//------------------------------// // A Royal Canterlot Wedding Part I // Story: The Light's Chosen (Archived Version) // by The Warrior Of Darkness //------------------------------// Princess Celestia woke with a start. The dream she had the source of her inner turmoil. She had been hiding her door in the dream-realm so that she could find out more from it, and by extension she was hiding herself from her sister, and keeping secrets. She let out a long sigh, deciding to shift her thoughts from the dream to the current event for today, her niece's wedding. Today is the day that Princess Cadence and Shining Armor would be getting married, and she would see to it that it go nicely. Skye woke up refreshed, and ready for action. Springing up from the bed, he made his way to the bathroom quarters of his living space to get ready, pausing in the mirror to look at his reflection, taking in the sights before getting ready. {You all finally get to see what he looks like considering I forgot to place it earlier in the story. I'll make sure to update that once finishing act I} Skye soon stepped out of his room, already in his armor, and making a beeline for the dining hall. As he fell into a quick pace, he quickly stepped to the side in surprise as he noticed that Captain Nightshade was next to him. Unwilling to let his training go, he squared up and prepared to greet her as a guard, only for her to shut it down. "No need Skye. Besides, you won't be taking orders from me today, instead your guarding Luna as she sleeps through the day, in preparation of Night Court. Skye silently nodded, falling into the comfortable mask that he was known to use in Eorzea. They finally reached the dining hall, unbeknownst to them, of the enemies all around them. Skye was bored. More so than usual. protecting a active target is one thing, protecting one that was sleeping is another. He was currently stationed outside of Princess Luna's room alongside Nightingale, both of them remaining unwavering in their duty. While on duty, the two have agreed to talk as little as possible, but Skye was hoping that they could break that today because of their current situation. "So. You never talk about your world that you come from? You don't talk about it much." Nightingale asked. Skye didn't move, but shifted his eyes to Nightingale. He didn't notice it earlier but, there was a strange energy coming off of him. It was unlike the darkness he felt from the princess of the night, or the energy that came from Princess Celestia. He took it as just a normal thing for this world and gave the waiting pony an answer. "Well, there's not too much to talk about. It's a world where fighting never stops, and there's never enough food to go around. It's kind of funny that it's that way where I come from, but here it seems like it's almost the opposite." He finished, still eyeing the other guard. He had started to shift uncomfortably, something that he wasn't usually known for, and so Skye decided to ask him about it. "You alright there Nightingale? Didn't get enough sleep or something?" The pony turned to him, breaking his demeanor. 'That's not something Nightingale does...'. Skye had worked with Nightingale on and off, and knew some if not most of his mannerisms as a guard. Something wasn't adding up, but he wasn't too sure, perhaps something was bugging him. "It's nothing Skye, just a bit queasy is all." Nightingale gave him a toothed smile, reassuring him. "Well, if your queasy, I'll get some medication for you, I'm sure Princess Luna would understand." Skye had offered to leave, and while he had no doubt that Nightingale good perform without him for a couple of minutes, something was up, and he would get to the bottom of it. "I-. I'd quite like that if you could." Nightingale hesitated. He had noticed that Skye's body had tensed up. 'He knows, he'll have to be dispatched now!'. Skye dodged as Nightingale drew his sword and attacked him. It looked like he was correct, this pony was not Nightingale. He didn't want to kill him, so he decided to try and subdue him, by wrapping behind him and using hi spear as leverage to knock him out. In that moment, his opponents body ignited in green flame, causing Skye to disengage from the current venture. When the flames died down, he saw a creature that looked like a ponies but was black, and had fin like hair in the place of a mane. It hissed at him, speaking in a voice that he could say was akin to one of the beast tribes of Eorzea. "You noticed us. We cannot let you live, for the Queen!" It screeched as it charged toward him. Skye in that moment knew that holding back to try and subdue him would be a risk, he didn't know what this being was and what it could do, and if it could look like someone he knew he certainly didn't want to find out what it could do. In that split decision, Skye shifted from defense, to offense, and in that instant, true thrust pierce through the enemy, the body falling to the ground as it slumped, spewing green blood from the wound where it had been hit. Skye looked down at the creature, it had been relatively easy to kill, but that might have been luck on his side with causing a critical blow to it. He finally took notice that the energy flowing from what he though was Nightingale, was now all over the place, it practically radiated from the door he had been guarding. He knocked firmly on the door, trying to get Princess Luna's attention. "Princess, there was an attempt at combat, I doubt that it has been limited to just-" Skye paused, he could hear a spell being cast. It was low, and ominous, Skye thought to just leave it, but if there was one enemy, there were more, so he backed up preparing to destroy the door. It was stronger than most, most likely because it was a Princess's chambers so he would need to hit it with substantial force, he was going to use Spineshatter Dive on the door, hopefully it would be enough to destroy it. He was prepared for the consequences should he be wrong, but he knew he wasn't wrong. He kept his grip on the spear unwavering as it slammed into the door, creating the effects that the dive was known for, pouring more energy into the attack, he saw the cracks that had appeared on the door give away, shattering into pieces. Once the obstacle had been destroyed Skye peered in, to see that Princess Luna had been wrapped by a green goo, with three of the same beings standing in front of her. They wasted no time attacking, and he wasted no time retaliating. He quickly jumped up, flying toward him, calling on the destructive fire of the dragon to burn away the enemies in the area, leaving nothing behind: Dragonfire Dive. Nothing was left of the enemies, and he had even noticed that the cocoon that had taken hold of Princess Luna had been burned open, with the flames still licking at the substance. Skye shifted his attention to her, grabbing and pulling her from her prison, and as he looked upon her he noticed that she was in a daze. Her eyes flickered green, and it seemed like she was under mind control. Nothing he said got her attention, the princess staring blankly up, unmoving. This seemed similar to a primal's influence, and Skye was worried. If it was like that, then that would mean she couldn't be saved. He still had to try, and thought that maybe a physical stimulus might jerk her from, whatever this was. *SLAP* He had struck her, hitting her with the edge of his hand as to make sure he didn't hit her with the spike blade on it. That seemed to do the trick with the green energy flowing in her eyes dying out, returning them to the normal teal that they usually were. Upon recognition, it seemed that she knew who she was looking at, and had begun to attack. "You slapped me!" Princess Luna yelled as she smacked Skye with a magic infused hand, startling the man, as he was swept off his feet into the wall next to them. "I didn't want to! The castle is under attack! Nothing I did reached you!" He groaned back at her. She took time to process his words, before speaking calmly. "We will deal with this later, right now we must start defense of the castle against the changelings." She said, pulling him up before she wrapped him into a hug. "And thank you. You didn't hesitate to save me, for that thank you." Skye didn't return the hug, but instead spoke. "Not to worry, it's what I do. Let's get going and group up with your sister." She nodded, and they both took of into the hallway, following it down to where the wedding was taking place.