The Past: Nintis Empire
The day Prince Zoe's daughter was born
"Waaaaaaaa!" Sapphire cried as she came out of her mother's womb.
"Good lord by the sun and moon my daughter has a set of lungs on her!" Prince Zoe said while covering his ears with his hooves.
Sapphire let out another scream of bloody murder. "Waaaaaa!"
"It's okay Sapphire," said Princess Zelda, "you're safe, mommy will protect you."
As Princess Zelda shushed Sapphire, Sapphire slowly started to calm down and go to sleep. Prince Zoe smiled as he uncovered his ears. "You know something, with those screams of bloody murder one would think that would be a battle cry."
Prince Zoe had no idea his father was standing behind him until he laughed. "Well, it looks like my granddaughter inherited my set of lungs!"
"Hey," snapped Prince Zoe, "if I recall correctly, it was my sperm that made her and my wife's egg! If she gets her set of lungs from anywhere she probably gets it from me!"
King Star scoffed. "Yeah right when you came out from your mother's womb you didn't make a peep."
"Honestly you two!" Princess Zelda growled. "You're arguing about who made the loudest noise on a joyful day like my daughter's birthday, shame on you!"
Princess Zelda cradled Sapphire in her forehooves and started to sing her a lullaby. "The sun has come out because you've been born today. Everybody's happy, it's time to celebrate. Don't be afraid of the world, just face it the best you can. When you get older on your four hooves you'll be able to stand. I understand your battle cry for now because you just came out."
Prince Zoe smiled when he heard his wife singing to his daughter. Ever since the first time he met her she was a singer. He met Princess Zelda when he went to an opera with his mother. He really didn't want to go along that day but when he saw her, he didn't regret going to the opera that day at all. The irony of it all Princess Zelda was playing the part of princess that was a damsel in distress. Ever since then Prince Zoe wanted to win her over. On this day he was proud to have a wife that he loved dearly and now a daughter that he could share his love with. He had no idea of what the future had in store for him but for the time being he didn't care.
* * *
Present Day: Melody's House
Melody was thoroughly fascinated by the book she had been reading about the Gates. She really badly wanted to do some investigating with her magic so she could pinpoint when her Gate was set up. But she figured it would be putting ponies in danger so she decided not to.
"Hmm," said Melody to herself, "this book is seriously interesting!"
"Uh what's interesting?" Fluttershy said.
Melody just about jumped out of her skin when she heard Fluttershy's voice.
"Oh sorry Melody." Fluttershy said. "I just heard you talking to yourself about that book you're reading. It's that good huh?"
Melody nodded. "Well first of all please don't sneak up on me like that! Second, yes it's interesting because according to Sapphire it's a history book about the Gates!"
In her excitement about the book she was reading, she completely forgot to make sure she didn't show emotions about anything.
Fluttershy giggled. "Wow, you're showing some emotion and who'd thought it would be over a book!"
"Huh? What?" Melody said. In her horror she realized exactly what she just did. I just had to get excited about a book in front of Fluttershy.
"It's okay Melody," said Fluttershy, "showing some emotions every once and a while is good for you. So that's a history book about the Gates huh?"
Melody nodded. When she showed Fluttershy the book, Fluttershy was confused because the book was written in braille. "Uh Melody? I can't read braille."
"Ooops," said Melody, "here I'll tell you what it says. It says here that the Nintis Empire was so rich in culture. Going to the opera was a favorite pastime for the royal family. It's because Princess Zelda, Prince Zoe's wife, was an opera singer when they first met. But this book isn't all words. There's pictures here too! I know because I've used my singing abilities to see them. Don't worry I bookmarked them."
Melody flipped on a page where the first picture of a tall unicorn stallion was on it.
Fluttershy tilted her head. "Who's he?"
"This," answered Melody, "is the first King to ever rule over the Nintis Empire. His name was King Star."
Fluttershy chuckled. "King Star? One would think that a king would have a different type of name you know. Considering this is a king we're talking about here."
