//------------------------------// // Chapter 9 // Story: King: The Beginning // by DanishDash //------------------------------// "You don't have to go, my love.." "I do.. If they discover i'm the father then.. It would not do you or the foal any good.. I'm as common as common can get.. What kind of dad would I be anyway? I'm nothing Celly, our foal won't be able to look up to me or anything.." "That's not true ------ , you be a fantastic father.." "They will use this against us, Celly. They will use this to undermine you, to hurt you, to hurt our foal.. No, it's better if I just do what I was always meant to do.. We both know it has to be this way.." "......" "I love you, Celly.." "I love you too, ------. More than I can ever express with words... Our foal will too, I know it.." ~~***~~ The voices from the past did very little to calm her nerves, Celestia felt like she stood alone during this storm that was Tirek. Thankfully she was soon reminded that she in fact was not alone, standing beside her was her long lost sister, somepony who would be there for her from now om, stand with her during the worst of times. Her niece who had always been so supportive and kind. Not to mention Twilight, her faithful student that would always do what she could to help her mentor in whatever crisis the kingdom faced. Not only that, but her friends stood with her, eager to help out Twilight and their princess. No, she was not alone, she had her son, her sister, her niece and her friends, she was not alone, not anymore. "Sister." Luna said as they stepped out onto the balcony. "The battle has begun." Both of the sisters stood in their armor, knowing they would be better in combat than Cadence, who would focus on healing the wounded. Even when it came to Twilight and her friends, it was better to let Celestia and Luna handle the combat itself. They could hear the booms, see the flashes and feel the magic energy rising. This was the second time Canterlot faced an attack such as this, this time however they had managed to prepare, and this time, they would get the chance to defend their home! ~~***~~ "GET BACK!" A powerful blast of magic shut through the gates, sending the heavy wooden doors flying into the air, the guards barely managing to take cover and get out of the way. "Go to the rally point, move, move, move!" Shining Armor commanded. The golden armored guards started to run down the stone stairs from the battlements and down the small streets. "WhoARGH!" One of the guards was caught in Tirek's magic, forcing her towards the centaur. "Leaf!" Shining turned around, but the unicorn waved at him, trying to resist and fight the strong pull. "Go! Leave me!" Before Shining Armor even had a chance to either do as she asked or refuse, his friend got pulled into the smoke, vanishing from sight. He could hear the disgusting sound of what was no doubt Tirek draining his friend's magic. He glared, but did what Leaf had told him to do, leave her. He ran down the street, most of the other guards had already made it behind the first barricade. Shining jumped and the other guards used their magic to carry him to the other side. "Get ready! Spears!" Shining commanded and his troops readied the spears, pointing them towards the street on the other side, towards where Tirek would no doubt be coming from. They could not use their magic on Tirek, but they could use it on objects, such as throwing spears. Shining looked several feet behind the defensive line they had formed, he smirked slightly as their new weapons had arrived, the ballista. They were like big crossbows that fired massive spears or balls of iron or even stone, they were strong, and if something was gonna put a dent in Tirek, it was these babies. "Load ballistas, fire on my command!" They had planted several around the city, hoping to lure Tirek down the streets they wanted, that way they could tire him out and let the princesses crush him. Though the idea meant that he could not loose many of his soldiers, or he would just regain power and continue his attacks. They could hear him, calmly moving his way towards them. "Haha! You ponies really think you can stop me?! Hah! But at least you are making this just a little interesting!" A recruit gulped, taking a small step back, but he felt a hoof touch his shoulder. He looked behind him, only to see Shining standing there, shaking his head. "We make it through this, keep formation." "Y-yes sir.." The recruit replied and got back to his station. ~~***~~ They moved with great haste through the old tunnels, the only light provided was the few torches that was lining the walls. Swift Strike and his squad felt the tremors, heard the faint sounds of explosions that caused the dust to fall from the ceiling. As much as he wanted to join the defenders up top, he had a single mission, to protect the