The Elements of Honor

by Flanagan


Chapter 5: Like They Never Even Happened

“Here, right here,” the stallion said to the mare, they were standing on top of a small hill, “this is where we will build you a brand new home, and it will be a new start for you.”
“Oh… I don’t know about this spot,” the mare said “it’s awfully close to the Everfree Forest…”
“I thought that was the point,” the stallion replied, “You said you wanted to be away from town, so you would be closer to your little animal friends…”
“Oh, I guess you’re right,” the mare whispered quietly, “I did say that, I’m sorry…”
“Sorry,” the stallion said confused, “sorry for what?”
The mare looked up at the stallion and very weakly replied, “We weren’t fighting? Oh my goodness, I’m sorry, I thought we were fighting…”
“You don’t have to be sorry,” the stallion said as he walked over to her “we were just having a conversation, that’s all.”
“Really?” she said as she looked towards the forest “Oh… ok, I guess,” she looked around even more at the spot the stallion had chosen. “There’s even a stream for the little water creatures when they need to see me.”
“So shall I begin?” the stallion asked. “Or do you need more time to find the right place?”
The mare looked over at the stallion and calmly said, “T-this, this IS the right place, I just needed you to help me see it…” she turned her head away and squeaked out the last part of her sentence. “I guess…”
“Glad to be of assistance,” the stallion said, “just remember, I’m always going to be there if you need me…”
The pegasus woke from yet another one of his strange visions. He had becoming more and more used to them as the days went on, but they still troubled him. As he got up from his bed, he realized it was the first time in a very long time that he had had such a luxury. Most ponies had taken things as simple as a bed for granted, but after spending five days in the same small, cold, steel cage, sleeping in a bed made him feel like esteemed royalty. He looked around the room he was in; the unicorn and the earth pony were also in the room still sleeping. Princess Celestia, even after the events of yesterday, had been kind enough to let the three and the 1025th to rest up for a day before she rendered a punishment fitting for them.
“Anypony awake in there?” a familiar, friendly voice called from the other side of the door.
The pegasus walked to the door, he opened it to reveal his visitor. As he suspected, it was Comet. “Just me Comet,” he said with a smile, “the others still got their lazy flanks in bed.”
“Well we better wake them up,” Comet said, smiling while he made his way into the room, “today you guys get to meet Princess Celestia formally. After all, she is going to try to identify you three before we have to go deep into the black ops files…”
“How’s the rest of your unit?” the pegasus asked right before Comet was going to attempt to wake the earth pony.
“Them… oh t-they’re all fine,” Comet stuttered, his smile fading away, “Patches and Med Kit are still tending to the wounded in the royal infirmary, I doubt they got any sleep at all last night,” he said walking back to the pegasus, his voice was growing more somber as he continued, “Tower Shield, Camo, Pyro, Long Shot, Cannon Fodder, Cloud Seeker, Ridge Cracker, Roadmap, Lug Nut and Javelin are still in their rooms getting ready…” Comet paused; he looked as if he was trying to hold back tears.
“What’s wrong?” the pegasus asked, his concern growing.
“Iron Hide and Snowstorm got a little busted up….” Comet had to pause again, a lone tear falling down his cheek. “But Flare Flash got hurt bad… real bad. They’re still in the infirmary, Commander Garrison hasn’t left Flash’s side since last night, he almost got his whole damn wing torn clean off in the skirmish. We didn’t even notice he was missing until we did a head count nearly an hour after the fighting was over…”
Comet gritted his teeth and stomped the floor, cracking the beautiful tiles under his hoof. “They don’t even know if he’ll make it through the day… I should have been there for him… it’s my fault that he’s down there like that, hell they won’t even let me go in to see him! None of this would have happened if I was just there when he needed me!” His yelling woke up the other two in the room.
“What the hell is your problem, dude!” the unicorn yelled at Comet, “Can’t you see I’m trying to-”
“You shut the HELL UP!” the pegasus furiously roared at the unicorn, then he turned back to Comet, “He’ll be fine, Comet, he’s more stubborn than a mule… he’ll pull through.” he placed his hoof on Comet’s shoulder.
