//------------------------------// // 2 - It came from the sky // Story: Proof of a hero // by SkarinOfAtmora //------------------------------// Ten years have passed since Twilight Sparkle took the throne of Equestria. To ascend the throne at such a young age was unheard of as even Celestia and Luna were much older at the beginning of their rule. Twilight was barely an adult at age 18 when Celestia and Luna basically dumped Equestria in her lap and went on a long overdue vacation. But Twilight was not alone by any means as her friends stood by her until she got a handle on things. The first two years were the hardest, trying to catch up on bureocracy, politics, economics, culture and everything else a princess is supposed to know. Then there was the matter of actually talking to ponies and deal with their problems and concerns. Awkward as she was, Twilight had trouble with big crowds and tripped over her own words a lot, sometimes leading to misunderstandings and court hearings. The worst were the greed driven nobles, something which Canterlot has no shortage of, as they tried to push their one-sided agendas by lies and deceit. Yes, it took time, but Twilight finally managed to get into the swing of things and quickly became a wise, righteous and noble ruler that Celestia hoped she would be. The economy thrived under her new reforms, more creatures were moving to Equestria rather then out of it, education was at an all time high and the nation was more prosperous than ever. Even technology, something ponies cared little for, took a big step forward and brought imporvements to lives of ponies or any other creature in Equestria. Today also marks ten years to the day of her rule over Equestria. Ten wonderful, though sometimes shaky, years in service to her little ponies. It also marked ten years since any major catastrophe happened. No villians as the likes of Tirek, Sombra or Chrysallis poked their ugly heads out to distrupt this peaceful and prosperous land. All of that meant only one thing. A party. Pinkie Pie made a Pinkie promise to make this anniversary the biggest even Equestria has ever seen. Until the time comes for the 20 year anniversary at least. The greatest performes from Equestria and beyond were called to attend and put on the biggest show the world has ever seen. No expense was spared on food and drink as the finest ingredients were prepared by the most famous chefs from all corners of the world. All of Canterlot was decorated with flowers, ribbons, flags, ballons and everything else Pinkie Pie could get her hands on. Hotels, motels, inns and even some rooms were booked months in adavance to accomodate all the guests that would attend which was basically everyone. Tents and campsites were scattered around Canterlot to make room for more, some even opting to sleep on the grass to save a bit or two. "Isn't this a little too much?" Twilight asked as she observed the unfolding spectacle from her balcony. Now a fully adult mare, Twilight has grown in more ways than one. Her body matured, and with a little aid from her new alicorn genetics, Twilight became the most beautiful mare in Equestria. Some argued that her beauty exceeded that of Celestia and Luna, somethin that Twilight dismissed every time it was brought up. "Really? I'd say I'm being pretty basic with this." Pinkie Pie replied from her spot on the couch. The pink party mare was truly giving it her all but still felt it wasn't enough. "Pinkie." Twilight sighed and moved away from the balcony. "I appreciate it, really, I do. But it all seems so... Wasteful." Twilight sat next to Pinkie and the pink mare laughed. "Still our humble Twilight." she then looked at her stomach. "You hear that Little Cheese? Auntie Twilight thinks this is too much for her." the lavander alicorn smiled warmly at her friends antics. "Next thing she'll tell us to take it slow since you'll be arriving any day now." "You know me so well." Twilight nuzzled Pinkie who returned the gesture. "Better than you." Pinkie replied and heaved herself up. "Now come on! We need to get to Rarity for a final test fit of your dress!" Twilight rolled her eyes. "Didn't we do that yesterday?" she got up and followed after her waddling friend. "Last week actually." Pinkie then eyed Twilight's figure. "Although you haven't changed much in the last few years." "Perks of being an alicorn." Twilight shrugged in response and held out a hand to Pinkie since they were about to go down a rather long staircase. "We'll see about those perks when you get a bun in the oven." "Pinkie!" the lavander mare blushed. "What? I've heard you and your new captain Flash Sentry are hitting it off." Pinkie laughed. "No we are not! We're keeping it strictly-" "Professional? Sure ya' are. I have at least ten witnesses that saw you making out around the