//------------------------------// // Chapter 7 // Story: Fears of Bygone Eras // by Lusaminia //------------------------------// An excerpt from A history of Equestrian Military: Chapter 14.2 - Platinum’s Successor After severe backlash from the populace and drama among the tribes, Princess Platinum announced that she would soon step down from the throne. Though she announced a successor, none were told who they were. No correlation was held, the new princess wishing to remain secretive until she had dealt with the war finding itself on Equestria’s shoulders. Despite outcry from the public to see who this new ruler was, those wishes never came. Dragonlord Tholak didn’t immediately move out after his victory at Red Ridge, but his next target was the Earth Pony settlement of Vanhoover. The new leader of Equestria, having intercepted this message, overruled their refusal to send troops by implementing the Required Draft Act, or RDA*, stating that the deployment of units and drafting of civilians was automatic in case of invasion. While concern swept the populace as the new Equestrian ruler signed it without the AAL, civilians were evacuated and soldiers took up defense inside Vanhoover. A move that halted the incoming draconic forces. Though the Equestrian forces received casualties, the number of deaths on the invading forces side were easily double. A retreat was ordered, and Tholak’s forces were pushed out of the settlement. When news of it arrived in Canterlot, opinions of the new unknown princess drastically changed. The three tribes now fully supported her, and with her acceptance in the public’s eyes, revealed herself. Very little information during most of the war, until Tholak’s death, was kept, and even less about the second ruler of Equestria. The only thing we know is her name and tribe: Aurora. A pauper pegasus who somehow rose to fortune and nobility in the time between the nation’s founding and her declaration is not princess, but queen of Equestria. The only other pony to take the title of queen instead of princess is Queen Twilight Sparkle, fifth ruler of Equestria. *The RDA is still in effect today, though it’s power for automatic drafting has been taken away. -------- Luminous took a deep breath in, exhaled, and then repeated the former action. Her fear of whatever the queen wanted to see her for was consuming her. Part of her believed that everything would be fine, but every moment that belief got smaller and smaller. This was the queen of Equestria! Despite how she had reacted earlier, Luminous had no idea if what she had seen earlier was the real Twilight or not. That thought alone was enough to make her consider running away, but she had forgotten where the castle entrance was. “Remember what mom said,” She mumbled, closing her eyes. She allowed the sound of the guard’s armor to guide her. “Smile when you wish to frown, laugh when you wish to… cry? Yeah, that’s it. Did I really almost forget something that simple?” “We’re here, oof!” The guard said, Luminous accidentally running into his rear. She opened her eyes to see him staring discontently at her. “We ask that you don’t approach her majesty, in case whatever this is you did is harmful.” Luminous couldn’t help but feel a little hurt by those words, though she knew it was just ponies reacting to something they didn’t know. She nodded, reminding herself that it would also be important to keep Twilight from trying to hug her again. Turning to face the door, Luminous let loose another long held breath. The guards words had done nothing to stop her from worrying over what would happen there. She felt some comfort in knowing that this wasn’t the throne room, or at least she assumed that it was a different hallway she was in currently. The guard forced a cough, tapping a hoof on the door to tell Luminous to head in. Seeing the increasing frustration on his face, she decided it would be better to do as he said. Opening the door, the first thing that went through her head was a wave of comfort. Before her was no throne or interrogation room, but a dining room. A long white cloth went down the middle of the table, a silver candelabra dead center. Potted plants sat on end tables and counters around the edges of the room, and strangest of all a wine barrel was sticking half out of the wall. She couldn’t see it from her angle, but on the opposite side of the barrel, facing away from her, was words reading “Sweet Apple Acres”. That only kept her attention for a few seconds before looking to the table, and her mouth watered at what she was. On the plate in right in front of her was spanish rice, a personal favorite of hers, with biscuits and mashed potatoes right next to them. It was a spread that her mother had made on