prince, for now, that was the only thing he could do. "Sir, do you think they'll win?" The mare guard, who was carrying Spero, asked. "Don't think about that, soldier. Just focus on your job." Swift Strike simply replied, he needed to keep them focused on the task at hoof, not speculate on what was happening up in the city. Going around the corner the hallway opened up into a massive cave, the tunnel they used had been one of many scattered throughout the city, allowing all the citizens to move down here with relative ease. The cave was nicely lit, ponies huddled around in groups here and there, trying to comfort one another as they did their best not to focus on the tremors of the stones or the sounds. Swift always admired this about ponies, their ability to care about one another, to stick together and try to stay strong, even in the darkest of times. The result of them huddling up meant they were more relaxed, well, as much as they could be. Swift Strike and his squad made their way to a small area that was well protected by more guards from this new regiment. The mare laid the little prince into a makeshift crib, mostly made up of blankets and pillows, not the most luxurious, but it would have to do. Spero looked around, confused, not understanding what was going on. His big golden eyes moved around to each adult pony, trying his best to figure out what was happening, that, or he was trying to find a familiar face, like his mother's. The female guard took off her helmet and laid down close to him, hoping a friendly face would help relax the confused prince. "It's okay, no one is going to hurt you down here." She gave a reassuring smile, not sure if he would understand her, but hopefully a smile would relax him, even if her words might not be the truth. ~~***~~ "Move!" It was too late, the beam of magic made the wall near a group of soldiers explode, making the three ponies fly a few meters, screaming in shock. They laid there, one screaming in pain as he felt the small sharp rocks that had splintered from the wall cutting into him. He bled, he was in pain, but thankfully he was not going to die, at least not with the proper care. Another had passed out, laying there motionless, some of his fur had been burned, but his armor had protected him from the worst of the explosion. The last one tried to not go into shock, her wing was broken and she tried to keep it together, but the pain was great, and so she simply let out a few whimpers. "Get them out of here!" Shining ordered, looking to a squad that immediately ran to their comrades. He glared forward again, sweat running down his forehead as he tried to keep his troops moving and out of range, but with the chaos growing it was getting hard to keep track of everything around him. "Sir! We need to evacuate, we can't hold him back!" Corporal Beacon yelled to Shining over the noise, his expression was one of desperation. Shining sent him a stern look that made him stand to attention right then and there. "We move when I say so, Corporal. We have a job to do, don't you forget that! Now move!" He looked to a sergeant. "Give the signal, we are moving to the square!" "Sir!" ~~***~~ Twilight looked over the city, it was burning, being destroyed by a single being. She worried for her brother, not knowing how he was doing made her fear the worst, but she needed to keep calm, nothing good came from rushing into something without thinking. That however didn't seem to concern Rainbow Dash. She looked up at Celestia, she was not glaring at her, but her expression was filled with anger. "Should we not go? They are getting beaten out there, we need to do something!" "Not yet." Celestia simply replied, never taking her eyes of the battle that was happening down there. "We have to wait for the signal, otherwise we may miss our perhaps only chance to defeat him." "But that's... They are getting their flanks kicked out there, princess. We can't leave them like this!" Rainbow exclaimed, wanting to go down there and show that Tirek what a good ass kicking would feel like. "Rainbow Dash!" Twilight turned and gave her friend a harsh look. "We all feel like you do, but we have a plan and we need to stick to it! Don't you think I don't want to go down there? My brother is down there, fighting to give us a chance! So.. Please.. Just stop.." Her voice trailed off, looking down at her hoofs. Rainbow frowned. "Twilight I.. I'm sorry.." She didn't mean to worry her friend, but she hated standing up here doing nothing while others were in danger. Though she didn't imagine it was any easier for her, or for Cadence.. There was silence, at least from them. The sounds of the battle could still be heard coming from the distance, which did little to help the mood they were in. Suddenly a blue orb of magic shot up into the air. "The signal!" Luna