Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep.
"Urghhh..." Everything was dark, everything was a horrible mess of darkness and pain. His head felt like it was gonna split open and his body felt like it had been thrown down Canterlot mountain. Slowly he opened his eyes, the beeping sound forcing his mind to come out of his slumber.
"What the hay..?" He mumbled, his voice small and hoarse. A hospital room? No, it was the royal palace's infirmary. Oh yeah, Tirek. TIREK! He sat up in alarm, the heart monitor attached to his chest started to go off faster now. He was just about to jump out of bed when two yellow hooves pushed him back into bed.
"Swift! Swift Strike! It's okay, everything is fine, you're safe!"
Swift looked around, his vision still blurry, half his face covered with bandages. It took him a while before he realized it was Spitfire trying to hold him down. When he saw her worried expression, he nodded slightly and laid back down. "What.. What happened?"
Spitfire sighed as she put the covers back over him again. "You idiot, you have broken bones, you shouldn't be moving."
"Spitfire, what the buck happened?"
She looked at him, a small smile moving across her face. "You won, okay? Your plan worked, you and your regiment saved the princesses and yes, you saved the prince. He's safe."
Swift let out a sigh and laid back. "Good.." He took a moment to simply relax, enjoying the feeling of the honor they had brought upon the guard. Not only that, but his regiment had proven themselves and the entire royal army had been redeemed, once again they were shown to be loyal and brave soldiers, ready to do whatever they could to defend the kingdom.
Slowly he lifted his hoof to his bandaged part of his head, he felt weird, and judging by Spitfire's concerned expression, she had bad news. "Stop that."
"What?"
"Looking concerned, it doesn't suit you."
She snorted, chuckling a bit before she shook her head. "You're a jackass.."
Swift sighed, reaching out and took her hoof. "How bad is it..?" He figured he might as well get it over with.
"Well, you are gonna be fine, your bones will heal, you will earn a few scars, but most of your fur will cover it up." She said, holding his hoof a bit tighter.
"But?"
"But they.. They couldn't save your left eye.." She said with a frown. "I'm sorry.."
"Come on.." He smirked a little. "It's not your fault, besides, you looking all guilty and concerned, it's just not you, never was, so why start now?"
"You know if you weren't hurt already I'll punch you."
"You might as well, today i'm on all kinds of pain relieving spells." He chuckled. "So, how long have I been in here?"
"Only five days.." She said and leaned against the bed, resting her head on the mattress. Swift noted her mane was not maintained, she also had bags under her eyes, she had probably been here for some time.
"Five days huh? What did I miss?"
She let out sigh, typical Swift of asking something like that right after he woke up. "Well.. The city is back to normal, some places still need fixing, but they are getting there.. Everyone who had been drained are back to normal, the wounded are tended to and.. Well, Discord is on trial for treason today."
That last bit of news surprised him. "What? Discord? On trial? How did he agree to that?"
"Well, he offered himself, even made some special chains for us to use on him so he could not resist them.." Spitfire explained. "I was not there to see it, but that's what I heard. I also heard princess Celestia was beyond furious with him, about the whole, taking her foal hostage deal.. Can't say I blame her, I would have roasted him with the sun if I were her."
"So everything is as it should be.." Swift sighed, relaxed and happy with how it all turned out.
Spitfire however wasn't satisfied. "Except for the part where you nearly died, Swift. You were lucky, you actually stopped breathing and your heart stopped for several seconds before the medics got hold of you.. You got lucky."
Swift Strike looked at her, she was really sad. Her ears hung low, and she nuzzled a bit closer into his hoof on the bed. "Sorry.." He finally said. "Guess old habits die hard.."
"Yeah.. You still the idiot I dated years back, still self centered, arrogant and-."
"We have been through this, Spitfire." Swift smirked. "We can't stand one another for more than an hour, well unless we.." She placed a hoof over his muzzle.
"Shut up, just.. Just shut up, okay?" He didn't reply, he simply nodded slightly. Spitfire turned her head, as if making sure they were really alone. She looked back at him with a devilish smile. "Not a word, let me take care of you, hero."
"What are you-."
"Ah ah, shut your trap, let me just take care of you." She smirked, starting to moving down the bed, then suddenly up under his covers.
"Spitfire, you, oh!" He blushed heavily, but did not say anything else. Letting out a small moan, he did as she asked and let her take care of him. Since he was to injured to do anything else, he figured he might as well let her, not that he needed much convincing at this point.
