//------------------------------// // Candlemas // Story: A Guardsman in Equestria // by Guardsman_Sparky //------------------------------// Winter set in quickly in Equestria. One day, they were having the 'Running of the Leaves,' the next, a thick blanket of snow covered the land. Alexander wondered quietly as he stared into the snowy sky. Taking in a deep breath, he savored the crisp, cleanness of the winter air. He still couldn't believe that the pegasi had to change the seasons manually. Perhaps it had something to do with the damage caused by the mysterious dark forces? Upon thinking that, Alexander's thoughts drifted to the so-called 'four horses.' Who were they? What were they? So far, neither Cog nor Twilight had been able to find any reference to these mysterious beings. Looking down from staring up at the grey sky, Alexander spotted Twilight coming towards him. "Twilight." "Hello Alexander." Twilight stood there for a moment before Alexander breached the silence. "So, was there something you wanted?" "Oh, yes." Twilight produced a colorful flyer from her saddlebags. "I wanted to invite you and your friends to the Hearth's Warming Eve pageant in Canterlot. The girls and I are the protagonists this year." Alexander accepted the flyer. "Hearth's Warming Eve?" "Yep." Twilight nodded. "It's a celebration of the unification of the three tribes over a thousand years ago. Every year, ponies get together to celebrate friendship and exchange gifts." "Kinda sounds like Candlemas." "Candlemas?" "Mmhmm. Every Terran year, on the day of the Terran Winter Solstice, people gather in the cathedrals to pray to the Emperor for safety and prosperity in the oncoming year, leaving offerings to Him on Terra. Afterwards, they gather with their friends and family and exchange gifts themselves. Although," Alexander scratched his chin through his scarf. "Recently there have been rumors that Candlemas was taken from an ancient religion that preceded the Emperor's rise to power on Terra. But to tell the truth, I never really cared about that one way or another." He considered the flyer in his hand, ignoring Twilight furiously scribbling notes down on a piece of parchment. "This sounds interesting. Think I'll come. Can't speak for the others, though." Twilight looked up from her notes. "Oh, thank you. See you then." "Sure. Later." Alexander sat in the back row of the throne room, where a large stage had been set up where the princesses normally sat. He sat alone. When he had asked his comrades if they wanted to come, Steel had declined for his fellow guardsponies, claiming that "you've seen one Hearth's Warming pageant, you've seen 'em all." Cog had also declined, stating that he had something he needed to finish. Syrette had said that he wanted to come, but that he had a prior commitment. So, Alexander sat alone in the back row of the throne room turned theater. Alexander turned his attention to the stage as the lights darkened. A smartly dressed Spike stepped forth from behind the curtains. "Ladies and Gentlecolts...oh and Alex." Alexander resisted the urge to facepalm, giving a short wave/salute instead. "Once upon a time, long before the peaceful rule of Celestia, and before ponies discovered our beautiful land of Equestria, ponies did not know harmony. It was a strange and dark time. A time when ponies were torn apart... by hatred!" The audience gasped, unable to imagine such a time. For Alexander, however, it was all to easy to remember such a time and place. The play opened to a stylized backdrop of a large wooden hall. Alexander watched as the three 'leaders' of the different tribes argued over who was to blame for an eternal winter. Interested, he sat back in his chair. Eventually, the leaders and their advisors set off to find a new land, one to replace their frozen wasteland. When they found it, Alexander watched with interest as the luscious and green backdrop of this new land was slowly changed to snowy wastes by unicorn's magic as the three 'leaders' argued. When the six hid in a 'cave,' the cold and ice followed. Alexander had to hold back a guffaw when he saw who was playing the part of one of the Windigoes. Syrette, wearing a trailing, ice-blue cloak and bodysuit, swung in circles above the actors from an almost invisible line. So, that's his 'prior commitment.' When the 'windigoes' were defeated by the magic of friendship, Alexander clapped with the audience's stomping applause. The play had left him something to think about. This place was full of happiness and trust, almost a paradise in comparison. On the other hand, the Imperium was filled with suspicion and hatred, and was plagued by chaos, daemons and xenos on a regular basis. Perhaps...perhaps the Imperium's problems stemmed from the negative feelings that filled the population? He had heard his brother once mention that the warp was a mirror of the materium, the negative emotions of the materium's inhabitants reflected in the turmoil in the warp. Maybe he was onto something. Alexander dropped his line of thought with a sigh. It wasn't like he'd be able to do anything about it. There were too many years, centuries of ingrained hate and mistrust in the Imperium, too much to clear away in one lifetime. The only one who could conceivably end the hate and suspicion would be the Emperor Himself. Shaking his head, Alexander went to join Twilight, Syrette and the others for the trip back to Ponyville. Alexander sat in the main room of the bunker with his baby phoenix on his shoulder as he considered the package in his hand. He looked up at Cog. "What is it?" Alexander opened the box to find an eye. He lifted it out. "Is this...?" Of all the gifts he had received that night, the return of his full vision had to be the best, bar none, save maybe for the package of cupcakes from Pinkie Pie. Alexander carefully pushed the augmetic into his empty eye socket, wincing at the electrical shock as the connections were made. He blinked away a tear as static replaced the nothing to the left of his vision. Swiftly dissipating, the static was soon replaced with a view of the room. Syrette was sitting in the corner reading, uninterested in a process he had seen dozens of times. Steel, Nickel, Flame, and Sureshot just stared in amazement. Sureshot was the first to speak up. "So, h-he can make working p-pr-pre...fake limbs?" Alexander nodded. "Th-that's awesome." Cog held a scavenged dataslate in a mechadendrite. "How do I use that?" Half of the world dissolved into blues and oranges as Alexander concentrated. "Whoa." He swiftly returned his vision to normal as the room tried to spin. "That's gonna take some getting use to." On Alexander's shoulder, Cinis sneezed, depositing a scroll on his lap. Picking up the scroll, Alexander read it over. "Gentlemen, looks like we have a mission." Deep underground, below the frozen ruins of a mountain laboratory, a black wisp soaked into a broken corpse. A pair of black eyes snapped open. I. Live.