Melody rolled her eyes. "I don't think the name Star has to be female all the time. Anyway, this guy King Star founded the Nintis Empire when he drove out a hive of changelings. But before the Nintis Empire could even be founded, powerful entity's called Windigos pretty much made the land a wasteland. Somehow King Star and his army got the Windigos under control and the Nintis Empire was founded. Not to mention there was no need to have a holiday to celebrate! Of course there was a party on the first day that the country was founded but after that not really."
"Oh?" Fluttershy said.
Melody nodded. "Yup, it's a shame the Nintis Empire was destroyed after the Founders founded Equestria. I guess it had to be done to make way for the new country."
Melody ran her hoof down the next page and gasped at what she read next.
"What?" Fluttershy asked. "What is it?"
"It says here that there was another kingdom that the Founders of Equestria had been allied with. The kingdom was called the Kingdom of Nova. It was destroyed and there was only one soul survivor…" Melody said. "The survivor was a Prince by the name of…" She gasped. All the times she's researched something she'd never found something so startling before. "Fancy Mark is a Prince!"
Fluttershy blinked. "Are you sure about that Melody? Maybe you read that wrong?"
Melody ran her hoof over the braille letters again and shook her head. "Nope! I'm not reading it wrong. It says right here that when the Kingdom of Nova was destroyed the lone survivor was a Prince named Fancy Mark."
"So that's what his heartbreaking backstory is!" Fluttershy gasped. "No wonder why he's so shy around everyone! He's not shy, he's scared."
"Scared? How'd you figure that out?"
"Oh please Melody! I know scared when I see it! That's because I used to be afraid of everything until I met Rainbow Dash. If he's not reaching out and trying to make friends even though he's a guardian he might just be too scared to do it."
"But he's like best friends with Aether! Although Aether does have that type of personality that gets even the shiest of ponies to open up to him."
"I knew it!"
Melody looked up at Fluttershy. "Knew what?"
"You like Aether! You like Aether!" Fluttershy teased. But her teasing started to turn into a chant after a while.
"Uh no," said Melody, coldly. "I don't like him like that. We're just friends that's all."
"Uh-huh," teased Fluttershy, "sure you are! Okay you two will admit how you feel about each other eventually."
Melody knew deep down inside that Fluttershy was right. Even though she and Aether claimed to be just friends they knew that they liked each other. But as far as admitting how they felt about each other that remained to be seen.
* * *
As Fancy Mark walked down the hallways of his home by the West Gate he smiled. He was no longer afraid of mirrors. That's because he wasn't Fancy Mark. Fancy Dark had finally taken over Fancy Mark's body and was wandering around as if nothing were wrong.
He paused when he came around the corner toward another mirror. He smiled a sinister smile as he tilted his head towards the mirror. "What was that Fancy Mark? You want out again? Oh no, I'm sorry that's not going to happen!"
He looked into the mirror and laughed wickedly as he saw Fancy Mark's panicked look. Fancy Mark tried to scream as loud as he could but Fancy Dark just laughed at him. "You know no one's going to hear your pathetic screaming Fancy! You kept me in that mirror for so long and now your karma has come back to you full circle! So how does it feel? It feels horrible doesn't it? It feels bad being trapped inside a cage and not being able to see the world for what it is? Hmmm? I didn't catch your response to that."
He looked at Fancy Mark and couldn't stop himself from laughing so hard it made his stomach hurt. He cackled. "You're just so desperate to get out of that mirror and warn your little friends about me aren't you? Well it's not going to happen! You want to know why?"
Fancy Dark then started running down the hallway breaking every mirror he could find. By the time he was done there was shattered glass all the way down the hallway. He dusted his hooves off. He looked down at them. "Eh, well a little bit of cuts from the glass but nothing too bad." He paused. "You know something? I should probably offer my services as Guardian to the next ruler of Equestria, that stallion named Phantasia. That's not a bad idea! Won't Sapphire and Princess Twilight be in surprise when I stab them in the back? Although if it doesn't work then I'll be executed for treason." He shrugged. "Heh yeah whatever. I wonder though if I can get a Wendigo to bow to me and take her with me. That will be a bonus! Oh happy day! I'm going to ruin Fancy Mark's life so bad I'll be laughing all the way to his grave!"