~~***~~
Celestia was a compassionate princess, she always tried to look at the bigger picture and tried to be as fair as possible in all the decisions she did. This however was a case she found hard to be fair in, Discord, the lord of chaos, had foalnapped her son, held him hostage in order to make her surrender the kingdom and her magic to Tirek.
The only redeeming note about this was his unwillingness to kill her son, but he still put him in immense danger. Right after Tirek was defeated, Celestia had ordered the arrest of Discord, who, to her surprise, came willingly, and even conjured some chains that could hold even him and lock away his magic.
He seemed sorry, he seemed to really be regretful, but, he used her son, HER foal, that was not a crime easily forgiven, not one, SHE would easily forgive.
Today had been one long day of debates, the trial itself was not as long as one might expect. Discord had admitted to his crimes and told he accepted whatever punishment they deemed fit. It was an unusual move from Discord, not one she expected, but right now, she simply could not find it within herself to care about his apologies. He betrayed her trust in a way that cut deeper than anything, he had tried to use her son against her. If he had just followed, helped Tirek even, if he had just left Spero out of it, then maybe, maybe she could find it in herself to be more merciful, but she simply couldn't.
That was the reason she had left the judgement to her sister, not because she didn't want to punish Discord herself, but, she was to emotionally involved, and she admitted that. Right now she sat in her suite, looking out at the rising moon as it slowly took over the sky. She was tired, the last few days had been hectic, medals, visits to the hospitals, meetings, a LOT of meetings.
She had never minded it before, nor did she really now, it came with the job. Though, she right now just wanted to take a break and simply be there for Spero. Duty simply did not allow that, and that was the biggest drawback of being a princess. Thankfully her son could enjoy his childhood more, and if it meant she needed to attend more meetings for him to simply enjoy his foal years, then so be it.
"Tia?"
Celestia recognized the voice of her younger sister, but she didn't turn around. "Come on in. Lulu."
Luna gently shut the door to the suite behind her. Making her best efforts not to wake little Spero who was sleeping soundly in his mother's massive princess sized bed. She smiled down at her nephew. "You know, he is a heavy sleeper."
"That he is." Celestia agreed with a tired smile. "I suspect he get's that after his father." Luna knew better than to speak of that subject now, so she simply let it slide. Even though she now knew the identity of him, Celestia had revealed that information out of fear, not out of willingness. That was the reason she had not spoken about it, she wanted Celestia to talk about it when she was ready, truly ready.
"I know it has been a long day.." Luna said and trotted over to her sister.
"For us both.." Celestia reminded her. "You work better during the night, and you still have a lot to do.."
"It matters not, affairs of state is finally calming down, things will return to normal soon. I am sure of it." She reassured her older sibling. "Though, the question remain, what is to be done about Discord."
Celestia almost growled at the mention of him, but she needed to remain calm, after all, nothing had happened to Spero, and she could thank the loyal and brave captain Swift Strike for that. His quick thinking, bravery and leadership had rallied their troops and saved them all.
"I left that decision up to you, I fear the punishments I have in mind would be seen as too cruel, even for him." She sighed, not taking her gaze from the window.
Luna could not help but to giggle. "I am not sure my ideas would be seen as anything less than that as well.. Though, I have given it some thoughts, I was thinking imprisonment in tartarus for an amount of twenty five years. If his chains really are doing what he claims, then it should not be a problem sending him there."
Celestia turned and finally looked at her sister. "That sounds fair, tomorrow morning we can deliver the judgement and have him sent there. Please, sister, can you arrange it?"
"Of course dear sister." Luna moved up and nuzzled her. "Please, Tia, get some rest. You need it, and he needs you. Don't worry about me." She smiled warmly.
Celestia returned the smile and the nuzzle and let out an exhausted sigh. "Thank you Lulu, i'm glad to have you here with me.. Please, have a good night, and don't overexert yourself."
Luna smirked. "After my vacation on the moon? I think I can handle some extra work."
~~***~~
The dungeon of Canterlot castle was rarely ever used anymore, it was build when the palace was first constructed and now it was only ever used to house the few intruders the guard had to deal with now and again. For the last five days this dungeon had been the home of Discord, the lord of chaos.
He did not care, it was cold and dark, but he deserved it. He had betrayed his friends, and for what? Discord was not one who often felt guilty about anything, but seeing Fluttershy's expression, understanding that Tirek would have killed that foal if not for Swift Strike, thanks to him. Discord might be a trickster, but he had never killed or harmed any pony, and it shamed him a foal nearly got the pay the price for his stupidity.
