Luna “Her letters I sent got to her! Discords time is numbered!” said Celestia, “Captains! Rally whatever Guards you can! We just have to hold out as long as we can!” “What about you?” “We are going into the city and seeing if we can reestablish control.” said Luna spreading her wings Celestia nodded before turning to the Captains, “Be careful Captains!” “Yes your Highness's.” said the Captains before running and flying off respectively “Shadow! I have an idea!” said Armor Shadow flew in close next to him to listen. “Where is the epicenter of Discords power?” “Ponyville?” “One would think that, but where did it all start?” “The Royal Gardens!” “Exactly! If we can put a spell there, we can stop Discords power long enough hopefully for my sister to defeat him!” “Right behind you Captain!” ---- “Lieutenant! We have three plants and five statues coming this way!” “Fire everything!” screamed Spirit in panic The Unicorns fired every magic energy bolt they had in them, but the plants own makeup seemed to soak up the majority of it before the statues trampled them and pressed the assault. Thinking of nothing else to do, Spirit ordered them to buck the stone out of the statues. The Unicorns turned around and were joined by three Earth Ponies and bucked them as hard as they could. Some of the statues flew back into the wall and shattered, but three hit the bubble gum windows and bounced back. The were about to dive in for the attack when they were blasted aside by magic. The shattered on the wall as the Guards turned to see their savior. “Corporal Lonely Flower reporting!” said the Lunar Unicorn Guard walking up “Nice timing Corporal.” said Spirit, “Anyone else with you?” “Just me.... well, there was this one Filly behind me...” He pointed to show a small Unicorn Filly bouncing down the halls, happy as could be, oblivious to the entire situation. Behind her, Discorded Plants and Statues tumbled over themselves to try and catch her, each time failing. “Celestia Above.” said Spirit, “She is defiantly taking after Shadow.” “Who?” asked Flower, “Captain Shadow?” “Never mind. Help us defend this bathroom!” Flower nodded and turned around to face whatever other horrors were coming at them. Instead, the wall from behind them exploded as David flew through and skidded across the ground. Before Flower could answer, a demented looking statue jumped through, but was met head on by David. With one kick, the statue was sent down the hall, but recovered by unfolding its wings and flew at David. It smashed into the ground, but not before David managed to get out of the way. They looked on amazed as Flower whispered to Spirit. “What was that?” “That was a Pony fighting a horrific parody of a statue of Commander Righteous Storm.” The statue turned to them, one could almost see it's breath as it looked at them ready to kill. It raised up and started to fly toward them. “Shoot that thing!” ordered Spirit The Unicorns opened fire, striking the thing a few times, knocking it off course. It careened through a door, followed quickly by David. “Should we help him?” asked a Guard “I think he has it under control.” said a voice from their left They looked to see both Captain Armor and Captain Shadow heading their way, stopping before them. Behind them ran up several more Guards ranging from Solar, Lunar, and Night Guards. “How many Guards to you have?” asked Shadow “Eleven.” said Spirit, “What for?” “We're taking back the gardens! Come with us!” “Yes, er, sir and Ma'am! Wait, how are we getting there? The doors aren't leading to where they should.” “Hmm..” pondered Armor He looked to a door and worked his magic on it, literally. He opened it, and before them revealed the Royal Gardens. He threw his hoof forwards and the Guards ran out and attacked. “I'll go get more!” Said Shadow, “I'm faster than you with my wings.” “Noted. I'll establish a, well...”he said looking down realizing he was standing on beach, “Beachhead?” Shadow shrugged and flew off into the Palace. Armor turned around and looked to see three bull statues charging him down. He smiled, and with one blast of magic took out all three. “This may actually be fun!” he said walking into the ensuing battle ---- Shadow flew through the Palace, looking at the chaos ensuing. Any unfortunate to be caught in it were drained of color and acting weird to say the least. Dancing, singing, acting like animals. She didn't hang around long for fear that she too may fall prey to it. Turning a corner, she was quite shocked to see who was standing there. “Princess Celestia? I thought you were-” “Celestia” turned around to reveal the soulless eyes of one of the many statues of the Princess that had been erected around the castle. Like the statue of Commander Storm, it was corrupted by Discord and was about to attack. Unlike her Sergeant however, Shadow had always thought out how she would defeat Celestia. After all, she was once a member of the New Lunar Republic. Landing and looking at the fake Celestia, she could hardly contain her glee at the thought of finally getting a chance to do this! Spreading her wings, she took off at high speeds towards the statue, barrel rolling as the imposter Princess fired bolts of magic at her before Shadow impacted right where the heart should be. Smashing through the