special occasions only, as the rice in particular was hard to get. She didn’t remember why, but she didn’t really care. She would have immediately stuffed her face if she hadn’t noticed the two figures staring at her from across the room. The first she recognized instantly, being Queen Twilight Sparkle herself. The other one, however, was not a pony at all, but rather a well dressed Griffon. Wearing a custom made suit, the griffon’s feather colors were different from what mom had told her. While most had brown feathers, his were a blood red, though the standard white feathers on their heads was present. Similar to the queen, he seemed to have a regal air to him, though while she couldn’t tell what Twilight was thinking she somehow saw him as being more… welcoming. “Luminous Oracle, thank you for joining us,” Twilight said with a smile. Her gaze shifted from the pegasus to the griffon next to her. “I’m sure your mother, Silvia, has told you about Emperor Gabriel Derev of the Griffon Empire.” “It’s wonderful to finally meet you, Luminous,” Gabriel said, tipping his head to the young pony. Luminous couldn’t stop her mouth from hanging open. “I must say, you are in every way as wonderful as Silvia said you were.” “R-r-really?” Luminous asked, the emperor nodding in response. She did her best to hide her surprise at a foreign ruler being in front of her, sitting down. She reached for her fork as she continued to speak. “Were you two waiting on me to start eating?” “You, and one other,” Twilight said, ending her answer with a sigh. “She should be here-” The door flew open from behind Luminous, the sound scaring Luminous enough to send the fork in her hoof flying into the air. She watched in fear, part of her knowing it would somehow land behind her. What happened instead, was a pink aura grasped it mid-ascent, holding it stationary in the air. It than floated back down, landing silent where it had been before. Luminous felt scared once again, looking behind her to see who it was that had just entered. It was an alicorn, and an extremely angry looking one at that. That look contrasted from her fur and mane color, the former an extremely light pink while the latter was a darker pink with a light blue streak. Her eyes showed a mare who had no wish to be here, like she was being forced to by some cosmic being. At first, Luminous thought that the alicorn’s expression was directed at her, but she was staring straight across the table. Straight at Twilight, who did her best to smile.  “Sorry I’m late,” She greeted, her voice full of venom, all of which were directed towards the alicorn across from her. “Moral judgement questioned if I she really be sitting down with the alicorn responsible for my parents sudden disappearance.” “Please Flurry, this isn’t the time for this stuff,” Gabriel said, watching as the new arrival  took a seat right next to Luminous, as far from the queen as possible. “Things have already been pretty exciting today and it would be nice to keep things calm for once, right Luminous?” Flurry looked to the pegasus, the latter’s ears flattening at the look she was getting. She had heard the name before, and recently at that, but she couldn’t remember where. Though, considering that the alicorn looked like she wanted to kill her, perhaps that was for the best. Flurry looked to Twilight, her expression suddenly changing from fury to intrigued. She pointed to the pegasus, who mistook the alicorn’s language and hoof bumped it out of fear of what would happen if she didn’t. “Luminous Oracle, this is my niece and the Empress of the Crystal Empire, Flurry Heart,” Twilight said, doing her best to be as friendly as possible. “Flurry Heart, this is Luminous Oracle. Gabriel thought that she should join us for lunch, if you don’t mind.” Flurry’s eyes locked back on to Luminous, Luminous looking away and to her plate. “Your that she-devils daughter? Pfft,” She said, loud enough for only Luminous to hear her. “Looks like a waste to me.” “Okay, let's try to change the topic,” Gabriel said, clapping his talons together. “Luminous, since you are the expected guest of honor,” He shot a quick glare at Flurry. “I have to ask, how did you end up in Silvia’s care?” She opened her mouth to speak, but found that she couldn’t say a word. Closing her mouth, Luminous tried to remember that day, but she couldn’t. She knew that Silvia wasn’t her birth parent, that was obvious enough, but there was nothing before her. Her oldest memories, or at least the ones that had stayed with her, were of the forest adventures the two would go on. Those were the days that her mom had been home more often, but as the years went on she was around less and less. Some days, it reminded her of when all her friends left for