This was the only way to repent for that, by surrendering himself fully to the mercy of Celestia, accepting whatever punishment she had in mind for him. He had even gone so far to make a set of magical chains that would lock away his magic, making him powerless to whatever they might decide for him. It was the only way he could somehow redeem himself, if only a little in Fluttershy's eyes, surely she would see he never intended for the foal to be hurt?
But all in all, he would accept whatever Celestia decided on. The trial itself had been rather short, mostly because Discord pleat guilty in every crime that the prosecutor had listed; aiding someone to steal magic from other ponies, kidnapping, resisting the commands of the royal guard, foalnapping of the royal prince and high treason against the crown.
Thankfully the only thing not listed was attempted murder, that was indeed not the case when he took Spero, never. The rest however, that was fair. He could do nothing but to sit and wait, without being able to use magic time seemed to go by even slower than before, kind of a humbling thing to suddenly be so powerless.
Then suddenly, he felt something, though it came not from within, but from the guards stationed down there with him. He did nothing, they did nothing, but he could sense powerful magic. Then he heard ponies fall to the ground, then faint snoring, a sleeping spell? Who was,
"Good evening, Discord." A male's voice said and Discord turned his head to face the bars of the cell, only to see a black cloaked pony standing there. His face covered in the shadows of the hood.
"And who might you be?" Discord asked, raising an eyebrow.
"My name is not important, just know that I am here to deal with you." He said flatly.
"Oh?" Discord stood up, getting a little interested in this little drama. Was he some would-be assassin? Somepony who would avenge the injured soldiers? Somepony taking matters into his own hooves? No, something else was going on. "And why is it you are here to deal with me? I am already awaiting my punishment from the princess of the sun herself?"
"We cannot take any risks.. You nearly got the prince killed, and that, is something we cannot allow to happen." The mysterious pony reached into his clock and held up a small crystal ball, no bigger than a tennis ball it seemed. "You nearly ruined everything, you are a an unknown factor we cannot predict or prevent, so we have decided to take you out of the equation while we have the chance."
Discord was not afraid, he simply raised his claw with an evil smirk and. Oh yeah, the chains.
The cloaked unicorn chuckled. "Do not worry, we do not plan to kill you, we may one day have use of you, until then." He held the little crystal ball out, and then with a big white flash Discord felt himself getting pulled towards it!
"Wait! Wait! No no no! FLUTTERSHY, I'M SOOORRY!"
With another blinding light, the lord of chaos was gone. The pony held up the ball, looking at it like if he could see Discord, but of course he couldn't, but he knew he could hear him. "I'm sure you are Discord, but this is for the best. Like this, you wont hurt her, or the prince, ever again. They will simply think you ran and soon enough, they will forget about you." He let out a small chuckle, he had just seen pure fear from the lord of chaos himself, that was kind of funny.
~~***~~
Morning came, the sun gently touching the face of Swift Strike, waking him up ever so calmly. He let out a small yawn, disappointed in being woken up. It was one of the few things he could actually enjoy while he was injured, sleeping in. After last evening and Spitfire's 'care', he would not mind sleeping in and simply enjoy her being near him, but unfortunately she had training today, so she had left during the night.
"I'm afraid it seems I've disturbed your peaceful rest, captain."
A soft and elegant voice said. His eye shot open and he quickly saw the princess of the sun herself standing at the foot of his bed, looking at him with a small smile.
"Princess Celestia, I." He tried to sit up, but Celestia held up a hoof.
"Please, don't. You deserve to rest, after all, you saved my son.." She said, her words filled with gratitude only a mother could give. "He was your charge, and you fulfilled your duty even at the risk of your own life. You also managed to restore the honor I imagine many of our guards think they have lost.." She let out a sigh. "The fault may be mine, not letting you all know how much you mean and how important you all are to the security of Equestria.. For that, I am sorry."
Swift shook his head, as fast as he could without giving himself a headache. "No, please princess, don't say that..."
"And yet it is already said, and I truly mean it." She said and smiled at him. "I cannot thank you enough, if you wished to retire with a nice pension, I would grant it, but from what my sister has told me, I do not think you would like to retire anytime soon."
Swift starred at her for a few seconds, then relaxed a little, smiling. "Your sister is right, I would like to continue in your service and protect the prince."
Celestia nodded. "I feel it would be a shame to rob the regiment of you, the guard is lucky to have you, and so is my son and me." She bowed her head, which caused his body to tense, the princess could not bow to him, and yet, she did. It was then he realized, this was not his princess, this was Celestia as a mother thanking him with all of her heart.