castle." "Seriously?" Twilight face-palmed and then dragged her hand down her face. "Yessiree! They said it reminded them how Cadance and your brother used to sneak around all the time." they were nearing the final few steps and Rarity's room was the first one on the right. "We're not sneaking around! We're just... Making sure that we do not distrub anyone with our activities." Twilight laughed nervously. "Speaking of, did the two of you bump-" "NO!" Twilight covered her mouth quickly and Pinkie almost fell over from laughing. "It's not funny! And not that it's any of your business, but we did not engage in coitus." they were right at Rarity's door. "Wow. Only you can say sex in the most boring way ever." Pinkie was about to knock when the door suddenly opened. "Did I hear you talking about sex?" Rarity beamed at Twilight. "Oh tell me everything, darling!" she pulled the furiously blushing Twilight inside. "There's nothing to tell!" Twilight defended to no avail. "Flash and I are taking things slow." "Snails pace, you mean." Rarity said with a raised brow. "In fact, we have a date on Hearts and hooves day next week." Twilight proclaimed. "And if things go well, maybe I'll-" "Let him into your enchanted chamber?" Pinkie said quickly and Rarity's cheeks puffed up trying to contain a burst of laughter. "NO! I was going to say that I would consider a make out session on my bed!" Twilight groaned and began turning away from her giggling friends. "Geez, why do you two have to be so..." her eyes fell on the dress Rarity was making for her. "Whoa." the first time Twilight saw it was last week and she liked the simple design with light and dark blues but now her breath was taken away as thousnds of small diamonds were woven into the dark blue fabric to make it sparkle like the stars. "It's beautiful." "I know." Rarity puffed out her chest proudly and inspected her nails. "I am not the best designer in Equestria for nothing." Rarity approached her friend and hugged her. "And don't you dare say it's too much. Do you know how many designs I went through before making this simple gown?" "I'd imagine about a hundred." Twilight returned the hug. "Thank you." she looked at Pinkie Pie. "Both of you." It was finally time for the great celebration. Music and cheering filled Canterlot as their princess ascended the stairs, along with Spike, towards a magnificent throne located on the main Canterlot square. Twilight looked absolutely stunning in the blue dress Rarity had made for her and when combined with the ethereal mane enchantment some said she could pass as Celestia's daughter. Twilight finally reached the top of the stair case and sat on the golden throne. With a warm smile, Twilight watched her subjects who were cheering, singing and dancing and felt her heart swell with pride. "Pretty cool, huh?" Spike, her ever loyal assistant, asked with his arms crossed over his broad chest. Yes, Spikey-wikey got chad and swole. "Yeah, it is." Twilight nodded. "Sometimes I wish I could be down there with them, you know?" Spike nodded in understanding. "Just to relax, even a little, and remember what it was like before ruling Equestria." "I hear you." Spike commented. "But look at it this way, if not for you, they wouldn't be so happy." Spike motioned towards the cheering crowd. "You made this possible Twilight. Take pride in that." the lavander alicorn smiled. "You really are the world's best assistant." Twilight then coughed to clear her throat. Everycreature suddenly got quiet and the music died down as Twilight rose frok her seat. "Equestria and visitors from beyond our borders, I welcome you to Canterlot." cheers erupted from the crowd. "Please, this is not about me. All of this would not be possible without every single one of you. The love and dedication you show every dsy is what drives Equestria to be the great nation that it is." more cheering and clapping shook Canterlot. "I merely point you in the right direction, but at the end of the day, it is you who make Equestria great. So today is as much about you as it is about me. Please, enjoy this celebration to your hearts content. You have earned it!" Twilight then took the glass of wine that was on a tray by her throne and raised it high. "To Equestria!" "TO EQUESTRIA!" "And what the hay is that?" as she was holding her glass high, Twilight noticed something flying towards them in the distance. The crowd was bkisfully unaware of their incoming visitor. "Looks like a..." Spike squinted his eyes. "Dragon? But I've never seen a dragon that looks like that." the dragon appeared to be red and had numerous spikes over his body, especially the tail. "I agree." Twilight set the glass down. "You think it could be trouble?" it was getting closer, close enough for Twilight to recognize the details of it. "Don't know but I'm