“I hope you’re right, buddy,” Comet said whipping away his tears, “he and I have been friends since hoof camp, the past three years we’ve been in the same unit… he’s my best friend…” Comet pulled himself back together and forced his normal smiling face. “Now, you three follow me,” he said. “We don’t want to keep Princess Celestia waiting.”
“I’m sure that my fellows need some time to prepare,” the pegasus said watching Comet walk out of their room, “the ‘just got out of bed look’ doesn’t really seem to be a fitting look when it comes to meeting the Princesses.” Comet smiled as he walked out the door. The pegasus closed the door behind himself, then he turned toward the unicorn.
“The BUCK is wrong with you?” he said to the unicorn, “His friend is dying and he’s blaming himself for it, he must be going through hell right now.”
“Hey, take it easy wings. I’m grumpy in the mornings, that’s all.” The unicorn said raising his hoof trying to deescalate the tense atmosphere.
“That is no excuse for how you acted,” the pegasus said, “I think you should apologize to him… soon.” The earth pony nodded in agreement with the pegasus.
The unicorn, knowing that there was no real way out of this just shook his head, “Fine I’ll say sorry to him while we are on our way to the Princess.” he said looking frustrated.
“You better,” the pegasus said still staring at the unicorn in anger, “now, let’s get ready, like Comet said, we don’t want to keep the Princess waiting.”
The three and those of the 1025th who were not tasked with Infirmary duty, with the exception of Commander Garrison, made their way to the royal throne room, a privilege few get to have. As they approached the doors they were stopped by several guards and a large white unicorn with a blue mane.
“State your business, all of you.” the large unicorn ordered.
“Shining Armor, just let us in…” Comet said rolling his eyes, “you don’t have to have your tail in a tussle because you didn’t make it into the 1025th, after all, not everypony can get in.”
“I’m just doing my job, Comet,” Shining Armor said, glaring back at Comet, “after all, I AM the Captain of the Royal Guard.”
“We know, Shiny…” Tower Shield called towards him, “but Commander Garrison, wasn’t too impressed with that title, so why should we be?” laughter spread through the present members of the 1025th.
“Well at least I don’t forget that I have wounded still on the field of battle…” Shining Armor barked back, staring directly at Comet when he said it.
Comet glared at the large unicorn. “Just let us in… Shining Armor” he said between his gritted teeth.
“And if I don’t?” Shining Armor said still smiling.
“Then you deal with ME.” the pegasus said stepping forward, only inches away from Shining Armor’s face. “Let us pass,” he growled, “or I will make you a part of the lovely tile work here.”
The other guards began to surround the pegasus, Shining Armor smiled back at the glaring stallion right in his face. “I don’t think so, flyboy-”
Those were all the words Shining Armor could get out as the pegasus slammed him into the locked doors, his foreleg pressed against Shining Armor’s throat. “Now, let us in…” the pegasus began, pushing his foreleg further into Shining Armor’s throat, “or I get creative…”
Shining Armor looked around gasping for air, several his guards were being held by an unknown unicorn’s magic and the remainder were being held down by what he believed to be the biggest earth pony he had ever seen.
“Alright…” he managed to say through his gasps for air, “I’ll let you in… just let me and my guards go…”
“Thank you, kindly.” the pegasus said as he released Shining Armor, who hit his knees and reached for his throat, gasping and coughing, trying to get the air into his lungs.
Shining Armor opened the doors to the throne room, and instantly the 1025th were greeted by a beautiful red and gold rug leading towards the royal thrones. Extravagant stain-glass windows and expertly crafted marble statues surrounded the room’s outer interior. The finest gems were incrusted into the ornate tile work on the floor and the massive granite pillars all bore the banner of Equestria. At the opposite side of the room, there was a magnificent stairway, seven royal guards on either side and atop the stairway three stunning, diamond, ruby, sapphire and emerald incrusted golden thrones. On them sat three alicorns, Princess Luna on the right, Princess Cadence to the left and in the middle, largest most ornate throne sat Princess Celestia.
The small group of ponies made their way towards the thrones all looking in different directions trying to take in as much of this experience. With the exception of three, the pegasus, Comet and the earth pony just kept looking forward each with something different on their minds. Once they made their way to the thrones they all bowed at the three who sat in front of them, except for the earth pony, who, as usual just nodded his head.