the rest of the world. Most days, she felt abandoned, using nature as her only means to escape that very feeling. “I… guess I was too young,” Luminous replied, finding that as the only real possibility. She smiled, closing her eyes as she lost herself in the memories. “She didn’t give me my name, I know that much. The Oracle’s where are supposedly a dead family from old Equestrian nobility that faded from history. That’s all I know though, and that’s okay,” A tear went down her face. “Those early years were so wonderful. My memory may have been bad but she was always there, and so was Psyche and Arcane and-” “Spike told me about Psyche but who is this Arcane?” Twilight interrupted. “A unicorn that helped mom as a babysitter whenever she had to leave the house,” Luminous said, the memories calming herself down where Flurry’s mimicking and glares didn’t seem to bother her. “He was not the best socially, kind of a loner if you asked me. He was studying something before moving away, though I don’t remember where or what it was?” “Wow, Silvia knows how to pick em,” Flurry said, not even trying to hide her sarcasm. “Actually, he was pretty good at the job,” Luminous replied. “I mean, most of the fun we had was to get me to stop bothering him, but he still did it. I mean, he was visiting the day before I got here. That means he cared even if his mouth could never say it… or looked like he did for that matter.” “That’s one way to interpret that,” Twilight responded, put her hoof to her muzzle as she thought. “Maybe he’ll be up during the festival? I know ponies that I haven’t seen in a long time that will be coming up around then.” “Right, the old counsel of friendship,” Gabriel continued, nodding his head with a smile. “I remember being lucky enough to meet some of them during the earlier years of my rule. The modern heroes of Equestria, wielder of the elements of harmony,” The griffon’s pride suddenly turned gloomy. “Though, that was so long ago now. It’s hard to think Applejack is already in her fifties.” Twilight’s eyes fell on her hooves, Gabriel’s words rendering that terror she felt yesterday night. Pinkie’s daughters were all grown up, Rainbow Dash was retired, Applejack’s medical problems due to her livelihood. Those were the ones that immediately came to her attention, but it was nothing compared to Fluttershy, who disappeared a decade ago similarly to the princesses. The only one who hadn’t had any major changes to her life was Rarity, but it did nothing to stop her from feeling a little upset of how distant they have become. She started to wonder how long this meeting would dinner would be, a part of her wishing for it to be over. -------- Psyche wandered through the halls, finding that she was tripping over her hooves as she did. Her head was crying in pain, the right side badly swollen but hidden under her blindfold. Her emotional surge had ended sometime ago, and just like before her brain had shut of all ability to feel it. Save for the pain that is, which kept her on the verge of tears as she made her way down the hall. She wanted to go home, but the bump she had created made that an arduous process. “You need to learn to control yourself,” She immediately recognized the voice as Thunder, who had unknowingly trotted up to her and taken a look at her face. “Yeesh, I haven’t seen you hurt yourself this badly in a while. Well, your not bleeding, which is good.” “I’m fine,” Psyche stated, trying to find Thunder’s chest so she could nudge him aside. After a minute, and a group of guards walking past them in confusion, she gave up. “I request you get your hooves off of me, Lieutenant Shield.” “Not a lieutenant anymore, Psyche, and please don’t call me by title,” He explained as he backed off. As soon as his hooves left contact with Psyche’s body she started moving again. “How did it happen? You haven’t had an outburst since… well…” “The night I came to Equestria,” Psyche said.  Her memory reminded her how badly she had harmed herself that night. That was the night she found out she couldn’t feel emotions anymore, except for the very one that had triggered the following outburst: self-disappointment. A horrible, horrible case of hating herself, and that was all she could ever feel now. She didn’t understand why she felt disappointed in what happened, because she succeeded in her goal. Was losing the ability to feel anything really that bad? If that was only the second time in the past fifteen years it had occurred, so it couldn’t be that bad. No, not anymore. Not after the mistake she had made, nearly telling Luminous things that Silvia wished to keep away from her daughter. The mare was to live a normal life, or at least as normal as possible, and live happily while she did