about to find out." Slike stepped forward and shouted at the dragon. "A little late to the party-LOOK OUT!" Spike dove at Twilight to shield her from a surprise fire ball. The flame burned his scales on impact, something he thought impossible and Spike cried out in agony before collapsing. The crowd erupted in panic as everyone tried to run and hide from the flying beast. "SPIKE!" Twilight tried to erect a barrier around them but the dragon released an ear-splitting roar that broke her concentration. The dragon flew over them and the wind-pressure threw both Twilight and Spike off the tall platform. With quick thinking, Twilight unfurled her wings and caught Spike before gently landing. "Twilight! What's happening?" Rarity was there in moments and used healing magic to help Spike with the pain. "I don't know! And where are the Wonderbolts? Dash said they would keep the skies clear!" Twilight looked up and saw the dragon making a return sweep. "You need to run!" Rarity wasted no time helping Spike up and running away to find cover. Twilight turned to face the incoming beast and stretched out her right arm, her horn glowing with intense light. "Sleep!" a burst of magic shot out from her arm and hit the dragon head on, stopping it mid-flight. But that's all it did. Instead of putting in a coma-like sleep, the dragon looked like it was about to sneeze. "Uh-oh." and it did sneeze out a belch of intense flames towards the stunned alicorn princess. "Watch out!" an unfamiliar voice yelled out. "Eeep!" and then tackled her to the side, the two rolling away into safety as the dragon took flight once more. Once the rolling stopped, Twilight found herself on top of her mysterious savior. By the voice, Twilight assumed it was a stallion but that was all she knew. His armor was strange to say the least as the design was unknown to her. "Hi." the stallion said with amusement. "What a way to crash a party, huh?" "Right." Twilight scoffed. "You might wanna' tell your guards to back off." he pointed towards Flash Sentry and his fellow guards attacking the beast with swords, arrows and magic, none of which even grazed the beasts thick hide. "Thoes fliers from earlier stood no chance either-" Twilight's eyes went wide and she grabbed his shoulders firmly. "The Wonderbolts! Are they alright?" "They'll be fine. Flynn is taking care of them." Twilight breathed a sigh of relief. "Now could you get off? As nice as this is, people are staring." ignoring his strange choice of words, Twilight looked around and sure enough ponies were murmuring and looking at them. "Of course." Twilight quickly got up, her face a little red, and offered a hand to the mysterious warrior who gladly accepted it. Now as he stood in front of her, Twilight realised he was taller than her by a few inches and quickly deduced that he was not a pony. His legs weren't like a ponies at all. "Scuse me." he pushed Twilight aside with one hand and walked past. "Hey! Rude!" she called after him but quickly changed her tone once she saw her guards were being tossed around like rag-dolls. Their spears, swords, arrows and even magic was bouncing off the beast. Twilight was ready to jump in and help but suddenly felt frozen in place. She watched the unknown warrior draw the long sword from the sheath on his back. The sheath didn't look any special at first, just a dark grayish color with the handle of the sword sticking out looking like a scrapped piece of metal. As soon as the warrior touched the sword, Twilight saw the sheath glow in a searing white and red and once the sword was completely drawn it did very much the same. It felt like the sword had the power to destroy the world and Twilight could feel it's power, a power that did not exist in Equestria. "Hey! Rathalos!" the warrior called as he slowly approached. "Why don't you leave the poor ponies alone and come play with me instead?" the beast roared and charged at him. The warrior did a simple upward swipe before resting it on his hip, ready to strike. Twilight watched as the rathalos got closer and closer, the warrior not moving from his spot. Once rathalos was inches away, the warrior appeared to phase through the beast as it continued towards Twilight. "HOW COULD YOU MISS THAT?" Twilight yelled at the warrior who remained calm. "I didn't." as soon as he said it, red slashes appeared over rathalos and every one was followed by an explosion. Rathalos got tossed side to side by each one bofore finally toppling down, it's head landing inches from Twilight. The warrior walked back to the rathalos and readied himself for the final strike. "No!" Twilight jumped between rathalos and the warrior. "Don't kill it!" "It's too dangerous to be left alive. I avoid killing monsters as much as I can but as a hunter I-" "Oy! What in the bloody diablos are ye' doin'?" Twilight