The white alicorn motioned them to all to stand as she spoke, “Greetings, my little ponies,” she said, “and welcome to our throne room. I hope Shining Armor didn‘t give you any trouble, he‘s been a little agitated since Commander Garrison didn’t let him join your unit.”
“He has been in quite the bad mood since that day, aunt Celestia,” Princess Cadence said, “I would like to personally apologize for any of my colt friend’s negative actions towards you.”
“It was nothing that those three couldn’t handle ma’am.” Long Shot said, pointing at the three, a small wave of laughter came across the 1025th at the mentioning of the incident.
Princess Celestia looked at them in a slight bit of confusion, but she continued. “Speaking of those three,” she said looking at them, “step forward, ponies, let me see if I can help you with your problem, nopony should live without knowing who they are.”
The three made their way towards the Princess, the guards stepped aside as they began to ascend up the awe inspiring stairs. They stopped just feet in front of the ruler all Equestria. The three looked up at their ruler, ready to finally be informed of who they really were. They didn’t care if they were nuns or mass murders on the run, they just wanted to remember who they were and if anypony would know, it would be Princess Celestia.
“Now this shouldn’t take long,” the Princess said with a smile as she looked deeply into their eyes. After a few moments, however, the smile on her face turned into a look of disbelief.
“Sister?” Princess Luna asked her, “Is there something wrong?”
“Yes Luna,” the Princess said, “I do not know who they are, in fact, I have never seen them before…”
Loud gasps and looks of disbelief fell on everypony in the throne room; even the stoic earth pony looked shocked at this knowledge.
“T-This, this can’t be…” the pegasus said, “You know everypony in Equestria!” the pegasus shook his head violently, “It’s not true, it’s impossible!”
Princess Celestia just stared at them with a look of sadness, “Search your feelings, ponies,” she said, “you know it to be true.”
The unicorn hit his knees and threw his hooves into the air, “NO!” He yelled at the top of his lungs, “This is where we were supposed to get the answers; it was supposed to be here! Instead, now we just have even more questions!”
“I’m sorry my little ponies,” the Princess said, “but I cannot identify you. Your only hope is to go to the Black Ops files. They have information there that even I do not know, nor do I wish to know, it’s the only way now.”
“Thank you for your time, Princess.” the pegasus said with his head hung low as he and the other two began to walk down to stairs.
“The honor was mine,” the Princess said, “I wish I could aid you further.”
The pegasus stopped half way down the stairs, then turned back towards the Princess, “Well, my lady,” he began, “there is one thing you can help me with, if it is not too much to ask.”
The Princess looked at him with a kind and warm smile, “Anything.” she said rising she from her throne, descending down the stairs towards him. “What is it you wish, it will be the least I could do after not being able to help you.”
“Princess,” the pegasus began looking up at her, “some of the 1025th were badly wounded in the conflict yesterday, in particular, Comet’s friend Flare Flash, they told Comet that he wouldn’t make it through the day. My lady, if it is not too much, I ask you to save Comet’s friend’s life.”
Upon hearing this, Comet and the rest of the 1025th were speechless, Comet’s eyes began to water, “Y-you, you don’t have to ask that, buddy…” he said under his breath.
“Then we must not waste any more time,” Princess Celestia said continuing down the stairs, “we must be off to the infirmary, then when my task is done I shall guide you to the black ops file vault, tomorrow we shall discuss your punishment.”
“Thank you, my lady.” the pegasus said bowing as he and the others followed Princess Celestia out of the throne room.
Comet caught up to the pegasus as they made their way down the vast halls and corridors of the castle. “You didn’t have to do that…” he said to the pegasus.
“And you didn’t have to look for clues to see who we were after I beat the hell out of you after we first met.” the pegasus responded smiling back at Comet.
“Yeah,” Comet said looking down, “but that was different, I looked by myself to see if I could find any information about you, you just asked a Princess to save a dying friend for me.”
“I guess you’re right,” the pegasus said placing his hoof on Comet’s shoulder. “But it’s what anypony in my situation would do for somepony who has been there for them.”
“Thanks buddy.” Comet said with misty eyes.
“No need for that, friend, no need at all.” the pegasus replied stopping with the others in front of the infirmary doors.