His sinister grin grew wider as he said to himself. "I bet I can even get that Blood Goddess friend of his to work with me! Another bonus would be if I can get that beautiful mare named Melody to be my wife! I have a feeling Aether's not going to like that! Oh well, I could care less about how he feels or how anypony else feels either! While ponies would call this wretched body of mine Fancy Mark. I will call myself Fancy Dark! Or Dark for short." He laughed a wicked laugh. "This is brilliant! I love it! It's time to put my plan in action."
He rolled his eyes when he heard Pinkie Pie calling out for him. "Fancy? Fancy where are you? I need to speak to you!"
"Oh well," Dark mumbled, "I guess I'll have to talk to the pink one!" He poked his head around the corner and called out. "Yes Pinkie, I'm over here!"
With that Dark went to see what Pinkie wanted. He couldn't wait to put his evil plan to betray Princess Twilight, Sapphire and all of Equestria in action.
* * *
Sapphire had enough, she was fed up with being around ponies all the time! She had snapped. She had been working day in and day out ever since she had put the Guardians on high alert and even more now that she had to issue an order of discipline putting them on house arrest. She was tired of being around ponies non stop with no chance to just sit down and be by herself.
Sapphire was in her office going into self destruct mode. It was more like destroying everything around her mode.
That's it! Sapphire thought as she shot a beam of light at her sofa ripping it in half. I'm tired of ponies! Not to mention later today I'm supposed to be attending my birthday party. Which is something I expressly told Pinkie Pie not to do! But noooo she was insistent on having a party for me! 'Oh please Sapphire! We must have a party for you! You'll love it! They'll be games and cake and all of your bestest friends will be there!' Of course Princess Twilight advised me to say yes to her because if I say no Pinkie will not respect my wishes she'll go nuts and be sad and depressed about it! Well what about my feelings huh? Noooo I have to do what everyone else wants me to! I'm only doing it to honor my father Prince Zoe's memory!
Sapphire groaned when she heard a knock on her door. "Come in Tumble! Although I don't have the time or the patience to go to the stupid birthday party!"
Sapphire opened the door with her magic and Tumble entered the room caustionly. "Why don't you want to celebrate your birthday anymore?"
Sapphire growled after she shot another beam of light at her desk destroying it. "When you've lived as long as I have there's no point to it anymore! And I told Pinkie Pie several times not to do it! But nooooo! Pinkie is a nutcase if I say no she'll get all sad and depressed about it!" She stomped on the ground and said what she had been previously thinking. "What about how I feel huh? Do my feelings and my thoughts on matters not matter anymore?"
Tumble looked at her. "Well yes, your feelings do matter!"
"Oh really?" Sapphire snarled. "Then why do my feelings not matter when it comes down to something as simple as not celebrating my birthday?"
"B-b-but," Tumble stammered, "you'll get presents-"
"Yeah, yeah," Sapphire growled and she proceeded to mock Pinkie, "and you'll have cake and all your bestest friends will be there! It'll be sooo much fun!' But I'm not going to have fun because I'm being disrespected because I don't want to upset that psycho!"
Tumble's jaw dropped. It stayed dropped for a short while. But when she finally composed herself to say something, Sapphire started to sing, "I'm getting tired of having to save the day! I'm getting tired of having things go my way! I want some failure! I don't want to be a saviour! Mom always told me popular ponies don't get to be alone!"
Tumble gulped and tried to reason with Sapphire. "Listen you have to go-"
Sapphire kept singing, "So what if it's my birthday? I don't care! I just want other ponies to get out of my hair!"
"Oh boy," said Tumble, "I hope this isn't what I think it is?"
Sapphire paid Tumble no attention and continued with her song, "I'm a Guardian! I guard everyone because I'm a Guardian! I'm a Guardian! I guard everyone's sanity! I'm a Guardian! I guard everyone but myself!"
Tumble said. "Everyone adores you! Don't you see that Sapphire? You have to go!"