He felt a sense of pride rising, but what could he say? He said the only logical thing to say. "T-thank you, your majesty.."
"It is me who is thanking you, I must also express my deepest apology for your eye.. I understand from my doctors they were unable to save it.." A small frown crept across her face, she felt guilty, that much was clear.
"Your majesty, I knew the risk when I got into the guard, I also knew full well what might happen if I used myself to distract Tirek, with the prince safe, I'll say it was worth it, and I would do it again." Swift Strike reassured the princess.
She smiled a bit again. "Your words are noble and kind, and I will find a way to thank you for your actions and your continued service and loyalty." She assured him, before she could go on however the door opened and Shining Armor gave her a look that instantly told Swift something was wrong, very wrong. "Shining Armor? What is the matter?"
"Uhm, if you would, princess, this is urgent.." He said, not wanting to burden Swift with the news, though he seemed to have other plans.
"Shining, first of all you don't come to visit me when I finally wake up, so the least you can do is to share the news if there is a security risk." Swift growled, then stopped himself as he remembered the princess was in the room.
Celestia chuckled slightly, but then composed herself. "Shining, please, if it is a safety risk, please share it with us both."
Shining Armor nodded and walked into the room. "It's Discord.. He has vanished, and we don't know how it could have happened.."
Both Celestia's and Swift Strike's eyes widened.
"What?"
Celestia asked, her voice cold and on the edge of anger, not something that was directed at Shining, but at the traitor known as Discord.
~~***~~
It did not take long before Celestia herself stood in the dungeon with Shining Armor and a few guards. "What, happened?"
"We simply don't know, the guards heard nothing, we suspect some of them might have fallen asleep and that's when Discord vanished." Shining explained looking into the empty cell. "The chains must have been, well not what he claimed them to be.. Just a show perhaps.."
"But, for what purpose?" Celestia asked glaring into the empty cell.
"I couldn't tell you princess, perhaps he really did wish to reform, to receive what punishment you had in mind for him and simply, got cold hooves?" He suggested, not quite sounding convinced himself, but what else had they to explain this? The fact was that Discord was gone, and they most likely never see him again.
Celestia sighed, she knew it would be useless to send out patrols to find him, he was long gone, she was sure of it. "If he ever shows himself, I want him arrested on the spot."
Shining nodded. "Yes princess."
~~***~~
It seemed everything had gone wrong, right, then wrong. Discord was gone, proving once and for all to her that he was an untrustworthy fiend who only ever looked after himself. She cursed the day she ever decided to give him a second chance.
Letting out a sigh, she decided to let go of her anger. Tirek was defeated, her son was safe, the kingdom was secure. Discord may be gone, but still, she had all the ponies she loved close to her, that was the most importing thing to her.
She stopped by one of the large windows, looking up to see the depiction of herself and her little Spero above her, shining like as she held him above her with her wings. She smiled a little, the artist had made it seem like the second birth of Faust, though her mother would not have wanted such an image of herself.
Celestia let out a chuckle, but understood to many ponies, Spero was a hope that the future held great things. She smiled a little to herself, she thought that too, but right now, she just wished for him to be a foal and enjoy as much of life as he could.
Turning around, she proceeded towards the door, from the other side she could hear giggled and excited chatter. It was Twilight and her friends, all happy to watch over Spero while she took care of some of her duties. She gently opened the door, not wanting to distract them from whatever fun they were having.
Looking inside, she saw the girls all on the big carpet, laughing as Rainbow Dash, again, was trying to get Spero off her mane. "Seriously guys, it hurts, somepony get him off!"
Twilight was on her back, holding her stomach as she could not hold back her joyful laughter. It was the same for all the other girls, all laughing and smiling. Celestia giggled lightly, happy to see Spero might have already found some great friends and hopefully one day, teachers.
Spero's ears perked up and rotated towards the sound of his mother's giggle. He turned his head and grinned, letting go of Rainbow Dash's mane. Her heart almost exploded as the little colt jumped onto the floor and started to run towards her, his wings flapping happily as he did so.
Smiling, she opened the door fully and let him come to her. She laid down, both of them embracing one another. The girls could only look on with smiles, Even Rainbow Dash, who was still rubbing the spot where he had bitten. It was a beautiful sight, just a mother and her foal.
Celestia closed her eyes, enjoying having her son close. "My little sun, my little Spero, I love you.. Always.."