what had to be done. Thunder, Arcane, everyone who knew of the threats now posed to Equestrian society was to do their best to keep Luminous out for as long as possible. The only one who could say it’s time was the wolf, the last of her kind, and the one who deemed herself enough of a monster to do what must be done for the moment. Psyche had been given an order, something she could understand, and she had broken it. “Situations might be taking a turn for the worst,” She told Thunder, her voice as monotone as possible. “Twilight and Luminous now know each other exist, an absolute last on Silvia’s hopes. Things are uncertain.” “Yeah, but it was going to happen eventually,” Thunder reminded Psyche. “Fate forces those of similar belief together, and it’s as unavoidable as anything else. Despite the differences, we know that those two were going to be impossible to keep apart for long, just like you and…” He stopped, watching as a patrol went by him. They saluted him, gave a clean report, and with his leave went back to business. He didn’t pick the conversation back up when they left, knowing that Psyche understood what he was talking about. He knew that she hadn’t had an attack when the unnamed event occured, but it was better safe than sorry. Nopony could know what had happened, and this Equestria didn’t have laws distinguishing between voluntary and involuntary acts. He couldn’t save her forever, but he would for as long as possible. “You should check on Luminous,” Psyche said. “The relationship between you two was happy when I left.” Thunder could only chuckle in response. “Oh boy. If you’re confusing our breakup with joy, then I’m sorry.” “You… weren’t happy?” Psyche asked, tilting her head. Silvia had said Luminous did it when she asked questions, so she thought it was right to do it as well. “One thing you need to know about having an ex, Psyche,” Thunder told her. “They don’t understand, or perhaps Luminous’ brain is not big enough, to know what the phrase ‘it’s you, not me’ means.” -------- Flurry Heart had retired after an hour of arguing, insulting, and praising, though that last one only applied to Equestrian cuisine. Twilight was in too much of a slump at that point, lost in the memories of her days before the throne, to do anything about it. Gabriel ended up taking the most action in defending her, and Luminous quickly left after eating. The alicorn understood the pegasi’s action, probably feeling awkward surrounded with a bunch of rulers. Twilight felt stupid, not thinking about that fact, though Flurry Heart’s arrival was extremely last minute. No doubt she was scooping out the castle, if she really was planning assassination. “When did I become so concerned over my own life?” Twilight asked herself. She had barely touched her plate in the past half hour or so. “Thinking about Flurry Heart?” Gabriel asked, cleaning his beak. Twilight nodded, her eyes closing as her head bobbed downward. “Twilight, the only advice I can give you is this: whatever your thinking about right now, stop it.” “What?” Twilight asked, looking to Gabriel in surprise. “But how? You expect me to just forget about-” “Not forget, just stop letting it consume you,” He explained, knowing exactly where Twilight was going with her words. “The act of remembering history, as I’ve been so wisely told, is a balancing act. Embrace it too deeply, and it’s impossible to move forward, but forget and you will make the same mistakes over and over,” He put one of his claws to his heart. “You know the story of my empire’s fall, right? The story of the Golden Idol or Boreas.” “The pride of the Griffon, stolen by Arimapsi,” Twilight said. “Yes, I do. It’s a wonder that you were accepted as emperor, seeing as it is supposedly still lost today.” “I didn’t rise out of simple heritage or idol, you know that,” Gabriel continued. “No, the true obstacle was the past. Many had forgotten the glory of the Griffon Empire, and many who did held the idea of the idol too close to their hearts. I proved myself a ruler because I knew how to make a change, and I rekindled the balance in our culture and history. That’s how I did it, and I did it without a magical artifact or idol,” He grabbed his helmet from the nearby seat. “I choose the color of gold not as a symbol of wealth and our greedy past, but because it represents the griffon spirit. For years we were lost, like an ancient golden artifact, but rediscovered we now are, and we shine as brightly as the day we left.” “You certainly are special when it comes to your kind,” Twilight commented. “You are one of the few griffons, even today, that understand that there is more to life than money,” Gabriel smiled, hearing what was commonly considered a slight weakness to his peers be