Sapphire just kept singing, "I'm getting tired of all those adoring eyes! I don't want to be a superhero! I just want to go back to zero! I'm regarded as a hero and that I despise!
I'm a Guardian!
I guard everyone because I'm a Guardian!
I'm a Guardian! I guard everyone's sanity!
I'm a Guardian! I guard everyone but myself!
Yeah my mother always told me popular ponies don't get to be alone!
Yeah my father always told me never to be on my own!"
Sapphire's horn lit up and she pulled a pen and a notepad out of thin air. She wrote a quick message informing Pinkie and everyone else that she decided not to attend her birthday party. She floated the note over to Tumble. "Give this to Pinkie and tell everyone that I apologize but I'm not going to the party!"
"But-" Tumble started to say.
"No Tumble!" Sapphire snapped. She sang the last part of her song. "So what if I'm a Guardian? I just guard everyone else. So what if I'm a Guardian? Right now I just want to be alone!"
Sapphire's horn lit up once more and normally unicorns teleport with a pop. But when Sapphire gets angry her teleport's do more than a pop. She leaves with a bang and when that happens destruction comes along with it. That's exactly what happened. Sapphire teleported leaving destruction behind her.
* * *
The lights were off in the dining hall. Everypony was excited to shout the word 'surprise' as soon as Sapphire walked into the room.
But once the light's were turned on when the door opened, it wasn't Sapphire standing there. It was Sapphire's assistant Tumble standing there with a look of horror on her face.
"What?" Pinkie gasped. "Where's Sapphire? Please tell me she's standing right behind you?"
Tumble shook her head. "Nope, she's not. She gave me a message to give to you."
Tumble floated over to Pinkie the message Sapphire wrote down. Pinkie read it and her eyes went wide. "What? Why wouldn't somepony want to celebrate their birthday? That's insane!"
"Actually Pinkie," said Princess Twilight, "she asked you several times not to throw this party in the first place! But because you go nuts and get upset if somepony says no to one of your parties, Sapphire reluctantly agreed to have one."
"But, but-" Pinkie said.
"No buts Pinkie!" Princess Twilight scolded. "Part of being a good friend is when somepony says no to something, they mean no! You should respect that. I think once Sapphire gets back you owe her an apology."
Pinkie's ears dropped. "Yes Twilight I understand."
"Can I see that note child?" Elder Dazzleflash asked.
Pinkie nodded and handed the note to her. When Elder Dazzleflash saw the note she gasped. "Oh dear! Tumble, was Sapphire singing when she wrote the note?"
Tumble looked down and nodded. "Yes ma'am she was."
"And putting your emotions in song is bad because?" Melody asked.
"It's bad," answered Elder Firefly, "because if Sapphire sings when she's angry it's not just music that comes out of her."
"Huh?" Melody said.
"Oh yeah," said Elder Dazzleflash, "not only does music come out of her when she's angry destruction comes out as well!"
"Oh so mean like when I use my voice in combat? That type of destruction?" Melody questioned.
"It's much worse than that." Elder Dazzleflash answered. She turned to Tumble. "Exactly how much damage did Sapphire do this time?"
"Well the watchtower is still intact but the far right wall to her office is destroyed." Tumble replied.
Elder Dazzleflash sighed. "Yeah she's cracked! And it's our fault too."
Elder Facade shook his head in dismay. "We pushed her too hard this time. I'm surprised she didn't destroy the whole watchtower like she did last time!"
Everyone else in the room gasped.
"Well she did say she had enough of being around ponies all the time." Tumble said.
"I'm gonna take a wild guess and say that's exactly why she snapped?" Elder Dazzleflash asked.
Tumble nodded. "Mhm."
"But being around ponies is good for you right?" Pinkie said.
"Not everypony feels the way you do about being around your friends all the time, Pinkie." Elder Firefly said. "Some ponies like to at least have a break from ponies every once in a while. Sapphire didn't get that chance. Because ever since Phantasia popped up, she's been working day in and day out without a chance to be alone and have some 'me time'. She can't help it. It's just her nature to do that. She wants nothing more than Equestria's safety and her friends in good health and happiness."
