Up in Canterlot, inside the castle of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, Twilight Sparkle walked down the hall beside her friend Rainbow Dash. This wasn’t the first time she had been to the castle with her friends, though it was the first time she came with only one of them.
“So tell me, why did the Princess ask you to bring me here?” Twilight’s bringing Rainbow Dash to Canterlot was sudden; she hadn’t even given her a reason.
“I’m not sure to be honest” said Twilight with a puzzled tone, she removed the letter Princess Celestia had sent her from her saddle bag and looked it over for the hundredth time since she received it yesterday.
“To my Faithful student;
Something has come up, I require you to bring Rainbow Dash to Canterlot by early afternoon tomorrow (That of course being today). I must insist that only the two of you come, I will explain everything once you arrive”
That was all the letter said, Twilight couldn’t explain it, but it just felt like something was off, why would Princess Celestia insist that she only bring one of her friends, was she going to tell them something that only they could know?
“I bet she’s going to personally ask me to join the Wonderbolts” Dash said as she lightly struck her chest with her hoof. This earned her a roll of Twilight’s eyes but also a smile from her optimism.
“I don’t think she has any say in that, even if she is the Princess”
“Okay, then maybe…” Rainbow rubbed her hoof under her chin as she thought about what Celestia would want to tell them. “Maybe she’ll ask me to be a Royal Guard like my dad” Rainbow said with a laugh.
“No offence, but you’re hardly Royal Guard—“Twilight paused for a moment “Your dad is a Royal Guard!?” she yelled a bit louder than she wanted. Lucky enough for her nopony was around to hear her.
“Did I not tell you?” Rainbow asked placing her hoof on her chin thinking back to see if she did or not.
“Uh, No, why didn’t you tell us your dad was a Royal Guard?”
“Must of slipped my mind, AJ and Fluttershy know, could have sworn I told everypony else” said Rainbow rubbing the back of her head.
“Well you’ll have to introduce us to him someday, what’s he look like?”
“Well, I took after him in the mane and tail color department, though he’s a darker shade of blue than me” Rainbow stopped walking for a moment, her eyes wide as if she just reached an epiphany. “That’s it!” she said happily as she hopped in place.
“What’s it?”
“The reason Princess Celestia called me here, maybe my Dad’s in Canterlot and he wants to see me!” Twilight thought this over; it did make sense when you thought about it. Royal Guards weren’t allowed to leave their positions unless ordered to; it stands to reason that this whole thing was to have Rainbow see her father while he was here.
“That must be it”
“Awesome, I can’t wait to see him again”
“How long has it been since you last saw him?”
“Well almost two years, but he writes to me when he can, the last letter I got from him was about two months ago” Twilight knows what it feels like not to see a family member from the Royal Guards for extended periods of time. Whenever her brother would go out on a mission she would always fear that something could happen to him. But Rainbow never showed any signs of that since she’s known her, it showed just how highly she must think of him. Eventually they reach the door to the room they had been told Princess Celestia would be waiting for them.
“Ready to see your dad, you know, if that’s what this is about” Rainbow gave Twilight a nod, the thought of seeing her father again filled her with anticipation. Twilight giggled from the look on Rainbow’s face and opened the door, and then the smile on her face faded.
“Oh no…” Twilight said under her voice, the room seemed normal, there were Royal Guards standing between the support beams facing one another from each side of the carpet in the middle. But they weren’t the regular soldiers that guarded Canterlot; their armor was a different style. This meant that they were from one of Celestias élite teams, the last time she saw a different team of Royal Guards lined up like this, something terrible had happened. Twilight looked across the room to see Princess Celestia, her mentor looked back but was unable to hold eye contact.
Twilight felt a chill run down her spine, she took another good look at the guards, they were not from her brother’s team, in fact; she didn’t recognize any of them. That means there was only one other possibility, and although Twilight felt relived, she also felt sick to her stomach.
“You okay Twilight, you’re looking a little pale” Twilight snapped out of her train of thought, but looking at Rainbow only made her feel worse.
“Rainbow, no matter what happens; I want you to know that I’m here for you, okay?” Rainbow felt a sudden uneasy feeling strike her.
“W-what do you mean, what’s going to happen?” Twilight didn’t answer, she continued to walk forward; she couldn’t stare Rainbow in the eyes any longer. “Twilight…?” Rainbow said weakly, she looked around but she couldn't see anything out of the ordinary, did Twilight know something she didn't?
Rainbow felt uneasy as she continued to follow Twilight, the feeling grew worse when she noticed that Princess Celestia had the same look on her face. Once they were directly in front of the Princess, both were going to bow only to be halted by Celestia immediately.
“Thank you for bringing her here, Twilight” Twilight didn’t say a word, in fact she seemed to be trembling.
“P-princess, what’s this all about?” Celestia finally looked Rainbow in the eyes, but the cyan Pegasus soon wished that she hadn’t. The eyes of Celestia that were normally happy and understanding were now filled with grief, as if she wished she didn’t have to say what she was going to say.
“Rainbow Dash, I…I’m sorry” Rainbow’s eyes went wide, she didn’t know what Princess Celestia was talking about, and she fear to ask, but she didn’t have to. Princess Celestia’s horn began to glow; soon an object shrouded in the golden hue of her magic came out from behind her. It was a helmet, one that Rainbow recognized, one that had her cutie mark stamped on the side.
No…
“He…was a brave stallion…”
Please no…
“Rainbow, I’m so sorry” Twilight gently wrapped her fore legs around Rainbow Dash for a hug. Slowly, it began to sink in to the cyan Pegasus, she didn’t want it to be true; she begged that it was all just a lie, but she knew it wasn’t. Rainbow did what she could to fight it off; she didn’t want to break down, not in front of Twilight. “It’s okay Rainbow, I won’t think any less of you” that was all it took, Rainbow wrapped her fore legs around Twilight and began to sob loudly, she didn’t care who listened.
Twilight herself had tears running down her cheeks, she didn't know what it felt like to lose somepony so close, but she could only imagine how she’d be if it were her. Even the guards couldn’t keep their emotions under control; Celestia saw this and gave them a nod allowing them to leave. Many Royal Guards would come to see one another as brothers, the death of one of their members may as well been the death of somepony in their family.
From outside the sounds of some breaking down to be heard in the form of them swearing to the heavens, nopony could blame them. Celestia walked up to the two mares in front of her and wrapped her wings around them. It was a warm feeling, something she needed, because now all she could feel was the cold emptiness of having just found out that she had lost her one and only father, forever.