said, letting out some of the air she had been holding in. Celestia nodded. "It's time then, let us make haste!" ~~***~~ "Hahaha! You gave it your best efforts, but you are simply outmatched!" Tirek said as he walked into the city square. The guards had spread out, trying their best to keep standing, holding their weapons as high as their tired bodies would allow. Shining armor stood in the middle of the plaza, panting, feeling the sweat moving down his body as he tried to fight every urge he had to lay down. They had done it, Tirek might not want to admit it, but he could tell he was tired as well, he had cuts here and there, small wounds and marks. Hopefully it would be enough to let the princesses and his sister to finish him off. "I must admit, I didn't expect you to put up this much of a fight, then again, I suppose I would have been disappointed if you at least didn't try, no matter how useless it might be." He chuckled and kept walking towards Shining. He passed a lamp post, picking it up and out of the ground with ease, ready to use it as a bat on the unicorn pony. "Though, i'm afraid our games end here captain. When I am done with you and all of your fellow guards, then I will go and find Celestia and Luna, take all of their magic, then move on to your little love doll." "..!" Shining Armor's eyes widened, then he glared at the massive centaur. He knew his plan, he knew what he would do if they lost today, but hearing him say it, hearing him threaten his beloved, it lit a fire within him. Forgetting all sense, he picked up a sword with his magic and charged the centaur, yelling out a war cry, his eyes burning with fury! "Oho?!" Tirek grinned, lifting up his makeshift bat in the air, ready to strike the foolish pony. As soon as Shining came close enough, he swung the lamppost, only to be blocked with Shining's shield magic. The pony jumped, using his magic to swing the blade towards Tirek's chest. "Aurgh! You little!" The small cut across his chest was a small and pricey victory, because as soon as the swing had been done, Tirek simply grabbed the pony as he was moving toward the street. "Ergh!" Tirek lifted Shining up to face him. "Brave, but useless.." He said grimly. "That's enough Tirek!" "Hm?" Tirek looked up and then smiled with a sick sort of sadistic smile. "Oh ho! Princess Celestia, princess Luna, and, yes, if it isn't the newest addition, princess Cadence!" Then he noticed six ponies running down a street and moved up next to the princesses. "Uhm? And you are?" "Let go of my brother!" Twilight yelled without thinking, her eyes fixed on the monster that held him, her eyes glaring with the same fire Shining had. "Your brother eh? Tirek smirked and looked at the unicorn and then back at Shining. "Well, Guess this will be more fun for me then." And with that, he opened his mouth and drained Shining's magic. "Shining!" "Shining!" Both Cadence and Twilight screamed, but it was to late, all of his magic was drained from the brave captain's body. Tirek smiled sadistically. "Delicious." He said and nonchalantly tossed Shining towards the group. Both Cadence and Twilight used their magic to levitate Shining before he hit the ground. Luna glared at Tirek, taking a step forward along with her sister. "Thou shalt not hurt anypony else this day!" She declared and lifted her own spear, getting herself into a combat stance. Tirek simply grinned, feeling Shining's magic make him stronger and even heal some of his wounds. "We'll see about that princess Luna. Come on, it has been such a long time since I've had a real challenge!" ~~***~~ The ponies in the caves huddled closer together, some whimpered, some cried, others comforted those who needed it. The sounds had grown louder, the tremors of the stone more violent, even to the point some feared the cave would collapse. Swift Strike did not let himself be ruled by fear, he needed to remain calm. The female guard who laid beside Spero giggled and Swift turned to see what was happening. The little prince had started to play with the blankets and pillows, rolling around in them as he wrestled with the pillows. Swift was impressed the tremors of the ground or the sounds of explosions didn't bother him. "He's a brave one." The mare, known as Hazel said and smirked up at her captain. "He'd make a fine guard." "He is our commander." Swift just replied. "Well, he will be once he comes of age." "I was just joking sir." Hazel chuckled, figuring they could use the distraction. "Ohhhh, I love jokes my dear~." A voice said from nowhere, it simply echoed in the entire room. Swift Strike narrowed his eyes. "Discord.. Formation! Protect the prince!" The earth ponies surrounding the prince made their shields bigger, all making a defensive wall around the prince and Hazel. She in the meantime put her helmet back on and quickly pulled the