"But even she should know that there does come a time when she should take her own health and happiness into consideration." Elder Dazzleflash said. She sighed. "She just had to go nuts on her birthday!"
"But who goes nuts on her birthday?" Pinkie said. She stomped a hoof on the ground in frustration. "That's insane!"
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and crossed her forehooves. "So says the pony who tried to replace her best friend with a bucket of turnips!"
"But that was different," said Pinkie in self defense, "you guys were avoiding me all day! Sapphire had her friends around her all day today!"
"Uh-huh," said Rainbow Dash, "so what does that mean Pinkie?"
Pinkie's eyes went wide in her realization of what just happened. She hung her head. "I see. Everypony's different on how they want to be treated."
"And that's a lesson I thought you had learned with Cranky Doodle!" Princess Twilight said. "As a matter of fact, you wrote to Princess Celestia about this. Didn't you?"
Pinkie sighed. "Yes I did and it seems I forgot. I just couldn't believe that somepony wouldn't want to celebrate their birthday! You know, because it's the most important day of your life! How could a pony not want to celebrate it?"
"Well when you've lived as long as Sapphire as," said Tumble, "there's really not much of a point to it anymore."
"Oh?" said Pinkie. "How old is she?"
Tumble gasped. "How dare you show disrespect like that young lady!"
Pinkie looked confused. "Disrespect? About asking someponies age? I don't get it."
Princess Twilight groaned. "Don't you know it's not respectful to ask a mare her age? Especially if they're older than you?"
"It's not okay Tumble what Pinkie asked," said Elder Dazzleflash, "I won't give you her exact out of respect for her. But I will say that she is over a thousand years old!"
"Woa! That is so cool!" Pinkie cheered. "But don't worry Twilight, I will apologize to Sapphire when she gets back and that's a Pinkie Promise! Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!"
Princess Twilight chuckled when Pinkie did her pinkie promise thing. "Okay that's good to know. The question is what do we do now?"
"Well," said Elder Firefly, "we could still have the party without her, sing the birthday song too in her honor and just drop her presents off at her house." He turned to Princess Twilight. "Since you know where Sapphire lives can you drop her presents off for us?"
Princess Twilight nodded. "Sure! No problem! I just hope that she feels better about things when she returns."
Everyone else nodded in agreement. So the party went on without Sapphire even though everypony wished she was there.
* * *
When Sapphire teleported away from her office at the watchtower in Canterlot she went to her home that was by the outskirts of the Crystal Empire. She had been living there for over a thousand years. She moved there and went into hiding shortly after the Nintis Empire which was her home before it got destroyed.
Every time on her birthday, she would go down to the basement of her house and stand before the altar that she had built in memory of her parents Prince Zoe and Princess Zelda. She would remember the very day she escaped the destruction of her country. She would recall the gunfire that she heard coming from the throne room as she fled through a secret passageway that her father had shown her in case events like that toke place.
Sapphire remembered that when she escaped that day a group of noblemen from the royal family escorted her to safety to the outskirts of the Crystal Empire. She was told by them to not set foot in the Crystal Empire because an evil king by the name of King Sombra ruled there. However, when Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armor started ruling there, Sapphire decided that she would try to see if she could safely venture in that country.
When she finally met the rulers there they were very kind to her and even offered her a place to stay within the castle. She refused the offer but instead asked for a job to be a royal advisor to them and they accepted. Even when the rulers found out that Sapphire was a princess from the Nintis Empire they swore to protect her and they did. Till this day no one but the rulers of the Crystal Empire know who Sapphire really is. She still has the crown her father made for her. She tried to get rid of it on several occasions but every time she tried it returned to her.
On top of the altar that she stood before now was a family photo album that she managed to pick out of rubble of her kingdom shortly after it was destroyed. On top of the photo album sat her crown. The crown that she wanted to get rid of so badly.
"Hi mom, hi dad," said Sapphire while staring at the altar, "it's another year that's passed since you've died and I have no idea why I can't join you. Am I cursed?"