statue, Shadow knew she would never have a chance like that again and landed to look at her handiwork. She smiled as the statue crumbled before getting tapped on the shoulder by a small hoof. Confused, she looked down to see none other than little Filly standing there. “Uh, Ma'am, why did you destwoy that statue of Celestwia?” “It was evil Filly.” she explained to her adoptive daughter “But you wooked like you were having fun doing it.” “Uh....” stammered Shadow “Are you a bad Pony?” asked little Filly Shadow looked around nervously and tried her best to smile trying to find a way to change the subject: “What are you doing out here anyway?” “Oh, Im pwaying with my fwiends!” She pointed behind her revealing a line of broken up statues and damaged plants that had been following her across the palace. One plant, a violet, crawled toward Filly, tired as a plant could be. It reached for the little Unicorn, only to be smashed by Shadow's hoof. “Awe, it doesn't want to play anymore.” said Shadow, hiding a smile “Now what to I do?” asked Filly Shadow looked to her little Filly, who's eyes were watering up out of sadness. “I know!” smiled Shadow ---- With one kick, David sent the statue through a wall, it taking all his strength and even some of his reserves to do so. His armor was cracked all over, he was bleeding all over, and what was left of his his helmet was hanging on his head after it had been shattered by a punch from the thing. A bead of sweat slid down his mane in front of his eye. He couldn't keep this up. The statue was taking all he could throw at it, and just kept coming back for more. Looking around, he knew this hallway, there was a armory nearby, and this one had cannons as well. As the statue stood up, shaking, David tossed a rock it's way. “Over here Commander.” he yelled As the phony pony commander started to take off after him, David ducked under him and flew off towards the armory. He reached it in record time, when a realization hit him: What if the door to the armory didn't exactly lead to the armory? It's been happening everywhere else in this messed up Palace, why not stop here? Gulping and taking his chances, he opened the door praying that it lead to where he wanted it to lead to. Opening it, he breathed a sigh of relief that it was, in fact, the armory. That soon went away, when the cannons turned to him with a angry look on their barrels. David's heart skipped a beat as he saw their rip cords tighten and they fired. “Sweet Discord!” he shouted, slamming the door Slamming the door shut and took cover, he expected to hear a explosion and feel the door erupting behind him, but nothing happened. He opened his eye to see the horrific looking Storm running at him, a lance tucked under his wing and charging him down. Caught between a rock and a hard place, David did the only thing he could do: Open the armory door. Cannonballs ripped through the air catching the Commander off guard as it screamed in horror. The explosion cracked the floor and knocked a chandelier out of the air onto it, ending it's reign of terror and fight against David, for good. Far away, he could hear a explosion of some kind.... no, it wasn't an explosion, it was something else, something far more greater! Outside in the gardens, Armor, Shadow, Spirit and, to a degree, Filly, the rest of their Guards were in the middle of a heated battle with the Discorded decorations when they heard it. Everything stopped as they looked to see the brilliant white light expanding over the horizon and approaching them at high speed. “They did it!” cheered Armor, “My sister did it!” The power of the Elements of Harmony washed over them, returning everything to normal, destroying whatever influence Discord had over the land once and for all. ******* Charger and Crescent looked on in amazement as their Sergeant finished his story and took back up his paper. “So, yeah. That's my end of it. Anything more you want to ask?” asked David “When did you get the medal?” asked Charger “Award ceremony afterwords. There was one for the Mane 6, one for the Guards, one for average Pony Citizens who helped defend their little towns across Equestria. Meh, it had good food.” “Well, everything turned out good in the end.” said Crescent, “Nice story Sarge.” “Most of it.” said David, “There is one thing I still don't like about it.” “What?” asked Charger “Shadow used my Daughter as a weapon!” shouted David “Oh don't even start with that again!” screamed Shadow from afar “What were you thinking!” David shouted back as Shadow flew up, “You give me enough grief over flying with her, and you use her as a weapon!” “You fly at mach 2! That's way too fast!” argued Shadow “Again: Weapon!” retorted David “I think we should get out of here.” Charger whispered to Crescent “Right behind you buddy.” whispered back Crescent “You two have anything you wish to say?” asked the two angrily in unison “Nope!” said Crescent alarmed “Nice story Sarge! We'll, uh, dismiss ourselves.” They saluted and left as the two commanders started arguing again. --------- Okay, this time I'm leaving this chapter open ended in case I want to come back to it again and wont feel guilty about it. Well, guilty for me anyway.................... stories over...... thanks for reading................ Adios!