prince close with her wing. "Now now, that isn't very fun~." Discord said playfully and poofed into existence only a few meters away from Swift Strike himself. "Sorry about this, but I have been looking for you for some time now. I must say it was clever to mask your magic right under the biggest magical battle since.. Well, I don't know." He said with a shrug. "Traitor!" Swift strike growled, moving his wings out, ready to strike his enemy with the hidden blades within his feathers. "Now now captain. My apologies, but I don't have the time to play, I've come for the little one." He flicked his claw and suddenly all the guards protecting the prince floated up into the air, including Swift Strike and Hazel, leaving Spero confused and alone in his nest of blankets. Swift Strike struggled as he yelled. "You bastard! Don't touch him! Guards!" The other guards sprang into action, but soon enough they were either suspended in the air or rope coiled around them from out of nowhere. "There there." Discord smirked and got closer to the little prince. To Swift Strike's small delight, he saw the prince stand firm and glare at the much taller creature. Even though he did not understand what was going on, he still understood enough to know Discord was a bad guy, even taking it so far to growl at the draconequus. "Feisty little guy, isn't he?" Discord smirked. "Ohhh, that glare, just like his mother." He flicked his claws once again and suddenly Spero found himself within a large bird cage. Discord chuckled and picked up the bird cage like it was nothing. "Well it has been pleasant, I'm afraid I need to dash and.." He stopped in his tracks as he came face to face with the entire population of Canterlot. All glaring at him, all looking at him like he was the worst kind of monster. "Uhm.." It was not often the lord of chaos was left speechless, but that sight kind of caught him off guard. "Stop him!" "Save the prince!" "For Equestria!" They all yelled and charged towards Discord with a fury the draconequus had never seen from ponies before. However, before they got to close he simply flicked his claws once again and with a poof! He was gone. All the ponies in the air suddenly dropped like rocks, but were quickly helped to their hooves by the civilians. "Pepperfeathers!" Swift Strike yelled out. "Buck!" He was beyond angry and he needed to do something, right now! Taking a moment to calm himself, he quickly went over his options. Then again, there was only one.. He turned towards one of the tunnels. "Sir?" Hazel said with a worried expression. Swift Strike stopped, but only to turn towards all of the ponies looking at him. "I'm going up there to save our prince." He could see the shocked expression on the many ponies faces, but he didn't care. "I'm a captain of his majesty's life regiment, I will perform my duty and fight for his royal highness until my dying breath." There was a pause, but he could see some of the guards stood a bit taller now. "I'm tired of going to the sidelines, we're soldiers! It is time to redeem ourselves, changeling invasion, Discord, and now Tirek, fuck them all! It's time we showed them what a royal guard can do!" ~~***~~ "Ahrgh!" "Luna!" Celestia watched as her beloved sister was hit with an entire stone arch and sent flying across the plaza. Celestia could however not aid her, she needed to keep her distance to Tirek and make sure she used her magic only on her swords. "Never you mind sister!" Luna called and stood up, ignoring the small pieces of glass and stone that had cut into her, thankfully just minor scratches. Celestia soon landed beside her, trying to think of a way they could cut him down. "We need to keep moving, his magic has grown stronger than we imagined.." Luna said, panting slightly. "I know, we must end this now.. Give him everything we got, that way he cannot consume it all safely.." Celestia said, panting as well as they had not been in such intense combat for centuries. "You're getting soft dear sister.." Luna smirked a little. "Must be all the cakes.." Celestia couldn't help but to smirk too. "Well, I see this situation has not lessen your ability to tease. Must mean you're holding back, or you were never that good of a fighter." "Pah! Parish the thought sister, let us show off our power then, let us put this monster in his place." "Agreed." The mane six could do nothing, but to keep the wounded safe along with princess Cadence. Rainbow Dash was just waiting for the excuse to go in there and join the fight, but so far it seemed Celestia and Luna had it under control, somewhat. Both of the royal sisters was just about to charge up and make their final attack, when suddenly a large sign appeared in front of them. On it was written in large red letters: STOP! With a poof of smoke, discord appeared beside Tirek, who was looking more beat up