considered a worthy trait by a fellow ruler. “I see what you mean too, and I’ll do my best to try and not lose myself to heavily in the past from now on.” “Not before researching a certain someone's family ties, however,” Gabriel joked, happy to see that he has managed to raise the princess’ spirits. “That is the question now, isn’t it? Is Luminous truly of an old noble house? One that has vanished from Equestria in the centuries.” For the first time since they had started eating, Twilight managed to smile. “I guess there is only one way to find out.” -------- A lone pony struggled through the Bone Dry Desert, having been abandoned by his caravan on their travel to Kludgetown. His body was weak, no food or water on his person, and nothing keeping him from baking in the desert sun. He knew the area well enough to know that water was an impossibility, as no oasis or river ran through the desert. He was all but dead, and yet he struggled on in hopes of somehow making his destination. His mind was filled with one sole thought: survive. He collapsed, his body too exhausted to move on, and the thought of defeat passing through him for a second. Then, as if by some miracle, he made out the shadow of a figure walking. It wasn’t a pony, but he would take his chances, believing he was saved. With a sudden surge of strength, and a determined mind, he ran as fast as he could towards the target. As he got closer, he made out multiple things about whoever it was, from the creature being bipedal to what seemed like a cane in his hands. The creature noticed the pony running towards him, and latter felt further relief as he saw them start a light jog towards him. As the pony finally closed in, he finally found out what was standing before him: a dragon. The dragon’s body was slim, though cleary he had plenty of muscle on him. Yellow scales covered his body, his eyes ruby red. What the pony had thought to be a cane he could now see as a staff, it’s body made of purple crystal with a giant red ruby in its center. As they reached with a few yards of each other, the pony once again collapsed. “Sir, are you alright?” The dragon said as he kneeled down to watch the collapsed figure before him. The pony not noticing the strange politeness he was being treated with. “Please, tell me you have food, or water, or anything!” The pony pleaded, his voice showing far more panic than the dragon in front of him. “I was abandoned on my way to Kludgetown by my associates.” “Kludgetown?” The dragon asked, the pony noticing more figures slowly appearing in the distance. “Why are you going to a place like that?” “I’m a merchant,” The pony explained. More figures seemed to keep appearing, a horde of individuals similar in shape to the dragon making themselves known. “We had a trade deal to finalize and… I mean you must understand that now I just want to get somewhere that I’m safe!” “Safe? Well I’m sorry to tell you but I don’t think you’ll be seeing your merchant buddies again,” The dragon said, standing up and walking past the pony. “Also, I wouldn’t exactly recommend being in Kludgetown right now. It’s in no shape to take in ponies.” “W-w-what?” The pony said, looking behind him to see the dragon still smiling. In seconds, that smile quickly started to seem less wonderful to the pony. “But I have to get there! My life is on the line!” “Indeed it is, though I see no interest in helping somepony today,” The dragon said, turning around and motion the pony to look in front of them. “Besides, I already have enough mouths to feed.” Following the dragon’s hand, the pony looked forward and found himself frozen in fear. Rows of dragons marched forward, none of which looked particularly friendly. Covered in steel, with spears, swords, and shields gripped in their claws, they marched forward. They stopped, feet from the weak pony, standing in attention. Some even saluting. It was at that moment the pony realized that those he had met were not here to save him. “You ponies are too trust,” The dragon said, walking back towards the pony. He placed a foot on the pony’s head, muzzle being filled with scorching hot sand. “I thought a thousand years would change that, make you see the truth I showed you all so long ago,” He stomped down, causing the merchant to swallow some of the sand in their mouth and choke. The dragon’s foot redirected the pressure it was placing on the unfortunate soul below it from the head to neck, making the pony gasp for air. “Your friends didn’t seem to figure it out when we met them, and you are making the same mistake. I shall see that this changes.” “I will say, it is a miracle that the tribes have survived each other all these years, and I do give props for that,” The dragon said, not watching as he applied