Normally nothing happens when Sapphire stands before this altar but today something strange did happen. The photo album that lay upon the altar shook and out of it came two pony ghosts. One ghost was that of Princess Zelda and the other ghost was Prince Zoe.
Sapphire gasped. "Mother! Father! But how?"
Prince Zoe gave a kind smile. "Yeah I know it's weird right? But I guess we've been granted access to this portal to guide you and give you words of encouragement my dear Princess."
Tears started to flow from Sapphire's eyes. "But why today when I needed you over a thousand years ago?"
Princess Zelda put a ghostly hoof on Sapphire's shoulder. "Ssssssh! It's okay. We don't know why this is happening either. However, know this we've been watching you from the heavens my dear Princess. And from what we've seen you've done pretty well for yourself. Just look at you! All grown up and strong as ever! I am so proud that you are my daughter."
Prince Zoe nodded. "Yup! The same thing goes for me! Although your Grandpa would probably take credit and say you inherited his determination to get things done!"
Princess Zelda chuckled. "Oh yeah he would! Actually if I recall correctly he did threaten a couple of times that as soon as Sapphire got her cutie mark he might just hand over the throne to her instead of you."
Prince Zoe laughed. "Oh that's right!" He turned to Sapphire. "If that had happened you would've been the youngest ruler of the Nintis Empire! Now, did I overhear you correctly Sapphire before we got here, you want to join us in death? Why?"
"Because living without you guys is painful!" Sapphire cried. "Every year I remember that day. And every year after that I knew I would never see you again! Honestly I have no idea why I strive to protect those stupid ponies that live on our land and it's now called Equestria!"
"I see." Prince Zoe said. "So you hold resentment against the three ponies that declared war on our country and took our lives in the process?"
"Why not just declare war and return the favor with the rest of the Guardian community?" Princess Zelda asked.
"And why would I do that huh?" Sapphire growled. "Just kill a bunch of innocent ponies because I'm pissed at them? That would make me no better than they are!"
"So why do you protect Equestria? Why do you so desperately not want to go to war? Can you answer that question hmm?" Prince Zoe said.
"I DON'T KNOW!" Sapphire cried. She started to sob. "I don't know! I don't know why I don't just turn my back on them and let Equestria be destroyed! I don't know why I keep stopping wars from happening! I-"
Princess Zelda shushed her. "It's okay child to be confused about your feelings. But if you're doing what you're doing now protecting Equestria and all that jazz, there must be a reason for it right?"
Sapphire wiped the tears from her eyes. "That's what I'm trying to figure out, Mom."
"Maybe someday you'll figure it out." Princess Zelda said. "Oh by the way, it's your birthday! Did you celebrate it yet?"
Sapphire looked away and shook her head. "No Mom, I stopped celebrating it over a thousand years ago."
"You know we would gasp at that remark but we understand." Prince Zoe said.
Sapphire looked to her ghostly parents to see them smiling. "Yeah when you lived as long as I have, at one point of time there doesn't really seem to be much of a point to it. If you know what I mean."
Prince Zoe chuckled. "Yeah we hear you."
"Oh uh since it's your birthday," said Princess Zelda, "can we sing your birthday song that I wrote for you? Please?"
Sapphire smiled and nodded. "Yes I sing it every year but in private though."
Princess Zelda nodded. "We know."
Princess Zelda cleared her throat and Prince Zoe along with Sapphire sang with her, "The sun has come out because you've been born today. Everybody's happy, it's time to celebrate. Don't be afraid of the world, just face it the best you can. When you get older on your four hooves you'll be able to stand. I understand your battle cry for now because you just came out."
Sapphire smiled after she stopped singing. "Thanks Mom. If there's one thing I hold dear the most is that song you made for me."
With that, Princess Zelda and Prince Zoe went back into the photo album. Sapphire blew out the candles and sang the song once more. "The sun has come out because you've been born today. Everybody's happy, it's time to celebrate. Don't be afraid of the world, just face it the best you can. When you get older on your four hooves you'll be able to stand. I understand your battle cry for now because you just came out."
After that, she laid down on her bed and cried herself to sleep.