than Discord expected. n his paw he held the bird cage, but it had been covered with a red blanket. "Oh my, seems like you are having fun." "There you are Discord, where have you been?" Tirek asked, a little annoyed. "I was out fetching our ace." He smirked and gestured to the bird cage. Already Celestia felt a knot in her stomach, she hoped to her mother that this wasn't what she thought it was. "Discord..?" A small voice said, and Discord turned his head to see Fluttershy had walked closer to them, even ignoring Tirek. "Ah Fluttershy my dear, sorry i'm late to the party, but I'm afraid you are gonna have to find someone else to have tea with." Flicking his claw, she vanished and appeared in a cage, alongside all of her friends. Cadence glared from where she was, looking over her poor drained husband. "You're a traitor Discord! We trusted you!" "The only one Discord betrayed was himself!" Tirek smirked and turned to his ally. "So, what kind of ace have you brought us?" "Oh, simply the cutest thing!" Discord vanished and then reappeared in the middle of the plaza. "Ladies and.. Tirek! I give you, Spero!" He removed the blanket, revealing the prince standing in there, moving around, trying to get out of his cage. "The prince of the sun and son of Celestia!" Everypony gasped, nopony had thought even Discord would use an innocent foal in his twisted games. Tirek looked the most shocked. "Celestia, has a son!?" "Oh yes indeed." Discord said in delight. Celestia glared, rage building up to the point she swore she could unleash Daybreaker and destroy everyone who would harm her foal. She managed to remain calm as Luna stood a bit closer, reminding her it would come with a heavy price, one she should not consider lightly. Still, this was her son! "Don't do this, Discord!" Celestia called, no longer speaking as a princess, but as a mother. Her eyes pleading with him, but behind them was pure anger that he would resolve to this. "Well, Celestia, since you asked so nicely." He smirked. "Then surrender and your foal will be safe." Celestia looked to Spero, he was fighting with all of his might, but when he spotted her he quickly pressed himself against the small bars in an attempt to get to her. Her heart broke, she could not take this decision as a ruler, she was a mother, she needed to protect her foal, but would that mean surrendering the kingdom and thousands of ponies who depended on her? "What will it be, princess?" Discord smirked. "Your son? Or your kingdom?" "...I...I..." "Forget it, Discord." Tirek cut in, taking the cage from his grasp. "W-what?" Discord looked at him confused. "But we can win, here, now." "I will still win, Discord. They can't beat me, now that I have the prince I have the full set." He smirked and held up the cage closer to his face, looking at the little foal, who was for the first time cowering in fear. "You want to drain him? B-but, that would kill him." Discord said, looking uncomfortable and frankly, alarmed at the idea. "You think I care? You've grown soft Discord, you may not like to admit it, but your time with these ponies has made you soft and weak." Tirek used his magic to get a hold of Discord. "In fact, I cannot use weaklings like you as my allies." The ponies could only watch in horror as Discord, the lord of chaos was drained of all his chaos magic, leaving him useless and tossed aside on the ground. "But.." Discord said, as he tried to stand, but failed. "We.. We had a deal..." "Deals change, Discord, you should have seen this coming." He grinned as he felt himself grow larger and stronger. "Haha! Now where was I? Oh yeah!" He lifted the cage. "NO!" The three Alicorn princesses all rushed Tirek, all charging him with a speed only a caring and powerful family could achieve. It was useless however, Tirek simply used his magic to capture all three of them. "Ah ah, wait your turn." He looked at Celestia who was glaring at him, her eyes starting to tear up as she felt so useless, she could do nothing to save her son, she had failed! "Once I've finished off your son, I'll drain you, your sister and your niece. Then you shall be banished into tartarus and feel the pain I endured for all those years!" He growled with an evil smile. "Don't worry, I let you keep the body." He turned his attention back to the little foal in the cage, opening his mouth to start draining his magic when suddenly! SLASH! "Arugh!" Tirek felt a sharp pain running across his upper chest, his vision blurred by a dark grey Pegasus who sweep in and proceeded to use his wings to cut Tirek's chest and arm. Tirek concentration wads broken and so was the grip on the cage. Celestia managed to catch the cage before it hit the stone streets. All the royal sproceeded to fly several meters away. "Who the flying fuck has the balls to-RHARGH!" He felt the Pegasus make another