looked for the source of the voice and when she looked down she saw a three feet tall gray cat with armor that matched the hunter's. "Get out the way lassie!" "My name is-" Twilight began matter of factly but the cat didn't care. "And you!" the cat turned to the hunter. "That was the sloppiest hunt I've ever seen!" "Here we go." Twilight could practically feel the eye roll beneath the hunter's helmet. "Ye' let it escape from a trap, go out of the woods, almost eat an entire squad of those flying buggers and crash this, this-" the cat looked around, motioning with his paws to Canterlot. "Fuck, even a namielle ain't that colorful." "Namielle?" Twilight looked to the hunter. "Elder dragon, very colorful." he explained quickly. "Ah." Twilight had no idea what he was talking about. "And why isn't that thing dead already?" the cat pointed to the rathalos. "There will be no killing!" Twilight stepped forward. "That's why." the hunter pointed to the princess. "Guess she's the ruler of this place." "Lassie." the cat looked at Twilight who did not enjoy being called lassie. "That is a tempered rathalos. Do you know what that means?" Twilight was about to respond but the cat continued. "No, ye' don't. Tempered monsters are the strongest there are and only master rank hunters like Maximi-" "Gaaah!" the hunter yelled. "I keep telling you Flynn, it's Max!" "You're Flynn?" Twilight asked the cat. "Aye. And yer' squad of blissbill are fine." Twilight sighed in relief and was about to ask something but Flynn waved her off and turned to Max. "I don't give a shite what ye' call yerself! I promised your da' to look after ye' and I can't do that if ye' act like a low rank scrub not fit to hunt a jaggi!" "And I keep telling you, furball, I can take care of myself!" "Oh excuse me, meowster-" Flynn said sarcastically. "-I didn't know getting yer' arse handed to ye' was part of the plan!" the hunter suddenly took off his helmet, strands of blonde hair falling around his face, a non-pony face as Twilight noted. "You know what Flynn? I'm getting real tired of your crap!" Max got down to eye level. "I told my dad I can do this alone so I'm ordering you as your-" Max sudenly stopped and growled. "It's been five years laddie! Little to late to play the pr-" "ENOUGH!" Twilight's royal voice pierced the bickering duo's eardrums. "I've had enough of your bickering! You two will calm down, make up and tell me what the buck is going on!" the duo looked at each other and quickly concluded it was in their best interest to do as the angry princess said. "And that is how Max and I first met." Twilight finished telling the story of that fateful day to her students. "Awww..." the students moaned in unison. "What?" Twilight tilted her head in confusion. "That's it?" Snow Storm asked. "We want details! Everypony knows how Prince Max and Sir Flynn crashed your party but we want to know what happened later!" then Luster Dawn picked up the conversation. "How did you end up together? Was it after Flash Sentry stood you up?" Twilight's eye twitched. "Did you go on dates? When was your first kiss?" slowly others joined in and Twilight was like a fish out of water which made Starlight snicker in the corner. "W-well... I, I mean we... Umm..." Twilight stuttered, trying to find a way out but more and more questions kept coming. "Need some help?" all heads turned to the door where Max stood, leaning on the frame and trying to look cool while covered in anjanath mucus. "By the way, the anjanath is asleep and the Wonderbolts are preparing him for transport to Fluttershy's reserve." "Excellent. Also..." Twilight waved her hand and Max was clean as a whistle. "Hang on!" Luster Dawn stood up. "You said magic was useless against monsters! Mucus is technically part of the monster!" "Right you are." Twilight smiled at her observant student. "It's true that most spells are ineffective but there are a few convenient exceptions." "You can also freeze the ground beneath a monster to make it slip but that's about it." Max joined in and grabbed a stool to sit beside Twilight. "So, what are we learning today?" "How you and princess Twilight met!" Echo the changeling answered. "Really? What did she say?" "She said you crashed into her, saved her life and then argued with Sir Flynn." Echo replied. "Really? Did she tell you how she geeked out over my notes?" the entire class knew Twilight loved books or any other written form of information. "Max!" Twilight elbowed him playfully. "I did not geek out." "No? Did you or did you not squeal so loud a wine glass shattered to pieces when I told you to keep it?" the students chuckled at their teacher's blushing cheeks. "Wanna' hear that one kids?" the class nodded furiously. "Alright! So, right after Twilight yelled at me for the first time, she yelled some more..."