more and more pressure to the merchants neck. “Though you are still ponies, and you are all hopelessly idiotic. A unicorn, I assume your companion, has magic, but refuses to even harm me? He is scared of hurting my feelings by such an action? Such naive and braindead thinking is intolerable!” A snap sounded from under him. The dragon looked down, noting how the pony had stopped all signs of movement. He spat on the corpse, upset that they didn’t even try to fight against him. A thousand years dead, and nothing has changed when he and his army suddenly finds themselves alive. He was uncertain of why such a miracle had been given to him, but now he knew. How easily he torched that sorry excuse for a town, raided that wagon, and fooled the worthless garbage under him now made it clear. “Soldiers, hear me!” He called out, kicking the body as he walked to his men. “As we know, a thousand years ago we died from a race inferior to us. May I remind you that it was not through their superior strategy that they won, but rather from a leader who alone became exceptional. They had a leader willing to pay the price of victory, and secure it through blood,” He stopped short, turning to walk parallel to the row of soldiers in front of him; dragons who had fought alongside him back then, just as they were now. “Yet how did they treat someone who fought war? How did the alicorns obtain their power? Casting that very leader out and taking her throne in the name of harmony! “Just like many of you, I respect that mare alone. She is a pony worthy of leadership far more than the worthless “demi-gods” who defeated us. These alicorns have done a disservice to Equestria, and we now march on their lands not with the goal of crushing them, but liberating them! That is the goal of not just I, Tholak, but of all dragonkind!” As he spoke those words, watching as his men cheered for him. A figure cut through the lines, making their way towards the. “Though as you all know, that cause is not just us. No doubt Equestria burned every file they could to hide her existence, but when a leader is betrayed by her people, what should she do?” Tholak’s hand, palm open, stretched down to a pony, one clad in armor similar to that of the rest of his soldiers. Her black coat made her look like a specter; a fallen soldier of another era. Her mane and tail were nearly non existent, cutie mark covered by armor, but any who had seen it saw the scar. A scar that made it unidentifiable. Tholak smiled at the mare, but she did not smile back. He nodded, and she turned around. All attention fell to her, many eagerly awaiting what she was saying. “My allies, soldiers, companions!” She shouted, voice low and powerful. More than a few felt a shiver go up their spines as she spoke with fury. “What we will do this year shall be forever engraved in Equestria’s history, but not because of them!” Her throat burned as she blurted her words out, but it felt wonderful to do so. “You all know who I mean. These alicorns have ruled over Equestria and made them imbeciles. I shall not remind you that peace is not a lifestyle, it’s a gift. A gift for those who fight, and did these alicorns - “children” of the creator, Faust - ever fight fair?” “No!” “Correct! You know just as much as I do that these years of peace were not won fairly or equally. Each victory we have discovered in these past weeks from Discord to Sombra to modern day were not won with military. They were one with gifts! Gifts of a goddess who shelter them, but allow the rest of the world to fall apart. These elements of harmony have given no true relief, no earned peace, nothing! We know this! We were its first victims, a ruler who was cast out for choosing the harder choice, and a people who have become nothing more than braindead idiots in the centuries to pass!” She paused for a moment, allowing her heart rate to settle. As she continued to speak, walking the line in front of not just Tholak’s, but her soldiers, she did so calmly. “To those of you who ask what divine being wished to give us a second chance, I ask you to think of something else. How glorious is this opportunity?” She requested. “We know the canon, the heart that kept these alicorns safe, and how it can be destroyed. That means this is our opportunity, one an era in the making! Celestia and Luna, by all accounts, are gone and but one alicorn still rests on the throne. If we are to liberate my people, if we are to restore yours to the great empire it was so long ago, then we will march! No, not just march, we shall fight! Fight for a future where peace has true meaning, where immortals don’t rule! This is the promise Tholak has given you, but I share it. “I, Aurora Oracle, the true queen of Equestria, fight for you!”