pass, this time cutting his face and shoulder. Now he was getting pissed off, as the Pegasus landed, jumped back toward him and spread his wings, Tirek managed to strike him with a window that laid on the ground. Swift Strike screamed out in pain as he fell to the ground. He felt his face bleeding, but before he had a chance to move on, Tirek grabbed the pony and lifted him up by the neck. "Who do you think you are?!" Tirek demanded to know, ignoring the blood that leaked from Swift Strike. Tirek only got more angry as he saw the pony smirking at him. "I'm Swift Strike, captain of prince Spero's Royal Life Regiment.. We fight and we die in his name... So... Screw you.." Swift Strike spat at the centaur, the spit hitting him in the face. "You little shit!" Tirek threw Swift Strike to the street with such force everypony present could hear some bones crack and break. "I don't see any regiment, captain. I only see a suicidal pony, a bunch of weak princesses and useless guards!" Despite the pain, Swift Strike managed to grin and look up at the massive centaur. "That's because, i'm the distraction.." "What?!" It was at that moment Tirek noticed the whole plaza had been surrounded by guards. Up on the roofs, in the air, on the streets. All of them, Solar, Lunar and of course, Spero's life guards. "Ha! You think you can defeat me?! Look what I have done to your city! To Discord! To your princesses, you're bunch of weak and limited ponies, how can any of you think you can defeat, Lord Tirek!" "FIRE!" The command rang out, and several ponies moved, revealing the remaining ballistas, stationed around the roof tops. Several of them fired, moving the arrow like missiles towards him with such speed that he barely had time to react. He quickly snatched them all up with his magic, doing exactly what Swift Strike had predicted. "Charge!" All of the guards rushed Tirek all at ones. To an untrained eye, their attacks might seem random, but it had been carefully planned out. Spears was sent flying, swords were swung and wing blades rushed in. Tirek roared in anger, fighting off anypony he could, smacking some away, draining others, but the confusion only got increased as he started to loose focus. Swift Strike smirked as Hazel hurried over to him. "It's working!" She exclaimed. He nodded. "Then, finish it sergeant.." Hazel nodded and stood up straighter. "Second salvo, fire!" The ballistas fired once again, and this time Tirek only managed to stop two and by then, it was to late. His eyes widened as he felt missiles penetrate his body one by one. All the guards stepped back, letting the ballistas do the work. Tirek could only look down at his body in pure shock. In a pure daze of confusion, he tried to grab one of them, trying to pull it out, but the blood loss was already making him weaker. "Ergh. no.." Was the only words he could get out before his mouth filled with the warm iron taste of his own blood. He looked to the princesses who looked equally as shocked. Celestia had covered Spero's eyes. The mane six looked on with a mix of anger and shock. "C-curse you.." Those were the last words spoken before he fell to the ground, his body starting to light up in a blue glow. "Get back!" Hazel ordered. The guards barely had time to react before Tirek burst into a beam of energy, all the magic he had consumed leaving his body and returning to the ponies he had stolen it from. Shining was one of the first to get his magic back, and just like that he felt all his energy returning. His body was still tired, but he was feeling a lot better. "Shining!" Cadence cried and hugged her husband tightly. "Wha..? What happened?" He asked, confused, but hugged his beloved back. "We won, Shining. We won the day!" She cried, so happy that it was finally over. "We did..?" The guards opened the cage that held the mane six, all of them happy the nightmare was over. Celestia held her son close, relieved to see no harm had come to him. He in turn hugged her back, like he would never let go ever again, which at this point, she was fine with. Luna let them have their moment, getting up and walked over to spot where Tirek had once been. There was nothing left, some burn marks on the stone, some of his blood still remaining, but otherwise it was over, Tirek was dead. She smiled slightly. "Congratulations captain Swift Strike, it seems like you and your fellow guards has won the day." All the guards let out cheers, finally, it was like the failure of the changeling invasion and Discord, it was like everything had been washed clean, now, their honor had been restored! Luna turned to face him. "You have my personal thanks, you saved the kingdom and the royal fami-." She stopped seeing Hazel crying over the captain. "Captain!" She ran to him. He didn't move, and it looked like he didn't breath either. "GET THE HEALER, NOW!"